Page 31 of Never Yours

I cross the kitchen and answer it, my heart beating out of my chest. “Rogers.”

“Commander Caleb Rogers?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“This is Admiral Beckett. Code word?”

“Daffodil.”

“Please confirm your line is secure.”

I pull up the data on the phone to confirm no one is listening in and mute the call. “Ingrid, don’t say a word, okay?” She nods, and I unmute the phone. “Line is secure.”

“Commander Rogers, we’ll need to bring you in early.”

No.

“How early?”

“A car will be at your home at 0400 tomorrow morning. Please make sure you have any essential medications, identification, your blues and your whites. Do you have any additional questions?”

“No, Sir.”

“Thank you for your service.” The line goes dead.

This can’t be fucking happening…

“What’s going on?” Ingrid asks carefully.

“Remember when you joked that I jinxed myself?”

She frowns. “No.”

“Do I still get one night?”

“What’s going on, Cay?”

“Do I still get one night?” I repeat, this time it comes out rougher than I thought it would, making Ingrid’s eyes fill with worry. I take a deep breath. “I’m leaving in the morning.”

“What?” She hops off the counter. “You have two weeks.”

“No. I don’t know what’s going on, but they wouldn’t be calling me in unless it was an international incident or there’s something wrong with a sub. I don’t want to think the worst, but… I need to know you’ll be safe when I’m gone.”

“Of course I’ll be safe,” she scoffs, but she must see the worry in my features when she repeats matter-of-factly, “I’ll be safe.”

“I have to see Pop and Cass before I go, but… Please stay with me tonight? I understand if you don’t want to. This isn’t like we’re easing out of this like we planned. I have to leave, and I have no fucking clue where I’m going or when I’ll be able to talk to you again.” She looks away as if she’s trying to figure out another way out of this. “Please, Ingrid. I won’t touch you, I just?—”

“Go see your dad and Cass, I’ll be here when you get back.”

I trace her jaw with my thumb and press a single kiss to her lips. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

ingrid

. . .

After the whirlwind of today, now pacing after waiting over three hours for Caleb, I’m exhausted. I slide under the covers of his perfectly made bed and try to calm my mind. So much has happened in so little time. I grab my ereader that he insisted on keeping until he leaves, and since it’s dead, I’m left with just my phone to pass the time. Unfortunately, it’s down to the last ten percent of the battery, so I plug it in to charge both devices.

Closing my eyes, I take long, deep breaths, taking in the scent of him on the pillows. I’m going to miss waking up to him in the morning.

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