Page 117 of Peace Under Fire

The tall, dark, hulking man shrugged. He scanned her with penetrating black eyes as though he were sizing her up. “Because those are my orders.”

Which told her nothing and didn’t come close to soothing her unease.

After a round of hugs, much to the hulk’s simmering impatience, Mandy watched Alaska and Brick make their way back down the length of the beast and out the gaping door. Maybe she should go with them. She had no idea who these hard-faced, camo-clad men were. For all she knew, they could be worse than the cockroaches.

“Hey.” Jacob drew her back down to his lap. “Relax. You can trust these guys.”

“How can you be sure?” Mandy whispered, watching the long-haired, romance cover guy. He was obviously in charge. But that didn’t mean she could trust him.

“Because Tex vouched for them.” Jacob slid his arm around her waist and pulled her tight against his chest.

Mandy didn’t trust Tex nearly as much as Jacob did, but they were already in the air. It wasn’t like she had any place to go.

It took a few seconds to realize the hulking leader of this expedition was still studying her. He looked puzzled. Like he was trying to figure something out.

“What?” And yeah, the word was full of attitude. Maybe not the wisest reaction when she was at this man’s mercy.

But he just gave her another of those inscrutable looks and shrugged.

“Don’t mind Wolf,” the man to her right said, the one Jacob had called Mac. “He’s the silent type.”

Wolf. So that was the guy’s name.

“If you need anything,” Wolf said without responding to Mac’s dig, “talk to Mackenzie. Consider him your personal concierge.” With that, he turned and headed back up to the front of the beast.

Mandy settled against Jacob’s chest, listening to the strong, steady beat of his heart. She didn’t know where they were headed or what was going to happen once they got there.

But none of that mattered, because she had Jacob by her side.

* * *

Mandy sighed and stretched, then rolled over, reaching toward the space beside her. It was empty. But warmth radiated from the sheet, indicating Jacob hadn’t left their bed that long ago. The bedside clock claimed it was seven a.m.

Pushing the top sheet and comforter aside, she padded across the bedroom and into the hall. The bathroom door was open. The lack of steam and wet towels told her Jacob hadn’t lingered there. But then they’d taken a shower—together—the night before, after the harried looking civilian liaison officer had showed them to their quarters.

That’s what he’d called it. Their quarters. He’d assigned the suite of rooms to them—together—as a couple. And Jacob hadn’t corrected the man. That lack of correction made her want to sing happy tunes, or maybe love songs.

After the shower, they’d fallen into bed together. Like a normal couple. And they’d slept together for the very first time. Although, sadly, no hanky-panky had taken place. They’d been too tired for that.

She was hoping, like really hoping, that they could continue with her lessons this morning.

She was ready for graduation.

There were no coffee smells coming from the small kitchen at the end of the hall, so he probably wasn’t in there either. But she headed in that direction anyway.

Her thighs, encased in a pair of cotton pajama bottoms a good Samaritan had dropped off, made soft shushing sounds with each rise and fall of her feet.

Shush…shush…shush.

Rather than finding the sound embarrassing, since it meant her thighs were so thick they were rubbing against each other, she giggled, almost giddy with joy. With luck, her legs would get a workout today.

Everything felt wonderful this morning. Happy. Sunshiny.

There was a note sitting on the counter next to the coffee maker. Bold, heavy slashes spelled out ‘Wait for me’.

She’d never seen Jacob’s handwriting. But she knew the note was from him. Wait for him? Always.

The note added another dimension to her happiness.

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