Page 16 of Under His Command

Grinning, he started the engine and drove them off the base. Only minutes away, along Route 75, the road she took to work every day, he pulled into the packed lot at the Surfside Diner. To Cassie, who had passed it coming and going, it looked like your everyday greasy spoon. Maybe worse with its sand, sea, salt, and sun weathered exterior. From the line out the door, it had to be a local favorite, and so packed they had to park on the street a few blocks down and walk.

Flynn knew the ins and outs of dining there and moved them to the take-out line, which was much shorter. “We’ll get it to go. There’s a park near here with picnic tables and shade trees,” he told her, then ordered two cheeseburger combos, only deferring to her in choosing a drink.

She didn’t mind in the least when he took charge but should have remembered when it came time to pay. He reached for his billfold in his back pocket at the same time she opened her purse and dug around for her wallet.

“Don’t even think about it,” he murmured, not needing to say more. The warning in his firm tone and his stare promised retribution if she even thought about trying to argue. The firm set of his jaw didn’t ease until she pulled her hand out of her bag.

While he paid, she studied him at length. Flynn was a rare breed these days. A take-charge kind of man, he was used to calling the shots. Not only as a naval officer but as a SEAL, the toughest of the tough. And he trained other men to be the same way. To do so, he had to be fit, strong, and intelligent, as well as determined, and he had to be the best at his job. From what she had seen of him so far, he was also a gentleman to the nth degree.

Notwithstanding, the night they met. He’d been curt and sorelytempted to paddle her backside when he thought she was both drunk, high, and close to drowning in the surf. But that only showed he meant business and didn’t take crap from anyone, even a girl on the beach in need of rescuing, sort of.

To complete the package, he was oh-so easy on the eyes. When a dreamy sigh threatened to escape, she used unknown powers and kept it inside even while she fell deeper under his spell.

Once they had their food, fought the crowd to get outside, and walked to the park, every table had been claimed. So, the ground had to do, but lunch with him beneath a shade tree on a grassy hill overlooking the bay was all she expected it would be. The food was good, the company better, and he charmed her further with his quick wit and lively sense of humor. He put her so at ease, she spent most of the time talking about her family and growing up near San Francisco.

In no time, their hour had passed, and it was time to head back to work. It was then she realized with himasking leading questions, she’d done most of the talking and had learned little about him.

Flynn gathered up their trash, stuffing it all into the bag it had come in, even their empty cups, then rose to his feet. After brushing off the seat of his pants, he offered her his free hand.

“Unfortunately, I’ve got to get back for a meeting,” he explained as he helped her to her feet with a firm tug.

“I need to get back to it, too. If I’m going to be ready to train your badass instructor brethren on new weaponry and simulateddeadlywarfare on Monday, that is.”

He shook his head then twisted and pitched the bag into a nearby open trash bin, swishing it from about twenty feet.

Was there anything he wasn’t good at?

“We’re trained, kid, believe me. This will just fine-tune us and add another tool to our arsenal as we prepare the masses on how to use our new technology.”

As he stepped onto the sidewalk and waited for her to do the same, she struggled to conceal her reaction. It was the worst thing he could have called her. More hurtful than a four-letter word, or the five-letter one startingwith b. Worse even than fat, ugly, or stupid. None of those would crush her as much as “kid.” She’d battled against it her entire adult life, and now, when her dream man walked into it, he thought of her the same way everyone else did. And this wasn’t the first time he’d used it.

He hadn’t been wooing her gently, as she’d hoped. By checking in and assisting their new contractor, he’d been doing his job as his captain had ordered.

Lunch should have been her first clue. If he’d had romance in mind, it would have been dinner. If he thought she was old enough for him, it would be at a place that served cocktails. Flynn only saw her as a kid, nothing more. All this time, he wasmerely being friendly to the new girl on the base by making her feel welcome.

She said nothing as they walked back to his truck. After she’d climbed in, she sat in silence, watching the sun reflecting off the bay until it was out of sight. Once they arrived back at the training center, she didn’t wait for him to open her door and hopped out. Then, without looking at him, walked around the hood and onto the sidewalk. Having gained a sliver of control over the tears that threatened, if not her utter disappointment, when she reachedthe concrete ramp that led up to the entrance, she turned to face him.

Plastering on a fake smile, one she hoped he didn’t see through, she tipped her face up to his and said brightly, “Thanks for lunch, Flynn. You were right; I needed a break.”

Something flickered in his eyes, surprise, perhaps confusion, but before she could figure it out, it vanished.

“I enjoyed your company. Next week,I’m tied up, but the following one, I’ll have a breakon Friday. We should do this again.”

“I’d like that,” she replied before she could stop herself. Lunch with him would be an exercise in torture when she knew he didn’t see it as more than that. She wasn’t a masochist. Could she endure such pain? Still, she’d had fun with him, and needed friends, both at work and in town. “Next time it’s my treat.”

“Cassie...”

“So as not to offend your macho manliness, Commander, I’ll pack us a picnic. We can go back to the park.”

“Or ride out to the beach near the airfield. I have it on good authority they’ll be doing parachute training that day if you’d like to watch.”

“That sounds like fun.” She took a step back. “I should get back to work.”

“Me, too. See you around, small fry,” he said with another teasing wink like she was his kid sister.

“Back at ya, Colossus,” she replied, her voice breathier than she intended. Before she could melt at his feet and beg him to love her forever, she whirled and ran up the steps and into the coolness of her computer lab.

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