Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
“Ma’am, it’s wheels up in five. You need to get situated,” a soldier, or maybe a sailor, wearing a bluish-gray uniform announced, his voice deep and his Southern accent thick, as he breezed past her.
“He called me ma’am,” Julia said, feeling slightly insulted, as they walked in through the back of a military cargo plane located inside a hangar on the outskirts of the city. A government site she had no idea existed.
Finn held on to her elbow and navigated them around the cargo and heavy equipment buckled down to the floor of the massive plane.
“Do I look old?” When he side-eyed her with a playful smile, she rolled her eyes.
“Don’t answer that.” She’d promised to stop being “so damn mean,” but acting the role of the villain for the past few weeks had somehow become routine around Finn, and she was worried she’d forgotten how to be herself.
“The team is already here,” was his answer to her. “Somewhere.”
She’d witnessed her brother board such planes back in the day when he was in the Marines, but Finn and his team were civilians, so why the special treatment?
“So, because you guys are PMCs, the military gives you free rides? They make extra stops like this for you?” Julia did her best to withhold the sarcasm from her tone as they made their way through the plane.
“Yeah, we, uh, called in a favor.”
Mmhm. Sure you did. What was he hiding? Not that she could talk.
She let go of a deep breath at the sight of a familiar face.
“Harper.” Thank God for another female in this sea of testosterone.
“Nice to see you.” Harper’s greeting was pleasant enough, but there was a hint of coolness in her tone. She was dressed in jeans and a white tank with the words, I can explain it to you, but I can’t understand it for you written in black on the front.
Yeah, I need that top. “Thank you for allowing me to join you all.”
Harper responded with a polite tilt of her head and a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. And those dark eyes were giving Julia the once-over as though carefully considering whether or not she could be trusted.
Julia took an uncomfortable step back and looked to her left to see the rest of Finn’s teammates huddled around a crate, talking in hushed voices.
One of the guys, who she recognized as Wyatt, looked her way. He smiled and gave her a quick nod, then focused back on the others. Were they talking about her?
Wyatt was the British one, from what she remembered. Roman, of course, was Harper’s fiancé. Then there was Chris and A.J.
Somehow, she’d met all of Finn’s teammates at different points over the years because of Michael’s friendship with Luke Scott, but she’d never encountered Finn until this year.
Maybe Mya was right, and it was fate. The world had kept them apart only to go the other extreme and throw them together, practically 24/7 except when she was home or sleeping.
And shit. The sleeping arrangements. Would he let her have her own hotel room in Egypt? Considering what she was planning to do, did she even want to be alone there?
“It’s going to be a long trip. The seats suck. I’ll hang you a hammock later.” Finn pointed to what looked like a fishing net.
Julia frowned. “Yes, because that looks far more comfortable.”
“They’re not too bad,” Harper commented while gazing at Roman.
Maybe not if you were sharing with someone you loved, Julia supposed, then awkwardly swallowed the lump that popped up in her throat when she noticed Finn’s eyes still focused on her.
“I probably won’t sleep. I have some books to read on my Kindle to keep me busy,” Julia added.
“Oh?” Harper crossed her arms, then glanced Finn’s way. “Romance novels by chance? Maybe a hot enemies-to-lovers book?”
“Huh?” Julia caught Finn in her peripheral view, vigorously making chopping motions in the air with his hand as if telling Harper to drop it.
What was he trying to get her to drop? Now Julia was curious.
“Anyway.” Finn rolled his eyes and made a face at Harper.
Julia bit back a laugh. He looked like a big brother who was annoyed with his little sister.
It was a look Julia was quite familiar with because Michael had perfected it years ago.
Finn gave Harper one last glare, then looked back at Julia.
“So, it’ll be Algiers first to drop off some supplies.
The stop shouldn’t take more than an hour or two. ”
He scratched the light bit of growth on his jaw before turning toward the rest of his teammates, who were now gathered around an open laptop.
Not a standard-issue one, but the kind Julia had seen her brother use whenever he had meetings with the Department of Defense.
A sturdy, black case that could probably withstand a grenade blast.
Hmmm. The cargo plane. The serious look on all of Finn’s teammates’ faces. The laptop. They must have taken a government job, which was most likely why he wouldn’t share any details with her. It also explained why he couldn’t say no to the job when she’d asked back at her apartment.
“Oh, by the way,” Finn began, swiveling back around sporting a grin. “Ever jumped tandem?”
“Say what?” Her hand went to her stomach since she was fairly certain he was referring to skydiving.
“I mean, in case we need to exit this plane a different way.” Finn winked, then continued on his way to his teammates.
“He’s kidding, right?” she asked as the backloading ramp closed, sealing out the natural light.
“Yeah.” Harper smiled. “Probably.” She motioned for her to sit on a metal bench attached parallel to the wall, which offered Julia a view of Finn’s backside.
Well-worn jeans on a man had never looked so good as the denim stretched over his glutes, which he must have worked out regularly.
Finn was leaning forward over a crate to view whatever was on the laptop. Wyatt appeared to be the one talking, holding the attention of everyone around him. Was he their team leader?
“So.” That one word had Julia bracing herself for what might follow. Finn probably asked Harper to grill her for intel with the intent of uncovering the real reason she needed to suddenly go to Egypt.
“How’s wedding planning?” Julia interrupted the unspoken words dangling in the air between them.
Harper’s attention immediately skated to Roman, a smile crossing her lips.
“Find a location yet?” Deflect and distract. Hopefully, she could dodge those impending questions with a few of her own.
“No. And Chris and Rory are also getting married this summer.”
“Didn’t Owen and Luke marry their respective wives in a double ceremony?
Vegas, right?” Julia asked, remembering when her sister-in-law, Kate, had hosted a combination Christmas and proposal party for the Scott & Scott crew.
Owen had proposed to Samantha that night, and they were now married with a young son.
She didn’t know Owen well, but Luke Scott was fairly tight with Michael, and Julia had met his wife, Eva, a couple of times.
“It ended up being a triple wedding.” Harper’s smile stretched. “Bravo Four and . . . I mean Liam.”
Bravo Four? Did they still use call signs in their civilian lives?
“How could I forget that?” Julia shook her head. “Liam married Emily.” Emily’s brother, Jake, had served with Michael in the Marines, and they remained best friends to this day.
So many weddings and happy couples. She wasn’t bitter about that, but she was losing hope she’d ever meet the one. “So, what about a double wedding?”
“Or another triple,” Harper tossed out, eyes glued to Finn when he straightened and looked back at them briefly, eyebrows raised as if silently asking whether Harper was on the verge of mission success in pulling out the truth.
“Finn dating someone?” Why did I ask that? She resisted the urge to cover her face and instead leaned over and set her bag next to her pink Adidas sneakers. Anticipating a long and probably uncomfortable flight, she’d worn sneakers, black leggings, and a pale pink lightweight sweater.
“No, Finn hasn’t dated anyone for quite a while, at least as far as I know.
It can be hard to make time to date in our line of work.
” Harper crossed her long legs and leaned the back of her head against the fuselage.
“Pretty much everyone we work with wound up together because of unusual circumstances.”
“Aside from you and Roman,” Julia pointed out. “And I think Jessica and her husband, Asher. Y’all work together.”
“I forgot you’re from North Carolina originally.” Harper laughed. She was easing up on the suspicious scrutiny, thank God.
“Oh, did I let a ‘y’all’ slip out?” Julia smirked, feeling surprisingly comfortable despite being on a military plane with zero plans in place for when she arrived in Egypt.
But she wasn’t going at it alone, and Mya had been right.
She was in good hands. “We have a family home in the Outer Banks. I may buy it from my parents since they put it on the market. There’s a great private beach with wild horses. You should get married there.”
“Ah, that sounds amazing.” Harper pointed to Chris. “I can totally see Rory and Chris marrying on the beach.”
“Not you?” Julia twisted a little on the bench, which felt like it belonged inside a high school gymnasium. The government should at least invest in a little comfort for their servicemen and women when they travel.
“I don’t know. I just want to marry that man. I don’t care where or how.” Harper let go of a soft sigh. Oh, she had it bad for Roman. “So, are you going to tell me why you’re really going to Egypt?”
And . . . Whiplash.
Damn.
Julia had just been played. Harper had employed the same espionage tactics that Julia had seen a million times in movies.
She’d gotten her talking until she lowered her guard and then, bam, hit her with the hard questions.
Obviously, Harper’s experience was Jack Ryan level, while Julia’s was more like Jamie Lee Curtis in True Lies.
Harper slowly turned her head to peer at Julia.