Page 44 of Stand Fast

A force generated by an aircraft. “Yaw.”

He shook his head.

“Thrust. Pitch.”

Another shake. “Different kind of air vehicle. Rotary—”

Expression full of glee, Maka shot his hidden hand into the air and a deafening blast shrieked through the air. Jaliya jumped a foot, clapping both hands over her ears as the air horn assaulted her eardrums. She stared at him, wide-eyed, until he released the trigger a few seconds later as he smirked at Zaid. “You’re out.”

Zaid glared at him. “I didn’t say a taboo word.”

“Did too. Rotary has rotor in it, which is on the list. And so does rotorwash, the answer. Hence, you said a taboo word. Hence, you’re out, brah.” He held the air horn in Zaid’s face and gave it another short blast for good measure.

Zaid shoved the thing aside and tossed the scrap of paper down. “Whatever. Rule Nazi. Here, give me that thing.” He snatched the air gun from his teammate and gestured to the helmet. “Your turn.” He narrowed his eyes in playful warning. “And I’ll be watchingcarefully.”

“Yeah, go ahead, you might learn something.” Looking way too pleased with himself, Maka pulled a clue and gave hints to his partner for the game, Agent Rodriguez.

As the game got back underway, Jaliya glanced across at Zaid. His gaze was locked on his teammate’s paper, but it slid her way after a moment and he spared her a wink before focusing on the list of taboo words. She bit her lip to keep from laughing, the crazy humor of it making her glad she’d come. This was going to be quite an experience.

Maka and Rodriguez’s turn came to a screeching halt when Zaid stuck the air horn next to Maka’s ear and pulled the trigger. “Hey! No need to deafen me.” He snatched it from Zaid and handed it to Agent Freeman.

Freeman and his partner went next, and the game continued to move around the table amidst much excited banter and arguments between the team members.

An hour later she and Zaid were two points in the lead when the blast of the air horn ended the game suddenly in the middle of Hamilton and Colebrook’s turn.

“Yes!” Jaliya cried, jumping out of her seat to do a little victory dance, and pointing a taunting finger at the rest of them.

Maka pointed the air horn at her and pulled the trigger. Jaliya’s laugh was drowned out by the blast and she stuck her tongue out at him. “Sore loser?”

“No. Wish I’d gotten to use this more though.” He laid his weapon on the table. “So what now? Poker?”

“I’m in for some poker,” Prentiss said.

“Me too,” said Freeman. “Colebrook, you in?”

“Yeah, for a while,” Colebrook said, leaning back in his chair to stretch his arms over his head. “Gotta call Piper soon though.”

“Awwww,” the guys all chorused.

Colebrook grinned and threw them a mock scowl. “Screw off.”

Zaid took a pull from his water bottle. “What about you?” he asked her.

Poker was definitely not her thing. “It’s been fun, but I’d better get back to work. Thanks for having me though,” she said to everyone.

“Anytime,” Hamilton said, raising his bottle of water in acknowledgment. “Maybe we’ll do a rematch.”

Flashing Zaid a smile, she pushed her chair back and stood. He did the same, coming around the end of the table to meet her. “You sure you don’t wanna stay a while longer?” he asked. “We could watch a movie or something if you don’t want to play cards.” He nodded to the TV mounted on the wall on the other side of the room. A three-person couch sat in front of it.

As much as she’d love to snuggle up and watch a movie with him, that wasn’t going to happen with all the onlookers in here, and she had work to get done before she could turn in for the night. “Thanks, but I really need to make a dent in my mountain of paperwork.” Clues to ferret out, evil drug-smuggling overlords to expose.

“Okay. I’ll walk you back.”

She opened her mouth to tell him that wasn’t necessary, then changed her mind and gave him a nod before heading for the door. Even if a few minutes alone with him were all she could have, she’d still take it.

Chapter Eleven

Once back in her empty office across base a few minutes later, Jaliya’s heart thudded harder when instead of saying goodnight and leaving, Zaid walked inside and closed the door behind him. There was no doubt as to what he wanted, but she was already in jeopardy of letting him in too far and had to somehow bolster her lagging defenses, no matter how much her body craved that hug she’d been dreaming about all day.

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