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Chapter 22
After leaving Mel, Jase found Laila in her room. Mel’s words about taking leave and seeing Laila back in the states echoed in his head, but he pushed the temptation away. He’d never sought out a woman after they’d parted. He wouldn’t know what to do. What to say. And even if he was willing to see her again, she didn’t need a man like him. A man who couldn’t be counted on. A man who always had to leave on the spur of the moment.
Laila deserved someone steady. Someone who could stand by her side. Be there when she needed him. And that would never be Jase. He never even considered long-term. And the lessons he’d learned from his parents? No way did he want to be tangled in that trap, let alone subject a woman to that misery.
And being on the Teams gave him a perfect excuse a sly voice whispered.
When he rapped on Laila’s door, she opened it and her face lit up. She leaned closer to kiss him, but instead of the hungry kiss he wanted to give her, he brushed his mouth quickly over hers. Backed away.
She frowned at him, as if bewildered by his non-kiss. The hurt in her expression twisted his heart.
Before she could start talking about feelings, he stepped farther away and asked, “How did it go with the families?”
She hesitated, studying him for a long moment. Finally she sighed. “Couldn’t see them. They’re not allowed to talk to anyone until they’ve been cleared to leave.”
“Any idea when that might be?” he asked, eager to steer their conversation away from the treacherous waters of their relationship.
She shook her head. “Anywhere from an hour or two to twelve hours or more.” She swallowed. “What if your plane gets here before they’re all cleared to leave?”
“Not a problem. You’ll be on a chartered jet,” he said. “They leave when you tell them to leave.”
“You mean when you tell them to leave?”
“No. I can’t leave with you and the families, Laila. I have to stay here and do my job. There’s lots more work to do before all the CIA personnel can leave.”
“I’ve heard people talking,” she said. “Things are bad in Afghanistan.”
“Yeah, they are. Mel thinks we’ll be evacuated in two or three days, but no one knows. And there’s a lot to do in the meantime.”
She swallowed, and he watched the ripple of muscle in her throat. Wished he could put his mouth on it but stayed just far enough away from Laila that he couldn’t touch her.
“Will you be going back to the States?” she asked.
“At some point, probably. But I have no idea when or how long I’ll be there. That’s up to Mel. If she’s even still my boss.”
Laila swallowed again, and he wanted to feel that muscle ripple against his mouth. But he kept his eyes on hers.
“Are you... will you be able to take some time off after you get home? Maybe come visit me in Madison?”
He was shaking his head even before she finished the sentence. “Not going to happen, bae. There’ll be a hell of a lot to do once we’re in D.C. Debriefings. Meetings. New assignments.”
She frowned. “You don’t get leave after a stint in a hazardous duty region?”
She was too damn smart. It was one of the things he admired about her, but that brain of hers was an inconvenience right now. “No one knows what’s going to happen. What we’ll have to do. I can’t make any promises, Laila.”
“Fair enough.” She gave him a short, sharp nod. “You have my phone number. Call me when you’re back in the U.S.”
He shook his head. “I won’t do that, Laila.” He watched her for a moment, aching to touch her. To kiss her. But he wouldn’t let himself go there. He’d promised they’d spend several hours together after they’d finished their morning meetings. But it was better to walk away now. If he spent the next few hours in bed with her, it would rip his heart out to watch her leave, knowing he’d never see her again.
“Get your gear together and get ready to go,” he said after a long moment. “Once the plane lands, we’ll have to get everyone loaded as fast as possible. A quick turn-around is vital. There are too many people who are desperate to leave the country. The military can barely hold them back as it is. A private jet rolling up to the pickup spot? Could be a mad rush to get on it.”
“Can we take more than my families?” she asked.
“There’s room for six more people. I told Mel, and she’s going to find six Afghanis who worked with us and urgently need to leave. They’ll be waiting, too.”
Laila’s chest rose and fell too quickly. “If you can’t make it back here, will you at least be there when we get on the plane?”
“Absolutely,” he said. “Since I’m the one who chartered it, they’ll need to see my ID and the email confirmation code before anyone can board. I’ll see you all onto the plane, then wave goodbye.”
