Desert Alpha: A Lady Boss Press Navy SEAL Novella

by Bethany Lopez

  Chapter 13

  Cassandra

  “Am I crazy to miss someone I’ve only known a couple days?” I asked Lori.

  Somehow our days off had lined up, which was a rare occurrence, and we’d gotten approval to go off base to get our hair done … another cause for celebration. Unfortunately, I was finding it hard to gather up excitement for something so frivolous, when I suspected Rip and his team were somewhere with zero luxuries.

  Lori shrugged one shoulder and said, “I don’t know. Chemistry’s a funny thing, and when you pair it with genuinely liking a person, it can make your feelings heightened. Look, my parents knew each other in grade school, were high school sweethearts, and were divorced after five years of marriage. While my grandparents met each other on summer vacation, fell in love, and were married for sixty years. There’s no rhyme or reason to love.”

  “That’s true. I mean, Rich and I worked together for a year before we started dating and it was another year and a half before we got married, and I never felt for him what I feel for Rip. The butterflies, the thrill of simply hearing his name, and the sex…”

  “Don’t be a tease,” Lori said, shifting in her seat so she could lean closer to me. “Tell me everything.”

  I laughed and shook my head. “Some things are meant to be private.”

  She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest dramatically.

  “Spoil sport.”

  “I’ll only say it was incredible and I wish we’d had time to do more of it before he left.”

  I pulled the squadron rental car up to the front of the hotel where the salon was located and thanked the valet as we exited the car and headed inside.

  The salon was a favorite among the females on our base, the phone number and names of favorite stylists passed down to incoming Airmen like a rite of passage. Not only was it a chance to get off base and break the monotony, but also spend a little time getting pampered.

  The hotel was beautiful. Five star, with marble columns, pools facing the Gulf, and distinguished clientele. Being military, I often felt like an imposter walking down the pristine hallways. Lord knows I didn’t make enough to actually stay at the hotel, but I did appreciate the beauty and the grandeur.

  As we took the elevator up to the salon floor, Lori sighed.

  “I’m so looking forward to lunch, oh, and the cappuccinos.”

  The restaurant at the hotel was amazing, so after our appointments, we were splurging and taking our new hair out for a nice meal.

  “Me too,” I agreed as walked into the salon and checked in.

  I’d only been to the salon on one other occasion and had been a little nervous about having someone new cutting and styling my hair, but the stylist had been wonderful, and I’d loved my hair when she was done.

  “Cassandra, hello, welcome back,” Fatin, my stylist, said as she glided across the room.

  “Thank you, it’s good to see you again,” I told her, before turning to Lori and saying, “See you back there.”

  The salon itself had a circular setup. There were the washing stations, the cutting and styling stations, and the center where you waited while your color was setting or when you were done and waiting for a friend.

  “Can I get you something to drink? Cappuccino, espresso, water?” Fatin asked as she led me to her station.

  “Cappuccino would be great, thanks.”

  I spent the next hour enjoying my warm beverage, the delicious biscuit that Fatin served it with, and the simple pleasure of having my hair done.

  Lori and I finished up at the same time, so we were able to pay our bills and make it to our lunch reservation with a few minutes to spare.

  “I love that look on you,” I told Lori as we sat at our table with a Gulf view. She’d gotten quite a few inches taken off and now wore her hair in a cute lob.

  “Thanks, you look great too. Your hair looks so healthy.”

  I ran my hands over it, loving how soft and silky it felt. I hadn’t gotten much cut, just the split ends, but had asked for a long bang and a blowout.

  “So, there’s something else I need to talk to you about,” I said as we picked up our menus.

  “Are you finally going to spill the deets?” she asked with a sly grin.

  “No,” I chuckled. “But it does have to do with the … incident.”

  “The incident. Is that what we’re calling it?”

  “Mmm-hmmm, to protect the innocent,” I replied.

  “As far as I can see, there was no one innocent present,” Lori joked.

  I smiled and shook my head. “No, seriously … Rich said something to me about Rip.”

  Lori slapped her menu down on the table and asked, “What did the asshat say?”

  “That he knew about me and Rip … like that we’d been intimate.”

  “Did he threaten you?”

  “Not outright, but I knew what he meant. He knows something that could get me in trouble, and he wanted to make sure I knew. You know how he is … Rich loves to feel like he still has some kind of control over me.”

  “What did you say?” she asked, her face conveying the same anger I felt whenever I thought of my little chat with Rich.

  “I didn’t say anything. He took me by surprise, and I needed to get to the office, so I just glared at him and walked away.”

  “You need to talk to him, Cass. You can’t let him get away with this psycho behavior.”

  “I know, and I plan on it, I just needed some time to figure out how I wanted to approach him. Do I talk to the First Sergeant myself and tell him what happened? That would take away Rich’s leverage.”

  “No, fuck that. You don’t need to set yourself up. Don’t give Rich the pleasure. You need to sit him down and tell him to get his own life and stay out of yours, because it’s getting downright pathetic.”

  “That’s what I was thinking, without the calling him pathetic part. Pissing him off won’t make things any easier for me, but we do need to sever ties once and for all. He needs to move on.”

  “So, it’s settled,” Lori said, pointing her finger at me. “The next time you see him, you’ll have a come to Jesus talk. And the next time I see him, I’m kicking him in the nuts.”

  We finished our meal and drove back to the base, which was always an adventure in itself. Once we arrived, we had to go through a couple security checks before we could get on base, and another before we could get to our section of the base.

  Once we parked the car by our squadron headquarters we said our see you laters and went our separate ways. When I saw Rich walking toward the gym, I took it as a sign, put on my metaphorical big girl pants, and called out to him.

  He glanced over his shoulder and stopped when he saw me. The initial flash of happiness crossing his face made my stomach clench, but I kept moving toward him.

  “Hey, you got a minute?” I asked when I was only a few feet away.

  “Just,” he replied, a scowl now marring his features.

  “I need to talk to you about what you said last week in tent city.”

  Rich crossed his arms and planted his feet shoulder width apart.

  Jeez, defensive much?

  “What? About the frogman? I thought they left.”

  “They did,” I replied, choosing to ignore his snarkiness.

  “What about it then?”

  “I didn’t appreciate you threatening me. I’m sorry if you’re still hung up on the past, but, Rich, we have been over for so long I really have a hard time understanding why you’d come at me like that.”

  “Maybe I didn’t want you to do something stupid and get in trouble. Especially over a guy like that.”

  “So, you’re saying you weren’t threatening me, but rather you were looking out for me?” I asked, not really buying it.

  “Yeah, Cass, so what if I was? Sure you’re my ex, but that doesn’t mean I want you to make a bad decision and get yourself reprimanded.”

  “I’m a grown woman and don’t need you looking out f
or me. Plus, the team is gone and probably not coming back, so there’s nothing to worry about. Let’s just do the rest of our time here and try and stay out of each other’s way, okay?”

  “Wow,” he said, throwing his hands out. Maybe he’d expected me to say thank you? “If that’s how you want it.”

  “It is,” I replied, then turned on my heel and walked away with my head held high and a little spring in my step.

  Chapter 14

  Rip

  Unopened Letter #1

  Rip,

  Hey, I hope this letter finds you safe and sound. You’ve only been gone for a couple days, but I really miss you. Is that weird to say? I hope not. I want to be completely honest and upfront with you, so I hope me stating my feelings doesn’t make me seem like a clinger, or worse, like Rich.

  Speaking of Rich, I decided avoidance wasn’t going to be the answer this time around, so I stopped him and told him I didn’t appreciate his threats. He tried to say he was simply looking out for me, but I don’t know if I can believe that was true. Still, I said my peace and we agreed to stay out of each other’s hair for the rest of the deployment.

  I don’t know how long this truce will last, but I’m choosing to be optimistic.

  I’m not sure when, if ever, you will receive this letter, but I’m going to keep writing as much as I can. It helps to feel like I’m talking to you, especially at night when I’m alone in my bunkbed with my roommate snoring from across the room.

  Hugs and Kisses,

  Cass

  Unopened Letter #2

  Rip,

  Oh my gosh, you will not believe the week I’ve had.

  First, we had a USO show come in, some NFL cheerleaders, so I had a meeting with my staff and briefed them on expectations… you know, flowers and gift baskets in the room, make sure all of the rooms had fresh linens and were cleaned… that sort of thing. But, on the day of arrival my night manager completely spaced and when they arrived nothing was done. The commander was pissed, and we all got called into his office.

  Then yesterday I was at the Cantina, and Rich was making an ass out of himself by hitting on women for my benefit. I mean, he made sure I was in hearing distance each time and he didn’t only do it once, no, he hit on five women in the course of thirty minutes. I don’t know if he was hoping to make me jealous or what, but all he did was make me throw up in my mouth.

  Not literally, of course.

  Looking back at what I wrote I realize how insignificant my problems must seem compared to what you and your team are facing. I hope you won’t mind me venting and know I understand my problems are first world at best.

  Thinking of you,

  Cass

  Unopened Letter #3

  Rip,

  Hey, Babe. I hope I’m not being presumptuous, and that you don’t mind being called Babe.

  I got a care package from my sister today and sure wish I could share it with you. She’s a baker and makes the most amazing fudge. She also sent cookies and brownies, but the fudge is my favorite. Lori nearly choked herself she was eating the baked goods so fast.

  Are you allowed to get care packages where you are? Probably not, huh? I’m sure you’d settle for a hot meal at this point. I hope your mission is over soon. I know it’s doubtful that you’d come back here, but maybe luck will be with us and we’ll both be back stateside around the same time.

  They told us today that our replacements will be here in two weeks, so we should be able to leave in about a month, once they are all trained up.

  Hope to see you soon,

  Cass

  Unopened Letter #4

  Rip,

  I hope you are okay. You’ve been gone for about a month now and the fact that I haven’t heard from you makes me nervous, even though I know you said there was a chance you wouldn’t get my letters or be able to write while you were on your mission.

  I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about you and King and everyone. I know this is what you are trained to do and I’m not saying I don’t think you guys are prepared for anything, I just can’t help but imagine every worst-case scenario possible.

  Anyway… enough of that. Lori left yesterday. Her replacement was one of the first to arrive, so she received orders to go home and is probably already stateside by now. It sucks. There are other people I can hang out with, of course, but she was my best friend here, ya know, and the only one who really knew about us. I’m sure she was tired of me talking about you and was ready to get on that plane and away from me, lol.

  I haven’t gotten my orders yet, but I’m hoping they’ll come down soon. I’m so ready to get out of here and be back home. I miss In N Out. I’m not joking. The first thing I’m going to do when we land is drive thru and get a double double animal style.

  I’ll try to write you again before I leave here, but if not I will as soon as I get home. I have two weeks of leave after I’m cleared on our return. I wouldn’t mind road-tripping down to San Diego if you’re back. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.

  I miss you!

  Cass

  Chapter 15

  Cass

  “Ohmygah….” I moaned around my burger after I took a big bite.

  I was alone in my car, so I didn’t care how disgusting or gluttonous I looked hoovering down my In-N-Out burger as I drove to my apartment for the first time in eight months.

  It was hot in Vegas, but nothing compared to where I was coming from. Still, I had the air-conditioning on full blast as I drove down the highway with my stereo blasting. Sometimes it was the little things you missed that you enjoyed more than anything.

  I’d slept a little bit on the plane but was still exhausted and figured the jet lag would probably hit within the next few hours.

  The thought of sleeping in my own bed had me grinning as I popped the last bite of the most delicious burger I’d ever had in my mouth.

  I pulled into my parking spot and gave my dashboard a loving pat before getting out and grabbing my bags out of the trunk. I wasn’t sure what I’d walk into, even though one of my friends had promised to come by a couple times a month to bring in my mail and water my plants.

  When I opened the door, I was pleasantly surprised when the scent of lavender hit me and I glanced around to see my apartment was shiny and clean.

  “You’re the best, Jess,” I murmured, talking about my friend who’d obviously gone above and beyond by stopping by to clean my apartment once she heard I was coming home.

  My mail was stacked neatly on the counter and it looked like my plants were still thriving.

  Jess is a goddess.

  I took my bags into my bedroom, mentally planning all the ways I’d thanks Jess. Flowers, a Starbucks gift card, maybe a spa day.

  I was normally the kind of person who needed to unpack and get everything put away as soon as I got home, but I decided I deserved to do so with a big glass of wine, so I headed back into the dining room where my wine rack stood, still full from when I left.

  I took out a bottle of my favorite red and crossed to open the kitchen drawer to pull out the opener. Once it was open, I set the wine on the counter to breathe and started going through my mail.

  Bills, ads, junk … and then a long envelope with Rip’s name on the return label.

  With a gasp I dropped the rest of the mail and tore open Rip’s letter.

  Cass,

  I hate to be abrupt, but there was an incident, and my team was brought home early. I can’t say more, but I wanted you to know just in case you’d been trying to reach me. I don’t know how long you have left in the desert, but I know your phone won’t work until you get back, and since I’m not sure when that’ll be, I figured this was a sure way for you to receive my correspondence. If I had your email, I’d have contacted you that way, but hopefully you get this.

  I’m okay.

  Yours,

  Rip

  Everything else forgotten, I ran to my bedroom to find my phone in the bottomless well of my purse
and pulled it out to search up Rip’s number.

  I pressed the button to call him and held the phone to my ear.

  After a couple rings, his deep voice sounded.

  “Hello? Cass?”

  The relief was so potent I felt tears come to my eyes.

  “Yes, Rip, it’s me … you’re okay?” I asked, my legs giving out as I sat back on the bed.

  “Yeah, babe, I’m good. It’s so good to hear your voice. I actually just got all of your letters and read them today.”

  “Really?” I asked with a laugh. It seemed like such a long time ago since I’d written. “I’m so happy they found you.”

  “Are you back then?” he asked, and I loved hearing his voice so much I wanted to drown in it.

  “Yeah, just got home right now actually. I was about to go unpack when I saw your letter.”

  “I hope you weren’t worried.”

  “A little, but you said you were okay so that eased my worry … How’s everyone else?” I asked, feeling settled enough to get up and go back into the kitchen.

  “I can’t talk about the particulars yet, but Scotty was injured. He’s going to be fine. Not that you’d know it with the way he’s bitchin’ and moanin’.”

  “Oh no, I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s all good. We’ve been home for a few weeks now.”

  “Are you back to work there then, or on leave?” I asked, hoping he’d be open to what I was about to suggest.

  “Still on leave,” he replied, and excitement fluttered in my belly.

  “Would you be up for a visitor?” I asked, biting my lip as I waited for his reply, which was a swift, “Hell, yeah!”

  “Really?” I felt giddy at the thought. “I have to check in to my squadron tomorrow, but once they sign off on my leave I’ll hop in my car and head your way.”

  “So, you’ll be here tomorrow night?”