Page 8 of Forbidden Flames

Emily perked up at this beginning. “You were special forces, right?”

“Right,” he told her with a nod. “My team decided to…celebrate…my promotion. After a challenging day running through the teams’ obstacle course, I was called in for a quick meeting about an upcoming mission we would need to train for. I was all sweaty and covered in mud. The colonel didn’t seem to mind, but I was irritated and uncomfortable since the rest of my team were allowed to hit the showers and change clothes and I was stuck in the meeting.”

“That sounds miserable,” she replied with a soft look that he loved.

“It was, but that wasn’t the worst part of that day.” He dropped his arms and looked around at the kitchen, telling himself he was a fool to tell her this story. But he continued. “It was just a short meeting, but long enough that the rest of my guys had already showered when I came out of the colonel’s office. I hit the showers, still irritated.”

“That’s it?” she asked when he paused. “You had an uncomfortable meeting with your boss?”

Hendrix looked at her, one dark eye lifting as if admonishing her for her impatience. “No. That’s not the whole story.” He sighed, hooking a thumb through his belt loop. “My team members thought it would be hilarious to steal my clothes.”

There was a long silence as Emily stared up at him, then her hands rose up to slap over her mouth. “Oh no!” she gasped.

“Yeah,” he replied with a chuckle and a shake of his head. “Normally, I keep a go-bag in my office. We all had to be ready to fly out for whatever emergency might come up. But in this instance, we’d just returned from a mission. So, my go bag was still at my apartment, ready to be refilled with clean clothes.”

“Hendrix!” she gasped, her pretty eyes wide with amused horror. “What did you do?”

He shrugged, enjoying her stunned laughter. “The only thing I could do. I didn’t even have a towel since they took everything but my wallet and car keys.”

“No!”

“Yep. I walked out, completely naked, keys in one hand and wallet in the other. I just got in my car and drove to my apartment.”

“Please tell me no one was around!”

He chuckled. “In fact, my entire team was standing on the other side of the road, waiting for me. And as luck would have it, a whole platoon of new recruits was running down the street. My naked ass caused one hell of a traffic jam.”

Emily was laughing so hard now, she was bent over, holding her stomach. “Please…was there video?”

“Hell no! There might have been if my idiot troops were more prepared. But they were just as shocked as the recruits, thank god!”

“What…” she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “What did you do after you got dressed?”

“Oh, they paid,” he said in a soft and deadly voice. “They paid very dearly. They didn’t get more than two hours of sleep over the next five days.”

She was still laughing as she said, “Oh, I’m sure they regretted stealing your clothes after that.”

“Not a chance,” Hendrix replied. “The whole post heard about it. They became legends. The bars around town gave them free drinks for the rest of the month.”

Emily gasped, then laughed harder still. “Please…” she lifted a hand, “No more!”

“Does that story give you the leverage you needed? Am I absolved of the guilt of spying on everyone with my security cameras?”

Emily sighed, wiping another tear away but the laughter lingered as she nodded. “Yes. Absolutely! That was perfect. Thank you.”

Chapter 8

“Merry Christmas, Gerard,” his mother, Althea Albright, greeted as soon as Gerard stepped into the formal dining room of her gracious home. “Goodness, don’t you look handsome!”

Gerard smiled politely at his mother, gave her the required kiss on her weathered cheek, then glanced around the room at the others. He’d been warned to be his charming best today.

“Hello everyone,” he said as one of his mother’s staff stepped forward with a tray filled with cocktails. Gerard selected the one that he hoped had the most alcohol and walked over to one of the chairs. His mother would perform the introductions soon and he didn’t want to be standing when that happened.

Of the fourteen people his mother had invited to dinner, Gerard knew none of them. He recognized a senator and his wife, someone who’s name sounded vaguely familiar but he couldn’t place it, and a bunch of others. He knew, deep down in his soul, that Emily would never fit into this social circle. She’d have to become his mistress, he thought with resignation. Unfortunately, that meant that he still needed to select a wife. It was expected of him and, because of his family’s wealth, Gerard knew that he would also need to produce an heir.

Towards that end, there were two single women present today. Gerard observed the two ladies objectively, making a mental list of the pros and cons based on their outward appearance and their manners. He noticed that both women conversed with the guests around them, both had adequate smiles and laughter. Both women demurely crossed their legs at the ankles in ladylike fashion instead of at the knee like hussies.

Gerald emitted a disgusted snort of disapproval when he thought of all the American women who didn’t follow the Duchess of Windsor’s delicate way of sitting.

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