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“Sure. That would be great. I’d like that. I have a big class starting this week, so I’ll probably work late on Friday. Do you want to go for a run on Saturday?”

He nodded. “Sure. How about meeting me on the strand? We can jog on or near the beach.”

She reached out and squeezed his hand, then flashed him a smile that sent warmth through him. If anything progressed between them, he’d have to talk to command and make sure he wasn’t doing anything wrong. There was no command structure between them, no crossover at all. Maybe he should call it quits before something started between them, but he wanted to see if it was even worth it. Perhaps they would figure out they weren’t compatible, and the relationship wouldn’t even begin. He met her gaze and knew that this woman was exactly what he’d been looking for. He would find a way to make it work.

Chapter 5

Rory breathed a sigh of relief on Friday afternoon, glad the first week of the class was over. The class was three weeks, but the first was the hardest to get through. She was in her office, finishing paperwork, when one of the Navel officers who worked in the same department stepped in.

“Oh, Captain Holmes, you’re still here.”

“Hey, Lieutenant Laelyn, I’m just finishing up. How are you?”

“I’m good. Good.”

Laelyn wasn’t someone she would normally hang out with. There was something about him that put her off. Maybe it was the way he acted toward her or the looks she’d caught him shooting her way. She just felt weird about him. She’d learned in life to trust her gut. If she felt off about someone, she was usually right.

“You were in Virginia, at Quantico for a while, weren’t you?”

“Yes, I was. It was nice.”

“Did you know Toovey? He is a commander with the Navy?”

Rory was glad she had her back turned to Laelyn because Toovey was one of the guys she thought was dirty. Did he know she was looking into something that could implicate him? There was no way Laelyn knew about the file she’d found.

She shrugged. “I knew of him. There were a lot of people that were in and out.”

“Huh,” Laelyn said before sitting at his desk.

Rory fought to keep the panic low. There was no reason for the man to ask her about Toovey. She must have left breadcrumbs for people to follow, and they’d figured out she knew more than she let on. Now, she would need to be even more careful. She hadn’t looked at any information or files since last week, and now she wouldn’t look again for a long while. She needed to cool it. One thing she knew for sure, Laelyn couldn’t be trusted. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but she didn’t like those because they tended to be more.

At home, she stared at the two wines she’d put in the refrigerator, a white and a Spanish red. She needed more than a refreshing white, so she opened the red and stared out the window at the asphalt parking lot. She wondered what type of view Harry had. It probably wasn’t a parking lot.

If she called him and he invited her over, she would go in a heartbeat. This week, she’d received an email from a recruiter saying she could make four times as much in the private sector. She loved her job and loved training sailors and other military personnel on land and sea intelligence issues. But she didn’t like what she’d seen recently. She knew there couldn’t be a lot of people involved, but even knowing one person involved in the mess made her feel icky.

There were few names she could tie to the trafficking ring, but she knew Toovey was one. Tying the rest of the people involved to the ring would be difficult. She needed access to the information again. But how to go about getting it?

With Laelyn fishing around, asking her if she knew Toovey, she needed to calm down. She took his question as a loud and clear warning and didn’t want to find out how bad it could get.

After she finished her first glass of wine, she popped a pizza into the oven, turned on a movie she’d already seen so many times she’d lost count, and stripped down to her underwear. Locked away in her own space she could be a slob. Usually, she picked Friday nights to veg out and eat pizza while drinking wine. If she fell asleep in the couch, oh well.

Like most Friday nights, she woke at midnight and headed to bed. Living alone fit her. She didn’t think she would be fit to live with someone else. Harry would probably think she was gross if he saw her sitting in her underwear and bra while eating pizza and drinking wine.

On Saturday, she met Harry in the parking lot near the volleyball nets on the strand. He looked good in his green running shorts and white shirt. She thought about just giving him a handshake, but they ended up in a hug, which might have surprised him, too, based on the look he gave her. She stepped back, feeling a little self-conscious.

“How was your week?” Rory asked.

“Good. I worked out a lot. We’re upping our hours on the obstacle course, so I’m a little tired.”

“Sounds like fun. I loved the course in basic.”

“Do you run any obstacle courses?” Harry asked as they finished stretching and took off down the path.

“I work out every morning before work. Some days, I run courses, but it’s rare. I have to stay in shape, and teaching classes doesn’t do much to keep me strong.”

“You look good.”

She laughed. “I’m thirty, and I can tell you the weight is harder now than ever to keep off.”

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