“Busier than usual.” She flashed another quick smile. She didn’t want to be unfriendly—and if things were different, in another time or place, she might want to be very friendly, in fact, because military guys that looked like Chris Hemsworth and flirted like Matthew McConaughey were totally her guilty pleasure. Not one she indulged in anywhere near where she worked, though. Not ever. And right now she just wanted her water, and then she washeadinghome.
“We’re just in town for the night.” His voice dropped to a dirty, delicious low note, and heat zinged through herbelly.
Nope. She ignored what she totally knew he was offering and gave him an innocent sideways glance. “Just headingthrough?”
“Somethinglikethat.”
“Too bad.” What was she doing? No flirting, Leah.Badmove.
“We could make the most oftonight.”
Zing, zing, zing. She swallowed hard and played the one card she knew would shut this down. “I’ve gotta be up at four tomorrow for a dutyshift.”
“Ah.” His lips curled into a regretfulgrin. “Army?”
Shenodded.
“Toobad.”
Story of her life. But no way was this SEAL going to risk an entanglement with someone else in uniform. And that was for the best. She had the same rule herself. “Nice meeting you,anyway.”
He held out his hand. “Quinn.”
She tookit. “Leah.”
“Enjoy the rest of yournight.”
She let her eyes linger on his face just long enough to tell him that she’d be thinking about him for sure. “Iwill.”
* * *
The next morningshe peeled herself out of bed while it was still dark, twisted her hair into a tight bun, and ate a quick bowl of cereal before putting on her uniform. She lived off base, a fifteen-minute drive away, and wouldn’t have it any other way. She needed the short commute to separate her personal and professional lives, especially on thedrivehome.
In the morning, she used that time to catch up on the news and drink a coffee, so by the time she arrived at the office she was awake and ready to put outfires.
Duty shifts were an anachronistic practice in the age of immediate cell phone communication, but there were still things that came up. She went to her own office first to check her email, then relieved the NCO coming off duty and tookreport.
“The secret squirrels are still around, too,” the other sergeant warned her as he handed over a clipboard with the day’s ranges listedonit.
Her head shot up. “I thought they were doneyesterday.”
He shrugged. They wouldn’t be told exactly what washappening.
She glanced down at the schedule. Sure enough, the most remote range was blacked out. Huh. “Okay. Thanks for theheadsup.”
“We weren’t using it anyway. Maybe that’s why they decided to stickaround?”
“Maybe.”
Why were they doing training on her base anyway? It happened from time to time—usually because they were doing joint training exercises with the Canadian special forces teams, and her base was close to theborder.
But still, it wasn’t common. The last time she’d heard whispers about SEALs being on base she’d just arrived. Almost four years ago now. Well, it wouldn’t be her problem the next time they showed up unannounced, either. She was due to have her career progression meeting in another month, and then it would be time to moveagain.
She scanned the range list once more, then set the clipboard aside. “Anything else I needtoknow?”
“Nope. Should be a quietshift.”
“Good. Thanks. Have a goodsleep.”
