Night Maneuvers

by Jillian Burns

  “Okay, I’m here. Put me to work.” At the sound of Mitch’s voice Alex jerked and almost dropped the Viva Las Vegas vase she’d grabbed from the cabinet.

  Apparently everyone else was just as shocked as she was. A stunned moment of silence permeated the room as Alex turned to take in her lover.

  “What?” Mitch held a tray full of Styrofoam cups of expensive coffee in one hand and a box from a doughnut shop in the other. He hadn’t shaved, and he was wearing the same shorts and shirt he’d left at her house. Only Mitchell McCabe could manage to make scruffy look sexy.

  “Kind of early for you, McCabe,” Jackson said as he stood, took the box of doughnuts and shook Mitch’s right hand.

  Mitch’s gaze slid to Alex and she quickly resumed wrapping the vase and packing it in a box.

  “I owe a forfeit, I pay it in full,” Mitch said. “I brought coffee.” He lifted the tray with a smile.

  “Oh, dear.” Lily clamped a hand over her mouth and went running down the hall.

  Grady winced. “Coffee’s one of the smells that sends her hurling.” He strode after her.

  Poor Mitch. His smile faded as he lowered the tray of drinks. “Sorry about that.”

  “No, no.” Jordan grabbed the tray. “Smells heavenly to me.” She took a cup and sipped some coffee. “We rented a trailer, but we had to park it at the end of the lot. How about you guys start loading furniture while us gals finish packing?”

  “Sounds good,” Jackson agreed. “McCabe, you want to grab the other end of the sofa?”

  “Sure.” Mitch darted another glance at Alex before bending to lift the sofa and followed Jackson out.

  “What was that all about?” Jordan asked as soon as the guys were out the door.

  “What?” Alex kept her attention on packing.

  “Are you and Mitch quarrelling?”

  Alex assumed her most innocent expression. “McCabe and me? No.”

  “Then what was with all the furtive glances and the silence? You didn’t give him a hard time about being out all night with some new bimbo now that his thirty days is up? Or make some snarky wisecrack about him making Lily puke?”

  Alex scoffed. “My world doesn’t revolve around Mi—McCabe. I have a life.” Crap, that came out too defensive.

  After Jordan didn’t respond, Alex finally looked up.

  Jordan was staring at her, scrutinizing, calculating.

  Feeling her face heating, Alex spun to grab something else out of a cabinet.

  “Oh. My. God,” Jordan gasped.

  Alex gritted her teeth and turned back around.

  “You’re sleeping with him!” Jordan looked horrified.

  “You say that like I was sleeping with a terrorist or something.”

  Just then Grady and Lily returned from the bathroom. Grady was shaking his head. Obviously, they’d overheard. “Damn it, Hughes.”

  Lily shrugged one shoulder. “I told you. Their auras were both so red.” At least she was smiling. “And I, for one, am happy for you, Alex.”

  “Oh, Alex.” Jordan shook her head, sympathy in her eyes.

  “What?” Alex challenged. “What’s the big deal?”

  “What goes next, hon?” Jackson appeared in the doorway, Mitch behind him.

  Everyone jumped and looked guilty at Jackson’s question. Good grief. What was this? As the Air Combat Instructor’s World Turns?

  “Well, Jackson.” Alex stomped past Jordan to stand nose to nose with her old friend. “You might as well know the whole sordid truth. McCabe and I are shagging each other’s brains out. We’re doing the dirty. Burying the bone. Glazing the doughnut. Dipping the corn dog in the batter. We can’t keep our hands off each other!”

  Poor Jackson just raised his brows and propped his fists on his hips. “Con…gratulations?”

  Mitch pushed past Jackson, put his arm around Alex’s shoulders. “Don’t worry, my fragile flower, I’ll protect you from these Puritans.” Then he spoke low into her ear. “What finally broke you, soldier? Was it the newlywed couples’ love-fest? Or were you subjected to twenty-four hours of Yanni?”

  She elbowed him in the gut and folded her arms across her chest.

  “Oomph!” Mitch grabbed his stomach. “Come on, Hughes, I’m still sore there.”

  A high giggle came from Lily and Alex glanced over at her. She was covering her mouth, laughing, and Alex spluttered into laughter, too. Jordan broke next, and soon they were all chuckling.

  Mitch put both arms around Alex and took possession of her mouth in a deep, long kiss. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back, matching him tongue for tongue, moan for moan.

  When he slowly released her, he whispered, “Are they all watching?”

  She glanced around and then nodded.

  “Good.” He grinned and looked around the room. “Any questions?”

  “Um…you want to help Cole take out the TV?” Jordan answered.

  With the tension broken, everything went back to normal. Alex was still embarrassed thinking about her outburst. But thankfully Mitch’s sense of humor had dispelled the charged silence.

  By the time the sun was setting the apartment was empty and the last run had been made to Jackson and Jordan’s new house. It was a mansion compared to Alex’s cozy two-bedroom, but then, they planned on having lots of kids. Alex got a little knot in her stomach thinking about that. She’d changed so much from that militant eighteen-year-old at the academy.

  Now that her career was for the most part established, and the man she loved wanted kids so badly—at least, he used to—she wouldn’t mind considering having a family. But after all these years of watching Mitch nurse the pain of Luanne’s betrayal, Alex would have to be a bubble-headed Pollyanna to believe he could truly love her, much less want to be in a committed relationship. So she shoved the idea way down deep, like she did everything lately.

  Jackson declared tomorrow a day of rest, except coming over for barbecued ribs. Jordan hugged everyone and thanked them, and soon Mitch was following Alex back to her house.

  As soon as his Jeep came to a stop behind her Mustang, he jumped out and swung her up into his arms. “I don’t know what made you decide to tell everyone, but I’m kind of glad to have it out in the open.”

  “I didn’t decide to tell them— You are?” Alex wanted to pinch herself.

  He set her down and took the keys from her hand. “Yep. I can’t stand lying.”

  “Me, either.”

  Unlocking the door, he took her hand and pulled her inside. “I know. And I love that you hate lying, and I love that I know that about you.” Who was this man and what had he done with Mitch?

  “Really? Alex entered her house feeling as if she were in an alternate universe.

  “Really.” He pulled his T-shirt off, toed out of his shoes and headed for the bathroom. “And since our secret’s out—” he turned and walked backward while he talked “—I think we should make plans to go out somewhere fun with our married friends next weekend after our promotion ceremony.”

  “You do?” Alex’s eyes couldn’t get any wider. But a seed of cautious optimism took root inside her.

  “I do.” He raised his brows and dropped his shorts. “Coming to shower?” He flashed those adorable dimples, turned and disappeared into the bathroom.

  In a daze, Alex followed slowly. Could they be a real couple? Have a real relationship? She shed her clothes, stepped into the shower and wound her arms around his waist. “When you say ‘somewhere fun,’ that doesn’t mean dragsters and dollar beers, does it?”

  SITUATION REPORT: HEADED for Uncharted Territory.

  Shirt by shirt, razor to toothbrush to cologne, over the next few days, Mitch began leaving his things at Alex’s. Since she was still on night maneuvers, the only way to maximize his time with her was to go ahead and spend the night there during the week, too.

  The change seemed barely discernible. Alex made room for his stuff on the bathroom counter, in her closet and drawers, and the
y even talked about bringing his big-screen TV over for watching games on the weekends.

  So, it seemed without either of them discussing it, he’d—for all intents and purposes—moved in with Alex. If anyone had told him a month ago he’d be moving in with a woman, he’d have laughed and denied it with every fiber of his being. He might have even made another stupid bet like he had when Jackson had talked about marrying Jordan. That’s how sure he’d been then.

  Now, uncertainty seemed to have moved into his psyche and made itself right at home alongside the bit of terror that still remained. All he knew was that, despite the fear, he was happy, and that a part of him he thought had died, the part that believed in love, that needed love, wasn’t dead.

  It was on life support and needed a lot of intensive care.

  But for the first time in more than seven long years, his heart was cautiously, one wonderful day at a time, coming back to life. And it felt good.

  He decided to come clean with Commander Westland, but he had to let Hughes know his plans first. It wouldn’t prevent him or her from receiving a promotion, but it might mean reassignment for one or both of them.

  Following the advice of his administrative assistant, he had a friend of his get front-row tickets for the whole gang to one of the Cirque du Soleil shows on the strip for Saturday night. The plan was to surprise everyone with the tickets after the ceremony on base Saturday.

  By lunchtime Friday he was too excited to wait to tell Alex about the show. He decided to take off early, buy himself a new shirt, and then surprise Alex at home with the tickets.

  He didn’t know which one he was more excited about: he and Alex getting promoted to the rank of major, or he and Alex making it official that they were a couple.

  Somehow the two seemed connected in his mind. Maybe because whenever something good had happened in his life, Alex was always a part of it.

  14

  ALEX JERKED AWAKE as her cell phone played “Anchors Aweigh.” She grabbed the phone off her bedside table. “Hughes.”

  “Alexandria, hey. It’s Neil.”

  Alex swiped the hair out of her mouth and blinked the sleep from her eyes. Neil. She hadn’t heard his deep voice in over a year. A vivid memory assaulted her of Neil’s delighted expression when he realized she’d used the Navy’s theme song as his ringtone on her cell.

  She cleared her throat. “Yeah, hey, hi, Neil. How’re you doing?” She rolled over and sat up, checking her alarm clock. Noon? She’d had three hours of sleep. But that wasn’t Neil’s fault. He didn’t know she was on night maneuvers.

  “—you out to lunch?”

  “Wait, what?”

  “I’m sorry. You sound like you’re not feeling well. Is this a bad time?”

  “I was asleep. I’m on night duty this rotation.”

  “Oh, no, I woke you up? I’m so sorry.”

  “No problem. What were you saying?”

  “I’m in town and thought I’d take you out to lunch, but it sounds like that’s not going to work for you.”

  “Oh, yeah, I’m not really fit for public consumption right now.” She gave a short laugh that died in the silence.

  “Well, listen, I’m on leave and I flew in to Vegas because I wanted to see you. Maybe I could come over there later this afternoon? After you get a few hours’ more sleep.”

  “Uh…” He flew in just to see her? Hadn’t she made it clear before she left Langley that they were done as a couple?

  “I know it’s rude to invite myself over, but I’m shipping out next week and I thought I’d see how you’re doing before I go.”

  “No, no problem. Come on by. I just bought a house.” She rattled off the address.

  “If you’re sure?”

  “Yeah, it’d be nice to catch up.” That’s all this was. Two friends catching up after a year.

  “Great. Be there in about an hour.”

  After Alex clicked off, she jumped in the shower, blew her hair dry and tried to apply a little makeup, but her hand shook. Why was she so nervous? She cared about Neil, but she certainly didn’t love him.

  She dashed into the living room, madly snatching up clothes, trash and takeout boxes. She’d be so embarrassed to let Neil see the way she lived. Heading to the kitchen, she stopped in her tracks. Why did it matter if Neil saw the way she lived, but not Mitch? Think about that later, Hughes.

  The kitchen was a mess. She stuffed things anywhere they’d fit, cabinets, pantry, the fridge, and then cleaned all the surfaces with bacteria-killing disposable wipes.

  As she cleaned, it occurred to her, it’d been over a year since she’d felt compelled to try to impress someone, to be on her best behavior. To be someone she wasn’t.

  And she didn’t miss feeling that way.

  She’d once met his father, stumbled over her words and ended up using profanity. Neil had said he thought it was cute, but cute only went so far before it became annoying to someone with his kind of background. She could just hear the senator talking to his colleagues. Yes, my son’s in the navy, but his date’s the one who swears like a sailor.

  She cringed at the memory.

  Neil didn’t know she was a world-title-holder slob. Or that she snored like a chainsaw grinding through redwood.

  The doorbell rang and she jumped, her heart racing. Taking a deep breath, she smoothed her hands down her jeans and went to get the door.

  As soon as she swung it open, his classy cologne hit her senses. But as expensive as she knew it was, it didn’t do a thing for her. “Hey.” She smiled and offered her cheek as he bent down to hug her and kissed the corner of her mouth.

  “Hi.” He wore his service dress uniform, shiny shoes, and ribbons covering his suit coat pocket. “Housewarming gift.” Bowing slightly from the waist, he presented her with an expensive bottle of wine, mimicking a maître d’ at an expensive restaurant.

  “Oh, you didn’t have to do that.” She took the wine and stepped back, gesturing him inside. “I thought I’d make tuna salad. You want a sandwich?”

  “Whatever you make is great.” He followed her into the kitchen and stood at the counter while she pulled out a can of tuna.

  He was taller than Mitch, broader. At five feet three inches, she felt like a dwarf next to him. He made her nervous just standing there watching her. Did he notice the awkwardness between them like she did?

  “Your house is nice,” he finally said.

  “Thanks. It’s just an old fixer-upper, but I like the classic fifties details, like the built-in shelf in the hallway for the phone.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah, and the original wood trim along the front gable? They don’t make ’em like that anymore.” Oh, God, she was rambling. She glanced over at him and smiled.

  He returned it. “Hey, can I help with anything?”

  “Oh, nah. Not much to do.” She pulled mayo from the fridge. “You like celery or pickles in your tuna salad?” She wouldn’t have had to ask Mitch that. She knew already. To be fair, she’d known him longer. But she’d dated Neil almost two years. She’d slept with the man, for crying out loud. She should know how he liked his tuna.

  “Either is fine.” He just stood there and watched her.

  “Have a seat and tell me how the hell— How are you? You’re shipping out, huh?” She knew not to ask him where. He probably couldn’t say.

  As she chopped an onion, boiled a couple of eggs and mixed everything in a bowl, he sat, crossed his legs in that upper-class elegant way of his and talked.

  He kept the conversation light, filling her in on all of their mutual friends in D.C. He talked of his father and mother, and their busy lives, and told her of a lady, a young lobbyist, he’d been dating a few months.

  Alex made the sandwiches, set his on a plate before him with some sliced apples and pulled out a bag of potato chips.

  “This looks wonderful.” He smiled down at the food and then back up at her. “I think that’s what I’ve always liked about you. You’re so down-to-ear
th.” He picked up the sandwich and took a man-size bite.

  She blinked. Down-to-earth? Was that code for unsophisticated? Uncouth? “Gee, you really know how to flatter a girl, Neil.”

  His eyes widened and he stopped chewing. Swallowing quickly, he shook his head. “No, I— That came out wrong. I meant it as a compliment. Truly.”

  Feeling bad for the poor guy, she smiled. “I know. Don’t worry about it.”

  He cleared his throat, scooted back in the chair, and stood. “Restroom?”

  “Uh…” She scrambled up from her seat and motioned him out of the kitchen and to the right. Oh, crud, had she straightened up the bathroom? “The door on the right.”

  She busied herself searching the pantry for anything she could offer for dessert besides a half-eaten bag of Oreos. As she heard the water running, she poured them both a glass of iced tea and then paced the kitchen. Why was he really here? Maybe he was marrying that lobbyist and wanted to let Alex know personally. But she’d made it clear when she left D.C. that she was breaking up with him. Maybe—

  She spun on her heel as he appeared in the kitchen. “Want some tea?” She held out the glass to him.

  “No, thanks.” He shoved his hands in his slacks pockets and gazed out the window above her sink to the backyard. “Is that a pool?”

  “Yes!” She seized on the topic for conversation. “It’s small but it comes in handy in this desert heat.”

  He was still gazing out the window. “It’s nice out today. Not too hot, not too cold.”

  No way he came here just to talk about the weather. “Would you like to sit outside?”

  “Yes.” His smile looked relieved as he swung his gaze back to her.

  She stepped around the table, opened the back door and led him out to the patio.

  “It’s beautiful out here,” Neil said from behind her. “You’ve done a great job on the landscaping.”

  “Well, I had help.” Sipping her tea, she surveyed the flowerbeds and remembered the day Mitch had helped her plant them all. What a great time they’d had that day.

  “Alexandria.” He caught her gaze. “I didn’t come here just to catch up on old times.”