Page 17 of What I Should Have Done

There it was, again, that thread tugging me toward her. Sharp cheekbones covered in a light layer of sand cast shadows against the sun upon her face.

“Scottie, why don’t you head to the chow hall or something. We can handle the—”

“No,” she cut Dom off, shrugging her shoulders back and lifting her chin. Shaking her head, she physically shifted her mindset back to that fiery woman who I knew was still going to chew me out some more for getting angry about her help. “I’m coming with you.”

A smile twitched at the edge of my lips. Damn… She might just do alright out here. And if she could keep up with the team, maybe she was worthy of a little more trust when it came to the missions.

Only a little.

Turning around, we resumed our walk, the rest of the team linking back up with us. Scottie remained fairly close to my side, instead of trying to put distance between us, and I didn’t fight it. I should have. I should have moved away, engaged in conversation with one of the other guys, but I didn’t.

Part of me almost wanted her to start a fight with me again. Seeing those flames in a pool of amber, roaring hot like the sun, had certainly done something to me. Stirred feelings that I was still fighting, emotions that I currently attempted to choke down.

“Mikey?” Scottie’s voice pierced the air.

I raised a brow at her as we filed around tents filled with chatter.

“You guys all have this look on your face that’s…confusing me.” Her gaze darted around the group.

“Why?”

“Because you look pissed.”

“Are you not? Mission went sideways. We could’ve been killed.”

Her mouth dropped open as she realized what we were planning on doing. “He’s the colonel.”

“Yes,” I stated, my skin turning warm as I glanced at her.

“Tell me you’re not.”

“We absolutely are. Outside of the colonel, who else knew what we were doing?”

“Okay, but—”

“But we’ll chew him out.” I grinned at her and quickly added, “Respectfully of course.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m gonna get written up on my first tour.”

“Welcome to the team, Crow,” Bernie called out over his shoulder, clearly having heard the entire conversation.

She pursed her lips and narrowed her gaze at me. “We’re gonna have a conversation later about what happened, too. You know, about you getting pissed at me for saving your ass.”

Bernie and Duncan laughed, dropping back to either side of us. “Technically, your orders were to fire only when necessary, and Viper didn’t really need saving. Sorry girl,” Bernie said.

“He had two targets engaged with him and a third coming up behind him,” she argued.

“Wouldn’t be the first time. He’s handled more with less. You have no idea how he got his call sign, do you?” Duncan inserted himself into the conversation.

I grinned to myself, not too upset that these guys were making me look fairly badass. Gaining some points in her eyes didn’t seem too—

HOLD the fuck up, Mikey.

“How’d you get your call sign?” Scottie asked, looking up at me.

“I’ll tell you after we have our respectful conversation with Colonel Duke.” I nodded at the tent we paused in front of. Tan canvas flapped in the breeze.

“Fine, but you owe me the story,” she stated bluntly and ducked inside.

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