Читать книгу Sign, Seal, Deliver - Rogenna Brewer - Страница 7

0445 Tuesday

USS ENTERPRISE CVN65,

Persian Gulf

IN THIS PART of the ship a man alone risked a brush with nature, but Lieutenant Zach Prince didn’t mind the tight squeeze through a passageway full of female personnel. Or the swat one junior officer delivered to his behind.

“Hey, hotshot, what’s your hurry?”

Zach cocked a grin and carried on. “You ladies have been at sea too long.” One hundred and sixteen days too long to be exact. Whatever the reason, at twenty-nine he rather liked the celebrity that came with being a Top Gun, the top one percent of naval aviators.

Tart language and feminine laughter followed his progress past cramped quarters shared by six female ensigns, a “six chick” in ship slang. The term smacked of sexism, but wasn’t crude, compared to the idiom used for six male ensigns.

Zach sidestepped another whack. After all, he didn’t want the produce bruised before it left the market. Patting the upper left pocket of his flight suit, the one closest to his heart, he started to whistle. And if it sounded a little like “Here comes the bride,” well, that was probably because he was a man with a mission.

It had taken him the entire cruise, four months of having his advances shot down by a certain admiral’s daughter, to finally figure it out. Women didn’t want words that amounted to empty promises. Or even romance. They wanted commitment.

So even though he could feel a trickle of sweat running down the back of his neck toward the yellow streak that served as his spine, he was going to take the plunge and ask Michelle to marry him.

Reaching her stateroom, Zach delivered a preemptive knock and at the same time swung the hatch inward on its hinges. Stepping over the lip, he caught Michelle’s roommate, Skeeter, in the middle of tugging on a T-shirt.

“Sorry,” he said in apology.

“Don’t you ever knock?”

“I knocked.” He turned up the wattage on his smile, showing off even white teeth that had never needed braces. He’d learned to use that smile to his advantage at a very early age and managed to coax one out of her, as well, albeit a skeptical smirk.

“After the fact doesn’t count, Prince.”

Shrugging into her flight suit, she did a quick zip-up. The leather wings stitched to her uniform identified her as S. Daniels. He’d be damned if he could remember what the “S” really stood for; everyone just called her Skeeter. The navigator was Michelle’s RIO, radar-intercept officer.

“Where’s Her Royal Highness?”

Skeeter nodded toward the adjoining bathroom, and he rewarded the petite brunette with a quick kiss. She let out an exaggerated huff of annoyance.

“You know you love me, Skeeter.”

“Keep dreaming, jet jock.” She slammed her wardrobe shut and headed for the hatch, where she paused for effect. “If you get caught, it’s not just your ass in a sling. It’s hers, too.”

After the RIO left, Zach stared long and hard at the closed portal. Deep down he knew Skeeter spoke the truth. But he chose to dismiss the warning. As far as he was concerned, his objective outweighed the risk. Rules were made to be broken. Or at the very least bent.

Besides which, Skeeter tended to be a bit over-protective when it came to her driver. Although the last person who needed someone looking out for her was Lieutenant Michelle Dann.

He heard the shower running even before he opened the door to the compact head. “Man on deck.” He announced his presence, sweeping aside the white utility shower curtain.

Startled brown eyes that set off lovely rounded features met his. Everything about Michelle was rounded…and soft…

“Zach Prince! Don’t you ever knock?”…except her demeanor.

He winced. He hated it when she said his name as if it were a curse. “I already had this conversation with your roommate.”

“Then maybe you should listen. For a change.”

His wandering gaze traversed the slope of her dripping backside. Almost.

“Give me that.” She snatched the shower curtain from him and used it for cover.

He’d long since etched every nuance of her body into his heart. “All you need, sweetheart, is that JP-5 you’re wearing.” JP-5—jet fuel—mingled with wash water on board. Sailors and aviators alike never really got rid of the smell during a cruise. They just got used to it.

On Michelle it was like the finest French perfume to his fighter pilot’s soul. He breathed in its addictive scent.

“Get out.” She tossed her head, whipping wet hair across the swell of her breasts.

Zach ignored the seriousness in her tone and reached out to finger a burnished-brunette strand. Just touching her ignited his desire…or looking at her…or thinking of her. “Is there room in there for two?” He knew from experience the stall barely held one. But he liked to imagine the possibilities.

“You know you’re not supposed to be here, Zach. I could have you put on report.”

“So why don’t you?” he dared, knowing an empty threat when he heard one.

She heaved a frustrated sigh, finally admitting it to herself. “You’re going to get us both in trouble. You know that, don’t you?”

“Only if we get caught.”

“My point exactly. It’s only a matter of time. The Navy’s cracking down on fraternization. You read the new policy, or knowing you maybe you haven’t. But if you think I’m going to throw away my career just to be another hash mark on the helmet of some hotshot jet jock, you’re sadly mistaken, mister.”

Zach didn’t deny the statement. Like many other fliers, he had kills stenciled on his helmet and painted on his plane. He had four, one for every enemy fighter he’d shot down. Five would make him an ace.

Some guys put stickers on their helmets to mark their conquests with women. Hash marks on Zach’s helmet represented every time she’d shot him down, figuratively, not literally.

So far he’d suffered seventeen hits to his ego.

But this time would be different.

She was softening. He stared at her mouth as the tip of her tongue darted out to wet her full lips.

“You’re not even listening to me, are you.” Her brown eyes blazed from behind spiked lashes. “I absolutely hate that about you.”

“I love it when you’re riled.” He’d listen when she said something he wanted to hear. He leaned in, felt the contours of her body through the vinyl and pressed closer. “Besides, I earned the bragging rights to every one of those hash marks.”

She shoved her hand in his face. “Zach, your arrogance is astounding.”

“I know,” he said with a grin.

Maybe she hadn’t meant it as a compliment, but he equated arrogance with self-confidence, and that wasn’t exactly a fault in his estimation. “You know you love me.” He crowded her by leaning a forearm above his head and against the bulkhead connected to the stall.

She drew the shower curtain tighter, but stood her ground. “Ha!”

“Admit it.”

“Not on your life.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “What about yours? I’m desperate enough to take a deathbed confession.”

She snorted, obviously trying to hold back her laughter. There was nothing delicate about the deep throaty sound.

But he liked it.

“A woman’s entitled to her secrets. And I’m definitely taking this one to the grave.” Her tone teased him.

Zach relished the torment.

He pressed his advantage while he still had one. “Why not save us both the heartache, sweetheart? Admit it,” he murmured, looking deep into her eyes where he could see what she wouldn’t confess. She loved him. “We’ve known each other forever. There are no secrets between us.”

Her smile cooled. Her eyes frosted over.

Zach felt a blast of freezer burn.

The Ice Princess was back.

He’d said the wrong thing. Their history went back to the womb. And he had pictures of their pregnant mothers standing side by side to prove it. Their lives were so intertwined he didn’t even know where to begin to separate them. Through the years he’d learned to read her like a book. But lately she’d become a mystery, a woman of secrets.

And he’d began to wonder if he really knew her at all.

Lack of persistence was not one of his shortcomings, however. “One of these days you’ll realize you can’t live without me.”

He’d wear her down eventually. Like the minute he popped the question.

He hoped.

“Don’t hold your breath.”

Why did she have to play so damn hard to get?

Zach leaned in again. “When you figure it out,” he whispered close to her ear, “just say where and when and I’ll be there with wings on.” He backed off, running a hand through his precision military cut and making it stand on end.

All the while her eyes never strayed from his. Their liquid depths held a yearning that equaled his own.

He’d ask. And she’d answer yes.

Feeling reassured, Zach turned to leave, but stopped short with a snap of his fingers. “Almost forgot. We have a preflight briefing in half an hour.”

“Why didn’t you just say so?”

He made a big show of looking her up and down as if he could see right through the shower curtain. “I had other things on my mind.”

It didn’t pay a guy to be honest. A bar of soap shot past his ear. It would have hit him square in the jaw if he hadn’t ducked when he saw it coming. With a hearty chuckle, Zach closed the door behind him. He’d have to put in for an increase in hazardous-duty pay once they were married.

And a new assignment.

According to current Navy policy, Michelle couldn’t be both his wife and his wingman.

MICHELLE TURNED the cold water all the way up, though it didn’t make much difference. There was no such thing as a hot shower with a crew of more than five thousand on board. Still, she wasn’t as indifferent to Zach Prince as she pretended. And she needed the cold spray to counter his effect on her libido.

Wouldn’t he have been shocked to realize just how much she’d wanted to forget the rules for once? How much she’d wanted to drag him into that tiny shower stall, strip him down to bare rippling muscles, run her hands through jet-black hair and lose herself in sky-blue eyes for two minutes of hot, unbridled sex?

Two minutes, hell. If she had her way, he wouldn’t be walking until next Sunday.

She heaved a frustrated sigh. The only reason he professed to want her at all was that he couldn’t have her. As soon as the challenge was gone, he would be, too.

He’d done it to others.

And he’d done it to her…

Zach was a dreamer with an innate inability to commit.

Michelle shut off the water with more force than necessary. She’d been waiting forever for him to grow up, mature into the man she wanted him to be—a one-woman man. Not in this lifetime.

At least not during her reproductive years. She felt the familiar stab of regret as she thought wistfully of all she’d given up just to advance this far in her chosen profession.

Reaching for the Navy-issue towel stenciled with her name, Michelle rubbed her skin vigorously. She’d already wasted a dozen or so years thinking herself in love with Zach Prince. It wasn’t as if she’d give up flying for him or any man. And then there was the possibility of advancement to lieutenant commander; the shortlist would be out in a few months. With any luck and a lot of hard work her name would be on it.

Love. Who needed it?

Oh, but how easily Zach Prince threw that word around.

I love it when you’re riled.

You know you love me. He used that line with every female on board.

Yet he never said those three little words that mattered most.

I love you.

Did he love her? Really?

How could he when he didn’t know the true meaning of the word? Tucking the towel in place, she moved to the mirror above the sink. She swiped at the lingering condensation, then confronted her blurred image.

Did she love him?

Even though there wasn’t room in her life for anything that wouldn’t fit into her already cramped quarters, her heart wanted more. But her head insisted a man wouldn’t be worth the complications. So why bother?

Zach, on the other hand, liked the idea of being in love. He liked the whirlwind emotions of falling in love. So he fell hard. And often. But he wasn’t the kind of guy to be in it for the long haul. He’d get bored and restless…

…and when things got really tough, he wouldn’t be there at all.

If she was smart she wouldn’t waste another day on him. Or so she kept telling herself over and over. She had her career to think of, a future all carved out that didn’t, couldn’t, include a hotshot pilot like Zach Prince.

Besides…

With her flight physical coming up next month, if she didn’t start watching her weight now, she’d be over the maximum for her five-foot-six-inch frame and be given the “NAMI whammy” by the Navel Aerospace and Operational Medical Institute. The slightest imperfections, such as headaches, bad dental work or a few extra pounds, and a pilot would be grounded.

She took great care of her health. She ate right. Exercised. And still carried around an extra ten pounds despite her best efforts. Cover-girl beauty might not be important in the greater scheme of things, but she still realized she didn’t have a face that would launch a thousand ships.

Finger-combing her hair, she held it back from her face and gazed at her reflection with a critical eye. “Look at you. Your hair is dirt brown. Your nose is just…there.” Not to mention the freckles that made her look about twelve. She attempted a seductive pout, vamping her way out of puberty straight to old maid. “And you look like you’ve been sucking on a lemon.”

Why would Mr. Tall, Dark and Top Gun want you? If she knew the answer to that, maybe she’d believe in his sincerity.

Michelle let go of her hair. It fell past her shoulders to her waist in a cascade of damp waves. Some might think her vain for not cutting it. Short would be so much easier. It would dry faster, too. But short hair required maintenance. And styling products. Not to mention frequent trips to the ship’s barber. In the long run, longer hair was the hassle-free choice.

Too much trouble was also the excuse she gave herself for not wearing makeup or perfume, or an assortment of other feminine accoutrements meant to attract men. But then, it wasn’t the spotlight she wanted. It was respect.

She wanted the other pilots, especially Zach, to take her seriously. And how was anyone supposed to do that if she spent all her time primping in front of the mirror, instead of poring over flight manuals?

Michelle ran a brush through her wet tangle of hair and secured it in a damp but functional bun, using only a rubber band—stray bobby pins tended to play havoc with a plane’s control systems. Now she felt more like the pragmatic woman she was.

Moving away from the mirror, she dismissed her image.

Ironic, really, that a woman confident enough to fly multimillion-dollar jets for the military could be so insecure about her appearance.

Of all her unremarkable features, her eyes were probably the only thing she liked about her looks. They were intelligent and hazel-brown. Zach had once remarked they sparkled the exact color of root beer. They’d been kids then and she’d been thirsty for his affection, so she’d foolishly believed him.

Michelle shook her head at the memory, seventeen and wearing her heart on her sleeve. What a mistake.

But she’d learned a lot since that summer.

Such as the only way to keep Zach Prince close was to keep him at arm’s length.

THROUGHOUT THE PREFLIGHT briefing in the ready room, Michelle listened intently to Captain Greene, commanding officer of the USS Enterprise, as he outlined the upcoming mission for their squadron. She took diligent notes, but occasionally her gaze wandered across the aisle to Zach.

He sat slouched in the comfortable theater-style leather seat, long legs sprawled out in front of him. His slightly lowered eyelids with their thick black lashes gave the impression of boredom. But she knew better. Beneath the facade he remained alert and ready for anything.

As per his usual preflight ritual, he popped a piece of Bazooka in his mouth, the only brand of gum he chewed. Fliers were a superstitious lot and Zach was no exception. He showed the comic strip to his RIO, Ensign Steve Marietta, who went by the call sign Magician. They shared a chuckle. And Michelle felt a twinge of something in the pit of her stomach.

Jealousy?

She loved to fly with Zach.

They’d been through the academy together. Flight school. Then Fighter Weapons School. And currently assigned to squadron VF-114 out of Miramar, California, as part of the Air Wing assigned to the Enterprise.

But her ambition wouldn’t allow her to take a back seat to anyone. So it had been a long time since they’d piloted a plane together.

Zach caught her looking at him and winked.

She rolled her eyes with practiced indifference. But the hint of a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. He took a piece of bubble gum from his upper left pocket and tossed it to her. Disguising the smile, she offered a wry grin in return. He knew she didn’t chew the stuff.

She started to stow it in a pocket.

“Open it,” he mouthed.

So that was it—he wanted her to read the joke. Occasionally he tampered with the cartoons to make them X-rated, although he usually didn’t share those with her. Probably because he understood she wouldn’t appreciate that brand of humor.

Michelle opened it only to find the cartoon unaltered. Nothing the least bit risqué. She looked at him with a puzzled frown.

His eyebrows drew together as he trained those perfect baby blues on the strip of paper from across the aisle. He turned to Steve and snatched a still-wrapped piece of Bazooka out of the ensign’s hand, then tossed the confiscated gum to her.

Michelle raised a questioning eyebrow at his odd behavior.

“Open it,” Zach mouthed again.

“Passing notes in class, Prince?” Captain Greene asked.

Heat rushed to Michelle’s cheeks. All eyes turned toward her. Skeeter offered a sympathetic smile, but the rest of the room rumbled with male laughter.

She hated the feeling of being under a microscope. As an admiral’s daughter she’d lived her whole Navy career that way. As a woman in the macho world of naval aviation she’d had more than her fair share of scrutiny already.

“Perhaps you two would care to share with the rest of us.”

“Sure, why not?” Zach offered with his usual nonchalance.

Michelle shook her head at the senior officer’s suggestion and tucked the gum into the cargo pocket of her pants leg.

“Good, because this isn’t high-school chemistry, and you two aren’t teenagers. So keep the raging hormones in check.”

As soon as the captain turned his back, Zach tried to get her to go for the gum. She put a hand up to block her peripheral vision and ignored him for the rest of the briefing.

“Any questions?” Captain Greene concluded, clearly anticipating none.

“Yo.” Steve raised his hand. “I just thought since we were back in high school…” He got his requisite laugh, then launched into the really stupid stuff everyone expected of him. “I don’t think I’m hearing straight. You did say you were giving us two days R&R in Turkey? Would that be a full forty-eight hours, Captain? And where exactly is the nearest strip joint, anyway?”

The room let out a collective groan and bombarded Steve with paper airplanes while the ensign mumbled something about belly dancers and seven veils.

“Magician, you dumbass,” Greene admonished. “Figure it out for yourself. If there are no further questions, everyone is dismissed.”

“No sweat, Magic Man,” Zach said, pushing to his feet. “We’ll just fly around until we find one.”

They were kidding, of course. At least, she hoped they were. There really was no telling with those two. It irritated her that Zach felt the need to play the dunce when he was probably one of the smartest men she knew. But all too often he hid his intelligence and slid by on his charm. He certainly never had to try as hard as she did.

Flying didn’t come easy for her; nothing came easy to a perfectionist. Michelle stood and Zach held up foot traffic to let her and Skeeter pass in front of him.

“I’ll spring for the hotel room. First-class all the way,” he offered.

“Any other guy would have asked me to dinner first.” Michelle tossed the comment over her shoulder as she continued up the aisle.

“But he’d have been thinking about getting you back to his room.”

“He’s right, you know,” Steve piped in. “All I ever think about is getting laid.”

Steve grunted and Michelle realized Zach must have given his RIO a well-deserved elbow to the gut. They were boys, both of them, Peter Pans who would never grow up.

And they deserved each other.

What had she been thinking? She didn’t miss flying with Zach at all.

“If you feel like dinner, we could order up room service,” he persisted. “But I was thinking more like breakfast.”

“Come on, Skeeter. Let’s get out of here,” Michelle urged her roommate forward.

“Just do me a favor,” Zach whispered. “Read the comic strip—”

“Prince, Dann, a moment of your time.” Captain Greene stopped them short.

“Yes, sir.” Michelle popped to attention next to Zach while everyone else filed out around them. Within moments there was just the three of them, leaving the ready room unusually quiet.

Normally, pilots were coming and going. Preflight, postflight, the one thing flyboys loved most next to flying was talking about it. It wasn’t unusual for them to evaluate each other or own up to mistakes. Especially since a single error could mean the difference between life and death.

She had a niggling suspicion about what was coming.

“At ease,” the captain ordered.

Michelle opened her stance, even though she felt far from relaxed. She focused on the captain’s bald spot and tried not to think about this little incident getting back to her father. Just like everything else she did.

After the lecture from the captain, she could look forward to one from the admiral.

“Let me start by saying I don’t create policy, I just enforce it. I know you kids grew up together and have come through the ranks together, but that doesn’t excuse your conduct…”

Michelle could tell by the lack of bluster in Captain Greene’s normally booming discourse that he really meant it this time. She found herself tuning out the rest. She knew it by rote. How many times since they were kids had Zach gotten her into trouble by refusing to play by the rules? Even though he somehow always managed to come out smelling like a rose, she took on the distinct odor of Pepe LePew.

She shifted her focus to the “greenie board” over the captain’s shoulder. Similar charts hung on the bulkhead of every squadron ready room aboard the ship.

Naval aviation was a competitive field fueled by testosterone. Not only did pilots critique themselves and each other, they were formally graded by a landing signal officer.

Color-coded boxes followed a pilot’s last name. Green for an okay landing. Yellow, fair with some degree of deviation. Red, no grade for an ugly approach. Brown, because the pilot had to be waved off due to unsafe conditions. And a blue line meant a “bolter,” which was a pilot who’d missed the wires and had to try again.

Not many aviators had the nerves of steel required to touch down on a floating airstrip at full throttle. But if a pilot couldn’t land on the deck and not in the drink he was useless to the Navy.

Though LSO scores were subjective, Michelle never lowered herself to lobby for preferential treatment. But one F-14 pilot stood out among the rest.

A line of green followed the name Prince. And it wasn’t because he was any better than she at landing the bulky F-14 Tomcats. He was simply a better schmoozer.

Captain Greene droned on. Zach shifted restlessly at her side while Michelle stewed over the yellow block at the end of her green streak.

Fair. She was better than fair.

For that particular landing she’d snagged only the third arresting wire strung across the deck. Sure she’d made a lineup correction at the start of her final pass, settling below the correct approach. But only because the carrier had been late turning into the wind. Flying low as she tried to “chase the lineup” had cost her an okay landing.

Zach never had to settle.

He flew with an instinct she envied. But no one was perfect, especially not Zach Prince.

“This isn’t the time or place.” Captain Greene’s raised voice intruded on her thoughts. “Both of you signed off on that memo I sent around last week, so I’m going to assume you read it. Fraternization among male and female pilots will no longer be tolerated, nor will any appearance of impropriety.

“The way I hear it, the two of you make regular treks to each other’s quarters. Those visits are to cease and desist at once. Here’s how it’s going to go down. This time you get off with a warning. Next time it goes in your record. And if it happens a third time—” he paused for effect “—one of you is out of here. Is that understood?”

The two of them?

Once again she’d been lumped together with her rule-breaking running mate. Guilt by association. And she could guess which one of them would be shipping out.

“Aye, aye, sir,” they responded in unison.

“You have a job to do. I expect you to do it in a professional manner. That’ll be all,” he dismissed them. “And Prince,” the captain called Zach back. “No more harassing Lieutenant Dann over the airwaves. It doesn’t set a good example…”

As the captain continued to rag on Zach, Michelle hurried to the hatch. She’d really had it with Zach this time. Seething with pent-up anger, she didn’t trust herself to say two words to the man. And she sure wasn’t about to wait around and let him smooth-talk her out of her fit of righteous indignation.

“Michelle!” Zach called from the other end of the narrow passageway, but heavy foot traffic kept him from reaching her.

Ignoring his pleas, she picked up her pace, weaving her way between shipmates.

As she headed toward the ship’s elevator, which would take her to the squadron changing room and then up to the flight deck, she cursed herself for being a class-A fool. Captain Greene’s warning was a serious one. Fat chance Zach would listen. She’d be better off putting in for a transfer now, before it became compulsory and a smear on her exemplary record.

Damn, Zach.

Why did she always have to be the responsible one?

Michelle pushed the elevator button repeatedly until it finally arrived and passengers emptied out. Then she quickly stepped inside and held down the close-door button.

“Michelle, wait up.” Zach reached in and sent the doors sliding in the opposite direction. “Going my way, Lieutenant?” he asked with a sheepish grin as if nothing was wrong.

“Do I have a choice, Lieutenant?” She waited just long enough for the doors to close, shutting off the two of them from curious onlookers. Then she turned and vented her anger by socking him in the arm. “I told you so!”

As the elevator started its ascent, he rubbed his shoulder. With his little-boy charm, he exaggerated the harm she’d inflicted “You don’t have to be so smug about it.”

“Smug? Because you’ll receive a slap on the wrist while I’ll get booted out of the Navy? If you won’t think about your career, at least think about mine. Do you have any idea how serious this is? We were lucky to get off with just a warning.” She faced forward and folded her arms.

“I know how serious I am about us…” The doors started to part. He moved to the control panel and held down the close-door button despite the rumble of protest from those waiting outside the elevator.

Because he stood directly in her line of vision she had no choice but to look at him. He stared at her with such burning intensity it would have been hard for her to ignore him, but whatever the promise in his eyes, she didn’t want to see it.

“There is no ‘us,’ Zach.”

“There’s always been an ‘us,’ Michelle.”

She could almost hear the sincerity in the deep baritone of his voice. But it only made her want to lash out, inflict more pain until he was feeling as conflicted as she felt every time she looked at him, every time she got behind the controls of her Tomcat. There was no room in her life for the two things she wanted most.

In the end she could only have one.

She knew what to expect from a machine. Her expectations for this particular man could only lead to heartbreak. The ability to compartmentalize one’s mind was a critical skill for a pilot. Zach didn’t fit neatly into any aspect of her life. Friend, boyfriend? Lover, squad leader?

Competition.

She had no option left but to cut him out completely.

“Get it into that thick skull of yours, Prince. I don’t love you! I’ve never loved you. Why can’t you just leave me alone?” She batted his hand away from the hold button and fled as the doors slid open. She didn’t wait to hear if maybe, just maybe, his answer would give her the one thing she didn’t need right now.

Hope.