Page 125 of Better Late Than Never

She dismissed me.

Out in the hall, I kept the casual façade in place until I was well out of her sight. Near the elevators, I leaned against the wall and finally released a relieved sigh. She’d bought my story. Thank God.

Time to get the fuck out of here.

In theory, I could’ve stayed and argued with her that there was nothing inappropriate about someone helping me learn the local language. It was pointless, though. The UCMJ was crystal clear, and Alex coming to my house—regardless of why—qualified as a “too familiar” relationship. Especially since we were meeting one-on-one, off-base, and outside of working hours. It didn’t matter how ridiculous or outdated it was. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t my subordinate. The rules said officers and enlisted couldn’t fraternize, and that was that.

And if Alex coming to my house to help me with my Spanish was a bridge too far, then the two of us hooking up and traveling together was professional suicide.

I knew that. I’d known it going into this. All along I’d absolutely known what was at stake, and I’d been careful to keep us from getting caught.

Still, someone had seen us. We were on our commanding officer’s radar. I’d been warned. Any“it’s not what it looks like”cards we had were now played.

All the way down to the first floor, my mind reeled, searching for some kind of solution. As I stepped out into the thick Andalusian heat, I was cold all over, too aware that I’d dodged a bullet that I wasn’t likely to dodge again.

If someone saw Alex and me again…

If someone saw him entering or leaving my house again…

We were fucked, and not in the fun way.

By the time I reached my car, I’d come to the only conclusion I could think of. I didn’t like it, but I was short on options.

Heart pounding, I leaned against my car and texted Alex.

Change of plans for tonight. Can you meet me in Cádiz instead?

CHAPTER36

ALEX

The hits just kept coming, didn’t they?

First there was the bullshit with Tobias. Now Connor wanted to meet someplace besides his house. Not just someplace else, either—out in Cádiz, at the tiny island fortress that was a long walk down a narrow levee out into the open water. There would be next to no one out there, and even fewer who’d care about us.

I dreaded meeting him, because my gut told me this couldn’t be anything good. This wasn’t just a case of cabin fever and him wanting us to get out of the house for a bit. I could feel it in my damn bones.

But what else could I do except agree to meet him and hope for the best?

So, a couple of hours after my shift, I walked onto the passenger ferry from Rota to Cádiz. From the pier where we were let off, it would’ve been about a thirty-minute hike, so I grabbed a taxi to the other side of the small peninsula.

The cab dropped me off by the beach, and I started the fifteen-minute walk along the levee toward the small island fort. The stonework was pale gray and brown, and even with my sunglasses on, I had to squint as the late afternoon sun beat on every surface.

The stone structure at the end of the levee was Castillo de San Sebastián, which if memory served, was three or four hundred years old. I couldn’t remember which historical era it was from, and I was too wound up to stop and read any of the placards. And anyway, I had someone waiting for me.

I pushed out a ragged, nervous breath. What was this about? We’d spent the morning flirting via text before my day had gotten chaotic, and then this afternoon, he’d suddenly changed his tune. I’d had a fleeting glimmer of hope that he wanted to get dinner or something. Maybe something touristy? Going out as a couple, even while we could still see Rota in the hazy distance from Cádiz?

But when we’d gone back and forth to figure out where to meet, he’d suggested the Castillo.

My heart sank as I walked along the levee. There was a weird optical illusion that had tripped me up the first time I’d come out here—the farther you walked, the longer the levee seemed to stretch and the farther the island seemed to be in the distance.

Connor was out there. Waiting for me. He’d texted a few minutes ago to say he was there.

But what was going to happen when I got there? When we met up inside the walls of the tiny fortress where almost no one would be able to see us?

That sinking feeling worsened.

This was it, wasn’t it? He was ending things. It was over.

---