Garnet nodded. “I get that. Link seems like a nice guy.”
Ansley giggled. “He is. He’s also hot.”
Garnet’s face heated. “Brady, or I guess you all call him Bean, is hot.”
“He is hot.”
She felt comfortable with Ansley and wanted to talk to her, but doing girl talk didn’t come easily to her. Would it be odd to talk about what she was thinking? “So this is weird, and I don’t usually talk about this stuff. Heck, I’ve hardly dated.”
Ansley touched her shoulder. “Hey, you can say anything, really, no judgment.”
She held Ansley’s gaze, then nodded. “So I just met him. Like I’ve not known him long at all, and I want to do things with him. Is that wild?”
Ansley shook her head. “Girl, when you feel it, you feel it. I certainly wasn’t hopping into one bed after another before Link, but I dated around, at least enough to know what I had with Link was real, but when you feel things, you feel it.”
Garnet held onto her coffee mug, letting the liquid warm her hands. “I’ve had sex before…once. It wasn’t great, but I don’t think it would be the same with Brady. When he touches my arm, it tingles all the way through my body.”
“Yeah, that’s the magic. These guys are intense. I’ve known many guys who are regular military, and there are some out there with the same intensity, but there are others who treat everything like it’s a dull task. Brady isn’t one of those guys. He’s not dull at all.”
Garnet nodded. “I feel weird thinking that way. I mean, brains and academic stuff have always been important to me. But when I kiss Brady, good lord, my whole body feels on fire.”
Ansley’s smile spread. “Oh yes. I totally get that. When he gets home, tell him what you feel and that you’re not experienced. He’ll go slow for you.”
“Do you really think he will?”
She nodded. “Yeah. If he wants you in his life, he’ll do everything he can to make sure you feel right about it. He’ll make it special.”
Ansley was right about one thing. She had to tell Brady how she felt. And as embarrassing as it would be, she had to tell him that she was very inexperienced. She wanted him, though, and the embarrassment would be worth it once they were together.
Chapter 29
When they wereclose enough to land, Bean pulled out his phone and sent a text to Garnet, telling her that he was in the US, but wouldn’t be home for at least two, maybe three days.
Before ending the text, he told her that he missed her. It took a moment to send, but she replied quickly, telling him she was excited to see him.
He smiled at her message, thinking he had to be the luckiest man in the world. Garnet wanted to be with him. He liked the idea of them being together for a long time.
Stanley leaned in close, his mouth at Bean’s ear. “What’s that smile for?”
Bean rolled his eyes. “Nothing.”
“Sure. You’re thinking about her, aren’t you?”
He snorted and shook his head. The plane rolled to a stop, and they grabbed their two prisoners. The pair still had no idea where they were, and he and his team weren’t answering any questions. These men wouldn’t escape punishment, and they probably knew it.
After getting some food, Bean took on the task of looking into the background of people who worked with Garnet. They’dalready been through the list and dismissed everyone, but he had the suspicion they’d missed something critical.
On the surface, none of the people Garnet worked with were guilty. Maybe if he went to the office where she worked, he might find something. But his team didn’t want to alert anyone to the fact that they were looking into the possibility that one of them was guilty.
After a few hours, Bean stood and stretched. He needed a break. He hadn’t made any headway. They needed a miracle to figure out who was behind it all.
He shut down the computer he’d been using and stepped out into the hall. The rest of the guys were standing around. He walked over, listening to their conversation.
“They aren’t talking yet,” Keel said.
“Do you think they know names?” Stanley asked.
“We’ll find information on the computers. Maybe not names, but we might be able to link them to whoever gave them the initial information,” Mick said.
