Kitabı oku: «A Wicked Persuasion», sayfa 9
Kate smiled against his face. “And here I was beginning to think that you might not like me.”
Chase groaned, and planting another kiss on her mouth, pulled her with him to a sitting position. “My problem has nothing to do with not liking you, and everything to do with liking you too much,” he growled.
“Then find a way for us to be together tonight,” she breathed, searching his eyes. “If this is the last night we have alone before I go home, spend it with me. This base is huge. There must be somewhere we can go to be alone. You know you want to.”
He gave her a tolerant look and stood up, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck. “Jesus, Kate, it has nothing to do with what I want or don’t want to do. Last night was different. We were in the middle of a monsoon and there was no chance that anyone was going to catch us together in that tent. But things are different here. Neither of us has our own unit, and even if there was a place that we could go, you can be sure that someone else will already have found it.”
Kate nodded. “Okay. I would never want to get you in trouble. I just want to spend time with you before I leave.”
“I want that, too, believe me.” He glanced out the window at the waiting Humvee. “But if we don’t make an appearance within the next minute, those soldiers are going to start getting ideas about what we’re doing in here. In fact, I’m pretty sure they saw you kiss me before I shut the door.”
“Oh.” Kate glanced toward the closed door. “Then we should definitely get outside before your reputation is completely ruined.”
Chase gave a rueful laugh. “Too late, darlin’. I think my reputation was destroyed the moment I laid eyes on you. I haven’t been able to focus on anything but you since I first saw you standing in the terminal at Bagram.”
“Well, considering I’m your current assignment, you should be focused on me.”
“Yeah, well, let’s get back to the vehicle before I become so focused on you that I forget everything else.” He opened the door and placed a hand at the small of her back, indicating she should precede him.
As she climbed into the backseat, Kate didn’t miss the knowing look the two soldiers gave each other before they stoically fixed their attention straight ahead. But as Chase climbed in beside her, he covered her hand with his own and squeezed her fingers, letting her know that even though he might be on duty, he no longer considered her to be his duty.
11
AFTER A LONG day of visiting the concert sites, meeting with the USO representatives, and exploring the small bazaar at the center of the base, Kate returned to her housing unit after dinner to find it occupied by her two roommates. Both women were in their forties, and welcomed Kate with a mug of hot tea brewed in an electric kettle that sat on the small side table. The women played characters on a popular sitcom. Kate knew she should recognize them, but she rarely watched television, preferring movies or books when she had any spare time.
“So, what brings a pretty young thing like you out here all by yourself?” asked Jessica Cochran.
“You have to ask?” Marion O’Connell gave a suggestive wink. “Have you looked around here? There are literally hundreds of good-looking, hard-bodied young men running around. I’ll tell you what. If I was as young and attractive as Kate, I’d be looking for excuses to come over here on a regular basis!”
Kate laughed. “Well, I agree that some of the guys are pretty amazing, but I’m hoping this will be my first and last visit.”
“The USO said you’re a singer?” asked Jessica, sipping her tea.
“Not me,” Kate said quickly. “I’m Tenley Miles’s publicist. I came over a few days early just to check things out and make sure everything’s ready for her. She flies in tomorrow.”
“Tenley Miles?” Marion’s face lit up with recognition. “My niece adores her. But wasn’t she involved in some recent scandal?”
Kate took a gulp of hot tea, hoping to avoid answering, but Marion was going through her mental Rolodex of celebrity scandals until finally her expression registered recognition.
“I know,” Marion declared in triumph. “She made some disparaging remarks about the military. I’m surprised she wants to come over here and entertain the troops, considering some of the negative things she had to say.”
“Yes, well that’s why we decided to come,” Kate admitted. “Tenley’s only eighteen and she can be impulsive. She doesn’t really mean what she said, and we’re hoping that this tour will help to demonstrate that.”
Jessica shook her head and made a tsking sound. “I don’t know. You can do a lot of stupid stuff, but when you start maligning our men and women in uniform, that can be a tough one to recover from.”
Kate set her cup down. “I think I’ll head over into the shower before it gets too late.”
“That’s a great idea,” Marion said, putting her own teacup aside. “I hate the thought of walking all that way by myself.”
“How far is it?” Kate asked. She had been looking forward to calling Chase on his beeper so that he could walk with her.
“It’s about a ten minute hike,” Jessica replied, gathering her gear together.
Realizing she had no valid reason to call Chase, Kate reluctantly pulled her toiletries out of her duffel bag, along with a clean change of clothes. It was still light outside as they set off. At the end of the road, they turned left and continued along another row of housing units, until Kate saw the shower facilities in the distance. They passed groups of soldiers, who nodded politely to them, and twice they had to stop so that Marion and Jessica could sign autographs.
While Kate waited for them, she noticed a female soldier walk past and found herself staring, mainly because she was so tall. Kate guessed the woman was close to six feet, but she walked with a feminine, athletic grace. Rather than the typical camouflage uniform, she wore a green flight suit, and something about her struck Kate as familiar. As the woman drew closer, she looked at Kate and smiled.
Kate raised a hand in greeting, recognizing the woman as the Black Hawk pilot who had flown both her and Chase from Bagram Air Base to Camp Leatherneck. She watched as Captain Larson stopped outside one of the housing units and fitted a key into the door, opening it and disappearing inside. Kate frowned, wondering if Chase knew that she was at Kandahar. She recalled the way the other woman had looked at Chase when they had boarded the helicopter, making her suspect they might be involved. She couldn’t blame the other woman for ogling Chase; he was pretty hot. But she knew she wouldn’t be the one telling him that Captain Larson was less than a stone’s throw away.
“Are you okay, hon?”
Jessica was watching Kate with a mixture of concern and curiosity.
“I’m fine,” she assured the older woman. “I thought I saw someone I knew, but I was wrong.”
“Well let’s get going. I want to be back in our own little house before it gets dark.”
Jessica was right; daylight was disappearing, and the temperatures was dropping. But the showers were private and hot, and Kate took her time under the steaming spray until she could hear the other women in the outer changing area.
Kate quickly dried herself off and got dressed, wrapping a towel around her wet hair for the walk back. When they left the shower facilities, the sun had set and the sky was beginning to darken. Kate listened to Marion and Jessica’s chatter, mostly gossip about the sitcom and who they thought would get the ax next.
As they turned the corner to the street where Captain Larson’s housing unit was located, Kate saw a familiar figure walking toward them. Chase. Her pulse kicked into overdrive in anticipation and her hand flew self-consciously to the towel wrapped around her head. He was still more than fifty feet away, and hadn’t yet seen her and her companions rounding the corner.
She couldn’t prevent a smile, and was about to call his name when he suddenly stopped and knocked lightly on Captain Larson’s door. Kate stopped, too, stunned when the pilot opened for him. Unaware that they had an audience, Captain Larson reached up and planted a lingering kiss on Chase’s mouth, before she drew him inside and closed the door quickly behind him. Although the shade in the small window was pulled down, Kate saw a shadow pass in front of it, and then another. But when the two shadows merged, there was no doubt in her mind what was happening behind that closed door, and for a moment she thought she might actually be ill.
She continued walking, her eyes glued to the silhouette of the embracing couple. As she drew alongside the unit, Kate heard the distinct sound of a man’s voice, followed by Captain Larson’s low, throaty laugh.
Both Jessica and Marion gave each other knowing looks, and Kate hoped the fading light disguised her own stricken expression. It took all her strength not to race up to the door and wrench it open.
Instead, she tipped her chin up, aware that her breathing was coming in quick, shallow pants. Her throat felt tight and her chest ached. What had he said to her just hours earlier? That he had no willpower where she was concerned? It seemed he had no willpower where Captain Larson was concerned, either. She recalled his agonized words as he’d turned away from her in the housing unit. There’s no future in it, and I can’t—I can’t—
It all made sense to Kate now.
The reason there was no future in it was because he was already committed—to Captain Larson. She nearly groaned aloud. He’d tried to tell her that they had no chance for a relationship, and she hadn’t listened. But he hadn’t put up much resistance, and he certainly hadn’t seemed overly concerned about his pilot girlfriend when he’d spent the night with Kate in her tent.
She was such an idiot. When would she ever learn?
They reached their housing unit, and Kate made a pretense of being interested in the women’s conversation until she thought she might scream.
“You know, I have a splitting headache,” she fibbed. “Would you mind if I just climbed into my bunk and went to bed?”
“Oh, honey,” Marion said in sympathy, “you go right ahead. In fact, we’ll go to bed, too, and then the light won’t disturb you.”
“Oh, no,” Kate protested. “Please don’t do that on my account. Besides, I overheard you telling Jessica how much you were looking forward to another cup of tea, so you should have one. I promise you, I’m so tired that nothing will disturb me.”
After convincing the two women to have their tea, Kate climbed up into the top bunk and pulled the blankets over her shoulders, turning her face toward the wall. She replayed the scene over and over again in her mind. At one point, she’d nearly convinced herself that it wasn’t Chase she’d seen; it had been another soldier who’d merely resembled him. But when Captain Larson had opened the door, the interior light had clearly revealed his face. There was no doubt in her mind that it had been Chase. She still couldn’t believe how well he’d hidden his feelings for the pilot when they’d flown in her helicopter. Captain Larson hadn’t hidden her interest in Chase, but he had been all business.
Kate lay curled on her side and determined that he would never know how much he’d hurt her. If he’d been honest with her and had just told her that he was already involved with someone else, she would have backed off. But he hadn’t. He’d taken full advantage of everything she’d offered. She’d been foolish enough to sleep with him, but it wouldn’t happen again. She deserved better. Tomorrow, she thought fiercely, things would change. She would be all business, and nothing Chase said or did would break through the protective barrier she was erecting around her heart.
CHASE SPENT THE NIGHT at the Special Ops headquarters office on base. He and the special-operations teams stationed at Kandahar performed many joint missions, and one of them was the hunt and capture of Al-Azir. The previously issued stand-down order was still in effect, but that didn’t prevent him and his team of commandos from gathering intelligence and planning their next move. Chase and the other team members spent hours analyzing satellite photos and images taken from their drone aircraft, which indicated a large group of men had left the village where Al-Azir had been hiding, and had moved into the nearby mountains.
Chase knew the area was riddled with caves, and that Al Azir and his men could successfully hide out there for months. But at least they had an idea where he had fled to, and once the stand-down order was lifted, his team would resume their hunt for him.
Having gotten less than four hours of sleep on a cot in the back room of the operations shack, Chase woke up at dawn and made his way to the showers. He passed the housing unit where Kate was staying, and his footsteps slowed. Had she been in there alone, nothing would have prevented him from going inside and climbing into her bunk with her. He desperately wanted to be with her again, and he’d known a keen sense of frustration when the USO personnel had told him that she would not have her own housing unit while at Kandahar. With her sister arriving that morning, there would be no opportunity for them to be alone again before she returned to the States. Reluctantly, he continued past Kate’s unit toward the showers. He was lost in his own thoughts and didn’t see the soldier who stepped quietly out of a housing unit on his left, until he heard his name called.
“Chase!”
He stopped and turned, surprised to see his brother walking swiftly toward him. “Hey, I was wondering if I might see you here,” he said, grabbing his brother’s hand and pulling him into a swift, hard hug. “I thought you might be up at Kabul.”
They drew apart, and Chase stared at his brother’s face, identical to his own except for the perpetual cocky grin.
“I was,” Chance grinned, “but they sent us down here yesterday to provide cover for a VIP visit.”
Major Chance Rawlins was an Apache helicopter pilot, permanently stationed at Bagram Air Base, although his missions frequently took him to the other bases in Afghanistan. He and Captain Jenna Larson had had a brief fling several months earlier, when they’d both been assigned to Fort Bragg in North Carolina. But when she’d turned up in Afghanistan, Chance had been quick to turn their relationship into something a little more permanent. Now the two were committed to each other.
Chase glanced from his brother to the housing unit he had just left, and felt a smile tug at his mouth. “I take it you didn’t stay alone last night?”
Chance’s eyes gleamed. “Are you kidding? How often are Jenna and I ever on the same base? Just try keeping me away from her.”
“Yeah, well, don’t get caught.”
His brother sobered. “She’s returning to the States in just a few weeks, while I’ll be over here for another six months. Man, that’s going to suck.”
Chase felt his brother’s pain, he really did. Just the thought of Kate leaving made his chest feel tight. He hadn’t really explored his feelings for Kate, but he knew he wasn’t ready to say goodbye to her. Not by a long shot.
“How long are you going to be at Kandahar?” he asked.
Chance shrugged. “I’m scheduled to escort a VIP to Bagram tomorrow, but Jenna left around 4:00 a.m. this morning for the Kalagush region.”
Captain Larson’s primary mission was to transport troops and personnel from one base to another, and although she was assigned to Kandahar, her missions took her to every base in Afghanistan, including some of the remote operating bases. She usually flew in tandem with another Black Hawk, and sometimes with an Apache escort, as well.
“So I take it you’re not flying escort with her?”
Chance shook his head. “No such luck, I’m afraid.” Reaching out, he gave Chase’s shoulder a friendly punch. “But what the hell are you doing here? Jenna said she gave you a lift from Bagram to Camp Leatherneck, but I didn’t know you were going to be here at Kandahar.” His grin widened. “Not that I would have changed my plans with her to come and see you, of course. So why are you here?”
“The Pentagon has temporarily halted all special-operations missions,” Chase said grimly.
“Ah,” Chance replied. “I heard an airstrike went wrong about thirty miles from here last week. Is that why you’re here? Part of the investigation?”
Chase gave a snort. “Hardly. I was yanked out of the field and given a personal security assignment.”
“Really?” His brother’s face registered interest. “Anyone good?”
Oh, yeah.
Chase shrugged. “Some teenaged country singer and her publicist. Part of the big Independence Day concert tour that begins tonight.”
“Oh, man. I’m sorry, bro. I know how you hate those assignments.”
“Yeah.” His voice was noncommittal. He hated the assignment so much that he couldn’t wait to get showered and dressed and over to Kate’s housing unit to see her. But he wouldn’t tell his brother just how soft he’d become. Chance would have a field day if he knew his tough-as-nails, allbusiness brother had violated even one rule for the sake of a woman.
To his surprise, Chance burst out laughing.
“What?” he demanded.
“Man, you are so freaking transparent,” Chance said, still laughing. “Jenna told me all about your assignment. A pretty, curvy brunette who looked like she wanted to kill Jenna for just talking with you.” He gave Chase a knowing look. “You dog. You put the moves on her, didn’t you? C’mon, you can fool some people with your badass attitude, but not me, bro. I can see the truth. It’s written all over your face. You like this woman.”
He said it as a statement of fact, and not a question. But he was right; Chase had never been able to keep a secret from his twin and there was no point in even trying.
He blew out a hard breath. “Jesus, Chance, I’ve been with her all of three days and she’s so deep under my skin …” He scrubbed a hand over his hair. “But her client, the singer, flies in today, so it’s not like we’re going to have any chance to be alone again. And then in five more days, she leaves.”
Chance considered him for a long moment. “Okay, I tell you what. Jenna already left. She’ll be gone for at least a week. I was going to crash in her unit tonight, but I can always go bunk with the itinerant pilots. Why don’t you and your lady friend use her place tonight? Hell, use it for as long as you’re going to be here. I know Jenna won’t mind.”
The offer was so tempting that Chase was half inclined to retrieve Kate right then and drag her over to Captain Larson’s housing unit just so he could be alone with her. He ached to feel her body pressed against his own, and needed to hear her small cries of pleasure as he made love to her. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so eager to spend time with a woman.
Now he shook his brother’s hand. “Thanks. I appreciate the offer.”
“You bet. Look, I have to run, but it was great to see you.”
“You, too,” Chase said, and gave Chance the key to Captain Larson’s unit. “You take care of yourself, okay?”
He watched as Chance jogged away, then continued walking to the showers feeling lighter and more hopeful. He would be with Kate again that night, even if it was just for a few hours. He’d find someone to keep an eye on Kate’s sister for the time that they would be away from her.
Whistling softly under his breath, he thought the coming day might just be the best one he’d spent in Afghanistan so far.
12
PULLING ON HER SHOES, Kate decided this was going to be the worst day of her life. Even the prospect of seeing Tenley again didn’t raise her spirits. If anything, she felt exhausted at the idea of looking after her sister for the next several days. She just wanted the tour to be over and to return to the States. She’d spent most of the night lying in her bed thinking about her own future. One that didn’t include Major Chase Rawlins. Just the thought of him brought a painful lump to her chest.
Once the tour was over, she would return to Nashville with Tenley, but she’d decided that it was time to find her own place to live. She would continue to act as Tenley’s publicist, since it was clear that her sister needed her, but there was no reason for them to continue to live together. And then perhaps, in a couple of years, she could persuade Tenley to find another publicist. As for Chase … she would chalk it up as a learning experience and not make the same mistake again.
She gave her laces a hard yank. Did Captain Larson have any idea that Chase wasn’t faithful to her? Maybe they had an open relationship. Kate didn’t know and didn’t care; she only knew that she could never share Chase with another woman. She had a vivid image of him making love to the pilot, and her stomach twisted. “You okay, hon?”
Kate jerked her head up to see Jessica standing in the open door of the housing unit, watching her closely. She nodded and finished tying her other shoe. “Never better. My client comes in today and we can finally get this show on the road. I’m just anxious to get this over with so I can go home.”
“Amen,” Jessica said, leaving the door open as she came in. “We missed you at breakfast this morning, but I brought you a nice pastry.” She held out the offering, neatly folded in a white napkin. “Full of lemon custard. Looks delicious.”
Kate forced a smile and sat up straight on the small sofa. “Thank you, that was very thoughtful.”
“Oh, no bother at all,” Jessica replied, sitting down on the lower bunk, across from Kate. “So how are you really doing? You look a little peaked to me.”
Kate waved a dismissive hand. “No, I’m fine, really. Like I said, I’m just looking forward to going home.” She turned to pick up her watch from the side table. “I’ve decided that as much as I respect and admire what the troops are doing over here, if I never see another uniform in my life, it will be too soon. You might think they’re all hotties, but from what I can tell of the ones I’ve met, they’re just walking testosterone in combat boots.”
The masculine clearing of a throat had her turning guiltily toward the door, where Chase’s broad shoulders nearly blocked the daylight. He looked so strong and commanding in his uniform and his sunglasses that for a moment Kate’s heart leaped. Then the scene from the previous night came rushing back, and she determinedly looked away.
“Hmm,” murmured Jessica with a knowing smile. “You were saying?”
Kate stood up, but didn’t apologize, despite the fact she knew that Chase had overheard her disparaging remarks.
“Good morning,” she said, picking up her shoulder bag.
The sunlight behind him cast his face in shadow, and with his sunglasses on, it was impossible to read his expression. “Good morning,” he said carefully. “If you’re ready, we can head over to the concert site and check it out. Your client’s flight isn’t due to arrive for another two hours, which leaves us plenty of time.”
“Fine,” she said coolly. She turned to Jessica and Marion. “It was really nice meeting both of you. Maybe I’ll see you over at the flight line, but in case I don’t, have a safe trip back to the States.”
Marion gave her a hug. “Just remember that most guys are jerks,” she whispered in Kate’s ear. “Don’t be too hard on him.”
Kate gave her a stiff smile and pulled away.
“Now you listen to me,” Jessica whispered, as she hugged Kate. “I don’t know who this guy is, but I do know that he isn’t deserving of a second look from you. I saw what he was up to last night, too, so don’t you give him the time of day.”
Pulling away, Kate smiled at both women and turned to Chase. He jerked his sunglasses off and frowned, his sharp gaze sweeping her from head to toe and missing nothing.
“Everything okay?” he asked as they walked toward the Humvee that waited for them. “You have shadows under your eyes. Didn’t you sleep?”
“Not really,” she said stiffly. “Looks like you didn’t get much sleep, either.”
“I managed to grab a couple of hours.”
Kate barely suppressed a disdainful snort. She didn’t want to think about what Chase had been doing that prevented him from sleeping, and she certainly didn’t want him to know that she had witnessed him kissing Captain Larson. He was the Special Ops guy; let him figure out why she was in a bitchy mood this morning.
They rode in silence for several long minutes. She could sense his puzzlement and his concern, but refused to look over at him, or speak.
“Are you sure everything is okay?” he finally asked. “Because if there’s anything you need to talk about, I’m here for you.” His voice was so warm and compassionate that Kate’s resolve almost wavered.
Almost.
Instead, she turned and gave Chase a level look, despite the fact her heart was hammering inside her chest. “I’m fine. Really.”
“You know,” he mused, “I grew up on a ranch in Texas, and while it was just my parents and me and my brother, my uncle owned the neighboring ranch. He had five daughters. Five. Those girls spent as much time on our ranch as they did on their own, and I became pretty good at interpreting their moods.”
Kate gave him a tolerant look. “So?”
“So I know that when a woman says things like ‘I’m fine,’ and ‘Really,’ what she’s actually saying is ‘Screw you, I’m pissed at you,’ and ‘Leave me alone.’”
Kate couldn’t prevent her quick smile, but then she sobered. “Well then, if you’ve broken the code, you should heed the hidden message.”
“What’s going on, Kate? You can tell me anything.”
Kate gave a disdainful laugh and turned her attention out the window. “Thanks, but I don’t think so. Why don’t we just go look at the site, okay?”
She sensed his frustration, but he was nothing if not intuitive, and thankfully he didn’t pursue the topic. They drove in silence after that, until they arrived at an enormous parade field with a covered stage at the far end. Both the field and the stage swarmed with soldiers and technicians who were busy running electrical cables and wires, and setting up the amplifiers and speakers. A gigantic American flag provided the backdrop for the performers, and Kate watched as the lighting specialists flicked through all of the possible combinations.
“Wow,” she said, climbing out of the Humvee.
She walked toward the stage, taking note of the work being performed all around her. Along the perimeter of the parade field, food tents had been set up and Kate watched as the soldiers dragged out long tables and prepared enormous grills for what would surely be thousands of burgers and hot dogs over the course of the next two days and nights.
“This is amazing,” she said, turning to Chase. “You really get the sense that these guys have done this before.”
“They have,” Chase assured her. “This is the biggest base in Afghanistan, and hundreds of performers come through here. C’mon, I’ll show you where your client will be able to relax when she’s waiting to go onstage.”
He took her elbow in a gesture that should have been impersonal, but Kate couldn’t prevent herself from stiffening at the contact, and then pulling her arm away. She heard Chase mutter a curse and sensed that he wanted to confront her, but there was no way she could let him do that. She didn’t feel strong enough to get into it with him about Captain Larson, and she absolutely did not want him to see how much it hurt her that he could go from her bed to another woman’s bed.
Ignoring his frustration, she took her time examining the stage and the equipment preparations. She had been around concert performances for most of her life, first with her mother and then with Tenley. Watching the setup was as natural to her as breathing. When she had seen enough, she followed Chase into the building directly behind the stage. The USO had converted a dining facility into a large lounge area, with sofas and food stations, and just about everything the performers could want to either relax or practice before going onstage. There were several small rooms off to the side where they could even catch a quick nap.
Chase came to stand beside her. “The USO has arranged to have massage chairs set up for the performers, and there are some rooms in the back where they can warm up, if they choose to.”
Kate nodded, satisfied with everything she saw. “What time is the first performance?”
Chase pulled a small notepad out of a pocket on his camo pants and quickly scanned through it. “The first performance is tonight, but it’s more of a warm-up, with each group only doing one or two songs. Tomorrow, two groups will each perform three sets during the Independence Day barbecue while the other groups do photo signings and meet and greets. The real show begins early tomorrow evening, with all the groups performing well into the night.”
“So when will Tenley go onstage?”
“I don’t have the order of the performances. If you’d like, we can talk to the USO. They’ll have that information.”
“I know where they’re located,” Kate said quickly. “You don’t need to come with me.”
Chase looked swiftly around, then caught Kate by the wrist and all but dragged her to one of the anterooms. He pushed her up against a wall and trapped her there with a hand on either side of her head. She would have to duck beneath his arm in order to escape, but she could see by the grim expression on his face that even if she succeeded, she wouldn’t get very far.
“What the hell is going on, Kate? When I left you last night, everything seemed fine, and then this morning you begin treating me as if I’m a goddamned leper.” His eyes flashed. “Have I done something to offend you? Tell me what it is, so I can least try to fix it.”
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