The guard hesitated for several heartbeats and then backed up slowly toward his desk. The large floor-to-ceiling windows along the front of the building gave them a perfect vantage point if he should draw a weapon. Instead, the guard picked up the phone. His hand shook as he hung up, and he sat down, heavily mopping his brow with a handkerchief. Looking nervously at them, the guard reached over slowly and released the lock on the front door. This man needed a stress-reduction class, or maybe he just didn’t like the look of two large, muscular men flanking a powerhouse of a woman.
The three of them entered.
Without a word, they headed toward the elevator and pushed the Up button. The front door slammed loudly and the front-door lock clicked in place. Bennett raised an eyebrow at Melo, who gestured at the largest front window; it was a single pane that had obviously been replaced recently, and they could shoot their way through it if necessary.
The doors of the elevator slid soundlessly open, and they stepped inside. As it closed behind him, Bennett was scanning for any out-of-place devices, such as gas nozzles, an elevator trapdoor, or anything else that could endanger them. The doors opened onto the fourth floor without incident, and he stepped out in front of Kimberly and scanned the room.
A tall woman dressed in a suit and three-inch heels said, “Nice to see you again, Dr. Warren. If you and your associates will follow me into the conference room…” She moved down the hall with alacrity. “Would any of you care for a beverage? If you need anything, I’m Greta. Push the pound sign and the number one on the phone and I’ll bring you what you need. Mr. Bist will be with you directly.” She closed the doors, leaving them inside.
Melo laughed. “Well, that was anticlimactic.”
Kimberly frowned at them. “What did you think would happen? This is commerce, not espionage.”
Bennett looked at each of them in turn. “I’ll reserve my judgment until after the meeting.”
Arnold Bist was a short, dark-haired man with glasses. He rushed into the room, shook hands with Kimberly, and didn’t even utter a greeting. Sitting in the chair closest to the door, he said, “I know why you’re here. I can’t apologize enough. Shortly after we agreed to your contract, my resources manager switched vendors and began accepting inferior materials. I had to shut down our entire manufacturing plant, clear the faulty outputs and products as well as the supplies, and find a new source for materials. That’s why we’re shut down, so I can cast and manufacture all the parts in a stronger and more reliable form. I know you have extras and that you’re probably using your backups, but I promise you I will have the contracted parts by tomorrow afternoon. Again, you have my fullest apology, Dr. Warren.”
“Thank you, Arnold. I was wondering what happened. You don’t seem the type to break your word. Not in this business, when most custom work comes from the recommendations of clients.” Kimberly leaned forward. “I appreciate you making sure that you’re using the finest of materials.”
“Yes, of course.” He opened the file in his hand and withdrew a piece of paper. “Here’s the metallurgy of the part. I will double the amount we’re sending you. The cost is nullified; this is on us.” His hands shook and his face was a mottled red. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.” He stood, staring at Kimberly as he waited for her nod of agreement. The minute she gave it to him, he was out the door and practically running down the hall.
“Was it something I said?” asked Melo.
Kimberly smiled at him. “You two look like thugs. He probably thought I was coming to whack him.”
With that comment, even Bennett had to crack a grin. “Are we all set?”
“What do you guys say—wheels up?” Kimberly tucked the metallurgy report into her purse and followed Bennett out the door. They walked down the hall in silence, waited for the elevator, and stepped inside. The minute the doors closed, she said, “So, tell me about Alisha? What’s it like being married?”
Bennett took a long, slow breath and rolled his eyes heavenward. It was going to be a long trip to the restaurant. Or rather, a trip in which his Teammate was not going to shut the hell up. His wife was one of Melo’s favorite topics.
* * *
Half an hour later, Bennett was ready to jump out of the moving vehicle. Kimberly laughed, listening to Melo talk her ear off. Melo had gained the front seat as “navigator,” and Bennett—Kimberly’s lover extraordinaire, which obviously counted for nothing—was stuck in the backseat. His long legs felt like pretzels, and if Bennett had had to listen to one more word about lost loves, misunderstandings causing a separation, and being reunited during a Wounded Warrior Housing Project in Julian, California, he would have broken the back window and leaped out.
Luckily, they arrived at the restaurant within seconds of his last nerve’s getting trampled to death. Shoving his way out of the car and sitting Melo on his ass again was slightly satisfying, but breathing in the fresh air and setting his eyes on Kimberly truly eased his cranked-up tension. She had a way of calming him.
Damn, he felt like an idiot. He walked around the vehicle and took her hand.
She smiled at him, a glint of joy in her eyes. “Lead on,” she said.
His smile slipped away as he leaned down and kissed her. His body was firing on all cylinders, and he wanted to crawl back into the car, without Melo, and make out. “Want to ditch them?”
“No way! I have to meet Alisha now.”
His lips made a thin line as he tugged her toward the door Melo had just disappeared through. “Fine. But I’m taking this as a rain check.”
“Absolutely.”
The restaurant seemed dark inside after the daytime sunshine. California had a way of appearing perpetually bright. He blinked his eyes slowly, helping them adjust, and located his Teammate. Melo was “macking” on a woman who was way too beautiful to be his wife.
“Jonah, stop. We have company.” The sparkling woman turned to Kimberly and hugged her. “I’m Alisha. I’m a hugger.”
The look of shock on Kimberly’s face was priceless. She managed to stammer out, “Kimberly. N-nice to meet you.”
“Bennett,” he said as Melo’s wife squished her body against his. He knew he shouldn’t think it, but he did: Melo’s lady was stacked. Her personality was just as bubbly as Melo’s. The two of them monopolized the conversation, and he and Kimberly sat back to enjoy the ride.
Buzz. Buzz. Checking his phone, he saw a text from Ouster. The man wanted a sitrep, a situation report, and that meant now. Bennett showed the phone to Melo. “Order me an iced tea, a spinach salad, and a turkey burger,” he said to Kimberly before the men excused themselves from the table to find a secure manner to update the Admiral.
* * *
Using a small scrambler he had in his pocket for emergencies, Bennett found a way to call Admiral Ouster. He wasn’t looking forward to briefing him, but duty was duty, and he was known as a SEAL with follow-through.
“Sheraton, sitrep.” Ouster’s tone was tense and to the point.
“The situation report is as follows,” said Bennett. “We followed a lead to BIST, thinking it might be espionage, and found out it was poor quality in manufacturing a part. That completes the leads in terms of physical parts for the shuttle. Melo is on the software angle, going over the specs, and hasn’t unearthed anything anomalous. Both of us are reviewing personnel files, and we’re watching a number of people including Hubbard, the facility manager; Kess, the project manager; and several of the pilots. We cannot rule out that there are additional accomplices, but thus far we’ve set up safeguards with the help of Sally to monitor unusual activity.”
“Your job is to get that damn shuttle off the ground, Sheraton, so hop to it.” Ouster coughed. “And…Dr. Warren, what’s her medical readiness? How is she?”
Bennett paused. What did he say? That she was spectacular? That he looked forward to spending time with her, even when she frustrated him, and he craved h
olding her, protecting her, and making love to her? Hell, the Admiral didn’t want to know that. Damn, he didn’t even want to acknowledge it himself. “Sir?”
“Is she well?”
“I suppose so.”
“Sheraton, I will be blunt. I want Dr. Warren to leave this project and get out of the Lester Facility.”
“May I ask the reason, Admiral?” Bennett wasn’t going to rip the rest of Kimberly’s dream away from her without a serious reason. He respected Kimberly, and what she had done up to this point to make this project viable and it had been fairly miraculous.
Ouster cleared his throat. “She probably mentioned that she was a friend of the family’s. I…I don’t want her getting hurt. It’s as simple as that.”
Bennett considered his next words carefully. “With all due respect, without Kimberly, the shuttle will not get off the ground. She is a mission critical asset, Admiral.”
A few grumblings came from the other end of the phone line. “Understood. It’s up to you, Sheraton, to keep her safe and complete this mission. We’re counting on you and Melo to succeed.”
The line went dead before Sheraton could reply in the affirmative. He pocketed the phone and small scrambler. He wasn’t looking forward to sharing with Kimberly that Ouster wanted her out, but at this point in the game, keeping secrets was a stupid way to create miscommunication and mistrust. Keeping things on track with her was much more important, both in terms of the mission and for personal reasons.
* * *
The restaurant was dark and smelled of fried food and beer. Kimberly wrinkled her nose, wishing for something more pleasant to smell.
Alone with a woman she hardly knew, Kimberly had no idea what to talk about or even what to do. She was horrible at playing the social scene. Small talk was not her thing.
They placed their orders for lunch and sat quietly for a few minutes. Kimberly stared blankly at the diners around them, not really knowing where to begin with Alisha. Several ideas ran through her head, but nothing seemed to fit.
There weren’t a lot of women in the sciences, and she had very few female friends. She wasn’t exactly sure what to talk about. Stars. Molecules. The weather.
“I’ll begin,” Alisha said with a friendly smile. “I don’t mind. I’m a chatterbox. If I pry too much, just tell me to mind my own business. It’s just that I really like seeing Teammates with cool women, and you seem pretty awesome. So, how long have you known Sheraton?”
“Not long,” replied Kimberly, feeling the heat climb up her neck and cheeks. Though the length of their acquaintance had been short, it was as if she’d known him forever. “What about you and Melo?”
“Ages,” replied Alisha, waving a hand in front of her face. “It wasn’t until years later that Jonah and I actually admitted how much we loved each other. It was during a building project for a dear friend of ours. So much time wasted! If you want my advice, don’t ever let it get to that point.”
Of course, in the car, Melo had told Kimberly all about his and Alisha’s union. Wasn’t it polite to listen again? Besides, hearing it from another point of view provided a whole new kind of insight into their relationship.
“I mean…if I hadn’t married Jonah, I probably wouldn’t have found such incredible happiness—and don’t get me started on the orgasms. I mean, seriously, SEALs know how to bring it. Full attention, focused actions, and Jonah can make me actually squeal. It’s crazy. I bet you and Bennett do well together. Right?”
“Uh, yeah. Thanks.” Kimberly didn’t know how to answer, so she just looked down at her phone, trying to cut the conversation short. It didn’t work. She watched the woman blather on before she suddenly stopped and shifted nervously in her seat. She used the pause to ask, “Are you okay?”
“Yes, I just… Jonah is retiring after this mission. Honestly, I’m worried about being married to a ‘docked’ SEAL. They call them sea, air, land guys for a reason. With or without flippers, they need that adrenaline rush. Will I be enough for him?”
Insecurity. Did every woman embrace it, when it came to her man? Did she have it with Bennett? Not really. Going toe to toe with him was foreplay; it turned her on faster than his hands caressing her skin. Heavens, did that mean she, Dr. Kimberly Warren, liked Captain Bennett “Boss” Sheraton mucking around in her brain as well as her body?
She smiled to herself. The answer was obviously…yes. She loved it.
“What?” asked Alisha. “You have a funny look on your face.”
Kimberly shook her head, chasing the images of a very naked, argumentative Bennett tempting her with his brain, brawn, and body. “Alisha, he chose you. Melo strikes me as a definitive person.”
Alisha grinned. “He is.” She touched a spot between her breasts as if hugging her hand there. “Jonah’s my heart, my fantasy, my partner, and my only love. He earns the title of husband each and every day with his kindness, support, fidelity, and sense of joy. Having him in my world, and him wanting me to be part of his, is the very best part of my life.” Her sigh was sweet, and the tenderness reflected in her eyes tugged at Kimberly’s heartstrings.
“A very lucky man.”
“Yes, I am,” replied Melo from behind them. “Beware what you say, ears are always listening.”
Kimberly felt the blood drawn from her face. She stood quickly, her chair toppling over and landing on the floor with a loud thud. As she backed up from the table, hands caught her, steadied her, and spun her around.
“What?” Bennett’s hands held fast to her arms. “What dots did you connect?”
She couldn’t speak for a minute. Her mind worked through the details, forming words. “I’ve got it. It has to do with…listening and Sally. I know at least one person who has more Intel than he’s supposed to.” Her voice was full of excitement. “And I know how to prove that he’s part of the problem.”
Turning to Melo and Alisha, Kimberly rushed on. “Do you mind if we continue this another time? I need to get back to work.”
“That’s how I learn the best stuff. Covert, remember.” Melo nodded. “Of course, go to it. Just give me at least an hour to…”
Alisha pinched him.
“Ouch,” he replied.
“Manners, Jonah,” Alisha scolded. She turned to Kimberly. “He’ll be right with you. Good luck. Break a leg. Or whatever they say to deliver success in your situation. I understand. I’ve enjoyed meeting you.” She waved over the waiter. “Could you please put their food in a doggie bag?”
Kimberly gave her a half smile and then whispered to Bennett, “What does Melo’s wife know about the issues at the Lester Facility? In truth, she isn’t cleared to know anything, though she appears to be a pleasant soul.”
“I doubt it’s anything important,” he whispered back.
She nodded. As Kimberly picked up her purse, Alisha whispered to her, “Those two have chemistry like nobody’s business.” The comment made Kimberly smile. She liked Melo’s wife, and she admired the relationship between Bennett and Melo. They were Teammates, sure, but they were more than that—brothers rather than just friends.
The waiter presented the bags of food and a tray of drinks. Kimberly scooted past the happy couple as Bennett grabbed the sustenance.
Alisha looked over her shoulder at her. She smiled. “Nice to meet you. Let’s do this again.”
“Sure,” said Kimberly. It surprised her that she actually wanted to meet with Alisha again, and her husband too, perhaps dine together as a foursome. Well, well, well, that was a future-based notion. Where was her head now? Not on the present—she had to tune into the now. Focusing on fantasy was only going to create false expectations. It was highly unlikely she’d ever see Alisha again. Kimberly allowed herself to be okay with that fact, and she stepped alongside Bennett. Was he a fleeting experience, too? Maybe, but she hoped that wouldn’t be the case.
Melo waved h
is hands at Alisha, giving her the “hush” signal. It was obviously not working. His wife was, as she herself had said, a chatterbox.
“If they aren’t already a couple, they should be. I think they will be my very next project. Where’s her home? I can give her a free interior-design mock-up…” Alisha chatted on.
Her husband gave up trying to wrangle his wife. Putting his arm around her, he signaled the waiter so he could pay the check. Melo kissed the top of Alisha’s head and laughed softly along with her.
She whispered to him, and he grabbed her and kissed her. The blush rising up her cheeks had to mean good news. Only one thing could make someone glow like that. Kimberly would have to remember to congratulate him when they were back in the car.
She tilted her head, imagining their life together. She could only imagine these two individuals were quite a riot, happy and content in each other’s company. Did she feel that way about Bennett? In many ways, the answer was in the affirmative. “Do we have to leave?” she asked. There was something wonderful about being around another couple that was so deeply in love.
Bennett’s hand snaked out and latched onto hers. “Yes. We need to go.” He tugged her along behind him, and they moved at a swift pace. When they were outside, he put the food down on the hood of Kimberly’s car and pulled her into a shaded spot against the restaurant. Tipping her head up, he kissed her gently and lovingly.
Her breath caught in her throat. She struggled to breathe for a second and then relaxed. “I…I need to get back, or you do.”
“We both do. I need more Intel. Can Sally help us out?”
“Yes, of course,” she replied and kissed him gently, rubbing her lips against his. “What about Melo?”
“He can hoof it. Only, what, sixteen miles?”
She laughed. Her eyes locked to his.
His face sobered slowly. “I just needed something beautiful to remember this moment. With the shade enveloping you, your eyes open wide, you are sparking brightly. Your energy is electric, and I couldn’t resist making this memory even more perfect by kissing you.”
The Soul of a SEAL Page 12
