Page 4 of Protected By The Green Berets

I couldn’t help but notice the veins popping out in his forearms where they wrapped around muscle. He had both sleeves rolled up to his elbows, giving me a good view of tanned skin. Swallowing to ensure I didn’t drool over the sight, I looked away. It didn’t matter that Keller was a delicious piece of man candy. His attitude left a lot to be desired.

My gaze drifted to Alden. He was a few inches shorter than Keller. I’d guess six-one, or so. He was built like a tank, though. Keller was taller, leaner, and while he was muscular it wasn’t the same as his teammate who had muscles on top of his muscles.

Alden’s shirt was stretched to the seams trying to contain his biceps. His legs looked like tree trunks. He crossed his arms over his chest, making his already straining shirt tighten even more. He was like a silverback gorilla, all brute strength and power. He was handsome. Not on the same level as Keller, but I doubted he had any trouble with the ladies. At least, not if he ever cracked a smile.

His hazel eyes landed on me and again, I found myself averting my gaze. I wasn’t sure what was wrong. My body was reacting to these men like I was a young girl who couldn’t control herself. It didn’t help matters that I hadn’t dated anyone seriously for over a year and therefore hadn’t been touched. My vibrator was all I needed. At least that’s what I told myself.

“There you are.”

I looked over as Keller addressed someone behind me. Turning, I saw another man approaching. He looked a lot like the two men standing behind me. Uniform, sleeves rolled up, though he had blond hair where the men behind me had dark. The most noticeable difference between them was the smile he wore.

Finally. A friendly face.

“Rush, showMs.Hart around the base. Make sure you take her by her room.” I noticed the emphasis he put on ‘Ms’.

I glared at Keller over my shoulder. “Special Agent Hart,” I snapped at him. I barely knew him and already he had this uncanny ability to dig his way under my skin and annoy the crap out of me.

Keller gave me his trademark smirk before he and Alden walked off.

“Special Agent-”

“Youcan call me Z,” I said, interrupting Rush. If he was going to be friendly to me, I was willing to play along. It would be nice to have one ally when his Captain seemed to want to torment me and his other teammate looked like he wanted to kill me and hide the body.

Rush’s smile got larger. “Alright then, Z. I’m Rush Carmichael. Nice to meet you.”

He offered his hand and as it closed over mine in a shake, a spark of electricity zipped right down between my thighs. My eyes widened, but I managed to hold back the gasp that wanted to escape. How was it possible that I’d just been checking out his teammates and then have a reaction to him like I had? It didn’t help that these men looked like they’d stepped off the pages of a magazine. I frowned at that. Maybe an outdoor man magazine. I could see the title now. Sawz: A place to find all the tools you need and your own lumbersnack.

Seriously, I needed to get myself under control.Has office life really left me this defenseless around rugged men? Then again, when was the last time you saw men like this at the agency?

Banishing the thoughts of the men and the magazine to the recesses of my mind, I smiled at Rush. “It’s nice to meet you, too.” I tugged my hand back. He’d seemed unwilling to let it go for a brief moment. That caused me to redden more. “Are they always so…” How could I ask about them without being insulting? I didn’t want to alienate myself. At least not more than I already was.

Rush laughed. “Moody? Dickish?” he suggested. “Yeah. They are. You’ll get used to it.”

“Great,” I muttered and he chuckled again.

“Why don’t we get your stuff and I’ll start the tour with your barracks.”

“Barracks?” I asked as he pulled my duffel bag from the back of my car.

“Yep. You’ll be staying in the female barracks for the week,” he told me as he began leading me across the base. “Before you ask about staying in a hotel, that's not an option. Everyone is restricted to staying on base. It’s standard procedure, seeing as we’ll be on a plane to Iraq in a few days.”

By the time we made it there I was beginning to relax. Rush was easygoing and constantly joking around. It was a real one eighty from his teammates.

“Here you go,” he said and dumped my stuff on a bunk bed. “You even get bottom bunk. Must not be too many women in here right now.”

I didn’t even know what to say to that. This was a whole new world to me. I’d never had the chance to consider the military, given that the CIA had recruited me straight out of college.

“Want me to test the bed for you?”

My head snapped over to him. He was watching me with a decidedly heated look. His blue eyes were intense. Gone was the carefree, joking attitude. He’d purred that at me for Christ’s sake, sounding like a contented lion. It wasn’t some clumsy joke or invitation. It was more like he was offering me a favor. It had been quite a while since I had seen that kind of raw confidence. He was very handsome, and though he looked a bit younger than his teammates, that didn’t seem to bother me. Not if the way my nipples tightened inside my bra were any judge.

“What?”

He licked his full bottom lip and my eyes couldn’t help but lock on the movement. “Just want to make sure you’re comfortable,” he said with a shrug.

I jerked my eyes away from his lips and realized I was breathing a little heavier. He’d flipped the script on me so quickly I was completely thrown off. “I’m sure it’s fine.”

Idiot.I closed my eyes briefly in mortification. These men were playing with me and damn it if they weren’t winning. They knew how to wind a girl up, that was for sure.

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