Dominant Deception [Black Ops Brotherhood 3] (Siren Publishing Classic) (18 page)

“Yeah? Why not?” Jack could tell this was turning into another interrogation.

“I don’t know,” Anna said.

“Who would? Don’t you have friends?”

“I have friends.”

“Boyfriend?” Jack teased.

Anna giggled and shook her head. “No, that’s the last thing I need right now.”

“Why?”

“Because, I just don’t need that right now. I stay busy,” Anna said, taking a drink of her water.

“Busy? You don’t have a boyfriend and you don’t go out much. What do you do?”

“What do
you
do?” Anna countered.

“Me? I work, I hang out with Mac, some of the other guys. But mainly, I work. I used to like taking long walks on a beach, too, until I joined the SEALs. They cured me of that little hobby.”

Anna giggled again.

“So why don’t you have a boyfriend?” Jack asked.

“Because I’m not in high school. Why don’t you have a girlfriend or a wife?”

Haha!
Jack was poking at that little temper of hers. He’d seen a glimpse when he’d told her about her reassignment. Anna was smart and she’d bested him on more than one occasion without even trying. If he didn’t watch her, she could probably run circles around him.

“I don’t know. I guess I’m a workaholic. I’ve never been married and I don’t have a
girlfriend
per se,” Jack said.

“Per se?” Anna picked up her glass for a drink.

“Why? Are you interested in the position?”

Anna started choking on her drink. Jack smiled wickedly. He got his wish. There was that blush.

“Me? N–No.” Anna stuttered. She looked shocked by the question. “Maybe we ought to change the subject?” she asked quickly.

“Why? Does the thought seem that bad?”

“It’s wrong,” Anna said shortly.

“Who says?” Jack pushed.

“You’re my boss. Maybe this whole outing is a bad idea and we should get back.”

“Anna. Stop. I’m messing with you! I’m sorry if I went too far.”

“That’s not funny! What would you have done if I would have said yes?” she snapped.

“I never thought you would, Anna. I wouldn’t be here if I thought things would go that far. But by the way you’re reacting—”

“Seriously? Can’t you stop!” Anna said, cutting him off.

Jack looked away, fighting the words that were threatening to come out and detonate this situation. Anna seemed to pick up on his little internal fight and looked squarely at him. He looked at her and started to speak.

“Don’t. You’re in the military and I know you can take orders, even when you don’t like it. Use that filter, please,” Anna said.

“I’m not known for my
filter
.”

Anna shook her head and looked away. “Why am I not surprised?”

During lunch, Jack convinced Anna to take a tour of a local winery north of San Diego. They drove for an hour and made the tour. Jack hadn’t had a day of just screwing off in some time, and he was really enjoying himself. He normally didn’t spend this kind of time with any woman. Anna was different, but he’d known that from the beginning. She was very witty. She started to relax and when he gently dished out his teasing, she would give it right back. Jack still couldn’t break her from calling him
Captain
and keeping him at a distance. It was driving him crazy and making him want her that much more.

The day was ending when they arrived at their quarters. Anna remembered she needed to make that trip to the store. Jack smiled and looked away because he’d forgotten his promise to take her to the store.

“Okay, give me a list and I’ll go get you what you need while you start your laundry,” Jack said.

Anna hesitated. “No. I need to go and you need to do something else while I’m shopping.”

“Get me a list. What’s so hard about that? Jesus, Anna! You turn everything into a damn interrogation!” Jack snapped, frustrated.

“I really don’t think you want to pick up some of the things I need, Captain,” Anna insisted.

“A list,” Jack commanded.

“You want a list? Okay!” Anna snapped.

She can be so moody sometimes, and after such a pleasant day.
Jack followed her into her room as she angrily scribbled a list for him. He remembered why he didn’t date women his own age. She walked up to Jack and handed him her list. He quickly scanned it and then looked at her.

“Get to it! I’ll see you when you get back. I’m going to do my laundry,” Anna quipped.

Jack stood there a moment returning her defiant glare.
Damn it! She did it again!
Anna was waiting for him to back down.
Baby, you’re playing chicken with the wrong guy and payback is a bigger bitch than you.
Jack wanted to say those words more than anything but decided against it.

“Okay. I’ll be back.”

* * * *

Anna waited in the laundry area reading a book on her e-reader. She briefly wondered how Captain O’Malley was making out with her list. She put the reader down on her lap and watched the clothes tumble. She was perplexed. As much as she denied it to herself, Tammy was right. Captain Jack O’Malley was a panty dropper, and if she wasn’t careful, her panties just might come off for him.

Jack’s military-style light brown hair and emerald-green eyes made him a contestant for the cover of a romance novel. Add his hard body in
or out
of uniform and you had a package that just screamed great sex. And that scar! How many times did she have to fight herself to keep from touching it or even kissing it? Today, she’d noticed a couple more scars. Anna could imagine having a scavenger hunt all over his body looking for scars.
That boy could make a nun break her vow and get play in a convent. Shit, he could have a one-man orgy!

Anna shook her head. She would have to be dead not to be attracted to him. Captain O’Malley stirred something inside that scared her, something she’d suppressed after Marc died. Captain Jack was making life very difficult because he seemed to be all over her. He was pushing her in a direction she really couldn’t go right now.

Anna knew she was a passionate and temperamental creature and instinctively she knew Captain O’Malley was, too. She had to keep a wall between them before he sucked her inside and made her lose herself. The second she allowed him to breach that wall, it would be like two planets colliding. Jack O’Malley wouldn’t give an inch. Neither would she, and they were both too set in their ways to change.

Anna took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes because she had the stirrings of a headache. She wasn’t on the rag, yet, but it was coming. Captain O’Malley’s proposition earlier at lunch was almost more temptation than she could bear. She considered it for a moment and shook her head. She was reading more into this than was there. There was no way someone like Jack would be interested in the person she’d become. Anna had worked to become one with the scenery, making sure no one noticed her. Anna had become an expert at hiding herself.

He wasn’t serious…
Anna remembered his offer. “
Are you interested in the position?
”
Yeah, right.
He’d almost looked embarrassed at her reaction. She’d been defensive because she certainly wasn’t repulsed at the idea. She convinced herself that there was nothing. Captain O’Malley was just a nice guy being a flirt. In fact, flirting was second nature to him. She recalled his interaction with Markie.

No, this would never work out anyway.
Anna was very jealous and possessive. Captain O’Malley was way too much of a player and too old to change. She rubbed her neck and eyes again. She would need a day off from Captain Jack. Anna needed to regain some balance and fortify her defenses.

* * * *

Jack watched Anna from the doorway. She was in another world. He watched as she rubbed her eyes. She almost looked like she was in pain. He smiled as he thought about the contents of the bag he was holding. Jack turned and walked to the vending machine in the hallway, retrieving two bottles of water.

Silently, Jack walked back into the laundry room and set the bag on the chair next to her. Anna didn’t move. She stared at the clothes tumbling in the dryer off to her left. He quietly reached into the bag and dug out the Midol she’d requested. She never moved or gave any indication she’d heard him. He shook his head because he was worried about her. Anna needed to be more alert to her surroundings.

Anna moved when Jack placed the cold water on her shoulder. She looked down and noticed the bag. Trying not to smile, she took the bottle of water and opened it. He handed her the Midol. She looked up at him
questioningly
.

“You look like you have a headache,” Jack said quietly.

“I do,” Anna confirmed, taking the package from him and opening it. “You probably know a little too much about me right now.”

“It explains a lot…Dragon Lady…” Jack teased.

Anna giggled and Jack took the seat next to her. He directed his stare at the tumbling clothes.

“What’s that?” Jack asked, pointing to a gadget in her lap.

“It’s an e-reader. I can buy books in electronic format and download them to this. It saves space when I travel. Apple’s supposed to be coming out with something like this but with a lot more capability.”

“Yeah? You like to read? So do I. What kind of books?”

“Thrillers, detective, all kinds of stuff. If it looks good from the excerpt, I’ll pretty much read anything.”

“Romance? Harlequin?” Jack teased.

“Yeah, when I was like thirteen,” Anna snorted.

“Come on, Anna, an artistic woman like you, you’re a romantic. Admit it. I am.”

“Oh? So you read Harlequin, do you, Captain? Nope, I was married for eighteen years. Romance ended after a baby and diapers,” Anna quipped.

“Maybe you were married to the wrong guy. That does happen, you know,” Jack said knowingly.

Anna rolled her eyes. “Parent-teacher conferences, the all-night projectile vomiting…Oh and did I mention taxi services? Definitely not very romantic,” Anna droned on, making Jack laugh. He seemed to do that a lot around her. “But you wouldn’t know about that, would you? Never being married and doing the whole kid-raising thing,” she jabbed.

“If you keep up that attitude, when the right guy comes along, you’ll let him just walk by. Harlequin, by the way, is a great resource for us guys,” Jack said.

“Are you serious?” Anna asked in disbelief.

“Damn right! I got hooked on them the first time I went over to Iraq. Morale would send over books and put them in the day room. Can’t get enough of ’em. I’ve learned a lot.”

“Really? I’d have thought you were more the erotica type.”

* * * *

Anna regretted the words as soon as they were out of her mouth. She couldn’t stop herself because he seemed to push every single button she had. Jack’s eyes lit up as he looked at her.

“Are you? Got any recommendations?” Jack asked as he lifted the e-reader from her lap. “How does this thing work?” He turned it over and punched buttons, finally hitting the one that illuminated the screen.

“Give that back to me!” Anna demanded.

Anna just so happened to be reading a romance-comedy type novel at the time. It was a free download and the excerpt looked good. So far, it was a pretty good read.

“
Ripping Bodices
?” Jack laughed as he read the title aloud.

Anna reached for her e-reader as Jack swung it out of reach. He looked at the screen and looked at her like he’d just caught her playing with herself.

“
He pinned her arms above her head, as she struggled underneath him, the moist heat of their bodies coming together
…” Jack read aloud and stopped. He smiled wickedly. His green eyes were sparked with laughter and something else…

“Definitely not romance! More like bondage there, Anna. Are
you
into this kind of stuff? Who knew?” Jack teased.

“Give it to me! I swear! You’re such a ten-year-old!” Anna snapped.

Anna reached for her reader as he moved out of grasp.

“If story time is like this, can we do it more often? Right before
bed
?” Jack asked, laughing.

Anna stood and tried to jerk the reader from Jack. He swung the reader out of her reach. Every time she would reach for it he moved it away. He was teasing her like her brothers used to and really pissing her off in the process. She wanted to pound the crap out of him. To think he was the commanding officer of over six hundred people and billions of dollars in assets! In the civilian world, he was the equivalent to a CEO of a multibillion-dollar corporation. Here J.T. O’Malley, Captain, United States Navy, Commander of Special Warfare Group Five, was playing keep-away like a ten-year-old! Anna had to reach over Jack’s semi-reclining position to grab her e-reader.

You arrogant bastard!
Anna almost screamed those words out loud at him. Jack was laughing at her and enjoying his little game. She reached once more and lost her footing as she tripped over Jack’s feet. She toppled over, landing on top of Jack. She looked up and recognized that startled look. She’d seen it a couple of weeks earlier when she’d nearly knocked him over in the hallway. His surprise gave way to a very hot intensity. She suddenly became acutely aware of the hard masculine body underneath her.