The Omega Team: Assisting Aimee (3 page)

“So, what is your type then?” Aimee asked seriously. “I thought all guys liked that sort of thing.”

Tony’s hand halted halfway to his mouth and he turned to Aimee in disbelief. “Are you serious?”

“Well, yeah,” Aimee stammered. “I mean, I’ve seen it over and over again. First in the Army…anytime I went out with friends, the soldiers flocked to the women who were wearing high heels, skimpy clothes, and a ton of makeup. And if they had fake boobs, all the better. They never left the bar alone. Then after, in college, it was the same thing. The girls who went out of their way to be sexy always had boyfriends.”

Tony put down his sandwich and turned sideways on his seat toward Aimee. He waited until she looked up at him. She was being completely honest with him, not fishing for compliments or otherwise trying to flirt.

It was crazy.

It was unbelievable.

It was a total turn on.

She had no idea that he’d been drooling over her since the moment he’d met her at the beginning of the school year. Six months of him trying to drop hints and make her
see
that he was interested, and she still had no clue. It should’ve irritated him, but instead it made him understand that she was a woman who, because she
played
no games, didn’t
understand
the games. The best thing he could do was be upfront and honest. He might strike out, but at least she’d know straight off that he was interested in her.

“My type? I don’t suppose I have a body type that I’m always attracted to. I’ve been attracted to chubby women, tall women, short women…I once fell in love with an Indian woman I met when I was stationed overseas. It’s not the outward package that interests me, Aimee, it’s what inside her that matters to me.”

Aimee crossed her arms over her chest and scowled up at him adorably. “Are you telling me that you wouldn’t care if a woman weighed six hundred pounds as long as she was a good person?”

“No, not necessarily,” he returned immediately. “There’s a certain amount of sexual attraction that I need to feel toward a woman before deciding we’re compatible for something long term. But that sexual attraction is dependent on me liking her personality.” Seeing she wasn’t buying it, he switched gears. “Let me give you a concrete example. Let’s take Marci. I think we can both agree she’s pretty, right?”

Aimee nodded reluctantly.

“Right, so she’s good looking, as you said, tall, blonde, and stacked. But she uses people. Parents, the principal, other teachers, probably even the kids if she could. I don’t like that. I don’t do one-night stands, Aimee. I’m thirty-two, that’s not what I want in a relationship.”

“No one said you had to marry her. I’m sure she would be glad to date you, even if it didn’t end with a forever relationship.” Aimee put both hands in the air and finger-quoted the word relationship as she said it. Tony wanted to laugh, but knew they were in the middle of a serious conversation.

“I admit that if I was ten years younger, I probably wouldn’t have hesitated. I had my share of one-night stands and screwing any woman who threw herself at me. But, Aimee, that’s not me now. I want to find a woman I can talk to. Someone I can eat dinner with and laugh over the funny things that happened to us since we last saw each other. I want her to meet my friends and my family. I want to
like
her. I respect Marci for the teacher she is, but I in no way want to have her on my arm when we meet my friends. She’s manipulative, and I can imagine that the second she ‘gets’ me, she’ll be trying to find her next target. She tried to manipulate me into making a move on her in the teachers’ lounge before you got there.”

“How?”

Seeing the way Aimee frowned when he’d admitted the other woman was trying to get to him made him feel better. She didn’t comment on his relationship remark, but he could tell she was pleased with his answer. Tony wasn’t sure it was jealousy he was seeing in her eyes when he’d mentioned being with Marci, but he’d work with what he could get. “Just now, she leaned against me reaching for the salt, making sure her tit pressed into my arm. Other instances include how she usually wears enough perfume to choke a horse, thinking it’ll turn me on. She even once claimed her car was acting up and asked if I would check it for her at the end of the day.”

“Bitch,” Aimee murmured under her breath.

Tony smiled, but once again, didn’t comment on it. He had a point to make. “You want to know what kind of woman I’m attracted to?” Not giving her a chance to respond, he made his move, wanting Aimee to know without a doubt that he wanted to date her. “Petite women who fit snugly against my side. There’s something about the thought of being able to look down at a woman and seeing her rise up on her tiptoes to reach my mouth, that turns me on. I don’t usually care about hair color, but long brown hair is sexy as hell, even when it’s up in a ponytail.” His eyes went to her head, knowing she was watching him.

“I can’t help but think about taking it down and seeing it fall against her back, and maybe my own skin.”

Aimee opened her mouth to say something, but Tony kept going. He was neck-deep in it now, he might as well go all the way. He’d chickened out that morning, but Marci’s actions in the lounge made him realize he needed to suck it up and make a move. If Aimee wasn’t interested, she wasn’t interested, but he thought he saw something in her eyes that hinted that she was.

“As for clothes, I’ve never been a fan of high heels. They look painful as all get out and I’ve seen way too many women roll an ankle wearing them. And while I admit to enjoying and appreciating seeing a woman all dressed up, making an effort for her man, I know that’s not a twenty-four/seven reality. I’ve been around enough females to know they’re much more comfortable in sweats and a T-shirt. I’d take comfortable and relaxed over stressed, anxious, and made-up any day. And when I start dating someone, I’ll see a lot more of her in comfy clothes than dressed to the nines. If I’m attracted to her while she’s dressed down, I know I’ll have my socks knocked off when she puts in the effort. And I have no problem letting her know that her effort is
more
than worth it.”

Tony took a deep breath, then continued, winding down. “It’s like this. If I have filet mignon every day, it gets old. It loses that something special. So when I
do
order it, I appreciate it more and it’s a treat. Does that make sense?”

“Did you just compare a dressed-up woman up to a slab of meat?”

Tony chuckled. It figured she’d call him on his bad choice of words. “I guess I did. It probably wasn’t the best analogy, huh? In case you haven’t figured this out, in my bumbling way of trying to say it, I’m attracted to
you
, Aimee.”

The words lay between them and he saw Aimee swallow hard once. Then twice.

“I don’t think I
own
a dress,” she finally blurted out.

“I don’t care.”

Aimee looked away for a long moment, then turned back to him. “I’m attracted to you too.”

“Well, whew!” Tony pantomimed wiping his brow. “That makes this a lot less awkward.”

She smiled at him and rolled her eyes. “As if I wouldn’t be.”

“You’d be surprised,” Tony told her, pausing to take a bite of his sandwich. He felt much more comfortable now. He’d told her he was attracted to her, and it was out in the open. It was even better that apparently she felt the same, and wasn’t afraid to tell him. “The long hair and beard isn’t exactly the most popular thing among elementary school teachers these days. Not to mention, have you seen those posts online where they talk about how many germs can be hanging out in facial hair?”

Aimee laughed. “Yeah, although the one about ‘glitter beards’ seems right up your alley.”

“Evil. Glitter is the devil,” Tony returned, somehow keeping a straight face. “I wouldn’t let anyone, no matter how much I wanted to impress her, get near me with glitter.”

“Oh come on, a first-grade teacher is supposed to love that stuff.”

“Do you know where I’ve
found
that devil’s invention when I’ve gotten home after a day of crafts?” He mock shuddered. “It’s horrible stuff, thought up by a jilted lover, I’m sure of it.”

He loved the giggle that escaped Aimee’s mouth. “Seriously though,” he continued, “I think you’re underestimating the popularity of the beard-and-long-hair thing. I’ve had women come up to me and want me to seductively toss my hair around and put it on top of my head. I have no clue what that’s about. With that being said, though, it does seem to work for some women, and totally turns others off. I’ve had some women say to my face that I’d be a lot hotter if I cut my hair short.”

At her look of disbelief, his eyes went wide and he nodded. “Oh yeah, no lie. They come right up to me, in my personal space; and once, while I was eating at a restaurant with two of my buddies, a woman told me we’d be the three musketeers of hotness if only I got rid of the ‘nasty long-hair shit’.”

“She must have been mentally ill,” Aimee muttered. Then asked louder, “Why
do
you keep it long? All the military guys I know had short hair.”

Tony shrugged. “I’m essentially lazy.”

“Now
that
I don’t believe,” Aimee protested. “No one who teaches first grade can be lazy. It’s not in your DNA.”

“Lazy might not be the best word,” he conceded. “I just got used to it being this way when I was in the Special Forces. Helped me blend in over in the Middle East. In some ways, it’s easier to hide behind it now than to cut and shave it off.”

“I didn’t know you were in the Special Forces,” Aimee said gently. Out of all the women he’d told since he’d gotten out, Tony knew Aimee understood more than most what that meant.

“I was.” He didn’t elaborate.

Aimee put her hand on his knee and squeezed briefly. “That puts the situation you told me about earlier today in a whole different light now. Thank you for all that you did. I know you can’t talk about it, but seriously, thank you.”

Tony swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. He’d seen and done some horrible things that he’d never tell another soul as long as he lived. He hadn’t lied to her earlier, that little boy lying dead in the middle of the road with his school books strewn around him had been the catalyst to make him want to change his life, but it certainly hadn’t been the worst thing he’d seen. Not even close. He’d gotten out because he couldn’t handle the nightmares and violence he saw long after the missions ended. He changed the subject. “So…now that it’s out in the open that we like each other…would you like to go out sometime?”

“Yes.”

He smiled at her, loving that she didn’t play games.

She continued, clarifying her answer. “As long as you don’t expect me to put on a dress. I wasn’t lying when I said I didn’t own one. I think I might have a pair of nice jeans I can pull out from the bottom of my closet, but anything more is pushing it.”

“Deal. I was thinking dinner at a steak house sometime soon.”

“In the mood for filet mignon, huh?”

Tony burst out with a laugh. “I walked right into that one, didn’t I? There’s nothing wrong with filet mignon every now and then, but as I told you…I’m perfectly happy with hamburger every day of my life.”

“I think you’d better stop while you’re ahead,” she told him, smiling to let him know she wasn’t offended in the least.

Feeling on top of the world, Tony ate some chips and changed the subject. She’d said yes. He’d figure out the details later. It was enough to know they’d be going on a date, soon. “So, an obstacle course huh? How’s it work?”

Aimee settled back onto her elbows next to him, looking out on the gym floor. Pointing as she spoke, she explained, “They start with the tires, getting through them how they can based on their age: hopping, walking, jumping, whatever. Then they head to the cones and weave in and out of them. Next is the balance beam, I borrowed it from a friend across town who runs a gymnastics club. It’s only three inches off the ground, but I told the kids to pretend they were crossing a stream and so far they’ve loved it. There’s a sit-up and push-up station, then they have to pull weights twenty feet, run three suicides, and finish up by climbing up and over the giant mound of mats.”

“It looks fun.”

“It
is
fun,” Aimee returned. “If you weren’t all buttoned up and stuffy looking, I might challenge you.”

“You think you can beat me?”

“No, but I
do
think I could give you a run for your money…especially if you gave me a ten-second head start.”

“Deal. Some day this week after school we’ll do it.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Aimee tilted her head and looked at him, obviously trying to gauge if he was telling the truth or not. Finally she just shrugged. “Okay.”

“But we have to bet something on it.”

“I didn’t think, with the rumors going around, that you’d want to bet. But I’m game. What’re the stakes?”

Tony ignored her snarkiness regarding the bet about him and Marci and pretended to think about it, but he knew just want he wanted. “A kiss.”

Aimee’s eyebrows went up and she answered him in an over-the-top English accent. “Why, sir, are you trying to ruin me, you scoundrel?”

“Yes.”

They both laughed.

Dropping the accent, she agreed. “It’s a deal. If you win, you get a kiss. If I win, you’ll clean the entire gym floor.”

“Ouch, woman. I was hoping you might want to claim a kiss if you won as well.”

She leaned into him and whispered, “I’m just giving you more incentive to win.”

Tony couldn’t remember a time with a woman that he’d had more fun. Aimee was down-to-earth, funny, and he admired her. She might only be five-two, but she had the personality of one of his drill sergeants back when he’d joined the Army. That woman was a bit taller than Aimee, but she was the scariest sergeant in the bunch, and not one of the men ever wanted to cross her. “Today after work?”

“Do you have different clothes?”

“Damn.”

Their banter was interrupted by the sound of the end-of-lunch bell. They looked at each other for a long moment.