AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Five one,” she admits. “Sorry I’m not the Jolly Green Giant like you.”
“I like that you’re so much smaller than me,” I say, my voice far huskier than I intend. “Good things come in small packages, right?” Her blue eyes snap up and lock with mine. The air between us vibrates with energy and my gaze dips to her full, pink lips. I want to kiss her so fucking badly, but I restrain myself. Instead, I sit up and lean back against the wall, trying to break the connection I know I can’t have. “So…the Army.”
Sailor stretches out on her stomach and props her chin in her palm. “We didn’t have much money, so college wasn’t really an option for me either. But I wanted something more challenging than one dead end job after another. I’d always been very active and physical, and I wanted to stay that way. Plus enlisting seemed like a smart way to get my college paid for if I decided to go later.”
“Did you ever go?”
“Nope. I did my four years of active duty followed by two years of inactive. Then I separated, met Fallon not long after and the rest is history.”
We’re quiet for a moment and then Sailor asks what we’re both wondering.
“Why do you think they tried to steal the virus and kidnap DeLazzer?”
“I don’t know. Maybe to make a dirty bomb?”
“I’ll never understand people like that,” she says. “How anyone can have such an evil agenda and want to hurt innocent people.”
I nod. Unfortunately, the world is full of wicked people with destructive agendas. I saw it constantly when I was a SEAL and that’s why delivering justice never bothered me. My job was to take the enemy out before they took me, my team and innocent people out.
“We stopped them,” I remind her.
“Yeah,” she says softly.
“We should probably call Dash.” I don’t really want to break whatever this moment is we’re having, but we need to clue him in.
I pick up the phone Dr. DeLazzer left us and dial Dash’s cell. After I fill him in on our current sitrep, he swears and asks what he can do. “Keep Finn on standby. Hopefully we’ll be flying out of here in less than 24 hours.”
“How’re you holding up, Deadly?” Dash asks.
“Like a champ,” I say before she can comment. Sailor gives me a grateful smile.
“Doing my best under the current circumstances,” she answers. She sounds a lot stronger than she looks, but I’ll take it.
“Good. I expect you both to get on the jet tomorrow and be back here in the office with your report by late afternoon.”
“Yes, sir,” Sailor says.
“See you soon,” I add.
After disconnecting the call, neither of us says anything for a long moment.
“Only 23 more hours,” Sailor finally jokes.
???
Dinner arrives. They’re feeding us and I’ll take that as a good sign. The damned rarely get dinner, right? It’s just a couple of ham and cheese sandwiches, bags of chips and cans of soda, but it could be worse. Sailor pulls the slice of ham off her sandwich, I open mine up and she layers it on there. In return, I give her my cheese. It’s like we’ve done this a hundred times before.
Even though we bicker like an old married couple, it can be so easy with her, too. Moments like this, we don’t even need words. We know each other so well.
Being with Sailor is so many things. There are moments when it’s easy and comfortable, while other times I want to shake her because she drives me so nuts. And then there are those instances when my body aches for her and I can’t stop imagining what it would feel like to kiss her.
After we finish eating, I take her plate and mine and set them over by the door.
“I know this isn't the greatest of circumstances,” I say looking around at the small room. “But if I had to be stuck in here with somebody, I’m glad it’s you.”
“You are?” she asks, eyeing me closely.
I nod and sit back down on the small bed beside her. The massive crush I’ve developed on Sailor this past year has left me in a tailspin. I didn’t know how to handle it, so like a playground bully pulling someone’s pigtails for attention, I teased her and picked fights with her, hoping my feelings would go away. I started dating Penelope, assuming my sexual frustration would ease. It didn’t.
