Page 15 of Stand Fast

“Did you need something, Agent Khan?” she asked.

His gaze wandered over her face a moment before he replied. “No. And call me Zaid.”

Okay, he was definitely attracted, but not being overt about it. Duly noted. She could play along for now.

She started toward him, her professional defenses firmly in place, ready to deflect the slightest hint of flirtation from him. “All right. Zaid.” When she stepped through the open doorway, the others were already at the far end of the hall, giving them some privacy. “So, you’re headed back to Bagram now?”

“That’s the plan.”

She could be friendly without encouraging him. She’d become good at that since joining the DEA. “How is your team doing? It’s always hard to be so far away from family during a big holiday.”

“They’re okay. I think a few are a little homesick, especially one guy who has a young daughter back home. How are you doing?” he asked as he kept pace beside her.

She blinked at him. “Me?” No one ever asked her that around here. “I’m fine.” She didn’t celebrate Christmas, but the season still made the distance from her family seem sharper. They might not agree on a lot of matters, but they still loved one another and she missed them. It was lonely over here.

He gave a slow nod, his intent inspection of her face more intimate than she was comfortable with. “You do long deployments over here. How long this time?”

“Just under eleven months now, not including that whirlwind trip to D.C. in April.” Where she’d first met him and his team at FAST headquarters in Arlington. The same night she’d canceled the date with online Zaid.

She was dying to know if it was him, but thought it best not to dredge it up in case it was. Talk about awkward.Hey, um, sorry for canceling last minute like that, but I thought you were an asshole.

“That’s a long time. I remember how it felt doing long stints like that back when I was in the army. Ever get homesick?” He reached past her to get the glass door that opened up into another hallway. He had nice manners. She was all for opening her own doors in life, but she liked it when men showed that kind of courtesy that seemed to be dying out in today’s society.

“Thank you,” she murmured, and walked through. “Sometimes. My family’s good about regularly sending me messages and emails, though, and I try to call home at least once a week. More if I can. You?”

“Same. Actually, my mom just sent me a container of my favorite homemade cookies.”

Jaliya smiled. “That’s sweet.” Her family had just sent her a card and a framed picture of all of them taken when she’d been home last. It was on the bedside table in her hotel room.

Zaid shrugged, a slight grin tugging at his mouth. “She spoils me.”

“And you love every second of it.”

“Yeah, I really do.”

She laughed and shook her head. “Why does that not surprise me?’

“Why should it? Everyone loves to be spoiled now and then. You saying you never get spoiled?”

“Sometimes by my mom. My father is…” What was the right word for him? “He’s complicated. We tend to butt heads a lot.” About pretty much everything except for the importance of education, hard work and family.

“And who usually wins?”

“Neither of us. I just carry on and do my own thing in spite of his disapproval.” She’d gotten used to it over the years.

“Ah. Does he disapprove of a lot?”

“You could say I’m the black sheep of the family.”

He frowned, eyeing her in surprise, as though he couldn’t quite believe it. “Really?”

She nodded. “I know he loves me. Mostly he dislikes my choice of vocation, and my lack of conformity to his expectations about how I should practice my faith. I’m way too liberal and secular for his liking, not to mention stubborn. Although I get that part from him.” She shrugged as if it didn’t bother her, but a part of her would always hate feeling at odds with her father.

“Well, I know how that goes. My parents wish I was more conservative and traditional when it comes to religion too.” He shot her a grin. “Although at this point, they’ve given up on trying to make me conform. I won.”

She returned the grin as they continued down the hallway. It was easier for him to buck tradition because he was a guy. “That must be nice.”

“Do you observe Ramadan?”

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