“Dallas worked their butts off.”
“That will make them appreciate your gentle but firm hand,” Gus declared with a grin. Cam was a softy. Gus knew that as time went on, she’d grow into her role as C.O. of this mission. Much of her wavering was gone, replaced with a confident look—that of a leader who knew what she was doing and what she wanted to accomplish. As he set the board on her desk, Gus knew that his love for her gave her confidence, too. It was wonderful to see Cam growing daily before his eyes.
“Maybe it will,” she said with a wicked smile. She saw the smoldering look in Gus’s cinnamon-colored eyes and her body hotly responded. “Hey, you know this weekend?”
“Yeah?”
“Let’s snoop around south TJ and see if we can find an apartment to live in. I don’t want to keep living here, do you?”
Shaking his head, Gus said, “No. One apartment or two?”
“One.”
“One bedroom?”
“One bed. The two of us in it.”
“Roger. I hear you loud and clear.”
Laughing, Cam sat down at her desk. There were a bunch of manuals to look through, read and then create written orders from. “Good.”
Gus watched as she pulled the manuals in front of her. “Do you think Maya is going to mind about us?”
“It will be all right, Gus. She won’t send you packing to another base, if that’s what you’re worried about. A number of her pilots have met guys—fallen in love and married them. They all work at BJS in one form or another.” Cam knew he was worried about their intimacy. Normally, office romance was discouraged by the military. If they became engaged, as he and Cam had, then it was a dicey situation. Gus knew in a regular army mission he’d probably be sent away—permanently.
“Dallas liked the ring,” he said, pride in his tone.
Lifting her hand, Cam looked at it, then sent a warm look in his direction. “Yes, she’ll tell Maya. I’m sure that Sergeant Joanne Prater, Maya’s desk clerk, will wag that tale all over BJS in short order—another woman pilot has crashed and burned and found a guy.” She laughed and shook her head. “Prater knows what’s gossip and what’s top secret. When she hears Dallas describing your beautiful ring to Maya, she’ll go racing out the door to tell everyone.”
Gus smiled with her. “I hope someday to go down there, to BJS.”
“I’m sure you will—with me.”
He tapped the desk with his fingertips. “And we’ve been asked to go back to the village. Grandfather Adaire said because of my Indian blood, and my mother’s gifts, they want me to do more training.”
“I know,” Cam said, leaning back in the chair. “Is that high on your list of things to do?”
“No…not yet,” Gus murmured, holding her luminous green gaze. A fierce love swept through him. “My heart, my soul, are centered on you, querida. On our life here.” He looked around, his brows dipping. “We’re in combat mode every time we fly. Our lives are on the line. I just found you and I don’t want to let you or what we have go.” And then his mouth crooked. “Maybe in a couple of years I’ll think about it. But not now…”
Cam slid her hand into the one he held toward her. “I like the old-fashioned approach we’re taking, Gus.”
“What? A year-long engagement? That’s what my father did with my mother—courted her nonstop. And that’s what I’m going to do with you. I’m going to show you how many ways you make me happy, how you make my life feel like it’s filled with sunlight every morning when I wake up. Then…” he lifted her hand, leaned down and placed a moist kiss on the back of it “…if all goes well, I’m going to be asking you, next year at this time, to marry me.”
“I like your plan, Chief Morales.”
He reluctantly released her hand. They were on active military duty now, and personal wants and desires had to be laid aside. Still, it was tough for Gus to do. He’d made love with Cam last night, and early this morning once again, just before they’d left the village. His body tingled hotly in memory of her warmth, her fierce response.
“What do you say we go down and check out our steed then?” he suggested. Gesturing to the manuals, he coaxed, “Leave them for later. Let’s get into some sunshine, blue sky and fresh air. Together…”
AN HONORABLE WOMAN
ISBN: 978-1-4268-3728-9
Copyright © 2003 by Eileen Nauman
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An Honorable Woman Page 24
