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Torque started to say something, then shut his mouth when Rush cut him a sharp glance. I watched it all from beneath my lashes, head lowered down over my bowl. I didn’t know what to say to them. Didn’t know how to feel. Until I sorted out my own emotions I couldn’t begin to deal with theirs.
For once, they left me alone. I finished breakfast and we started packing everything up. Brandon came hustling into the kitchen and shuffled us off to the airfield. At least my friend had the decency to act like nothing had happened. If the others had heard me last night, he surely had as well, but he just plucked me off the ground, squeezing me as tight as he could when he dropped us off.
“Be safe, Z.”
“You, too, Brandon,” I told him with a warning look. He and his team were one of the best and always in high demand. That meant being placed in dangerous situations more often than not.
Without another word, the four of us made our way onto the C-130 that was going to take us to Iraq. The flight was a little over nine hours and I busied myself with work, sleep, and staring out the window, ignoring my travel companions.
By the time we touched down, it was nearing sunset. There was a soldier waiting for us, ready to take us off the flight line and to our barracks. I listened as the others spoke, but didn’t contribute. Somewhere in the middle of the trip I’d decided I wasn’t going to mope. If Rush and Keller were angry at me, then I’d just have to deal with that and so would they. It was Keller’s natural state anyway. Rush was the one who broke my heart. We were friends and I didn’t want to lose that because I’d slept with his friend.
I had a plan firmly in place to speak to him once we got to our barracks. It would be better to get it all out in the open, clear the air. We got out of the car near our area. Turns out our barracks would be a few Conex Boxes converted into housing and an office. There were other containers in the parking lot, the gear that Alden had shipped from Ft. Bragg was over in a warehouse nearby.
Alden didn’t give me the opportunity to talk to Rush. While the others went to check on the things that’d been shipped here for our use, he pulled me into the small Conex container that was going to be our sleeping area while we were here. There were three sets of bunk beds and one nightstand with a lamp and one fan. It was sparse and stuffy inside our bedroom.
“What’s wrong, Z?” Alden asked as he pulled me inside.
“Nothing,” I told him, voice firm. I had nothing to feel guilty about. I’d slept with an attractive man. So what? Somehow I’d figure out how to fix my relationships with the other men.
“You were quiet all day,” he pointed out.
“I had a lot of work to do to start processing Colby’s request.” It wasn’t a lie exactly. I’d managed to set up the program that would link anything to do with Colby Harris or the death of her team to me. Getting a head start on keeping my promise to Colby had raised my spirits.
“Regretting last night?” He asked so casually, but I could see how tense he was.
“No,” I responded. It was the truth. I’d enjoyed myself…immensely.
“But?”
He could already read me so well. I sighed. “The others heard us.”
Alden grinned. “They did,” he confirmed.
“I think I may have hurt Rush’s feelings.”
He cocked his head a bit to the side. “You care for him.” He wasn’t asking, but confirming.
I shrugged, then relaxed when Alden pulled me into a hug. Just because I was worried about Rush’s reaction didn’t mean I wasn’t still craving Alden’s touch. Ugh, this was so confusing.
“Poor little Mouse. She doesn’t like it when one of her men is mad at her.”
One of my men?
“Why don’t I make you feel better?”
How was he going to do that? I realized exactly how when that sultry look entered his eyes. I struggled to break his hold on me, which tightened down as soon as I tried to step away.
Alden’s lips crashed down onto mine and I felt myself being swept away again.
CHAPTER15
Torque
“Where the fuck did Alden disappear to?” Keller scowled as he glared down at the inventory sheet.
“Where do you think?” I asked with a wiggle of my brows. Zinnia wasn’t here either.
Keller’s look darkened. “Go fucking find them and tell him to get his ass over here. He’s the one who knows this list like the back of his hand. We need to know if they lost any of our shit in transport.”
