Page 28 of Twins for the Secret Prince
They were both quiet as they walked to Major Aston’s office. Eva knocked once on his door, and they were told to come in.
“Sergeants, I heard about the landslide. You’re both uninjured?”
“Yes, sir,” they said in unison.
“Good. There’s something I need to speak to you both about. It’s come to my attention that—” Major Aston’s desk phone buzzed, and he kept Pieter and Eva waiting while he handled the call.
“Right. As I was saying, I’ve had reports about unprofessional behavior.”
Pieter gulped, but Eva’s voice was composed as she asked, “Sir?”
“You don’t know what I’m talking about, sergeant?”
“No, sir. I’d like clarification please, sir.”
“Very well. Apparently, the pair of you aren’t able to contain your rivalry. You were one-upping each other in front of the recruits to the point where First Lieutenant Armstrong had to intervene.”
Eva’s eyes widened with understanding and she nodded. “Yes, sir. It’s true that Sergeant Billings and I had some issues when we first got to the training camp. We’re both highly competitive, sir, and we let that get in the way of our professionalism. I apologize. It won’t happen again, sir.”
“No, it won’t, but it never should have happened in the first place, sergeants. Taking your squads out on wilderness training to teach them how to work together, then doing the exact opposite, sends more than mixed messages. It undermines the whole process.”
“Yes, sir,” they said in unison.
“Sir, if I can add,” Pieter said. “It was unprofessional, and I apologize. But I should tell you, sir, that Sergeant Bailey took charge after the landslide and was responsible for our rescue. She should be commended.”
“Imake the decisions about commendations around here, Sergeant Billings,” the major said. “But I’m glad to hear you worked it out. And don’t let it happen again.”
“We won’t, sir,” Eva said.
“It won’t, major,” Pieter agreed.
Outside of his office, Eva held her finger to her lips and motioned for Pieter to follow her. They walked in silence to her office, where she closed and locked the door behind them. “Thatwas a close call,” she said quietly. “It would have been so much worse if he knew what really happened.”
“I almost accidentally told him aboutthatinstead of the fact that you saved my bacon.”
“Pete! This is no time for jokes!” Eva admonished.
“I know. I’m sorry. I’m just trying to diffuse some of the tension. I was worried too.”
“You know what this means, right? It’s too risky to let anything like that happen again. Especially here on the base.”
“I agree. I’ll have to keep my hands to myself. But still, your door is locked. Maybe we could just—”
“Don’t even joke about it,” Eva said quickly. “I mean it!”
He held his hands up in surrender. “Just joking! Although of course if you decide it’s a good idea, you know where to find me.”
“I’m serious, Pete. We can’t do anything, not even talk about it again. We can’t risk anyone overhearing.”
“Okay. It is a shame, though. I wish we could do it all over again.”
“Well, we can’t.”
“But I bet you want to, too, don’t you?”
Eva shook her head. “I’m not going to stroke your ego for you, Pete.”
His eyebrows shot up, but he resisted making a joke.
