Page 2 of Strike Fast

Didn’t matter, because she was pretty sure Prentiss didn’t even know she existed.

He nodded at them and started to turn for the building. Tess pulled her helmet off as she talked with her chief, and Prentiss stopped. Seemed to stare at her for a moment, his broad-shouldered silhouette backlit by the light coming from the building behind him.

Her pulse quickened as they studied each other across the open space. Did he recognize her? She’d spotted him around Bagram with some of his teammates a couple times over the past few weeks, and of course he’d been at the pre-mission briefings she’d attended. It was impossible not to notice him, but not once had he even made eye contact with her at a briefing or meeting. Maybe he was married, or otherwise engaged. Or maybe she was just too plain to draw his attention.

She summoned a smile, tired as hell now that her adrenaline level had crashed. “How’s your team?” she called out, feeling the need to say something.Yep, I’m the pilot commander.None of the wounded were from the FAST team, or her chief would have told her.

“We’re all fine, thanks to you,” Prentiss said in his deep, southern drawl. Even his voice was sexy. She’d spent a lot of time in the Gulf region during her training days, and from his accent she’d place him either from coastal Alabama or Mississippi.

He eyed the shot-up helo before meeting her gaze once more. At this distance she couldn’t see his features that well, but her brain had no problem filling in all the gaps, easily conjuring up the square jaw and dark blue eyes she found so captivating. “Your bird sure took one hell of a beating out there.”

She gazed at the Blackhawk fondly, grateful for the amount of protection it had given them. Wasn’t the first time she’d required it, and wouldn’t be the last. Risk came with the territory in her line of work, and she wouldn’t give up her position within the Aviation Division or flying Blackhawks for the world. “She did. But she still got us home.”

“No,yougot us home. That was some damn fine flying.”

She shrugged off his praise. She and her copilot had merely followed procedure to the best of her ability. The door gunner deserved the most credit. “Just doing my job. And I’ve got a great crew.” Mostly, though, they’d just been damn lucky. And after everything that had happened tonight, she didn’t feel like talking to anyone. Even the mysterious, sexy man in front of her right now. “Have a good night.”

“You, too.” Without another word, he turned and strode for the cinderblock building.

Tess gazed after him for a long moment, cataloguing the outline of his tall, strong body and the way he moved. Confident. Sensual.

Get back to work, Dubrovski.

She gave herself a mental slap as her crew chief continued their conversation, and expelled a breath as the weight of exhaustion hit her. She had a ream of reports to fill out and questions to answer before they could return to Bagram. Only then could she be alone to crawl into her bunk and process everything that had happened. And reimagine the terror her husband had felt in those moments before the helo he was in crashed into the mountains three years ago.

But they wouldn’t be returning to Bagram on this bird.

Tess eyed the shot-up Blackhawk once more. She was too badly damaged to fly back to base, so they’d have to hitch a ride with another crew. And at the moment, she was more than okay with being a passenger instead of at the controls for the return flight.

She headed for the main building with her crew chief, deep in thought. She’d learned something surprising about herself tonight. Based on her reaction to seeing Special Agent Prentiss a few minutes ago, maybe she was finally ready to move on from Brian’s death.

Even if she had no one to move on with.

Chapter One

Four months later

Reid pulled up to the curb in front of the two-story, Colonial-style brick house in the middle of Georgetown, the most expensive neighborhood in the D.C. area. There wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell he could ever have afforded this kind of place on his salary as a DEA agent. Lucky for his ex, her businessman boyfriend had a lot more money than he did.

He didn’t get out of his car and go to the front door, just pulled out his phone and texted Autumn. He’d discovered years ago that it was way easier for everyone involved if he and his ex didn’t have to see each other during pick-ups and drop-offs.

He had joint custody of Autumn, but with Sarah still bitter about the divorce and forced to assume all of the parenting duties while Reid was away—and he was away a lot, either for training or deployments—he’d learned to keep a low profile with her. All their limited communication was via text or email, or through their lawyers. Which sucked, not only because it was a pain in the ass, but because it was a damn waste of money for them both.

The front door popped open a minute later and Autumn bounded onto the porch with her little pink overnight backpack strapped to her shoulders. She waved as she hurried down the steps, an excited smile on her face that made his chest tighten even as he grinned. He’d known nothing about kids or being a father before she’d arrived nine-and-a-half years ago, and now he couldn’t imagine life without her. She was the light of his life, hands down. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for her.

He leaned over and popped the passenger door open for her. “Hey, baby girl.”

“Hi, Dad!” She tossed her backpack onto the backseat, then ducked into the front to wind her arms around his neck. “Missed you.”

Reid gave her a squeeze, inhaling the scent of her shampoo. “Missed you too.”

Autumn hopped out and slid into the rear seat while he set the front one back into position. She was still too short to sit up front with him. “I brought my new craft kit with me. We can do it after we get home from the movie and dinner.”

Inside, he grimaced, but he merely smiled, glad she’d have something to occupy herself with for the next several hours. “Yeah, about that…”

She stopped in the midst of doing up her seatbelt to look at him. “What?”

“I have to stop by HQ for a little while right now.”

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