Chapter 4 #2
“No, and never was.” His statement seemed to please her. “Am I sorry he retired? Absolutely not. Nor do I know why he suddenly removed himself from consideration for his fourth star.”
Marta grinned. Like everything else surrounding the SEALs, she seemed to know who fired the shot and who buried the body. Most of the time, she could give you the longitude and latitude of said rotting corpse.
“To answer your question, Admiral Asshat, as I prefer to think of him, had me join him on his first inspection of Group 2. That’s when I realized he was a cheating son of a bitch.” She spat out the last few words.
Trevor leaned forward. “Really? I knew there was something I didn’t like about him. He was far too arrogant for my liking.” Although Trevor didn’t like gossiping, he thought of this more as information gathering.
“You’re absolutely right on that account as well.
He had an attitude that since he wore stars, everybody should treat him like a powerful king.
” Marta straightened her back. “I don’t tolerate infidelity, and I made my opinion known to him.
His girlfriend had been waiting for him in the Visiting Officers’ Quarters.
Not only is that a security breach that he’d arranged for an unaccompanied civilian to get on base and be unsupervised, but it also seemed to be the purpose of the trip.
He spent less than three hours with the men, yet we were there for two whole days. That’s misappropriation of funds.”
She folded her hands on the table between them.
“I made good use of my time meeting with the support staff. That’s when I learned their affair had been going on for over a year.
The Group 2 administrative assistant said that he scheduled a long lunch out in town at least one day a week.
In the months before he left to take over as NSW commanding officer, he’d be gone two or three times a week.
” She shook her head. “His wife was the sweetest woman, and their two children were magnificent.”
“I take it she didn’t know?” Trevor asked.
“Not when I took that first trip.” Her grin became sadistic.
“Admiral Asshat never asked me to travel with him again. When he had me arrange for a personal visitor of his to stay in the VOQ on Coronado, I suggested to his wife that she might want to take over a basket of Southern California fruit about an hour after his special guest arrived. I also gave her a key to those quarters, just in case nobody answered the door…so she could leave the basket with a note.”
Trevor burst out laughing. “I don’t ever want to be on your bad side. I take it she caught him…” It wasn’t a question. He was hoping she’d continue with the story.
That beautiful grin brightened her face.
“Oh, yes. Both were naked as the day they were born. It was obviously round two because the bed was torn up. Admiral Asshat had his girlfriend bent over the couch arm and he was…let’s just say that I named him well.
He certainly got his money’s worth out of the little pills he had to take. ”
“And you know about his little blue pills…why?” Until Marta had left his office a few hours ago, Trevor hadn’t had an erection since his wife had gotten sick.
Before that, he and Carol had an active sex life.
He hadn’t missed the fact that Marta’s hug and quick brushing of lips had stirred him physically.
Hopefully that meant he didn’t need to take any kind of Viagra.
Her lips straightened into a flat line once again.
“I had to get away from him one morning and I announced that I was going to run over to the pharmacy. He had the gonads to ask me to pick up his medicine while I was there. So, that meant I actually had to go to the pharmacy. Imagine my embarrassment when I asked the second class petty officer for his prescription, explaining that I was his administrative assistant. The man’s smile made me want to puke when I handed him the bag. ”
“Was getting caught the reason why he retired so quickly?”
“It wasn’t quick enough for me. The typical two-year tour was only cut short by six months.
Admiral Asshat spent more time with his attorneys than he did paying attention to the men under his command.
That left Rear Admiral Finger Fucker in charge most of the time and you saw the way he handled command.
” Marta didn’t like his second-in-command that he’d inherited with the new job, but Trevor wasn’t thrilled with him either.
He didn’t seem to do anything Navy related but always looked busy.
When Trevor had taken command of NSW, morale had been the lowest he’d ever seen in his thirty-year career. SEALs were caught human trafficking underage foreign girls. Never in his life would he have believed it. As soon as it had been reported to him, he cleaned up that fucking mess.
When her name for his former executive officer caught up to his thoughts, he couldn’t control his laughing.
“Finger Fucker.” He could barely say the words.
“Jesus, Marta, I hate to think what name you’ve created for me.
” He threw his hand up in the air in the stop gesture. “Maybe I don’t want to know.”
A blush had creeped up her throat into her cheeks. “Good. Because I’m not going to tell you.”
She went on. “I will tell you this, though, I wasn’t the one who called the Inspector General.
I don’t know this for sure, but I believe the girlfriend did.
We both know that at your level, it’s a very small community.
He got a scolding from the Secretary of the Navy.
Shortly after that he supposedly dumped the girlfriend and made up with his wife.
When the IG discovered that girlfriend wasn’t the first, he became too much of a security risk. ”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about me. I’m a widower and I don’t even date.” Trevor glanced to the back of the plane where the only other passenger had on headphones and was watching something on his laptop.
Here’s your opening. Take it.
“I want to apol?—”
“Stop right there.” Marta put her hand up, palm facing him.
He captured her hand and laid it on the table, leaving his on top. Her skin was so soft.
“I lied to you earlier today and I want to apologize for the lie, not for the kiss. Not for the hug.” He closed his eyes. “Those were wonderful.” When he opened his eyes, he watched his thumb slowly rub the back of her silky hand. His gaze met hers. “And I don’t regret either the kiss or the hug.”
“Kisses.”
“What?” If she wanted him to kiss her, he would. Happily.
“Kisses. There were two kisses. The first was in the conference room while we were celebrating and the second was when I kissed you in your office.” She grinned.
“And just for the record, I’m still not sorry for either.
Over the past eight months I’ve gotten to know you.
You’re such a good man. I’d like to get to know the real you, not just the man who wears the uniform with stars.
” She shrugged. “Maybe it’s because all I’ve seen the past several years are conceited assholes, and you’re such a breath of fresh air.
I began to wonder if there were any good men left in the world.
Americans, especially women, tend to put SEALs on pedestals.
We want a hero. And when we find out some are flawed men who think they’re above the law, like those arrested a few months ago, our expectations for all men are crushed. ”
Trevor had never thought about that before.
He had no idea that women held him and his men in such high regard.
Being a SEAL was his job. He believed to the bottom of his heart it was a calling.
Otherwise, why would they endure such physical pain and mental stress to earn the right to wear the Trident?
Why would they put their lives on the line to complete the mission, most often without a thank you or recognition?
True, more was expected of them than the average soldier, sailor or Marine.
Underneath, though, they were all just men.
“I’m glad you think so highly of me.” He rolled her hand over and laid his other one on top. “Because I think you’re amazing and I’d like to get to know you better. Marta Merkel the woman, not just the outstanding administrative assistant. Would you have dinner with me on Saturday night?”
“Yes. I’d love to have dinner with you.” Her lips flattened into a straight line. “But, Trevor, you were right earlier today when you said I’m your administrative assistant. Working together is going to complicate things.”
“Okay, let’s set ground rules right now. We go out to dinner on Saturday and see how it goes. We agree, though, if either of us decides not to have a second date, we’ll be honest and tell the other. We then go back to working together as we have been.”
Marta added, “If we decide to continue dating, we keep it separate from the office.”
“Agreed.”
Her beautifully arched eyebrows pulled together.
“I’d like to suggest that we stay as private as possible for this first date.
Coronado is small and I don’t want tongues wagging just because we share a meal.
It would be very embarrassing if someone saw us, and after that initial meal we decided to remain boss and admin. ”
“Good point.” Trevor’s mind was scrambling for a place they could go where no one would recognize them.
“I’d invite you to my house and I could pick up something on the way home, but the admirals on either side of me have very nosey wives.
I’d end up with a call from the Secretary of the Navy before noon the next day. ”
He knew she had an idea when pure silver flashed in her eyes. “Why don’t you come to my house? I’ve always wanted to try one of those executive chefs who comes to your home, and they cook your meal right in front of you.”
“That sounds perfect. That way you don’t have to cook for me.”
She cocked her head to the side playfully. “I’ll have you know, I’m a very good cook.” She squeezed his hand. “I just wanted something special for our first date.”
Trevor found himself grinning. “My son is going to be so proud of me.”
“Why?” Marta raised one eyebrow.
“While I was packing, he told me that I have at least two more decades of life, and I shouldn’t live it alone.” He held her gaze. “He told me I needed to start dating. You’re my first.”
“I’ve never been anybody’s first anything. Thank you.” She grimaced. “Now, I just hope I don’t fuck it up.”
Trevor burst out laughing. “Well, I’ve learned something new about you already. You’re as salty as I am in private.”
“Oh, I speak fuck very well. I’m able to use fuck in all its various forms; as a noun, verb, expletive, adverb, and adjective,” she explained with a straight face, but Trevor couldn’t stop laughing.
He couldn’t remember when he’d last laughed this much.