by Lea Hart
Her dark hair was braided in some kind of fancy design that he would be hard-pressed to describe, and her beautiful shoulders were exposed.
The idea of scraping his mouth and then his teeth across her delicate skin had him almost panting, so he wiped the picture from his mind. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he got himself in check before he approached, because the last thing she needed to see was the wild need beating in his body, before she was ready.
Taking one last fortifying breath, he then moved in her direction, knowing that whatever time they spent together would move them closer to where he wanted them to be.
Tangled together.
As he got closer, she looked up, and, for one unguarded moment, her face lit up with a happiness that had never been aimed in his direction. Willing himself not to pounce, he returned her smile and closed the gap that separated them.
“You made it!” Brooke exclaimed.
“Planes, trains, and automobiles,” he replied as he bent down on one knee and took her hand. “If someone had suggested a camel as a way to get here, I wouldn’t have minded a bit.” Lifting her hand to his mouth, he pressed a kiss to it and then grinned. “How in the hell did you get more beautiful in the last forty-eight hours?”
Leaning back, she gave him a disbelieving look. “Either you need glasses or are extremely desperate.” Running her hand over her tank top, she let out a laugh. “At least I had a shower today.”
Moving forward, he cupped her face in his hands and buried his nose in her neck. “You smell like the best thing on earth.” When she shuddered, he felt a moment of deep satisfaction, because her reaction told him the truth.
Despite what her smart mouth might come up with, she was into him.
Which was fine, because he loved a smart mouth. He’d never been into women who couldn’t hold their own, and Brooke was probably the finest example of what he was attracted to most.
Just as he was about to lean forward and press their mouths together, he felt her pull back. “No smooches in public?”
Moving her head side to side, she gave him a small smile. “I don’t want to put on a show for the people sitting over there.” She tilted her head and shrugged. “We seem to forget where we are when we kiss, so I thought we should wait.”
“I can do that.” He stood slowly and prayed his pants did their job. No need to advertise that he was no better than a kid when it came to control. “I saw that the bar was open; how about I get us a drink and then we can catch up?”
“Perfect. I’ll take a beer.”
He put his hand to his heart and took a step back. “I knew you were perfect.”
Smirking, she shook her head. “If I was home, I’d be at the Bali Hai restaurant, ordering the Aloha Kiss.”
“No problem, baby. When we get back to San Diego, that’s where we’ll go for our first date.”
“Sweet talker.” Pointing to the bar, she raised an eyebrow. “How about just a beer for now?”
Leaning over, he gave her a quick kiss. “Your wish is my command.” When her face flushed, he figured he’d done as much as he could, so he sauntered toward the bar. As he waited for the man to finish preparing drinks for another guest, he thought about what Bryce had said the other day. He was now in Brooke’s world, and he needed to make the most of it, so she would forget about his job and think only of the way he made her feel.
Whatever happened over the next couple of days was going to show them both what kind of chance they had when they returned to San Diego. Looking over his shoulder, he studied the woman who’d captured his imagination and knew he’d do anything to make sure they could make a real go of it.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Monday, September 11th
Brooke strolled out of her hut as she finished braiding her hair and saw Frisco walking her way. Smiling, she lifted her hand and waved. “Good morning.”
“Mornin’, honey.” He jogged toward her and swept her into a hug. “It’s a beautiful day, and I can’t believe we get to spend it together.”
Pressing her mouth to his cheek, she gave him a quick kiss and then stepped back. “You may want to put on shorts, because it’s supposed to be close to ninety-eight by noon.”
“I’ve got a gun strapped to my leg and a knife inside my boot, so no shorts for me. Carrick and Brendan said showing my weapons wasn’t a good idea, so…” He held up his hands and grinned. “I’m just a regular guy hanging out with his woman at work.”
“Pretty sure I’m not your woman, but I suppose that’s not the point you were trying to make.”
He took a step closer, put his arm around her shoulder, and kissed her head. “Maybe not today, but by tomorrow…who knows?”
Looking up, she saw his signature cocky grin and decided to be amused and not pissed. His confidence was surprisingly sexy, and if she was being honest, she loved the fact he was so open with his feelings. He put it all out there, and it was up to her what she did with it.
If last night was any indication of what she did with his sexy swagger, then she was in more trouble than she cared to admit. One good-night kiss in front of her hut had turned into a full-on make-out session under the stars, and she was already counting the hours until they could do it again. But that wasn’t anything he needed to know. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”
He gave her a wink and then lifted an eyebrow. “I suppose we will.”
Running her hand up his arm, she gave him a small smile and decided talking about who and what they could become was best saved for a later time. “We’re going into Am Timan today, and I expect it to be a little crazy.”
“What kind of crazy?”
“Busy crazy. The outbreak of hepatitis E is still raging out of control, so we’ve got to deal with that, and then we have the regular checkups and vaccines that we offer.”
Taking her hand, he walked in the direction of the lodge. “Let’s go grab some breakfast, and you can give me the full download so I can put a tac plan in place for my men.”
“No tac plan is necessary because we don’t expect any problems. There are no insurgents, civil war, or terrorists, so by our standards, this is a day in Disneyland.” When his hand tightened, she looked down and wondered what was bothering him. “Piper and my first assignment with MSF was in Sudan, and, from the moment we arrived to the moment we left, we were in the middle of a civil war. Everything after that has been easy. That was five years ago, and we’ve seen both the best and worst of humanity, so please don’t get all overprotective and paranoid about a day in Am Timan.”
Snorting, he gave her a small smile. “Wasn’t planning on it.”
Nodding, she knew he was lying through his teeth. A tiger does not change his stripes and neither do SEALs. “If you really want to help today, then you and the guys can work with the volunteers that are securing the water towers and making stations for the distribution of clean water.”
“Roger that,” Frisco replied. “As long as I can see you, then I’m happy to help out wherever I can.”
As they walked up the steps to the lodge, Brooke decided to change the subject. “How did you guys get down here yesterday?”
“We drove down from N’Djamena.”
“That’s a ten-hour drive; what time did you guys leave?”
“We left at five in the morning and made a couple of stops. Bryce is dead set on seeing as much of the world as he can, so we didn’t rush and let him take in the sights. We stopped in Mongo and let him see Walrus Mountain. Can’t say that I was all that impressed, but he seemed to like it. He figures the chances of him ever getting back here are almost nonexistent, so he also made us stop to see some former sultan’s palace in the village of Gaoui, and it turned out to be a really fancy mud hut.”
“I bet you never get to see the country that you’re dropped into for an op, so having the chance to see the sights without a gun in front of your face had to be a great change.”
“Yeah, having Bryce around has made me see things from a dif
ferent perspective. I’ve been all over the world but haven’t seen much of it. Taking a minute wherever we are and looking around is something that I’m trying to do more of.”
“Smart idea,” she responded as they stood in line at the buffet that was set up for breakfast. “I’ve spent the last five years abroad, and I wish that I had made more of an effort to enjoy the countries I visited. Sometimes, I never got outside of the UN camp where I was working until it was almost time to leave, and I know that was a mistake.”
“Hard to go sightseeing if there’s a civil war going on,” Frisco said as he handed her a plate.
“But only seeing the country when it’s in conflict isn’t the full picture either, and I wished I had seen more of the beauty and not just the pain.”
“That’s true of almost anything in life.” He scooped up some fruit and put it on her plate and then shrugged. “Our career choices don’t give us that option very often, so I guess it’s up to us to make an effort to seek it out.”
“Words to live by.” As they filled their plates, she remembered what Malaba had said about someone showing up in her life and wondered if Frisco was the person who was going to be in her next chapter. Following him to the table across the room, she admired his fine behind and decided he could possibly be a whole damn book.
***
Chaos.
That was all Frisco could see for a mile in each direction. The sheer number of people surrounding the MSF tent had his spidey senses on high alert. Taking a glance inside, he saw Brooke giving a baby a big smile as she examined her carefully.
How could she be so calm and relaxed?
All it would take was one crazy person to spark the flame that would turn the crowd into a mob. The soldier in him hated not having control of the situation, but the man in him understood there was very little he could do. Glancing over at Jax, they exchanged looks, and he knew instantly that Jax was experiencing the same thing he was.
Nothing a soldier hated worse than a mass of people who may or may not want to do harm to you. Bryce, on the other hand, had engaged a group of teenage boys in a pickup game of soccer, or football, as they called it here. Watching him run across the dirt field that he’d marked up and laughing with his teammates made Frisco realize that he was looking at this thing the wrong way.
Instead of focusing on what could go wrong, he should be focusing on what could go right. Scanning the faces in the crowd, he noticed that no one was agitated or acting like they wanted to take a shot. All he saw were women with their children and a couple of men who could be well into their nineties.
The only ones that looked like they were frustrated and about to snap were the mothers who had crying babies in their arms. Which he totally got. As the godfather to Maddy Frazier, he’d learned a lot about how a baby could test your last nerve. Especially when they were not feeling well. When he’d taken Maddy on long walks during her teething period, he discovered firsthand what hearing a baby cry for a prolonged amount of time could do to a person.
Standing around imagining and planning for attack wasn’t doing him any good, so he might as well help instead. He walked toward the woman who had the fussiest child and decided to offer his services. Turned out, he was pretty good with crying babies, so he might as well give the woman a break.
After a short conversation in broken French and some sign language, he had the little boy in his arms and was walking around under the tree, singing Maddy’s favorite song. By the time he got to the chorus of Blackbird, the little boy had settled down and was staring at him with dark chocolate eyes. Seemed the old Beatles song had universal appeal, because the kid was quiet as could be. When he made a pass close to the gathered women, he saw tears in the mother’s eyes as well as a beautiful, grateful smile.
Returning the smile, he kept walking and singing quietly as he cradled the little boy. Once he’d fallen asleep, he handed the child back and was immediately given another. He went through the same routine, and before he knew it, he had another sleeping baby in his arms.
Hearing his name, he looked over and saw Brooke smiling in his direction. And it wasn’t some polite bullshit one; no, it was the heart-stopping one that lit up her whole face. Pointing to the baby in his arms, she gave him a thumbs-up and then walked back into the tent with a woman and her child.
Returning to the group of women, he handed back the child to its mother and was offered a small candy bar. Shaking his head, he pressed the treat back into the woman’s hand. No way was he going to accept something that was probably considered a huge luxury. Looking over at Jax, he saw that he had a bunch of small children surrounding him as he showed them a couple of magic tricks.
Looking out at the crowd again, he noticed that it didn’t seem as chaotic as it had a while ago; instead, it just looked like people going about their day as best they could. Before he could think about it further, he was handed another child. Looking down into the smiling face of the mother, he decided this wasn’t a bad way to spend the morning after all.
***
Sitting in the shade next to a shop that sold sandwiches, Brooke and Piper exchanged glances as they watched Frisco, Jax, and Bryce put together a platform for one of the clean water stations. When they saw that the locals were just going to put the cistern on the ground, they jumped in and offered to construct something that would keep it sanitary. “Why is a man with a hammer in his hand sexy?”
“I’ve got no idea,” Piper responded as she drained her soda. “I’m not interested in Jax, but I’ve got to say seeing him build that platform is making me reconsider.”
“Really?”
“No.” Piper laughed. “He came by my room last night after they arrived, and, despite the spark of chemistry we’ve got, I’m not interested.”
“Because he’s still hung up on his ex-girlfriend?”
“Yeah.” Playing with the end of her ponytail, she gave Brooke a small smile. “I’m going to hold out for a man who’s crazy for me, and not waste my time on any more wishy-washy boys. I’ve had my fill and don’t need any more.”
“Amen,” Brooke replied as she crumpled up the paper that had covered her sandwich.
“Speaking of crazy, what’s going on with Lt. Cmdr. Frisco Jones?”
Brooke got up and threw her trash away and then slowly came back to the table. “Kissing. A lot of kissing.”
“I figured that out when I saw the beard burn on your cheek this morning.” Lowering her sunglasses, she stared at her friend. “And?”
“He said I was his woman, and instead of being horrified, I was a little…” Twirling her hands around, she let out a frustrated growl. “Giddy.” Putting her head down on the table, she pounded it twice and then looked up. “I am not a person who gets giddy. In fact, I hate that word. And he,” pointing toward Frisco, she frowned, “made me feel it.”
“Poor you,” Piper said sarcastically. “A big handsome man wants you as his very own. How will you bear it?”
“Ha-ha.” Sitting back in the rickety chair, she crossed her arms. “This is serious.”
Piper leaned forward and took Brooke’s hand. “No, it’s not. It’s fun and happy. Which is something we haven’t had much of in a very long time. As your best friend, I absolutely forbid you not to enjoy this.” Waving her hand in the direction of the men, she said, “I insist that you grab ahold of that man and take as much pleasure as he’ll give you.”
“Did I ever tell you that I don’t enjoy it when you tell me what to do?”
“Yes, at least once a day since we met in high school.”
“I’m glad to see you’ve listened.”
Piper stood and straightened her shorts. “I’m going to grab a couple of sodas and take them over to the guys, and then we should go back and start our second shift. We’ve got about forty cases of hepatitis E to deal with this afternoon.”
Giving her friend a salute, she then sat back in her chair and studied Frisco’s wide back and big arms. Seeing his muscles bunch and then relea
se as he hammered the slats together, she decided maybe Piper was right.
Looking down the dusty dirt road that ran through the center of town, she realized that just like the people who lived here, she could be as happy or sad as she decided to be. The mindset that she had embraced over the last five years was not the one she needed to hold on to, because what worked in life-and-death situations didn’t when you were no longer living in those conditions.
And that was something she needed to start working on.
Maybe having a little affair with Frisco would be a great way to start. A way to dip her toe in the fun pool and see how it felt. It didn’t have to last beyond their time here and, really, what were the chances that he wanted anything more?
Less than zero, probably. Carrick had said he was a one-and-done guy, and maybe that was exactly what she needed. Or exactly what she could handle. There was no way she was ready for a relationship, because she was like an avocado that wasn’t yet ripe. And, like an avocado, she couldn’t rush things.
Piper walked out of the store with three bottles of soda, and Brooke stood and joined her friend. “I’m going to follow your advice and have a fling with Frisco while we’re here and enjoy it as much as I can.”
“Good for you. No way will you regret a little sexy romp under the African moon.”
“Who says I’m going to wait for the moon to come up?”
“Just don’t do it out in the open; there’s a lot of wildlife roaming around the park, and nothing kills sexy times more than being hunted by gators.”
“There are no gators in the park.”
“Oh yes, there are. The guest manager told me several have been spotted in the river near the huts.”
“All right, no smooching by the river after dark, got it.” Brooke followed Piper over to where the guys were working and found she was smiling as she thought about her seduction plans for Frisco. Maybe tonight after dinner, she could invite him back to her hut and see what happened.
