was tired, yeah, but he could sleep when he was dead. What he had in mind to do to Vicki, he definitely had to be alive for.
Chapter Ten
It was pretty surreal since she was sitting in the war room of a firebase somewhere in Afghanistan, but Vicki hadn’t felt this good in…how long? At least a year. She tried not to think about that too much. She really didn’t like the connotations she kept reading into that fact, because she also hadn’t had a romantic relationship in a year. The cause and effect was not one she was willing to accept. She was smart, moderately successful, mostly satisfied with her lot in life—so why did it take a man to make her feel happy?
Although Ryan was not just any man. And what they’d shared together had been really, really great sex. Still, the feminist side of Vicki refused to admit it took a man to complete her.
Then Ryan walked into view and her breath caught in her throat. She felt her face flush. Maybe it didn’t take a man to complete her. Maybe it took Ryan.
He smiled the moment he saw her. She couldn’t stop the huge smile that crossed her lips. He winked at her, and a schoolgirl giggle threatened to well up from deep within her chest.
Right here in the war room, surrounded by soldiers, Vicki felt her heart get suspiciously squishy. She clamped down on it hard. This was neither the time nor the place for her to start to fall for Ryan, no matter how cute he was or how good the sex had been. They were at war in Afghanistan.
She lowered her gaze to the notebook in her lap and pretended to look busy flipping through the pages when Ryan walked over and sat down in the empty chair next to her.
“Hi.”
Except for the overwhelming sexual chemistry between them, she felt exactly like she had in fifth grade when Dan Molloy, the boy she had a crush on, sat down next to her in class. Looking up, she found herself focusing on his lips as he grinned. She felt her cheeks begin to heat up worse than before.
“Hi.” That was all she had time to say before Hawk entered the room and called the meeting to order. Apparently, Hawk had briefed his team that she was here. Knowing him, he’d probably warned them to steer clear, because except for a smirking nod from Wally, the rest pointedly ignored her.
It was as if she were invisible until Hawk narrowed his eyes at her. “Put the notebook away, Miss Vanover. I said you could sit in on the squad meeting, not take notes or write about it. Be grateful I’m even allowing you to be here. Don’t make me change my mind.”
After that unnecessarily mean statement, the team did react to her presence. She heard a few snickers from various men around the room. Blushing with embarrassment, Vicki closed her notebook with a snap and folded her arms. She scowled and shot Hawk a nasty look.
Hawk bobbed his head, his form of a thank you she guessed, and then went back to ignoring her as he addressed his troops.
Ryan’s shoulder bumped hers lightly. “Don’t mind him.” He spoke so softly, only she would be able to hear it.
Vicki nodded. Ignoring Hawk was easy, but Ryan? Ignoring him was not so easy. His closeness made it nearly impossible to concentrate on what was happening at the team meeting, and she had really wanted to pay attention since she couldn’t take notes.
As it turned out, by the end she barely remembered a thing covered during the short time. There was a lot of talk about duties, schedules and maintenance. Of course, it didn’t help that Hawk spoke in what sounded like a foreign language to her. Oh, she was quite sure it was English, just the military kind, which was like a foreign language to a civilian, she supposed.
Meanwhile, Ryan was so close she could feel the heat radiating off his arm as they sat. After Hawk had dismissed the men, Ryan didn’t move. He didn’t get up as the war room began to clear, so neither did she. When there was just the two of them remaining, Vicki’s body started to really pay attention, even
Chapter Ten
It was pretty surreal since she was sitting in the war room of a firebase somewhere in Afghanistan, but Vicki hadn’t felt this good in…how long? At least a year. She tried not to think about that too much. She really didn’t like the connotations she kept reading into that fact, because she also hadn’t had a romantic relationship in a year. The cause and effect was not one she was willing to accept. She was smart, moderately successful, mostly satisfied with her lot in life—so why did it take a man to make her feel happy?
Although Ryan was not just any man. And what they’d shared together had been really, really great sex. Still, the feminist side of Vicki refused to admit it took a man to complete her.
Then Ryan walked into view and her breath caught in her throat. She felt her face flush. Maybe it didn’t take a man to complete her. Maybe it took Ryan.
He smiled the moment he saw her. She couldn’t stop the huge smile that crossed her lips. He winked at her, and a schoolgirl giggle threatened to well up from deep within her chest.
Right here in the war room, surrounded by soldiers, Vicki felt her heart get suspiciously squishy. She clamped down on it hard. This was neither the time nor the place for her to start to fall for Ryan, no matter how cute he was or how good the sex had been. They were at war in Afghanistan.
She lowered her gaze to the notebook in her lap and pretended to look busy flipping through the pages when Ryan walked over and sat down in the empty chair next to her.
“Hi.”
Except for the overwhelming sexual chemistry between them, she felt exactly like she had in fifth grade when Dan Molloy, the boy she had a crush on, sat down next to her in class. Looking up, she found herself focusing on his lips as he grinned. She felt her cheeks begin to heat up worse than before.
“Hi.” That was all she had time to say before Hawk entered the room and called the meeting to order. Apparently, Hawk had briefed his team that she was here. Knowing him, he’d probably warned them to steer clear, because except for a smirking nod from Wally, the rest pointedly ignored her.
It was as if she were invisible until Hawk narrowed his eyes at her. “Put the notebook away, Miss Vanover. I said you could sit in on the squad meeting, not take notes or write about it. Be grateful I’m even allowing you to be here. Don’t make me change my mind.”
After that unnecessarily mean statement, the team did react to her presence. She heard a few snickers from various men around the room. Blushing with embarrassment, Vicki closed her notebook with a snap and folded her arms. She scowled and shot Hawk a nasty look.
Hawk bobbed his head, his form of a thank you she guessed, and then went back to ignoring her as he addressed his troops.
Ryan’s shoulder bumped hers lightly. “Don’t mind him.” He spoke so softly, only she would be able to hear it.
Vicki nodded. Ignoring Hawk was easy, but Ryan? Ignoring him was not so easy. His closeness made it nearly impossible to concentrate on what was happening at the team meeting, and she had really wanted to pay attention since she couldn’t take notes.
As it turned out, by the end she barely remembered a thing covered during the short time. There was a lot of talk about duties, schedules and maintenance. Of course, it didn’t help that Hawk spoke in what sounded like a foreign language to her. Oh, she was quite sure it was English, just the military kind, which was like a foreign language to a civilian, she supposed.
Meanwhile, Ryan was so close she could feel the heat radiating off his arm as they sat. After Hawk had dismissed the men, Ryan didn’t move. He didn’t get up as the war room began to clear, so neither did she. When there was just the two of them remaining, Vicki’s body started to really pay attention, even
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