Page 51
“Fraid not.”
“Is there any hotel you can recommend that is nice, but a little more reasonable?” Linc asked hopefully.
“Why do you need it? That will help me know what to look for.”
“I’m going up there to meet a woman. We really haven’t had much time together, so I’d like to make a good first impression.”
“Does she live in DC?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, let me make a few phone calls. I’ll call you back.”
“Thanks.”
Linc finished packing, then called Jase. “Where’d you go? I was looking for you. Gideon wants to hand us our asses next week on some night combat swimming training. He’s found someplace new to take us. You’re an asshole sometimes, but I wanted to make sure you were on my team.”
Linc laughed. Jase was his best friend on the team. Calling him an asshole was his version of being nice.
“Gideon let me out early to play. I’m going up to DC to spend time with Leila.”
“You mean the woman that you haven’t spoken to since you’ve returned to the states? The woman that you haven’t seen for three months? That woman?”
“Remember, we were in Venezuela for six weeks after Syria. There hasn’t been a lot of time for us to connect. It’s not like she’s been blowing me off.”
There was a pause. Linc braced. “Just remember, you two were together during stressful conditions. Don’t expect that same level of attraction to necessarily be there when you meet up again,” Jase cautioned.
Linc had heard it all before.
“Jase. Do I need to explain it to you again? It wasn’t just Syria. We were into one another in Turkey too. We both tried to look one another up. Now, I’m not looking for the love of my life, but I am looking to find out what this could be. She’s the most interesting woman I’ve ever met, and I’m not going to let her slip through my fingers.”
“Well, there’s also the fact she’s agreed to go out with you. That doesn’t happen all that much for you, so you gotta make hay while the sun shines.”
“You do know you’re an asshole, don’t you?” Linc asked his friend.
“It’s one of my best traits.”
Linc laughed, then his phone beeped. “Gotta go, Ryker’s Amy is calling me back. Hopefully, she has a line on a place in DC that won’t rob me blind.”
Jase laughed. “If she tells you about one, share.”
“Will do.”
Linc switched over to Amy.
“Hi.”
“Hi Linc. How invested are you in DC?”
“What do you mean?”
“You told me she lives in DC, so I figured she might like a change of pace. Who really wants to stay in a hotel in the city they live in, you know?”
“I’m listening.”
“A good friend of mine’s dad owns a boutique hotel in the Shenandoah National Park. I’ve been planning on dragging Ryker there, so if you take me up on this, don’t tell him about it, okay?”
“Mum’s the word.”
