Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Kev read over his brief again and glanced at Lucky, who was still reading hers.
He was a photographer covering the unrest in Qu’rim, and she was a teacher.
They were newlyweds, which kicked him deep in the gut and made him want to howl in frustration.
How was he supposed to play newlywed with this woman?
He had the part down about being unable to keep his hands off her—but he wasn’t going to let that happen.
He couldn’t. What would it say about him if he did? About his respect and love for Marco?
It was bad enough he’d kissed her. That he’d done more than that and had his mouth on her breast, even if there’d been a T-shirt between him and her flesh. He’d been wrong to push her and helpless when she’d admitted that she wanted him too.
He should have walked away before things got out of hand. But he hadn’t.
And now he’d spent the last two weeks thinking about the way she’d looked, kneeling on her bed, her head thrown back and her breasts thrust toward him.
He’d been thinking about the way she tasted, about how he wanted to taste her again.
Worse, he’d gone to bed hard and aching every night, knowing she was there, knowing she’d been ready to melt beneath his touch.
He had to get his head around the fact she was going to Qu’rim with the team.
This was the first time they’d gone on a mission with a woman as part of the operations team, and if anyone had told him he’d be the one pretending to be her husband, he’d have laughed his ass off and told them it was too far-fetched for belief.
But HOT was evolving, and so too were their missions. He was a Special Operations soldier, but it seemed he was also an actor these days as well. Whatever it took to get the mission done.
They’d been planning the mission for a while when Mendez scraped back from his chair and stood. Everyone snapped to attention—including Lucky.
“As you were,” Mendez said. “It’s been a long day, so why don’t you all get some rest? Back here tomorrow at oh seven hundred.”
Everyone looked at each other as Mendez walked out.
“You heard the man,” Matt said. “Go home for a few hours. Come back in the morning ready to work. And oh,” he said, turning back to them when he reached the door.
“Evie’s cooking Christmas dinner. Since nobody’s going home for the holidays, we’re happy to have you celebrate with us. ”
The guys all said their thanks and Matt left with a nod.
“Who’s Evie?” Lucky asked, leaning in close so no one else could hear.
“His fiancée. Our Richie Rich went home for his sister’s wedding this summer and came back with a woman.”
Lucky’s mouth formed a soft O. He found himself wanting to press his lips over hers and experience the fire and sweetness of that kiss again. He clamped down on the desire and forced himself to think of something else. Cleaning the toilet. Washing dishes. Anything to get his mind off her mouth.
“That’s awesome. I guess she’s not military, hmm?”
“Nope. They were childhood friends.” Kev huffed a laugh as he thought back to the drama of the summer.
It hadn’t been fun at the time, not when he and the guys had used HOT assets to help Matt—against orders not to get involved—but everything had turned out all right in the end.
They’d busted an organized crime ring and dismantled a huge illegal operation.
That kind of thing was always satisfying.
It was the reason he did this job—to make a difference and stop the bad guys.
He hadn’t been able to stop his father, but he damn sure could try to stop as many men like Dan MacDonald as possible.
Soulless, conscienceless bastard.
The guys filed toward the door. Billy called out, “We’re going over to Buddy’s for a few beers. You two want to come?”
Kev opened his mouth to say no, but Lucky turned with a smile on her face—she didn’t smile like that at him, dammit—and said, “Thanks, that would be great.”
He waited until everyone else was gone before he spoke. “You need to rest, Lucky. Once we go in, it’ll be non-stop.”
Her pretty eyes were solemn. “I know that. But I think we deserve a night out for once, don’t you? Maybe we can forget, for a little while, what’s about to happen.”
He knew from experience that wasn’t possible but he nodded anyway. “All right, if that’s what you want.”
They drove to Buddy’s in silence. When they arrived, Billy waved them over to a round table tucked into one corner of the bar.
It was a dive in some ways, but Buddy always welcomed the guys warmly and the food was good.
Around the table, the guys laughed and joked as if there wasn’t a critical mission coming up.
Lucky sat down next to Ryan Gordon, who turned his killer smile—part of the reason his team name was Flash rather than just the obvious Flash Gordon reference—on her while Kev tugged out the only remaining chair across the table and tried not to scowl as Flash leaned in and said something that made Lucky tilt her head back and laugh.
Billy shoved a beer at Kev and gave him a sympathetic look that made Kev frown all the harder. He didn’t like that knowing look at all.
Garrett Spencer got up and ambled over to the jukebox while a waitress hustled over with more beers and some extra menus.
Kev studied his menu intently, which was ridiculous considering he knew everything Buddy’s had, and tried not to lift his gaze over the top of it to look at Lucky sitting there with Flash, laughing at every third thing he said and tossing her mane of hair playfully over her shoulder.
“Maybe Flash should play her husband,” Billy said sotto voce, and Kev stiffened. “They look a lot more natural together than you two.”
Kev turned a page in the menu. He didn’t see what was written on it anymore. “Fine by me.”
Billy snorted. “No, it’s not.”
“Mind your own business, Kid.”
Billy lifted a bottle of Sam Adams to his lips. “I am minding my business. I know what Marco meant to you, and I know you care about Lucky too. And if you can’t do this job without emotional attachment, you put us all at risk. Let someone else play the part, dude.”
Kev resisted the urge to punch something. “I already tried. She trusts me—and I’m sticking with her because I promised Marco.”
Billy let out a breath. “Copy that. Just be careful, okay?”
Kev nodded as Billy took another pull from the beer. He knew his teammate cared, but there was no easy way through this job when Lucky twisted him up on the inside the way she did.
Iceman must have made a selection because the jukebox rattled to life and the strains of a dance tune filled the air. It wasn’t too fast, but it wasn’t slow either.
Flash stood up then, and Lucky stood with him.
Kev started to stand too, but Billy gave him a look that made him sink back down as the pair of them walked over to the area that had been cleared off to make a dance floor.
Kev sat stiffly, waiting for Flash to take her into his arms and praying he wouldn’t—because Kev would probably bolt off this chair and rip her out of them.
But nothing of the sort happened as Flash and Lucky lined up and began moving in sync.
Kev realized then that it was a stupid line dance and he let out a long breath.
Iceman joined them while Knight Rider stood and went over to the door as his professor fiancée walked inside and launched herself into his arms.
Sam wrapped his arms beneath her ass and lifted her up while she put her legs around him and kissed him like no one else was in the room.
“Damn, those two could ignite a rocket,” Billy said softly.
No kidding there. Sam set Dr. Georgeanne Hayes down and they walked over to the table, wedged tightly together as if they couldn’t bear to be parted. He pulled a chair over for her, but she plopped down on his lap instead and wrapped one arm around his neck. He certainly didn’t seem to mind.
“How are y’all doing today?” she said in her Texas drawl, plucking Sam’s beer off the table and taking a drink.
“Great, ma’am,” Billy said. “How about you?”
Georgie laughed. “Fabulous now that I’m here with my man.”
The waitress came back to the table, and Kev ordered a burger.
The other guys had already ordered and the waitress said she’d come back for Lucky’s order when she was done on the floor.
Kev took a long draught of the beer she’d set in front of him and tried not to scowl as Lucky laughed and kicked up her heels with abandon.
He hadn’t seen her that relaxed in… well, he couldn’t remember.
It wouldn’t last, though. Tonight, they could all pretend nothing was wrong, that life was normal, but tomorrow they’d be back to work, worrying about the mission and how they were going to find—and extract—Al Ahmad.
Kev wished like hell they were killing the bastard, but the order from the top was to capture.
It wasn’t going to be easy, nor was it going to be like other missions since they were taking Lucky along for the ride.
The song finished and Lucky came back to the table with Flash behind her.
He pushed her seat in for her and then looked up at Kev.
Whatever he saw on Kev’s face wiped the smile from his own, and he sat down and grabbed his beer.
He made sure not to sit too close to Lucky after that, and Kev felt like an asshole.
He wasn’t supposed to be possessive of her. He was just supposed to protect her. And it was in her best interests to be at ease with the guys. If she could manage it, he had no right to interfere in any way. If Flash flirted, it was her call if she let him. Not Kev’s.
Jesus.
Billy slapped him on the shoulder in sympathy. If it was obvious to Billy how much he was struggling watching Lucky with another man, was it obvious to the others? And what did they think about him, knowing that she’d been Marco’s wife?
But no one said anything or shot him any looks, and they subsided into conversation and laughter for the next couple of hours.
They scarfed burgers, wings, and assorted fried junk, and knocked back a few beers.
The talk around the table covered many topics, though not the one foremost on anyone’s mind: Qu’rim.
Instead, they steered clear of that subject until finally Georgie Hayes—who’d ended up in a corner with Lucky, talking about whatever women talked about—caught Sam’s eye and the two of them rose as one and said their good-byes.
After that, the gathering grew subdued as everyone eyed cell phones and watches.
One by one, they started to sort out their bills and head for the door.
Kev opened the truck door for Lucky, and she climbed inside and put on her seatbelt while he went around and got in the other side.
The air was colder than it had been as a front came in from the west and sent temperatures spiraling downward.
There was even talk of a white Christmas for a change.
“That was fun,” Lucky said as they pulled out of the parking lot. “Thanks for taking me.”
“I didn’t think I had a choice.”
She sighed. “Well, thanks anyway.” She paused for a moment. “I like Georgie and Sam. They’re so perfect together. It was strange at first, seeing him and knowing he was Marco’s replacement. But now I just think of him as one of the guys.”
“It was for me, too. But that’s the way the military works. I told myself for a long time that it was the same as if Marco had taken another assignment and moved away.”
Her voice grew subdued. “I thought I saw him in Hawaii sometimes. There are so many military guys there, and I’d be somewhere, and there’d be a guy in ACUs who looked so familiar. But he’d turn and I’d realize it wasn’t Marco at all.”
Kev swallowed the lump in his throat. “Yeah, I get that. I’m sorry it happened though. I can only imagine how hard that was for you.”
He glanced over at her. Her head was bowed, and she was fiddling with her cell phone. Then she pocketed it and sighed.
“I miss him, but my life isn’t over.”
He didn’t know what to say to that. “No, I know.”
“Do you?” She tapped her fingers on the armrest and stared straight ahead. “The closer we get to going on this mission, the more I worry about the things I never did. What if I never get to do them at all?”
A chill slipped down his spine. “That’s the beer talking.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think it is. I think it’s a real concern. These next few days could be all I have left.”
Kev gripped the wheel tight. Dammit. “I told you I won’t let him get you. You’re coming back. We’re all coming back.”
“You can’t guarantee that.”
Kev whipped the truck into a fast food parking lot and shoved the gearshift into park before turning to look at her, fury rolling through him. He didn’t want to hear her talk that way. He didn’t want to hear the fatalistic tone in her voice. It wasn’t right.
He’d lost Marco out there. He wasn’t about to lose Lucky, and he wouldn’t have her talking as if fate had already decided it for her. Her eyes were wide as she stared at him.
“Attitude is everything out there,” he grated. “You can’t go in with the idea this is the end. You have to be comfortable with yourself, sure, but it doesn’t do any good to think this is where you will die. If you think like that, you put us all in danger.”
“All right.” Her voice was soft. Her eyes slipped over his face, and her throat worked. He had a sudden urge to haul her in his arms. He resisted, but barely.
“Just stop thinking it’s over, okay?”
She nodded. “But there are still things I never did. Things I wanted to do. It’s not fatalistic to wish I’d had the courage to do them.”
He shoved a hand through his hair and growled. “What is it you want to do so bad? You have a few days yet if it’s important to you.”
The air in the truck grew thick with silence. And then she reached out with trembling fingers and touched his mouth. Her fingers were light, soft, ghosting over his lips so carefully. His blood beat hard in his veins, and his chest grew tight. She was going to drive him insane before this was over.
“I want to be with you.”