Camouflaged (Hiding From Love #0.5) (3 page)

I followed and waited for him to keep talking. “As Commanding Officer of this camp, I hear everything, soldier. Everything. Your, shall we say,
extracurricular
activities don’t go unnoticed. I would also have to be blind not to notice that Ms. Garcia is a very appealing young woman. I’d suggest that you think
very
carefully before you follow your normal tendencies.” He gave me a hard stare and then a really unfriendly smile. “Things will not go well for you if you engage in any fraternization of a sexual nature with that young woman. Are you clear on that?”

I swallowed hard. “Yes, sir.”

The C.O. stepped back to Alexis. “I wish you luck, Ms. Garcia,” he said. Then he glared at me really fucking hard. I tried not to cringe.

“Sooo,” Benji, who’d been standing there, watching this whole exchange, said. “I guess that’s my cue to move along.” He struggled not to laugh. “I’ll be seeing you around, Thompson. It was, uh, nice to meet you.” He nodded at Alexis, who gave him a barely there smile, then he grabbed Corbin by the arm. They were gone and I was faced with one hot, angry mess of a female.

“Well, babe, looks like it’s you and me,” I said, smiling at her.

“Don’t. Call. Me. That.”

“Okay, okay. Whatever. How about Alexis? Will that work?”

She sniffed at me and said, “Can you just show me where I’m staying? I need to put my stuff away.”

“Sure thing.” I gestured for her to go ahead out the doorway.

“They left all our bags in that main yard,” she told me. We headed that direction.

“So, you’re from Texas, huh? I don’t hear much of an accent.”

“Yeah, well, I’m from Austin. We don’t sound like a bunch of hicks there.”

“I think those accents are sort of cute,” I responded.

She lifted one side of her upper lip in a sneer. I hadn’t ever seen anyone sneer except in movies. She might be the meanest girl I’d ever encountered and it was the biggest fucking turn-on in the world.

“Well, in my world, Sergeant, those cute accents usually mean you’re an ignorant gun-toting, peace-bashing cattle rancher. I go to the University of Texas. We try to look at solutions for world problems that don’t involve shooting other people.”

I stopped in my tracks, mouth ajar, temporarily speechless. When I was able to take a breath, I tried to regulate my voice so I didn’t come off sounding like I was yelling. It was difficult.

“You do realize,” I said, “that this is a mil-i-tary base, right? I mean, you’re surrounded by people with guns. We shoot if we have to, and a lot more often we get shot
at
. This is the Army, sweetheart, not a freaking hippie peace rally.”

She looked down at the ground for a second, and I expected her to apologize. Instead, her head popped up, and I stared into the face of fury. Her brows were drawn down into a scowl, her luscious lips were pursed, and her eyes were blazing sparks. My damn pants got unbearably uncomfortable as my groin tightened. Holy shit, how could someone piss me off and turn me on so much all at one time?

“I’m aware this is an Army camp,
Sergeant
Thompson. And believe me, it’s the last place on earth I want to be, but I’m committed to bringing relief to the people here who’ve had their homes and their lives invaded by a hostile foreign force.”

I turned abruptly, kicked a nearby trashcan, and stomped off toward the center of camp. She was hot on my heels, like a little nipping dog.

“What’s the matter, soldier boy? You don’t have a retort for that one? Ha! I’ll bet not, because how could you argue with the truth? We caught Bin Laden, and yet, here you still are, with your guns and your occupation and your violence. Imagine what it’s been like for these poor people living here the last few years. They don’t know anything about international politics. They don’t care about American interests. They just want to feed their families and follow the customs they’ve followed for the last few centuries.”

I stopped again and turned lightning-fast to face her. She slammed into me, and I grabbed her arms to keep her from winding up on her ass.

“Oh!” she squeaked before she shrugged out of my grasp. I looked at her hard. She licked her lips, the color climbing in her face as her breath quickened.
There
. She felt it too. She might hate me, but she also wanted me. I stepped closer, and I could hear the rapid little breaths she was taking.

When we were chest to chest, both of us audibly breathing in each other’s air, I said low and slow, “Have you ever seen what the Taliban does to women, princess? You think they just keep those veils on them because it’s tradition, right? You ever seen what happens to a woman here who lifts that veil in public? Or maybe a woman who lets a man other than her father or brothers or husband speak to her?”

I saw the fear flare in her eyes.
Good. You ought to be afraid, little girl. It’s an ugly world out here. This is not the University of Fucking Texas.

“You ever seen what the punishment is if a girl is caught letting a guy kiss her? Well, guess what,
babe
? I have. Don’t you ever talk to me about how this occupation is what brought violence to these people. Until you’ve seen what I’ve seen, until you’ve watched people die in front of you, you have no right to judge me or the work I do here.”

I looked at her for one more moment, my chest hurting so bad I thought it might explode all over her nice white t-shirt. Then I turned on my heel and walked away.

The problem with being in the Army is that you have to follow orders. They get really pissed if you don’t. Consequently, my girly-dramatic exit leaving Alexis in the dust between a couple of tents only lasted about five minutes. I was supposed to follow her around and protect her, so I couldn’t really walk off. Fucking job. What I did was take my damn sweet time winding through camp until I got to the main plaza and dug through the pile of rucksacks and duffle bags where I found the matching set with her nametags on them. When I stood up, one on each shoulder, she was standing there, watching me.

“What tent are you assigned to?” I said as coldly as possible.

She looked at a slip of paper she’d taken out of her pocket. “R-13.”

“Follow me,” I said and took off, not bothering to see if she followed.

Pretty soon she caught up, huffing and puffing alongside me. “I’m sorry,” she ground out.

“Excuse me?” I glanced down, watching the hair alongside her face swing to and fro as she jogged to keep up with me.

“I’m sorry,” she said more clearly. “I shouldn’t have said that stuff to you. I know you’re just doing your job and that it’s probably a really hard one. It’s the military industrial complex I hate, not the soldiers. You can’t help what they tell you to do.”

I slowed down a bit, shifting the weight of her bags. “And what if I said I agree with the complex and am totally committed to their mission here?”

She looked up at me for a minute as if considering her reply, something I got the impression she didn’t do very often.

“I’d say maybe we should just not talk about that anymore and try to start fresh.”

“Oh, fresh I can do,
babe
,” I grinned at her as we reached the tent she’d be occupying and I pushed back the flap to let her inside.

She stepped in, took a cursory glance around, and then grimaced. “Does that crap work for you?”

I raised an eyebrow.

“You know what I mean.” She continued in a deep, mocking voice, “The whole ‘Oh babe, let’s get busy, you and me.’ Are there girls in the world who find that attractive? Do you get laid with lines like that?”

I dropped her bags on the floor of the tent and stalked over to her, recent instructions from my C.O. completely forgotten. Her eyes got bigger the closer I got, but she kept the stony, disapproving expression, and I had to give her credit for standing her ground while a six foot one, two-hundred pound soldier got up in her face.

I stopped just shy of touching her in a full-body press and leaned down toward her.

“Yeah, it works for me,” I said in a very low voice. Her cheeks flamed with color, and her tongue darted out of her mouth to lick those plump lips. My own breath hitched for a moment before I went on.

“And you know what I think?” She shook her head the tiniest bit. “I think it works for you too.” I stroked one finger down her cheek. She sighed and her eyes closed for the briefest moment.

I focused on those gorgeous lips. “I think you’re all bark and no bite, and that you’re trying to chase me away with your bad attitude because you’re afraid of me. I bet you like to be in control of everything all the time, don’t you?” She swallowed and I felt everything below my belt tighten to the point of pain.

I dug my hand into the hunk of hair at the back of her head and gently pulled her toward me. She didn’t resist as my heart rate picked up and her breaths came in little pants. “You’re afraid you won’t be able to control a guy like me, aren’t you? And you know what? You’re right. You wouldn’t be able to control me. But I’d take you on the ride of your life, and you’d thank me for it afterwards.”

I leaned in ever so slowly, my lips hovering over hers as her eyes fluttered shut. I could feel the heat from her face, and her chest grazed mine, setting off sparks all up and down my spine. Her hair was like strands of silk, and I gripped the back of her head tighter, pulling her that infinitesimal bit closer. She had a quick intake of breath and I felt my chest clutch.

“And if y’all get bored sitting around in here, there’s almost always a card game or somethin’ goin’ on in the DFAC after dark.” Jefferson’s voice and his twangy Arkansas accent burst into the tent as Alexis jumped away from me. I turned around, ready to rip Jeff a new one when I saw him and a short, plump girl in glasses standing there, gawking at me. Jeff swallowed and I realized I must look like I was about to hurt someone, so I took a deep breath and pasted on a smile. Jeff visibly relaxed.

“Hey, Gabe, I was uh, just showing Megan here where her tent is . . .” He shifted from leg to leg awkwardly.

Alexis stepped past me, her hand extended. “Hi, Megan. I guess I’m your roomie. I’m Alexis.”

The two girls shook hands while Jefferson fussed with bags and played the part of host, telling them all the finer points of base life like they’d checked into some sort of fucking spa.

I leaned against the support post in the middle of the room and watched Alexis, who was working hard not to look at me. Finally, I tired of seeing Jeff act like an annoying puppy. I pushed off the post and stepped up to the rest of them, making sure to stand a little too close to Alexis. I worked to suppress a smile as she gulped audibly and tried to scoot away from me discreetly.

“Hey, Jefferson. Let’s let the lovely UN girls get settled in. We can come back and pick them up for dinner in an hour or so. How’d that be, ladies?” I directed the question to them both but kept my eyes pinned on Alexis.

“Sound great to me,” said Megan. Alexis nodded. Jeff turned to go and Megan followed, thanking him for his help.

I leaned to Alexis and whispered in her ear, “You and I have unfinished business, babe. I’ll be seeing you soon.” I stepped back and grinned at her. She scowled, eyes narrowed, lips pursed once more.

Oh yeah
, I thought as I strode out of the tent. We had a lot of unfinished business, and I was just the entrepreneur to handle the transaction.

D
inner
was uneventful, and afterwards, Alexis chose to hang out in the DFAC with some of her UN buddies. I sat nearby, threw my feet up on another chair, and settled in to wait until she was ready to go to her tent. I could have gone over to socialize with the others. Jefferson and some of the guys were getting to know the UN group, and it seemed like the rest of them were a lot friendlier than Alexis.

I wasn’t interested in putting out the energy to make new buddies though. The truth was I was here to earn money for my mom and stay alive long enough to get the hell out. This second tour had taken its toll, and I was tired. While I was more than willing to socialize with some women, I hadn’t made much effort to befriend anyone beyond Corbin and Benji, who had been buddies with Nick and me when we first got deployed.

I watched Alexis as she smiled and laughed with her volunteer buddies and thought, while I liked her all riled up, it’d be nice to be on the receiving end of one of those smiles too. She was lush looking. Juicy lips; big, dark eyes; skin that was as smooth as silk. In spite of her dark hair, she had a smattering of freckles across her nose, and it made her more beautiful for the fact that it wasn’t classic and expected. Her eyes were framed by long, dark lashes and strong brows that made the perfect inverted Vs above her eyes. Her hair was wavy but not at all frizzy—smooth, deep brown, and begging to be wrapped around my fists while I pounded into her.

On that world-rocking image, I stood and stretched, heading to the coffee pot for another cup. I’d never be able to sleep thinking about how I wanted Alexis anyway, so I figured copious amounts of caffeine weren’t going to make much difference.

As I reached the service table and began filling my cup from the spigot, Benji appeared, leaning back against the table next to me, smirk at the ready.

“So, Thompson, how goes the babysitting?” he asked, voice full of glee.

“None of your damn business, asshole,” I answered with my usual belligerence.

He laughed. Benji was used to my shitty attitude and never let it hold him back.

“Well, rumor has it Jefferson walked in on you two about to get busy, so it sounds like maybe it’s going pretty well.”

I rolled my eyes. “Jeff doesn’t know what the hell he walked in on, man. She hates me, and we weren’t ‘getting busy.’”

Now, I wasn’t one of those dudes who had to blast it all over when I was with a woman, but I also didn’t make a point of denying it. Considering my testicles were probably at stake, however, I wasn’t giving Benji even a bone to chew on. God knew word would make it to my C.O. in record time, and I already regretted my slipup in her tent earlier.

He sized me up for a minute before he nodded his head and pursed his lips. “All right,
huero
. I won’t push, but I’m not buying it. You always get the girl, and I’m betting you’ll get this one too. It’s cool though. I can wait until you’ve got something to tell, ‘cause I’m easy like that. You can tell the other UN girls I’m easy. Just in case they’re curious.” He laughed and walked off.

I sighed and wandered back to my table. As I arrived, I saw Alexis standing there alone, looking around. I took bigger steps to reach her without looking like I was hurrying. “You looking for me?” I said smoothly as I winked at her.

She didn’t take the bait, just said, “I’m really tired. Can you walk me back to my tent?”

“Sure thing,” I answered, looking at her face closely, wondering why she was suddenly so drawn and pale.

“Thanks.”

We walked into the cooling night air, and she was silent. No snark, no political rants. Her shoulders were drooping and her steps were tentative.

“So, uh, you feeling homesick?” I asked quietly.

She gave me a sharp look then turned away. “Why would you ask that?”

“You just seem a little down is all.”

She sighed. “Not homesick. Just a little unbalanced I guess.”

I laughed. “Well, I could have told you that. I took one look at you and said, ‘Now that girl’s completely unbalanced.’”

I expected a good put-down for that one or even a punch, but all I got was, “I wouldn’t expect you to understand, so let’s just drop it.”

I stopped and put a hand on her arm. “Hey. I’m really not that bad. Why don’t you give me a shot? Maybe I’d understand more than you think. You know, this is my second tour here, so if anyone understands how unbalanced this place can make you, it’s me.”

She stood in the moonlight, her eyes luminous with what I feared were unshed tears. After a breathless moment, she started walking again. “It’s about what happened earlier . . . between us.”

I got a bad vibe that ran from my feet all the way up my spine to my head, where it lodged as a dull ache. “Which thing that happened earlier?”

“The you-trying-to-seduce-me part,” she snapped.

“That wasn’t even close to me trying to seduce you. That was just a tiny bit of flirting. If you want to see me try to seduce you, let’s step into the back room of the DFAC and I’ll give you a personal demonstration.”

“Do you ever stop?” she asked, her voice rising. “Do you ever stop and think about the other person in the equation? You could be doing all sorts of damage and not have any idea, because you’re so focused on ‘winning’ that you don’t care about the collateral damage.”

“Whoa, whoa, there, Alexis. Slow down. I guess I’m not as bright as the school system told me because I have no idea what you’re talking about. Collateral damage? What the fuck? I flirted with you a little, stood too close. I didn’t even kiss you for Christ’s sake,” I said as quietly as I could, considering my level of agitation.

She huffed out a breath, and when she did, I couldn’t help but notice the way her breasts swelled in her t-shirt. They were the most perfect pair of breasts I’d ever seen, and believe me, I’d seen a few.

“Look,” she said in a soft voice now. “What happened earlier? Well, everyone’s talking about it all over camp, thanks I guess to Megan and that Jefferson guy.”

“And you’re what? Totally ashamed that a jerk like me got to you and everyone knows it?” I narrowed my eyes at her. I shouldn’t have cared that she was embarrassed by what happened. I’d never cared if a girl respected me before, but for some reason, the idea of her being ashamed of being seen with me took a little nick out of my heart.

She shook her head. “No. It’s not that. I don’t care what people think, except that there are people here who know me back in Austin.” She paused. “People who know my
boyfriend
back in Austin.”

I felt my gut clench.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

A boyfriend.

I took a breath and squared my shoulders. She couldn’t know that bothered me. No fucking way would anyone know that bothered me.

“Well, hey, I’m sorry about that, babe. But really, it was harmless. I’m sure Romeo will understand once you explain it was the asshole playboy of the camp who was putting the moves on you. You don’t have to tell him how much you liked it,” I said as I stepped closer and lowered my voice even further.

“Stop it,” she hissed. “Just . . . God. I knew you wouldn’t get it.” She started off toward her tent, and I stood there without following. But I did watch her until she was safely inside.

I woke the next morning with the headache from hell. I hadn’t slept worth a damn, and knowing I had to spend the whole day following Alexis as she did surveys of local conditions didn’t help any. I felt like crap. I wasn’t sure what was worse—the fact that I was responsible for upsetting her the night before or that she had a damn boyfriend. Either way, I knew I owed her an apology, and the sooner I got it over with, the better.

After layering on all my MultiCam for the day, I walked to Alexis’s tent and gave a holler. “Good morning, ladies. Are you ready for breakfast?”

Megan popped her head out the flap and smiled at me. “Jeff is coming for me in a few minutes, but Alexis already took off for the DFAC.”

Great. Only seven a.m. and I was already in dereliction of duty. “Thanks,” I said to Megan as I turned to hurry my ass over to breakfast.

When I walked in, I spotted her right away, deep in conversation with the scrawny guy she’d been fussing at the very first time I saw her. I went to the line, got my tray and a cup of coffee, and then walked to her table.

She and the guy seemed to have exhausted their conversation, and neither looked too happy.

“Hi, Ms. Garcia,” I said in my most polite soldier voice. “You were supposed to wait for me to come escort you to breakfast.”

“Oh, sorry, I guess I forgot,” she answered, gesturing to the empty seat at the table.

I sat down and extended my hand to the guy who was watching us. “Hi, I’m Sergeant Gabe Thompson.”

His lips pressed in a firm line, but he managed to put his hand out. “Nice to meet you. Steve Whitfield.”

I squeezed his hand just the smallest bit and saw his eyes widen for moment. “Do you know Ms. Garcia from Texas?” I asked, already suspicious that this was the asshole who was threatening Alexis like a tattle-tale in elementary school.

He sat up straighter and put his extra-righteous face on. “Yeah, I live on her floor in the dorms, and her
boy
friend is a good friend of mine.”

Bingo. I kept my face totally neutral, something I’d had quite a bit of practice at when women were screaming at me. “Well, that’s great to come overseas with friends. I actually enlisted with my best buddy from home.”

Texas Boy gave me a small smile and then looked around the room. “Oh, I see my escort’s done eating. I’d better go grab him so we can get started on inventory. I’ll see you later, Alexis.”

She smiled politely. “Okay, Steve. Later.”

“Good to meet you, man,” I said, giving him a smile that showed enough teeth to make him grimace in response.

The relationship police gone, I turned to Alexis, who seemed embarrassed to look at me.

“So I assume that was the leak back to Austin you mentioned?”

She nodded, looking down at her eggs and stirring them around with her fork.

“Hey.” I tapped her on the hand and she looked up at me.

“You were right. I was being selfish yesterday, and I’m sorry. It never occurred to me that you might be involved with someone. I know I tend to be a bit, uh, overbearing, and I usually go balls-to-the-wall for what I want.”

She let out a little sarcastic exclamation.

“Yeah, I know. I’m an arrogant ass, but I’m not completely without scruples. And I’ve never messed around with another dude’s girl, so I won’t start now. You’re safe from me.”

Her eyes flickered with something. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have sworn it was disappointment.

She gave a short laugh. “Okay, Don Juan, that’s good to hear, and apology accepted. If you’re serious about laying off, maybe we can be friends? Sort of looks like we’re stuck with each other for a while.”

I briefly thought that ‘friends’ was the last thing I wanted to be with her, but I put my hand out. “Friends. Thanks for giving me a second chance, and uh, you know, my C.O. would be really unhappy if he heard about yesterday.”

She nodded. “I get it. If you’re serious about a truce, I won’t say a word.”

I smiled, relief washing through me.

She shook my hand, and I couldn’t help but notice hers fit so perfectly in mine. “So, can I say one thing?” I asked.

She smiled encouragingly. She had a really beautiful smile when she wasn’t hollering at me.

“If that guy, Steve, gives you any more trouble, can I have permission to pound the shit out of him? He has no right to police you like that. Your relationship is between you and your guy, not his best friend.”

She blushed a little. “You’d beat up some guy you don’t even know just because he gave me a hard time?”

I nodded. “In a heartbeat.”

She smiled even more beautifully than before, as if that were possible. “Okay, if he says one more word about it, I’ll unleash Sergeant Thompson on him.”

“It’s a deal . . .
babe
.” She busted out laughing and we kept laughing most of the way through breakfast. Best breakfast I’d ever had.