“Me?”
“Yes, you. Do you have to chase every girl you see?”
“T, I don’t exactly have to chase them,” he said with a snort.
“Hmm,” she said.
“Hmm, what? You judging me?”
“Not judging, but you’re missing out on the best part.”
“I disagree.”
“It’s not always about a quick fuck.”
“It’s always about the fuck.” He swung his arm in an arc. “Do you see this place? Competition is fierce.”
Except Lyons would win that race. His rugged good looks and muscular physique combined into a potent mix of masculinity and raw sexual power.
She shrugged. “I suppose not. I guess I’m just not the fuck-’em-and-leave-’em kind of gal. Good thing I have Scott.”
His lips twisted with that comment. Why he disliked her fiancé as much as he did wasn’t something she understood. “I’d say you’re most definitely not a fuck-’em-and-leave-’em kind of gal, T. A man would have to be crazy to leave you.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’re a woman a man keeps, although tough luck for him if he does. Any romantic gesture you’d just toss back in his face.”
“You make me sound ungrateful.”
His left eyebrow arched up, referring to their earlier conversation.
“Please! You’re still stuck on that?”
“I don’t chase ’em, but I take care of them when they’re in my bed. That includes flowers, chocolates, and letters more than once a century. I bet Scottie can’t say the same.”
“Ugh, you’re hopeless.” Their conversation was headed nowhere fast. There was no reason to be discussing her love life or his. “If you want the pretty girl you jumped up for, you’ve waited too long. You’re never going to find her now.”
He glanced over his shoulder and looked longingly at the doors the airman had disappeared behind. “Despite what you think…Major, I can keep it in my pants. I’m not desperate to fuck the first thing I see, and sometimes, the right one is worth the wait.”
By the switch from her nickname to her rank, she’d hit on a nerve.
With a shrug, she slung her pack over her shoulder. “Frankly, I don’t really care who you fuck or don’t fuck or care to fuck. I’m headed to the showers.” It was time to wash a week’s worth of dusty grit out of her hair and grime off her body.
“Need help?” he offered.
She laughed. Lyons never stayed angry or upset for long. Virtually nothing fazed the man.
“What? Like you scratch mine, and I’ll scratch yours?”
The heated look in his eyes had her taking a step back. Those might not have been the best words to use because she knew exactly what he was thinking. She was thinking it, too, but her fiancé and the officer and enlisted split in their ranks ensured nothing would ever come of her comment.
“I think you might want to go chase that pretty airman,” she said, deflecting the unwanted sexual tension.
“Maybe she’s not who I want,” he asserted.
She didn’t care who he wanted. Right now, he stood in the way of her and a little hot water therapy. Unlike their post, Bagram had few restrictions on how long she spent in the shower.
“Well,” she said, stepping away, “you have an entire base to find your one.”
