“And I don’t want her on the team,” Ash interjected. He gripped her hand and raised it to his mouth. After laying down tender kissesagainst her knuckles, he continued, “I get you want to do it, but it’s dangerous.”
“I’ve never run from trouble,” Skye said.
“That doesn’t mean I want you running toward it,” Ash replied.
Skye rolled her eyes. “We’re going ahead with the team, Ash. You know this.”
He released her hand with a huff and scooted back on the bunk, drawing his knees up and hugging them tight. “Don’t I get a say?”
Skye bit her lower lip and looked like she was going to say something, but she turned her attention back to Ryker. “Conceptually, I have the pieces figured out, but I need more info.”
T spoke, “I can tell you whatever you want. Our training techniques aren’t classified. As long as we don’t discuss specifics of various missions, Ryker and I can tell you everything you need to know.”
“That’d be great. I’d like to talk to the docs, too. They’ll have perspectives different from yours. I was hoping maybe we could chat over dinner and while on the road.”
“Wait,” Ryker said. “What do you mean, on the road?”
“Oh, didn’t Forest tell you?”
“He said he was looking into something.”
Skye waved a hand. “Well, looking into something means he has already figured it out, planned it, and is acting on it. It’s thethinking about somethingthat hasn’t been beaten to death. Once you get to know Forest a little better, you’re going to understand he thinks on a whole different plane than the rest of us.”
“The rest of us?”
T shoved him in the shoulder. “Forest has an exceptional mind. He’s big and tough and raw around the edges, but his mind is a thing of beauty.”
“I don’t care how damn beautiful his mind might be. Don’t you understand what this means?”
“If I know Forest, and I believe I do,” T said, “it means you’re going on a very unconventional USO tour.”
“And what about you?”
She shrugged. “What about me?”
He couldn’t voice his thoughts, not without saying more than he should about his plans for T, but damn Forest. If that man thought for a second he could separate Ryker from T, he had another thing coming.
ELEVEN
Surprise
Ryker had dumpedthe laptop on Warren’s bunk and figured his friend would get it returned to its rightful owner in due course. He then hurried back to the chow hall, intent on not leaving T alone for longer than absolutely necessary.
Dinner turned into an event. Ryker found himself shoved into the same corner table as before, straddling the bench where he could see the room behind him and T in front of him.
Unlike lunch, the table was filled. Collins and the rest of the docs from his team sat at the far end where they engaged in lively conversation with Skye Dean. The diminutive woman looked too fragile to be an emergency doctor, and he wasn’t sure why that thought crossed his mind. It might have been because of his association with T. He expected the women he worked with to not only have the mental capacity for the job, but also the physical endurance to pull it off. He was well aware that made him a chauvinist, but he simply didn’t care.
After a few minutes of listening in on the conversation, it became clear that Skye had no problems holding her own against the physicians. Her questions were astute and precise without wastingtime in being impressed by the rigors of the job. Collins in particular and Marks took to her immediately. Drummond kept himself apart, but he was always cold and hard to warm up to.
Warren had not shown up for chow, but Ryker figured he was either working out in the gym or had found that laptop and was talking to his wife and kids again. Warren wasn’t a small man, but he was the shortest of the team. He made up for the lack of height by pumping iron and running as many miles as he could before collapsing. They often ran together. Most times, Collins joined them, but their eight- and ten-mile jogs were nothing but a warm-up for the ultra-marathoner.
With Skye monopolizing the docs, Ryker found himself sitting across from T, watching every flicker of her eyes. The raucous antics of the men of Angel Fire riveted her attention, and he hated the thoughts he saw swirling in the depths of her eyes.
When Forest had led Angel Fire inside the chow hall, the entire room descended into stunned silence, followed by excited shouts. The band moved through the chow line, mostly unmolested, and then broke apart to sit at separate tables, taking time to introduce themselves to the men and few women gathered. He watched in awe how easily they played the crowd. The men were natural performers. Many asked the band to play, but they didn’t have their instruments.
Forest’s deep bass carried across the room, announcing various jam sessions the band had lined up for the next day as well as the concert planned for the following evening. He gave Ryker a wink when he mentioned a special surprise. That made Ryker’s stomach churn and his heart leap.
“They’re incredible,” T said after a particularly long silence.
