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“No,” Cal said drily, eyeing him, “but you’re sure as hell were in lust with her.”
“Ohhhhh,” Sky murmured, nodding, “now I understand.”
Alex gave her a confused look. “Understand what, Sky? Why does she hate me?”
“I’m sure Lauren picked up on your interest in her,” Sky tried to explain. She opened her hands. “Alex, you probably came on too strong to her. She’s very sensitive. She’s a sniper. She picks up on subtleties most of us miss.”
“But,” he sputtered, defensive, “I said NOTHING to her. I did not get a chance. She refused to come over and greet me as everyone else did. So, I went over and offered my hand in friendship to her because we are now part of the same team. But she turned and walked away.”
Frowning, Sky gave Cal a concerned look as he put salad in each of the bowls. “That’s not like Lauren, at all.”
“No,” Cal said, “but Alex wasn’t exactly subtle that he liked her, either.” Eyeing his friend, Cal said, “You don’t stare at a woman like a slavering wolf, Alex. It puts a woman on the defensive. Lauren probably felt threatened by your obvious stare that had bedroom written all over it.”
Sky rolled her eyes. “You’re so crass sometimes, Sinclair.”
Alex blushed. “But… Lauren is beautiful. She reminds me of a Valkyrie.”
Cal snickered and retrieved three bottles of salad dressing from the fridge and placed them in front of them. “Even Valkyries don’t like to be stared at like they’re meat on a slab, Kazak.”
Sky saw how crushed Alex looked. “Er, Alex, you can’t chase someone like Lauren. She’d pick up on your intentions in a heartbeat. She’s very independent. She picks the man she wants and lets him know it. Not the other way around.”
“Does Lauren have someone special in her life? Is that why she was angry with me staring at her?”
Cal sat down next to Sky. “Lauren’s single. No man in her life right now, Alex. Dig in,” he told them.
“I must learn how a man lets an American woman know he is interested in her, then,” Alex decided, wolfing down the salad without apology.
Sky saw how underweight Alex really was. He was a tall man, well-muscled but not muscle bound. The camaraderie between him and Cal was that of good friends glad to see one another again. “What if you two get assigned to the same mission?” Sky wondered out loud. “If you two are uncomfortable with one another, that won’t work out at all. It’s a distraction that could get both of you killed.”
Cal slid his hand across her thigh and patted it. “They’ll work it out if that happens,” he reassured her. “They’re professionals.”
“But,” Sky protested, “you don’t need the battle of the sexes out on an op where you have to rely and trust one another.”
“Give her time,” Cal counseled her gently. “Eventually, they’ll make peace with one another.”
Making an unhappy sound, Sky said, “But Lauren’s coming up here tomorrow…” And Alex was here for a visit. Did Lauren know he was up here with them? Would she be upset about that?
Cal shook his head. “You’re SUCH a worrywart, Ms. Lambert. Look at us. When I met you, I fell head over heels in love with you. And just like Lauren, you didn’t want ANYTHING to do with me. As a matter of fact, you ran as soon as you could, away from me. It took me two years to pick up your trail and finally find you down in Peru.”
Alex’s black brows rose in surprise. “You did not like this good man?” he asked her in disbelief.
Sky snorted. “It’s a long story, Alex. I was running from Vlad Alexandrov. I had been put into the Witness Protection program. When I was transferred to a forward operating base near the Pakistan border, all I wanted to do was be a medevac pilot and fly my Black Hawk.” Sky gave Cal a warm look. “I didn’t expect Cal to come busting into my well-ordered life.”
“Why?” Alex wondered.
“Because I wasn’t looking for a relationship,” Sky told him. She watched Alex pile more salad into his emptied bowl. It felt good to offer him good food and friendship.
“But,” Alex said, pouring Italian dressing on his salad, “your heart decides who you love. Not your head.”
“Oh,” Cal murmured, giving Sky a wicked look, “the little head gets involved in the process, too.”
Sky punched him in the ribs with her elbow. “Cal! We’re eating.”
Alex grinned. So, did Cal. Like two little boys caught red-handed.
Feeling heat in her cheeks, Sky thought she would never outgrow men’s coarseness when it came to sex and women, and not necessarily in that order. “Look,” she told Alex in a patient voice, “I was running scared from Vlad Alexandrov. Plus, Cal wanted to jump my bones.”
Frowning, Alex cocked his head, running around the words in his head. “Is that slang?”
