Nic quietly gathered her clothes and dressed as streaks of red and gray slashed across the sky. She should have left hours ago. Cherise and Lindsey…. Well, Cherise would be worried sick about her. Probably thinking she’d been strangled and chopped up into little tiny bits, based on her warning as Nic had left the bar. And she would have left, if lying in Kyle’s arms hadn’t felt so right, all warm and safe and wanted. The total opposite of being with her ex, who used to give a quick kiss before rolling over with his back to her.
So she had stayed, had even toyed with the fantasy of waking with Kyle in the morning and him asking her to spend the day with him, which was ludicrous. Her life was taking her to Georgia and he had said he’d just flown in from the West Coast. Being a Navy brat and active duty, she knew long distance relationships never survived.
She thought about waking him to say goodbye or to at least leave a note, but what would she say? Thanks for the great sex? No, it was best to leave it as it was and what it would be, a fun memory. With one last look at Kyle’s sleeping form she slipped out the door.
* * *
Kyle rolled over at the soft click of the hotel door closing. It took a few seconds for his brain to register the origin of the sound and the fact that he was alone in bed. Without thinking he jumped up and tugged open the door to an empty hallway, which, given his state of undress, was probably a good thing. He closed the door and gave the room a quick inspection.
No note.
Damn.
He’d gone to sleep, dreaming of the woman in his arms and fantasizing about how he’d wake her up with another round of sex. Kissing those soft lips, running his hands over her smooth skin as her long, silky hair cascaded over him.
After, they’d call up for breakfast in his room and while they waited they could indulge in a hot shower where he’d talk her into spending the morning with him until they had to check-out and go their separate ways. For a while he toyed with the idea of their one night turning into something more, but what was the point? In less than a week, he’d be gone and no woman wanted to wait months for a guy she just met.
Besides, as much as he liked her and enjoyed their time together he didn’t see her as the type to fit in with his life or family. She screamed of tradition, two point five kids in matching outfits, Sunday dinners with the in-laws, vacations on the Cape, and deep roots. They hadn’t talked family, but he wouldn’t be surprised to find she lived in one of Boston’s Back Bay Victorian brownstones or some high-rise facing Central Park in Manhattan.
She came from a class too many levels above his origins. Not that his parents embarrassed him. They worked hard and did the best they could with the obstacles life had thrown them. The dipshit twins were another thing, not to mention the extended family, all prime candidates for a daytime talk show.
No, Nic wouldn’t fit in. She had an air of sophistication about her. She belonged in a country club and he belonged in a dive bar.
She’d be a fantasy he’d reflect back on during those long, lonely watches. It was a shame the fantasy had to end so soon.
A soft tap on the door had him grinning as he grabbed the sheet and headed for the door. “Forget something?” he asked.
The ugly mugs of Mace and Bryant peered back. “What?” Kyle snarled.
“Expecting someone else?” Mace pushed the door open and he and Bryant walked in.
“Yeah, room service. You two look like shit. Are you just now rolling in?”
“Unlike some, I went to bed alone.” Mace propped himself against the desk and Kyle had to turn away to block out the memories of the night before.
“You’re looking well rested for a guy who left with a babe. What happened? Did you crash and burn?” Bryant leaned against the wall near the bathroom, a cocksure grin on his face.
“I don’t kiss and tell.” Kyle stared at the alarm clock on the nightstand in disbelief. It had to be wrong. “What time is it anyway?”
“Six a.m., buddy, and you need to get dressed.” Mace stood and stuffed his hands in his pockets.
Kyle dropped back on the bed and closed his eyes. “Go away. I don’t want breakfast.”
“That’s good. The XO called a wardroom meeting at 0830,” said Bryant.
Kyle shot up to a sitting position and swung his legs over to plant his feet on the carpeted floor. “On a Sunday? This can’t be a good sign.”
Mace tossed him his jeans before shoving his hand back in his pocket to jiggle the car keys. “If it hasn’t been one thing, it’s been another with this upcoming deployment. Makes me question why the hell I stay in.”
“Because you’d miss us,” said Bryant.
“Not as much as I miss my wife. Meet you downstairs in fifteen, Hutch,” Mace said.
Grabbing clean clothes from his bag, Kyle hit the rain locker. Yeah, the Navy life wasn’t for everyone. Even for the best of couples it was a trial, which was why he should let Nic go and enjoy the memory.
Chapter Three
Nic dropped into the chair opposite her girls Wednesday night with a heavy sigh. Excitement and nerves bounced around inside of her. The class officer had just handed her a primo opportunity. While she was stoked about the idea, it meant staying in Groton instead of heading to King’s Bay, Georgia with her friends.
“What’s with the look of despair?” Lindsey asked.
“Did you get into another fight with your dad?” Cherise gave her a sympathetic look, as neither of her parents had been on board with her joining the military either.
“No, I haven’t talked to my dad in over a week.” Nic tapped her heavy boots on the linoleum floor of the lounge. “Actually, there’s been a change in my orders.”
“Oh Sugar, your dad didn’t get you kicked out of the sub force, did he?” Cherise asked as she sat up straight, her jaw clenching.
“No, I’m pretty sure he had nothing to do with this. I’m not going to Georgia. One of the supply officers here in Groton had a serious accident this past week and now his boat is in need of a replacement.”
“But I thought the boats here aren’t set up for coed crews?” Lindsey voice was filled with concern and confusion. Not that Nic could blame her.
“They aren’t, except this is urgent as they’re deploying in less than a week and I’m the best option they have. I’m not sure how they’re going to make it work. That’ll be the XO’s problem. I’m just glad my parents are on vacation, because if I’m bunking with two guys, my mom will flip.”
“What about your brothers?” Cherise gasped.
Nic rolled her eyes and let out a deep sigh. “Oh, fudge. Let’s not even go there. I’m just glad we’re getting underway so quickly. Sometimes, Liam and Reece can be the worst. By the time they find out, there will be nothing they can do like give me a hard time or call our parents or the detailer and finagle some new deal to have me sent elsewhere.”
“Well, if you don’t want the orders I’ll take them. I have no problem with a coed stateroom and no interfering family to worry about.” Lindsey gave her a salacious grin, her eyes lit up with hope.
Nic laughed and Cherise let out a long, drawn-out sigh.
“Somehow I think the XO will figure out a way to avoid coed berthing. The thing is, while I’m excited, I’m also scared. We’re only the second wave of women on Tridents, but I’ll be the first on a fast-attack and I’ll be alone. Not to mention we’re not talking about being underway for eighty-five days. We’re talking one hundred and eighty. What if I can’t hack it?”
Cherise waved her concern away. “Please, if any of us can, Sugar, it’s you. You’ve been Navy your whole life. I’m gonna miss you, girl, but you’ll do right by all of us.”
“Thanks, but it also leaves you a roommate short.”
“We’ll manage,” Lindsey cut in. “And look on the bright side—since you’re staying here, you can hook up again with Mr. Hot-One-Night-Stand and turn it into a smoldering hot love affair.”
Nic looked to Cherise
, who simply shrugged her shoulders and smiled. Lindsey’s optimistic and outgoing personality was one of the reasons they’d hit it off so well. Her daring, I’ll-try-anything attitude was another and something Nic had looked forward to being around. With Lindsey there was never a dull moment, of which she’d had too many of in her life this past year. Nic had turned from a fun, spur-of-the-moment person to the Mayor of Dullsville.
“Except that,” she said and held up her fingers and ticked off her points, “One, I’m leaving in a few days for six months. Two, he said he’s from the West Coast and three, we didn’t exchange contact information.” They hadn’t even exchanged last names, which told her he clearly wasn’t interested in more than the one night.
Linds let out a little groan. “I can’t help you there either, because the minute I found out his buddy, Mace, was married, I backed away like the man had the plague.”
A second later, Lindsey’s face lit up and she turned to Cherise. “Hey, you and Bryant hit it off really well. Did you get his number?”
Before she could answer, a group of young sailors, all in the eighteen to twenty age bracket, walked by and their conversation had all three women clenching their jaws.
“I agree with my dad. Women on subs are nothing but trouble,” one guy said.
“Next they’ll want to play professional football,” another said.
“Hey, I’ve got no problem with them being on board, especially that hot blonde. She has needs too.”
The men walked out of range and the three of them sat quietly. Change didn’t always come easy and they knew getting into this that they’d come up against some old-fashioned frames of mind, but hearing it out loud hit home hard.
“I’d like to be a fly on the wall when their COB hears those comments. The Chief of the Boat is going to rip them apart, put them back together and do it all over again,” said Nic.
The first time Nic had ever seen her dad, who was now a vice admiral, rip into a young sailor she’d been shocked. Up until then, she had thought he’d been hard on her and her brothers at home. Compared to his men, they had it easy. There was no place in the military for disrespect and unruly conduct and she had a feeling the young NUBs would find that out the hard way.
“They’re young. They’ll learn,” said Cherise.
“Yeah, but it’s not just the young guys who feel that way. I overheard a couple of the wives talking at the NEX the other day when I was shopping. They’re worried we’re going to sleep with their husbands,” said Lindsey.
“Have they ever been on a sub? Where would we get horizontal?” Cherise threw up her hands and let out a snort of disgust. “Our racks are more like open-sided coffins and we sleep snuggled up next to torpedo tubes. That doesn’t scream romance.”
Lindsey shifted her gaze to the group of guys across the room. “Seriously, I may joke about it with the two of you, but if I could control myself in Nowhereville, Kansas, where there actually was space to get horizontal with another person, then I think I can control myself on a sub. Besides the only two places with privacy and enough room to get down and dirty with another would be the XO or CO’s staterooms. No thanks.”
“Don’t want to live on the edge, Linds?” Nic teased her friend.
“Honey, that’s not the edge. That’s dancing with the devil.”
“Agreed. My dad would have flipped had someone ever used his stateroom for a tryst. The surface community isn’t a whole lot better. Women have just been part of it long enough that the scuttle has died down.”
Nic knew though, that a cheater would always find a way to cheat. Blame the long separations, long hours, kids, insecurity, or whatever. They were nothing but stories to clear the conscience.
Jumping up from her seat, Nic said, “Enough of this depressing talk. Today we graduated and tomorrow is the start of something new and fabulous for all of us. Let’s get out of these uniforms and go out to celebrate. I vote for Italian.”
The other two agreed and they headed out of the student lounge.
“Hey, Cherise, you never answered whether you had Bryant’s number or not.” Lindsey reminded them as they headed to the car.
She hesitated in answering, looking at her phone and then to Nic. “I do.”
“Great. Hook a sister up and get Nic that guy’s number.”
“I’ll give him a call if you want, Nic, but first there’s something about Kyle you should know.”
Nic held up her hand and stopped her as she unlocked the car doors. Did she want to know this something? Did she even want to get in touch with him? The night was great and the sex was amazing, but some niggling doubt held her back. Some fear that if she really got to know him, he’d be like all the others or a total jerk. She batted the idea back and forth, while the other two stood waiting.
“Tell me one thing first,” Nic said. “He’s not married is he?”
“Nope,” Cherise answered.
“Not wanted by the police or an ex-con?”
“Highly doubtful.” At Nic’s pained expressed, Cherise laughed. “It’s not like I asked. Okay, I did ask if he was a serial killer or rapist, but I was only joking. Sort of.”
Well, okay, that was good news. So what was so vital that her friend felt she needed to know before getting her the number? Obviously it was something that would make Nic think twice or Cherise wouldn’t have brought it up.
“You know, don’t tell me and don’t get me his number. If it’s meant to be, the fates will bring us back together. If not, I get a happy memory to cherish.”
* * *
All hell had been breaking loose for the past five days and Kyle couldn’t wait to get underway and have life resume its normal flow. Tempers were running on high, which was par for the course. The married guys were bitching about leaving their families, all the while fighting with their wives. The single guys were itching to get the hell out of Dodge and see some place new. Not that Kyle blamed them. “It’s not just a job, it’s an adventure” was still one of the first things out of a recruiter’s mouth.
They’d had equipment break down, supplies not show up, a few reported as unauthorized absent, and of course, a couple of fistfights. Nothing new there or in the neverending lineup of meetings he had to attend.
He’d just finished up a meeting with his own guys, giving them instructions on what he wanted done by the time he got back. Now he was at another meeting, this time in the wardroom with all the officers, the Chief of the Boat, and their Leading Yeoman. Kyle grabbed a cup of stale coffee and dropped down next to Mace and Bryant.
The Commanding Officer, Aaron Holloway stood. He was short, built to mow down linebackers and wore a perpetual frown. Every set of eyes focused on him and the room went as silent as a church during prayers. By the look on the old man’s face, shit was about to hit the fan.
“I know the last few days have been stressful on everyone and I want to thank all of you for handling the bumps we’ve encountered with efficiency and professionalism. The crew has done a great job getting the boat ready even with tensions running high. We’re all anxious to go and dreading to leave our loved ones behind at the same time. I know I don’t have to emphasize the importance of our mission or the danger to you.”
He stopped speaking to take a sip of his coffee, while making eye contact with each and every one of them over the rim of his cup. The speech was old news to Kyle, as was the deployment, only this time he had his mom to worry about and Nic to fantasize over.
“I want the crew off the boat at sixteen hundred hours today and tomorrow. Let’s get these men home to their families at a decent hour and maybe we’ll have a week or two without their pissing and moaning. That goes for me too.”
They’d be making port calls in Scotland and Spain en route to their destination to gather intelligence on the enemy; no date set. The CO rambled on about the mission, stressing to the men to take advantage of family grams and to not share boat movement or port calls on social media, e-
mail or over cell phones. He then went on to check in with each department head.
“We have one last order of business before you can get back to work. As you all know, Lieutenant West was in a serious accident last week. He’s been upgraded to stable and the docs believe he’ll be released in the next couple of days to rehab. The spouses group has pulled together and has been and will continue to be a big help to Cecilia West and the kids while he makes his recovery. With that said, we’re short a supply officer. Or were until this morning.”
The CO paused and set down his mug, but didn’t release it.
Kyle tilted his head toward Mace. “What’s up with the Captain? He doesn’t usually stand during these things,” he whispered.
“No clue. He’s been in rare form all day.”
The CO looked up and met Kyle’s gaze. With hands relaxed on his hips, Commander Holloway glanced at all of the men before continuing.
“There weren’t a lot of options on such short notice, but PERS did present me with an interesting option. One that will put the California in the history books. We’re stealing one of the Trident’s female officers.”
The room broke out into cheers. There was nothing a fast-attack crew liked more than to stick it to a Trident sub. The CO broke out into a smile and let his guys get their good-natured comments out before continuing.
He used his hands to quiet the room back down. “Okay, settle down. Obviously, with such short notice, we’ve got some shifting to do to accommodate everyone. Gatlin, you’re in with Hutchinson and Havers.”
Bryant groaned. “They snore.”
“That’s what earplugs are for,” one of the junior officers teased.
“Master Chief Ronquillo will work out a schedule for the aft head for showers. I want it stressed to each and every man under you that when the “Women Only” sign is up, they respect it. I will not have this boat be the center of a scandal because some young pup got a wild hair. Am I understood?”
Love Runs Deep Page 3
