Hot Extraction: SEALs, Marines, and Infantry - A Military Romance Boxed Set

by Kathryn Thomas

  I hear nothing Tuesday or Wednesday, but Thursday evening Mike calls me. We talk for a while, but then Mike begs off. He claims he has homework to do, but he promises to see me Friday.

  Friday, I cancel with Beverly, Teri and Kat. They are on the prowl again, but I will have everything I need at home when Mike arrives. He shows up late, tired and stressed out. We cuddle on the couch, saying little. We kiss and touch gently until he falls asleep. If it were anyone but Mike I would be pissed, but I simply settle in with him until bedtime. I finally wake him about midnight and we go to bed. We snuggle, but don’t make love. I don’t care. I will have him in the morning, when he is fresh. I slide into a deep sleep, content and happy with his closeness.

  ***

  And so the next three weeks pass. We get together when we can and make love when we are able. Sometimes we only see each for an hour over a burger. Other times we spend three days walking, holding hands, and making love. Regardless of the amount of time, I treasure each moment I spend with Mike. Each time I see him, I feel closer to him. The bond between us rapidly grows stronger.

  I am definitely falling for Mike and I think he is falling for me. As his training in Benning winds down, we have more time to spend together. The lovemaking is better than ever, but I find that is no longer the primary reason I want to see him. Now, I want his companionship in addition to his body.

  I’m noodling around on the computer, selecting classes for my fall semester when my cell rings. I smile, as I my phone plays Happy by Pharrell Williams, Mike’s personal ring tone. I grab the phone up, “Hey, babe,” I say. My day has just gotten better.

  “Daisy,” Mike says quietly. I hear the despair in his voice.

  “Mike, what’s wrong?”

  “They just told us. We ship out two weeks early. I deploy Saturday.”

  “This Saturday?” I ask. That’s only three days away. I knew this time was coming, but it’s like my parents all over again. It’s so unexpected.

  “Yeah. Even worse, we’re restricted to base until we ship out.”

  I sit in stunned silence. It’s not Mike’s fault. There is no point in pissing and moaning about it when there is nothing he can do. “Okay,” I say. The only thing I can say. “When will you be back?”

  “I don’t know. That’s the truth. It could be a couple of weeks or a month or more. I just don’t know. Daisy, I’m sorry.”

  I hold my tears. I have been preparing for this moment, but that doesn’t make this any easier. “I don’t suppose you will be able to call while you’re gone?”

  “No. Daisy…” Mike begins but stops.

  “You don’t have to say anything, Mike. I knew this was temporary.”

  “No! No, that’s not what I was going to say. Daisy, I love you. I want to stay, but I have to go. This is what I do. I want to make a difference. Will you wait for me? As soon as I get back, I’ll call. I’ll think of you every moment I’m gone. When I get back we will figure something out. You could come to North Carolina. Maybe I can get transferred to Benning. But I want to know you will be here, waiting for me, when I get back. Will you wait for me? Please?”

  I am so shocked I can’t speak. I wasn’t expecting this at all. This is the first time Mike has said that he loves me. I’m rocked back on my heels. “Mike, I don’t know. I want to be with you, too. But…”

  “But what?”

  “But, it’s so sudden. I can’t leave here. This is my home.” I am so out of sorts; I don’t know what to do. I want to scream that yes I will be waiting for him when he returns. I want to shout it so loud that he could hear me without the telephone. But, I’m afraid. Afraid to make the leap, afraid of being abandoned again. Afraid to truly open my heart and risk the loss and the pain of Mike not returning.

  “I understand,” Mike says softly.

  “No! It’s not like that! Mike, please…” I try to keep him on the line, but he is gone. I franticly dial his number, but it rings into his voicemail. I hang up and dial it again and again. Mike is gone. What have I done?

  I stare at the phone, as if has betrayed me. Then, I burst into tears. I have driven off the one thing that I want most. I sob for a moment. Then, I gather myself and try the phone one more time.

  The phone rings and I am just about to hang up when Mike answers. “Yes?” He sounds as dejected as I feel.

  “Mike! Thank God!” I gasp. “I’m sorry. Mike, please don’t hang up!” I say. The words come out in a tumbling rush.

  “Just say what you need to say. I have to get ready.”

  “Mike, I’m sorry for what I said. I’ll be here for you when you get back. I promise.”

  “Why? I don’t need your pity, Danielle.”

  “It’s not pity, okay?” I nearly shout. “I love you, goddammit! I don’t want you to go!”

  Mike is quiet for a long time. “I have to go. I don’t have a choice. Even if I did, I want to go. I want to make a difference.”

  “I know, but you have already made a difference. You have made a difference with me.”

  Once again, Mike is quiet for a long time. “Why the sudden change of heart. Not five minutes ago you were kissing me off.”

  “I was…afraid.”

  “Afraid?”

  “I’m afraid you won’t come back. Afraid you will leave me alone like Mom and Dad did. I don’t think I can take that again.” I sniff again. I’m thankful that Mike can’t see my tears.

  “Daisy, nothing can keep me from coming back, if you’re here waiting for me. Nothing.”

  “I know you’ll try but…”

  “Nothing,” Mike repeats firmly, cutting me off.

  “Promise me,” I whisper.

  “I promise you, Daisy. I promise you that nothing can keep me from your arms,” Mike says with such conviction that I actually believe him.

  I blubber out a laugh. “This is one promise you had better keep.”

  “I will always keep my promises to you. I promise to come back and do everything I can to make you the happiest woman in the world.”

  “You already have,” I say wiping at my eyes.

  “And you have made me the happiest guy in the world.”

  “When you come back, where will you come back to? Bragg?”

  “I don’t know. Probably. That’s where we’re stationed.”

  “If you can, call me, I will meet you there.”

  “I would like that, but I doubt that will be possible. Mission security and all that jazz,” Mike says. I finally begin to relax. Mike is starting to sound like his old self again.

  “It’s okay. It’s not fair that you are leaving and I didn’t even get to say goodbye in person.”

  “I know. It is what it is.”

  We are silent for a time, not knowing what to say. “I have to go,” Mike say softly. “I should have told you this before now. I don’t think I knew myself until I found I out I am leaving, but I love you, Daisy.”

  “I love you, too. Be safe and come back to me.” I am fairly proud I managed to get that out without my voice breaking.

  “I will,” Mike says so softly that I almost don’t hear him. “I’m looking forward to holding you again.”

  “As am I, Mike.”

  “Goodbye, Daisy. I will call as soon as I get back. Sooner if I can.”

  I grit my teeth to hold back the tears. “Do. Goodbye.”

  When Mike is gone. I sit on the couch, stunned. Mike is right; I didn’t realize how much I wanted him until I knew he is leaving. This is my home. This is where I have lived the last ten years of my life; but, Mike has my heart is. I sit and stare at the wall, lost in thought.

  They say home is where the heart is and I have given mine to Mike. I look around my apartment. I realize that there is nothing holding me here. Nothing but memories. Those I can take with me.

  As I sit and stare into nothing, I realize that the loneliness that has been my constant companion for the last few years is gone. I realize it has been gone, ever since that first picnic lunch with
Mike. I miss my parents, but I no longer feel tied to this place. It’s time to move on. It’s time to stop living in past. I smile. No, not just time. Past time.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  A banging pulls me awake. I sit up, groggy. I have slept all night on the couch, wrapped in the throw. I pick up my cell. Eight-fifty. “Just a minute,” I call, staggering to my feet. I’m stiff and I hurt all over.

  I open the door to see a grinning Beverly and Tim. “Get your ass in gear, girl! Paul will be here with the truck in a few minutes.” Beverly crows bustling into my apartment. “Are you ready to start your new life?”

  “Ugh,” I grunt, not yet awake. “Tell me why this is a good idea again?”

  “Because,” Beverly says, ticking the items off on her fingers, “you’re finally getting on with your life. You’re hopefully going to be living with the love of your life and getting laid every night. Plus, it cuts down on the competition around here.”

  I snort. “I can’t compete with you, Bev.”

  “Says the woman that is moving to North Carolina to be with the hottie that didn’t even give me a second look.” Beverly teases.

  “We’ll, okay. Maybe that one time,” I say with a smile. I look at Beverly and I can feel myself tearing up. “I’m going to miss you, Bev.”

  Beverly smiles back at me, her eyes swimming in tears as well. “I’m going to miss you, too; but, I’m glad you’re going. This is the first impulsive thing you’ve done since your parents died. Mike will be so surprised when he gets back and finds you there. This is a good thing. I’m happy for you.”

  I give Beverly a crooked smile. Moving from Georgia to North Carolina with no job and no prospects would have terrified me just two months ago. It terrifies me, now. Mike left three weeks ago for wherever he went and I am packed to leave. I am moving to a new state with my few possessions, a little money, and nothing else, except for Mike’s embrace upon his return. It is the thought of that embrace that gives me the courage to go through with this.

  I’ll find another job. I’ll make it work. With Mike’s help, I’ll know it will work. I look around the apartment that has been my unintentional prison for three years. I think of the saying: The past is history, the future is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present. Charles Michael Hanover has given me the greatest gift of all. I look forward to each day that we spend together.

  I feel my smile widen. I hope Paul will be here with the truck soon. I’m ready to leave. I’m ready to go to North Carolina, so I can be there when my family returns from duty.

  THE END

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  ALL QUIET ON THE HOME FRONT

  CHAPTER ONE

  “Kristina, Mr. Cooley wants to see you in his office.”

  Kristina looked up from her computer at her boss’s secretary. “Is he in a mood?” she asked.

  “You know Mr. Cooley. He’s always in a mood,” she said, smiling.

  Kristina got up and grabbed her coffee cup. Refilling it, she headed to Mr. Cooley’s office. Knocking lightly, she stuck her head in.

  “You wanted to see me?”

  “Yes, Kristina. Come in, come in.”

  She entered his office, took a seat in front of his desk, and waited for him to tell her why he wanted to speak with her. Mr. Cooley tended to cater to the dramatic. He linked his hands together and stared at her, still not speaking. She smiled behind her coffee cup, returning his silent stare. This man needs a hobby, she thought.

  “How long have you been with us, Ms. Morganson?”

  “It’s been about three years, sir.”

  “Yes, three years. I’ve been watching your work. You did a good job on that article last week. We got good reviews from it.”

  “Thank you, sir. I enjoy my job.”

  He pushed his chair back and rose. He began to pace, clasping his hands behind his back. As he slowly walked back and forth in his office, he began to tell her what he had on his mind, “There’s been a boom on stories done about soldiers. We’re the only ones that haven’t touched on it, yet.”

  “Jackie did a piece on the deployment of soldiers last year,” Kristina said, hoping to remind him.

  “Yes, yes, but we haven’t done any about them returning home. With so many solders ending their tour of duty, I want a big piece done on how they’re coping, how war affected them, and how the ones who are going back feel about their redeployment. I want stories from three different points of views.”

  “What’s the deadline?”

  “I’m giving you two months. I want this to be good, Kristina. I want our readers to feel what these soldiers feel. If you do a good job, you might be up for that promotion that you’ve been wanting.”

  Kristina’s brows rose. She knew that the lead journalist job was open. It would be a big deal if she could land that position, especially for someone her age. She eagerly responded, “You can count on me, sir. I’ll start right away.”

  “One more thing, Kristina,” he said, as she rose to leave.

  “Yes?”

  “Don’t you have a friend in the Marines?”

  “Um, yes, but we really don’t talk that much anymore.”

  “Maybe you need to rekindle that relationship.”

  “Sir, I don’t think-“

  “Kristina, you have your assignment. Two months.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  On her way back to her office, Kristina couldn’t help but think about Danny. He was her best friend, the one she went to when her father was on one of his binges. He never judged her or asked questions. He just offered his support.

  Danny...

  She hadn’t talked to him in almost three years. She thought back to the night everything changed between them.

  ***

  She had finally had enough of her life at home. After a really bad night with her father, Kristina just couldn’t take it anymore. She was tired of coming home and finding her father so drunk that he couldn’t stand. She refused to watch her mother continue to pretend there was nothing wrong and that things were perfectly fine.

  After picking her father up off the floor and pulling him to the bed, Kristina walked to Danny’s house. It was something she had done for years, whenever she dealt with her dad. She climbed up the ladder to his room and tapped on the glass. Danny greeted her with a smile, as he opened the window for her. “I was wondering when I would see you tonight,” he said.

  “Yeah? So, you’re a mind reader?” she replied, plopping down on his bed.

  “No, I just saw your dad carry his regular into the house a few hours ago. Then, I knew I would see you at some point tonight. You okay?”

  “Honestly, no. I hate seeing him like that. He’s going to kill himself,” she said, tears falling from her eyes.

  Danny sat down next to her on the bed and pulled her against him. He didn’t say a word. He never did when she cried.

  Kristina relaxed into his side. She let her tears fall, not even trying to wipe them away. “I can’t stand the way she just walks around like he’s fine, like he doesn’t turn into the devil when he drinks. Sometimes, I sit in my room and pray he passes out already.

  “He never shuts up, Danny. He’s always yelling at her, saying it’s her fault that he is the way he is. My mom never stands up for herself. She just keeps making excuses for him. I can’t do it anymore. I can’t watch them self-destruct. I won’t do it anymore.”

  Danny tightened his grip on his arm. Then, he looked at her like he wanted to take away all of her pain, as he slowly turned her face to his. It was as if time stood still, as he brought his lips to hers. The pain and hurt from living in a house like hers no longer mattered, once they kissed. The only important things at that moment were the way his lips softly floated over hers and how his thumbs came up and wiped away her tears.

  “Don’t cry,” he whispered. “You’re too beautiful to cry.”

  Kristina fell in love with him that night. He kissed her tea
rs away and held her through the night. She woke up in his arms and for once in her life, she felt content.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Kristina was completely lost in her thoughts. At some point, she had sat down at her desk, but she was still completely unaware of her surroundings. A voice broke her from her thoughts, “You’re a thousand miles away.”