The door swung gently open all the way to the wall before he entered the
room, blocking the door's return swing with his right boot as he glanced around
and continued his entry with almost no pause.
Mandi sat on the bed, Andrea sat in the desk chair. A bottle of champagne
nestled in an ice bucket on the desk and Mandi's bags had been moved nearer the
door because two blue suitcases had taken their place by the desk. There were no
other people in the room and both women were staring at him.
"Well?" asked Mandi, "Are you coming in or not?"
Andrea chuckled as Cade replied, "Have you ever seen me just waltz right
into a room, ma'am?"
Snickering, Mandi asked, "Not even your own room?"
Cade walked over to Andrea as he said, "I'm old enough to have old habits
because I earned them the hard way. Your own room is the first place to expect
an ambush. Especially on birthdays in military service. 'Surprise!', and all
that."
Mandi snickered again, but her glance went to Andrea as if to confirm
something.
As Andrea stood up to take his hand, he met her gaze for a long moment, and
said, "And you are definitely a surprise.
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