Page 47 of Hot & Heavy

Ian put a hand over her mouth. "We get the picture, Maddie."

"You were in a harem?" Amber asked. She and Dolores had been silent so far, but now they were clearly interested, along with a bunch of horny sailors.

Maddie went on to regale them with a long spiel about all her experiences in harems. Ian had his face in his hands, unsure whether to laugh or cry over this strange, strange woman who had fallen into his life like a meteorite.

Once she'd talked herself out, and everyone was suitably dumbfounded, he told the guys, "Remember, you have to be present tomorrow for the press conference. CentCom wants to brag to the world how they captured Jamal by parading a bunch of presumably hunky SEALs as part of the program."

They all groaned, except Pretty Boy, who liked that kind of crap.

One time a Pentagon PR person had actually suggested that they might come shirtless. As if! Although some of the guys probably would have. Then the clueless PR person had suggested they wear lots of medals. Unbelievable!

But, for now, the squad members nodded, although they weren't happy about making nice for a bunch of reporters.

As an afterthought, Ian added, "And make sure you are dressed appropriately."

"What? You didn't like my 'Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy' T-shirt the last time in South Africa?" Cage, ever the clown, pretended to be offended.

"More like our commander at Coronado, and about twenty frickin' admirals in D.C., were not amused to see that on CNN," Ian said.

"It's just the title of a Big and Rich song," Cage said with the innocence of one of his native alligators.

"What is a cowboy? Oh, do not tell me. Another animal!" Maddie was shaking her head at them.

"A cowboy is a man who handles cows… out on the open range," Sly explained.

"Except if you're in Nashville, where everyone pretends to be a cowboy," JAM pointed out.

"What is Nash—" Maddie started to ask.

Ian ignored them all. "We will have plenty of time after the press conference to catch the plane back to the States."

"We are going to the… states?" Madrene inquired, her brow furrowed with her usual confusion.

" We are not going anywhere. You are staying here," Ian said. "Unless they send you to prison somewhere else. But I don't think they'll do that to a woman."

"I don't know about that. Remember Tokyo Rose," Geek said. "And Hanoi Jane."

"They didn't put Jane Fonda in prison, did they?" Sly asked.

"No, but they would have liked to," JAM answered.

"You would abandon me here in this strange land?" Maddie was looking at Ian, not the group as a whole.

"Hey, you asked me to take you to Baghdad. You're in Baghdad."

"This is not the Baghdad I meant."

"Honey, there's only one Baghdad," JAM interjected, even though she hadn't been addressing him.

"I'm telling you, this is not the Baghdad I meant." She inhaled and exhaled several times as if to calm herself. Then she looked at Ian like he was a yucky pill she had to swallow. "I suppose I will have to go with you… till I find a ship to take me home."

That made him sit up a little straighter. "One, you are not going home with me. Two, I am not responsible for you. Three, you can find a ship from here to take you to Iceland. You don't have to go to California to get a ship."

"Iceland? Why would I want to go to Iceland?"

"Don't you live there?"

"Nay. I have visited there, of course, but it is not my home. Where did you get that idea?"