Wrapped Up In You: A Military Romance (Unwanted Soldiers Book 2)

by Aden Lowe

  "I really wish that wasn't necessary." I lied. I wanted to be seen on his arm, proud to be with him, but I wanted it to be real. I wanted the life we planned, the one fate took away from us.

  "Yeah, believe me, so do I." He drove aggressively, barreling the truck through the light traffic back toward my neighborhood. A traffic light demanded a stop, and muscles in his jaw worked. When the light turned, he grunted and drove normally for a moment. "Where's your favorite restaurant?"

  "What?" Why could he possibly care where I liked to eat?

  "Favorite restaurant. Unless you plan on cooking for me, that is." His fingers drummed the steering wheel. "No, scratch that. You'd fucking poison me, just for spite. So where do you want to eat? Make it someplace where people you know might be, and where we'll be seen."

  Dread filled me. "Are you sure that's necessary? We could just get something at a drive through again."

  "Yes, I am fucking sure. If we want to draw the killer out, people have to think you're involved with someone. Word has to get back to him, so he comes after me. The faster we make that happen, the better. Then I can hunt the fucker down and kill him." The words came between clenched teeth, assuring me he was no happier with the prospect than I was.

  "Okay. Right at the next light. We'll go to D'Costas. It's a small Italian place, really popular, and a lot of people go there on Sunday afternoons." D'Costas was perfect for what he described, but I hated the thought of sharing it with him. After this, I would never be able to enjoy a quiet meal with friends there again. The place would forever be tied to him in my mind. The sacrifice better be worth it, and bring the killer out fast.

  "Sounds good. We're dressed okay for it?" The question showed an unusual gap in his confidence, reminding me of the boy he used to be.

  "Yes, it's casual. We're fine." Of course he would worry about that. When we were young, he never had whatever happened to be the current rage, and it made him the butt of cruel jokes. The memory softened my anger a little and made me want to reassure him. "The customers range from construction workers stopping in after work, to business professionals. It's a family place, and I usually run into some of my kids there. Last time, Hayden's family was there for dinner after a day on the lake."

  He nodded. "Good. We want the attention to be on you being there with a man, not the man's clothes."

  I dropped the subject, rather than continue with a sore point from the past. "Make a left at the next light, then three blocks on the right." The less our time before came up now, the better. I just had to follow the plan, remember the goal, and protect my heart.

  The rest of the drive passed in silence, and by the time Flag wedged the massive truck into a space in the small lot behind the restaurant, my mouth had gone dry from the tension.

  He turned the engine off. "Remember, we are on a fucking date. I open doors, hold the chair for you, all that good shit. And when you see anyone you know, you talk to them, and introduce me as your fiancé." Warm fingers applied pressure to my chin, ensuring I met his gaze. "Understand?"

  I nodded. "Yes, I do. Don't worry, I want whoever is killing my friends caught, and fast, so I can get back to my life. I'll do what it takes to make that happen." My words must have reassured him, because he released me and got out of the truck. I waited for him to open the door, and ignored all the warnings in my head telling me to run and save myself before I could fall in love with him again.

  Flag's hand engulfed mine as he helped me down from the truck, and my pulse hammered in my ears. "Look like you're happy to be with me, Azia. Anyone who sees you now will think I have a fucking gun to your head."

  I swallowed hard and smoothed my features into the same calm façade I used when dealing with a difficult situation with my kids. "Better?" I stared up at him and dared him to reply.

  "Slightly. The other way you look will work though."

  "What other way?"

  He stepped into my space, and I backed away instinctively, until my back touched the hard coldness of the truck, but he only came closer. "This way." The warmth of his breath against my mouth startled me, and I started to say something, but he moved too quickly. His lips met mine, and the world slipped away.

  Finally, he drew back. "You're driving me crazy, Azia. I can't kiss you every time you need to look happy to be with me."

  And just like that, he stepped away, slid an arm around my waist, and guided me toward the door. His hand burned against my back as we walked, and I tried to regain some composure. He paused at the door to let a family of three go ahead of us, then led me inside.

  The hostess returned from seating the family, and smiled at us as recognition set in. "Oh, hi, Miss Mendez!" She checked her chart. "Would you like the table you usually have? I just cleared it."

  "That'd be great." Flag's reply clearly surprised the girl.

  Her gaze flicked back to me, and once more, I went against my instincts. "Yes, Grace, it's perfect."

  She smiled again and led us toward the table at the corner where two windows joined to frame a view of the park. Everyone in the dining room would see us sitting there. I usually sat there early Saturday afternoons for lunch, watching families in the park. She waited while Flag held my chair and took his own seat, then slid menus in front of us. After promising our server would be right over, she hurried away, smiling like a cat with a canary. No doubt, the entire staff would know I was there with a man within three minutes.

  A petite woman in the red dress shirt and black slacks worn by all the staff approached our table. "Welcome to D'Costas! I'm Marcia, and I'll be your server today. Can I start you off with a drink?"

  Flag raised a brow at me, indicating I should order first. "I'll have a glass of the house red." Wine might make this ordeal easier to endure.

  He nodded. "Beer for me. Whatever you have on tap."

  Marcia nodded and noted our orders. "I'll be right back."

  As soon as she left, Flag reached across the small table and took my hand in his. "Remember, look happy to be here with me. Not like you're planning to stab me with the fucking salad fork."

  The mental image of me attacking him with a fork drew a laugh, despite my discomfort. "I think I'd need something a little more substantial than the salad fork."

  His smile melted some of my determination to maintain a safe distance. "You'd be surprised."

  Who was I trying to fool? I could never keep far enough away to fully protect my heart. The best I could hope for now was a quick conclusion before I fell entirely under his spell again.

  The drinks came, and we ordered our meal, and somehow carried on a casual conversation.

  "Miss Mendez!" A small body hurtled at me from nowhere, only to halt right before she crashed into me. Kelcee smiled up at me. "Guess what, Miss Mendez! I rode the pony!"

  Her mother hurried to catch up. "I'm so sorry, Miss Mendez. We didn't mean to intrude." Her gaze flicked meaningfully to Flag.

  I shook my head a little. "It's okay, don't worry." I turned back to Kelcee. "That sounds really exciting! Will you tell all your classmates everything about your ride tomorrow at circle time?"

  She nodded, speechless in her excitement, and allowed her mother to lead her away.

  "One of your students, I take it?" Flag's voice had changed, gone a little deeper.

  Something within me reacted to his tone. "Yes, she's been on cloud nine over a pony ride for weeks now."

  "You're good with them."

  "I try."

  His grunt implied something I missed. "You should have some of your own."

  Chapter Thirteen

  Flag

  Seeing Azia's face light up when she talked to that little girl made something deep inside my chest ache. If the world hadn't stolen our future, she and I might have a kid that age right now. A little girl who looked like her mom. Yeah, that would be fucking perfect. Too bad we both got fucked over and missed out on all that good shit. And now it was too late for us.

  I glanced up to catch her looking at me as if
she knew something I didn't. "What?"

  She lowered her lashes. "I just didn't figure you for the type who likes kids. You seemed a little…shocked…by the ones at Carrie's house, and they were pretty calm while we were there."

  I chuckled at the memory. "Yeah, they were a little overwhelming." Those kids terrified me, but one or two couldn't be so bad.

  She smiled. "You should see twenty five-year olds on the first day of school. It's tears everywhere."

  Okay, that thought fucking horrified me. "All of them?"

  "The vast majority, but it usually doesn't last too long." Her fingers slid along the stem of her wineglass, bringing all sorts of other images to my mind. "Flag, do you really think this plan will work?"

  And just like that, the spell broke. Reality reached out to slap me in the face again. She wasn't sitting there with me because she wanted to. She had to in order to protect her friends. "Can't make any promises. But he has to be drawn out. Based on what we know, and what we think we know, I think this is the best way to get his attention."

  Her expression thoughtful, she considered my words. "Okay, then. I assume you want to get if over as quickly as possible?"

  Maybe I didn't want to, but I had to finish this job up fast. Every fucking moment spent with Azia was torture. "Yeah, of course."

  She nodded. "Okay, then." The server brought our food, and Azia smiled up at her and thanked her. When the woman left, instead of returning to the conversation, she looked to my side of the table. "Are you really going to eat all that?"

  Startled, I looked at my food. "Yeah, why? Is something wrong with it?"

  "No, nothing." Her fork clinked lightly against her plate.

  I looked again, and still failed to find an issue with my chicken parmesan, and my baked ziti looked perfect. "Well, evidently something, or you wouldn't have mentioned it. Seriously, what's the problem?" Irritation turned my voice to a low grumble.

  The way she looked at the food raised all sorts of alarms in my head. "Really, nothing. It's fine."

  This was her favorite place. Did she know something, like these specific dishes sucked particularly bad? "Come on, Azia. Don't tell me nothing. I know better."

  She gave a long suffering sigh and moved her pasta around on her plate. "I'm just wondering how one person can eat that much in one sitting. Even in one week, for that matter. And then you don't have an ounce of fat on you, so you obviously don't eat that much on a regular basis, or you wouldn't have all that…" Her gesture seemed to indicate my entire body. "You wouldn't have all that muscle."

  She actually noticed what I looked like. A grin tried to spread over my face, but I managed to restrain it. "Well, if you hadn't realized, I'm not exactly small or skinny. I'm also pretty active, so I need a lot of fuel."

  One shoulder lifted in a careless shrug. "Okay, if you say so." She went back to pushing her pasta around.

  Annoyance surfaced. "Are you going to eat that? Or just drive it crazy by poking it?"

  A brow arched at me. "I'm eating. I'm just taking my time. Otherwise I'll be stuck here twiddling my thumbs while you try to stuff all that down." Her lips curved into a victorious smile.

  I decided to take a bolder approach. "Well, just so you know, if you starve yourself, you'll fucking lose that luscious little ass, and I'll be incredibly disappointed."

  That delightful flush immediately suffused her cheeks. "Oh my God, Flag! I can't believe you said that!" She leaned forward a little, as if to ensure her voice didn't carry. "You do know we're faking all this, right?"

  My turn to fucking win. "I'm perfectly aware. But there's no reason we can't have some fun doing it." I winked at her and took a big bite of my chicken parm. I was playing with fire, and I knew it. If anything happened between us physically, all the emotional stuff would come right back, full fucking force. I couldn't allow that to happen, but I could let her think I would if it meant coming out on top in our little war of words. I was nothing if not competitive.

  "You—"

  "Miss Mendez! Well I thought that was you!" An older woman in a pantsuit straight out of the eighties approached our table with a broad smile. "I never thought to see you today!"

  Azia smiled. "Hi, Mrs. Nealy, how nice to see you. I hope you've had a good weekend." From the way her knuckles whitened as she clutched her fork, I figured she wasn't all that happy to see the old lady.

  "Oh, I did!" Her faded blue gaze turned to me. "It certainly looks as if you did as well." She offered me a wrinkled hand. "I'm Mrs. Nealy, dear. I work with Miss Mendez."

  I hurriedly stood, wiping my hands on my napkin. "Hello Mrs. Nealy. I'm Flag, Azia's f—"

  "Fiancé." Azia's voice came out surprisingly strong. "He's my fiancé."

  The old lady's mouth formed a large O for a moment. "Well aren't you a sly one! I had no idea!"

  I returned to my seat to watch the fireworks. So what if my manners fucking sucked? I wasn't too concerned about impressions anyway.

  Azia gave tight-lipped smile. "I know. I didn't want to be gossip fodder, so I kept it to myself until we were sure."

  That blow hit the fucking mark. The old lady's lips thinned to a tight line. "It's nice to share good things with one's friends. That isn't gossip at all."

  That smile broadened. "Of course not, if one shares those things herself, rather than have someone talking behind her back."

  Mrs. Nealy's eyes narrowed. "It was really nice to see you, dear." She turned to me. "I'm glad to meet you."

  I stood again and gave her my most charming smile. "The pleasure is all mine, Mrs. Nealy. I hope you have a great evening."

  The old gal marched away without another word, and I sat back down. Azia absolutely fumed. "I take it that was the gossip lady?" I should probably have left it alone, but I couldn't help it.

  "In the flesh. I can guarantee she's told at least three people by now." Azia returned to pushing her pasta around.

  The meal held far less appeal now than earlier, but I took another bite anyway. "Well, that's what we wanted."

  "Yes, it is. And as soon as you're finished, we're going to make it go even faster." She speared a small shrimp and popped it into her mouth. "We're going to have the whole town talking."

  I stopped chewing for a second to hold a little internal debate. Should I be scared? Or excited by whatever she had planned. "What do you have in mind?"

  "You'll see. If you ever finish all that food." The way her lips curved this time reminded my dick how it felt to have her under me.

  My appetite suddenly went south. I pushed my plates back and chugged the rest of my beer. "All done."

  Her eyes widened. "You can't possibly waste all that food!"

  "So I'll get a doggy bag. I might get up to some activity later that requires refueling." Teasing her, flirting, was fucking torture. And exciting. Even though I knew it couldn't go any further, the game excited me. In an attempt to get my shit back under control, I caught the server's attention and asked for a takeout container for the rest of my food. With that taken care of, I held my hands up. "Okay, all ready."

  "It's about time." She stood and offered her hand, which I accepted and stood with her. "Do you have some quarters?"

  The question surprised me. "Quarters?"

  "Yes, you know, the coin worth twenty-five cents?" The snappy comeback suited her, making her cheeks glow.

  Two could play at that game. "Ohhh! I thought you meant hind-quarters." I turned around, making sure she could see my ass. "I have those two, and I've been told they're nice."

  Her face flushed again. "You're incorrigible." She was so fucking sexy, playing like this.

  My dick stood up and took definite notice. "I know. Now what are we doing?" Time to move things along before I made a fatal error.

  She tugged at my arm. "Come on. You'll see." A broad door at the back of the dining room opened into a crowded little bar, complete with small tables, a restored antique jukebox, and a little dance floor. "The bar is closed today, since it's Sunday, but a
lot of people come back here just to hang out after they finish eating." She stopped by the silent jukebox. "Where are the quarters?"

  I started to dig into my pocket for change.

  "No, just tell me where." Her gaze stayed glued to the selection menu.

  What the fuck? Were the quarters going to get into the damn machine through telekinesis? "Right front pocket. Why?"

  Her sweet smile made my dick throb. "Just stand still and pretend you're having fun." She moved behind me, and plastered her front to my back just as her hands splayed across my abs.

  My dick jumped in response, enjoying this game far too much. "Azia, what are you doing?"

  "Don't worry, just getting some quarters. Well, I'm also getting people to talk." Her fingers burned through my shirt as she traced the muscles downward. She took her time reaching my pocket, and when she finally made it there, she blindly sorted through every single coin. "Oh, I can tell you're enjoying yourself." Her fingers, inside my pocket, slid along the hard ridge of my dick.

  My hands, resting on the top of the damn jukebox, curled into fists. "A little too much. Just get the quarters." Need turned my voice so rough she probably thought I was angry with her.

  She gave a long-suffering sigh, and her warm breath penetrated my shirt to scorch my skin. "Fine." Her hand came, holding two quarters, which she immediately fed into the machine. She took care of the song choice too, punching the button for Guns N Roses November Rain. "Come on."

  Before I knew it, she had me on the little dance floor, swaying to the music while her body brushed against mine. A deep breath filled my nostrils with the heady scent of her perfume. I was in some fucking deep trouble here.

  Two other couples joined us on the floor, but Azia seemed to have no concerns over who might see us. She kept moving closer until she molded her body to mine with her arms wrapped around my neck.

  I let one hand slip down her back, just below her waist, and pulled her hips closer, ensuring she could feel my hard-on. If this fucking song didn't end soon, my control was going to slip. Already my heart raced with the need to fuck her. I tried to remind myself I couldn't afford the rest of what would come with the physical, but I wasn't buying that story so easily now.