Navy Orders

by Geri Krotow

  “How much time did you see downrange?” Bill’s voice was loud in Miles’s ear. Miles knew Bill’s type. Good guy, trustworthy in battle. He didn’t like him, though, simply because Bill had the hots for Roanna.

  “Enough.” Miles nodded toward Ro and motioned with the glass of beer in his hand. “How do you two know each other?”

  Bill put a possessive arm around Ro’s shoulders. From her expression, she’d have preferred he didn’t. Miles bit back the urge to let out a loud “whoop!” He kept it to a slight smile.

  “Ro and I have known each other since we were kids, haven’t we?” Bill sent Ro the briefest glance before he leaned back toward Miles and shoved the neck of his beer bottle at him.

  “We met when we were plebes at the boat school. Ro was all of ninety-nine pounds soaking wet, but she sure had spunk!” Bill grabbed Ro’s shoulder and squeezed her against his body. Miles had to take a swig of his beer to keep from laughing at the look of pure torture on Ro’s face. He hadn’t had this much fun in way too long.

  “Did you guys date back at the boat school?” Miles used Bill’s nickname for the naval academy.

  “No.” Ro spoke up as she eased herself out from under Bill’s arm. Miles suspected that the smell from Bill’s flight suit wasn’t so pleasant up close. The fire-resistant material was similar to battle fatigues and had a penchant for harboring the pungent aromas of jet fuel and body odor.

  “We never dated.”

  “Not that I didn’t try, right, Ro? We had a couple of close calls here and there—” Bill grinned at Miles “—if you know what I’m talking about.”

  “Oh, I know, man, I know.” Miles laughed and hoped Bill thought it was with him. He couldn’t ignore the ominous sparks in Ro’s eyes.

  “Hey, B.B.!” A group of male voices yelled from across the club for their leader. Bill held up his bottle of beer to acknowledge his minions.

  “Gotta go. Be right back.” Bill didn’t even glance at Miles again. He was in his element with his squadron buddies as he lunged across the bar toward them.

  Miles stood closer to Ro as she remained seated on the bar stool. He couldn’t attempt to kiss her here. It would probably earn him a smack if he did.

  “It must be tough for you to share Bill’s attention.”

  “Shut up, Warrant.” She didn’t appreciate his humor.

  “Wait a minute.” He put his glass on the bar. “Are you glowering at me, Ro?”

  “As if.” She rolled her eyes and sipped from her nearly empty glass.

  “Let me get you another one.” He motioned at the bartender.

  “No, I’ve had enough.” He watched her spare one last glance at Bill, in the far corner yukking it up with his cohorts.

  “Wait, Ro, I’m sorry. I’m just yanking your chain.” He put a hand on her forearm. “Your eye looks better.”

  “Yeah—for a Gila monster. Stop kidding yourself, Miles. What you’re doing isn’t ‘yanking my chain.’ It’s being the same pain in the ass you’ve been since you saved my mother’s damn fur ball.”

  Uh-oh. Her eyes were glassy, just like they’d been on Tuesday. His heart sank. The last thing he wanted to do was make Ro cry.

  “And here I thought you were an animal lover, Commander.”

  She sat up straight and narrowed her eyes.

  “I happen to love animals—the four-legged kind.” She turned away. “I’m allergic to cats. Not that that has anything to do with anything.” He noted how her whole face seemed to droop. Her pretty eyes were sad with thoughts unspoken and the slope of her shoulders conveyed exhaustion.

  “You’re beat, Commander. We could get a call at any time, even this late in the game. You should get some shut-eye.”

  She shot him a sheepish smile.

  “We call it ‘rack time’ at the academy.”

  He groaned. “Please tell me you’re not a ring-knocker like your buddy Bill?” He detested academy grads who flashed their class ring around like a sword. He knew Ro wasn’t in that group but had to call her on it.

  “Hardly. Do you even see my ring on these hands?” She held up her fingers and wiggled them at him.

  “I’ve noticed your ring before.”

  She smiled, and he wanted to slap himself for such an obvious giveaway. He was going to scare the hell out of Ro if he reminded her that he’d been aware of her since the day they’d met.

  “I didn’t realize you cared so much, Miles.”

  He’d scared himself with how much he cared.

  “Ro, any chance you’d let me take you out on Sunday?”

  “Out where?”

  “A day trip. A getaway.”

  “Don’t ask me now, Miles. I’m not in the mood.” She walked off without further comment.

  He fought every instinct to go after her as he watched her leave the club.

  It was a new thing for him, to fight his instincts.

  * * *

  RO WALKED AS swiftly as she could to her car and let out a sigh of relief once she was safely locked inside. It was the first moment of solitude she’d had since she drove to work this morning.

  The car warmed up and chased away the late-afternoon chill brought on by the fog bank that had rolled in while she’d been at the club. She eased it into gear and made her way out of the lot, dreaming of her bed.

  Except she wasn’t guaranteed peace and quiet at home, either. Krissy, Dick and Mom were still in town, and would most likely be at home. She wanted to scream. Instead, she turned on the radio.

  Before she could find a radio station playing the kind of music she needed to blast her head clear, her eyes caught a tall figure leaving the O Club.

  She immediately recognized Miles. Even in the fog and dimming daylight. Guilt at how viciously she’d shut him down tugged at her.

  It was going to take all her energy to get through the rest of her tour with him so close. Energy she didn’t have.

  She’d let him too far into her life.

  How the hell had the week in which she’d planned to start her new life turned into a week of being bombarded by every emotion known to woman?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  “I THOUGHT YOU’D have gone to dinner.” Ro took in her dining room table, rarely used, which Delores had set with a combination of Italian and Polish ceramics. It was a beautiful table, Ro admitted. She should do this for herself, have a few friends over, more often.

  “No way, honey! I decided it’d be the perfect night to sit down together over a home-cooked meal. Your hours are crazy, Roanna. I’ll bet you eat out most of the week, don’t you?”

  “No, I actually eat at home most nights, Mom.” Because her life was so damned boring. Until this past week.

  “Well, I went ahead and made us a nice pot roast with all the trimmings. There’re still a few pieces of pie left, and I baked cookies while you were gone today.”

  “Where’re Krissy and Dick?”

  “Upstairs. They needed a nap after running all over the island today. Krissy says it’s the most beautiful place she’s ever seen!”

  “Mom, you should have gone with them.” It was just like her mom to stay in and play the martyr cook and housekeeper.

  “I wasn’t going to impose on their time. Besides, it’s you I’m here for, Roanna. It was important to me to have a nice meal ready for you. Maybe you’d like to invite your friend?”

  Ro’s heart broke. Delores was overinvolved and smothering whenever she put her mind to taking care of either of her girls, but she was only doing the best she knew how. And Ro wished she did have that special “friend” to invite over.

  You would if you hadn’t been such a bitch to him.

  “Mom, can I get back to you on that? Let me go for a run and I’ll be home in time to eat. Are you thinking
an hour from now?”

  “Yes, that should give Krissy long enough.”

  * * *

  RO MADE IT OUT of her uniform and into her running gear in five minutes flat. Before she could talk herself out of it, she ran out the door—and over to Miles’s house. It was less than two kilometers to his door and she gained more courage with each step she ran.

  This was the right thing to do. Apologize. Make sure Miles knew it wasn’t him; she was the one who had the problems.

  Her bravado melted away at the sight of his truck in the driveway. He was home, and this wasn’t just an idea any longer, it was a reality. She had to take action.

  After she knocked on his front door, she waited for Lucky to bark in alert.

  At the ensuing silence, she figured Miles had gone for a run with the dog. Disappointment washed over her as she turned to go back down the steps.

  “Ro.”

  His voice stopped her and she turned back. He’d opened the door without a sound and stood in a pair of boxers and an old T-shirt. He’d needed to get out of his work clothes as quickly as she had.

  “Where’s Lucky?”

  “My buddy came back early. She’s back with him, happy as can be.” He shrugged but she saw the defeat in his eyes. He was thinking about Riva again.

  “Oh.”

  “What can I do for you?”

  “I, um, want to apologize for being such a bitch back at the O Club. You aren’t the reason for my issues, Miles. I am. The problem with us isn’t you, it’s me.”

  “I see. Well, don’t worry about it. It’s been a long week.”

  She bowed her head and scuffed the wood porch. This was crazy but what hadn’t been since she’d kissed Miles last week?

  “Look, my mother’s in town and is in the midst of fixing a dinner that rivals Thanksgiving in the chow hall. I’d love it if you’d join us. You’ll need to ignore their stupid chatter, and understand that they’ll try to marry us off. But don’t worry, we’re friends, we have to be friends. I know you understand—”

  “Ro.” His finger was on her lips. “Yes, I’ll join you for dinner. No more explanations needed. What time?”

  * * *

  RO WANTED TO KICK herself for bringing Miles into her family drama. What the heck had she been thinking?

  They sat around the kitchen table, drinking coffee and tea. The dining room table had been resplendent with Delores’s best recipes. For that, Ro had been grateful. She hadn’t cooked Miles a homemade meal yet. It smacked too much of long-term to her. Besides, they’d been too busy with the Perez case.

  “Ro tells me you’re a war hero, Miles.” Delores batted her eyelashes at him.

  “I did no such thing, Mom.” She turned to Miles, who was squeezed between her and Delores. “Not that you aren’t. Of course you’re a war hero.”

  “Having a lifelong disability from a war injury doesn’t qualify me as a hero.” His comment, his attention, was all for her. In the midst of her psycho family, Miles made her calmer than any prescription tranquilizer ever could.

  “You were injured?” Dick had his surgeon’s face on.

  “I lost my left leg, below the knee.” Miles stirred his coffee as if he’d just spoken about the Whidbey Island weather.

  Krissy gasped.

  “Why didn’t you tell us?” Her demand was aimed at Ro.

  “It’s not my business to tell you.” Ro secretly hid her smile of satisfaction and quiet pride for Miles. Unless someone met him at the gym or when he was wearing shorts, there was no way to tell he was an amputee.

  “It’s not a secret, folks. I’m lucky to be able to have shared this great meal with you. A lot of my friends and our colleagues—” he nodded at Ro “—never made it back.”

  Delores was under Miles’s spell. Men were the most important thing in her life. “Just think, you saved my dear cat by climbing up that big tree, all with one leg! No wonder you’ve been able to convince Ro to date you!”

  “We’re not dating, Mom.” Ro hid her annoyance by shoving another peanut butter cookie in her mouth.

  “Oh, that reminds me.” Krissy’s eyes were innocently wide. “I think I have your undershirt, Miles. I found it in Ro’s room on Monday morning.”

  Miles shot Ro a rueful smile. His eyes conveyed compassion.

  “What were you doing in my room?”

  “I was cleaning and doing your sheets for you. I know you’ve been under a lot of stress at work and since we’ve all barged in on you I wanted to help.”

  Ro scowled at Krissy, too angry to speak.

  “I know it’s Miles’s shirt because it has an emblem on it with the word EOD on it. You said he’s EOD, didn’t you, Dick?”

  “Yes, honey.”

  “Ro, we’re all adults here. No need to hide your relationship with Miles. Right, Miles?” Delores put her hand on his forearm.

  “Whatever.” Ro suddenly felt the weight of another foot on hers under the table. Miles winked and sheer lust bolted through her at his touch, the unexpected intimacy. As she continued to meet his searching stare, the lust turned into something deeper. Riskier.

  She’d fallen in love with Miles.

  “I’ve been trying to convince Ro to let me take her away on Sunday. Maybe you three can help me.”

  The revelation that she’d fallen for him turned to resistance.

  “No help needed. My family’s only here for a short time, right?” She nailed all three of them with her frostiest glare. “I need to spend Sunday with them.”

  “But we’ve already booked Mom and us back to New Jersey for Sunday night. We’ll return the rental to the airport. There’s no reason for you to stay here on Sunday, Ro.” Dick’s use of “Mom” for Delores should have bothered Ro since he’d never been so familiar with her while they’d dated, but it didn’t.

  Nothing seemed to bother her much lately, except Miles.

  “What do you say, Ro? It’d do us both good to get off the island and away from it all. Don’t make me go alone.” Miles smiled and she had to give him points for his steel balls. The old Ro would have run from him, faster than ever now that she’d figured out she’d fallen for him.

  They’d never work out.

  It didn’t mean they couldn’t spend a day together, though.

  She sighed.

  “Where are we going?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  THE FERRY PULLED away from the pier and made a huge white froth in its wake. Ro stood next to Miles, her hands on the deck railing. It had sounded like a good idea, to go to Canada with him for the day, but now as the hours stretched before them she wondered what they were going to talk about.

  “Smell that air? There’s nothing like the smell of the Pacific Northwest.” Miles put his arm around her shoulders. “We’ve got all day to enjoy it.” He smiled and took in another deep breath before he turned to face her. His expression sobered when he saw she wasn’t as enthusiastic about their trip to Victoria, British Columbia.

  “Why so grim, Ro? This is going to be fun, I promise.” He rubbed her right shoulder in an effort to soothe her. It only made her more aware of his nearness, his ability to captivate her with a single touch.

  “Maybe I’m just tired from all the running around for the investigation.” She gave him a smile. She couldn’t see his eyes clearly as they both wore sunglasses but the crinkles around them told her he was smiling as he focused on her.

  “It’s out of our hands at this point, don’t you think? With Reis’s arrest I don’t see what else we can do. Did you ever figure out anything more from the aircraft maintenance stats?”

  “No, and even if I do, what good would come of it? As Reis told us, there’s no hard proof. If the commodore did bribe Perez, there’s no evidence. No charge, certainly not one that
would stick. Besides, now that they arrested the master chief, how can we even be sure that what she told us was true?”

  “I thought the same thing.” Miles kissed the top of her head. “I do think it’s strange that we haven’t heard anything from or about Reis, though. We’d know if she was still in custody, but all I heard was that she’s put in for an extended leave.”

  “That is odd, I have to admit.”

  It was so calm out here with Miles. She hated pushing her point, but had to, one last time.

  “We still don’t know whose footprints those were on the cliff, Miles. Whoever they belonged to could have pushed him. In any case, we’ll never get the proof that the commodore paid Perez to falsify the safety inspections. You know all of this, too, but I have the feeling you think everyone will come to justice. I don’t get it.”

  He dropped his arm from her shoulders and gripped the railing with both hands.

  “If there’s one thing I’ve learned while I was at war, and after, while I was sweating bullets to get through physical therapy, it’s that life isn’t fair. The bad guys don’t always get caught, you’re right. In this case, we might have more than one bad guy, or gal,” he said, referring to Master Chief Reis.

  “You don’t really think Lydia did it, do you?”

  “No, I don’t. But we have to keep all possibilities on the table.

  She nodded slowly.

  “Come here, Ro, let’s sit.” He put his hand on the small of her back and gently nudged her toward the wooden bench that ran the length of the ferry’s upper deck.

  She sank her spine against the aged bench and marveled at how it was at once so comfortable and so unyielding. The curve of the seat was perfect to lean against and enjoy the view of sea, sun and mountains.

  “Do you agree with me that we’re close to finishing the case?” she asked.

  “Yes, I do think we’re close. But I can’t sit idle if there’s a chance that someone out there is a murderer. Especially if they think they’ve gotten away with it.” She crossed her arms in front of her.

  “My point exactly, Ro. They haven’t gotten away with anything. Even if Perez went out to the cliff to walk and clear his mind, he ended up dying. Probably at the hands of another person, yes. Whether that person meant to kill him or just scare him doesn’t matter—the result is the same.”