Tactical Strike (2 page)

* * *

In Bagram’s main chow hall just after dawn, Captain
Candace “Ace” Bradford stared down at her breakfast tray with barely concealed
anticipation. After a fourteen-hour night of continual armed reconnaissance
sorties, she was ravenous.

“You look like a starving wolf eyeing a fresh kill,” her friend
Lieutenant Maya Lopez said from across the table, her faint Latina accent making
the words almost musical.

“You’re not far off.” The delicious aroma of smoky bacon and
the yeasty scent of toasted bread and pancakes rose up to tempt her. Only thing
missing was real coffee. Oh God, she’d kill for a cup of strong black coffee,
but decaf would have to do if she wanted to get any sleep later, and decaf
didn’t taste the same.

Across the table, her slim, tight-bodied Security Forces friend
was happily sipping on her green tea and finishing the last bits of granola
she’d sprinkled on her own breakfast of fruit and yogurt. The woman was a damn
machine and never gained an ounce. If Candace hadn’t liked her so much she would
have hated her guts. Maya made being a food Nazi look so damned
easy
.

Candace dug into her eggs and toast, eyeing her friend. How the
hell did Maya get through the day with her fanatical exercise schedule eating
like that? “Oh, damn, I needed this.”

Maya chuckled. “Yeah, I can tell. Eat up,
chica
. You’ll sleep better with a full stomach.”

“Mm-hmm.” In the midst of scooping up another bite, something
made her look up from her plate. Some kind of subconscious warning, or maybe a
subtle heightening in awareness. Whatever caused it, her gaze automatically
tracked to the front of the mess hall. When she saw
him
standing there with his tray, she inwardly cursed.

Staff Sergeant Ryan Wentworth, the disturbingly attractive yet
annoying CCT who made her so damn uncomfortable. After a two-week reprieve from
his irritating attempts to flirt with her, she’d finally stopped watching for
him out of her peripheral vision whenever she was in a crowd, assuming he’d lost
interest. Except apparently that had only been wishful thinking.

As if he’d heard her thoughts, his head turned toward her and
that mahogany gaze collided with hers. His wicked stare held her hostage for a
moment; then he smiled that sexy smile that did forbidden things to her body.
Her heart rate quickened, little tingles of feminine awareness dancing across
her skin. Before she could tear her eyes away he advanced toward her with long,
purposeful strides.

Her eyes widened. “Oh, shit,” she muttered and quickly focused
her attention back on her breakfast.

“What?” Maya swiveled around in her seat to check behind her.
When she turned back, a catlike smile curved her lips. “Well, this oughta be
interesting. I’m feeling more awake already.” She sipped at her tea, her
blue-green eyes laughing at Candace over the rim of her mug.

Candace could feel her face heating up as he approached.
Don’t
come
over
here
,
don’t
come
over
here
, she willed him. They hadn’t exactly gotten off
to the best start when they’d first met and there hadn’t been much progress
since. He wouldn’t actually come over and flirt in front of an audience after
she’d made her wishes clear about keeping a professional distance between them.
Would he?

Oh
yeah
,
he
would
.

She didn’t dare look up or make eye contact for fear of
encouraging his presence. Her peripheral vision tracked him as he came closer.
Keep
walking
,
keep
walking
...

He stopped directly across from her. In the bright overhead
lighting, his large shadow covered the table in front of her. “Morning.” Holding
the faintest edge of a Southern drawl, his deep voice created unwanted tendrils
of warmth in her belly.

“Morning,” she replied without looking up, maintaining
politeness. Man, she must have been delusional to think she’d seen respect and
admiration in his eyes when he’d thanked her outside the briefing room that day.
Because if he was still determined to pursue her, then she must have only
imagined those things.

Doing her best to ignore him and doing a poor job of it, she
forced down her rising discomfort and resisted the urge to fidget. Why the hell
couldn’t he show a little more respect and keep his distance? She was an
officer; he wasn’t. Fraternization was a big no-no, let alone openly flirting on
base. End of story. What was his problem?

Oblivious to, or maybe because of her embarrassment, he dropped
into the chair opposite hers next to Maya, his tall frame taking up all the
space in her line of vision as he set his tray down and leaned forward. Candace
couldn’t help but gape at his meal. His plate was piled high with scrambled
eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, toast and pancakes. His breakfast was a full
day’s worth of calories for her. Even his damn metabolism was arrogant.

Over the scent of his food, she caught a whiff of clean soap
and laundry detergent and steeled herself against that traitorous lick of heat
deep in her belly. It irritated her that she reacted to him on such a visceral
level. He was too big. Too forward. Too sexual. Too...everything she didn’t
need.

Or
want
, she reprimanded herself sternly.

“Haven’t seen you in a while,” he began. “How’ve you been?
Guess you’ve had a lot of late nights recently.”

She stiffened a little, her hand tightening around her fork.
Did she look that bad? He watched her calmly as he ate, apparently waiting for
some kind of response. Because he knew damn well she didn’t want to answer but
wasn’t going to be outright rude in front of witnesses. “Been busy, yes.”

“You just get in a while ago?”

“Yes.” She forked up another bite of egg and popped it into her
mouth, not even tasting it. Why couldn’t he talk to Maya instead? Maybe after a
few one-word answers he’d take the hint. They couldn’t be more than passing
acquaintances. She really didn’t want to be rude, but it looked like nothing
else would register with him. If it helped get the message across, she’d much
rather come off like a bitch than be the source of gossip that might ruin the
spotless reputation she’d worked so hard to attain in her career.

Rather than take the hint, he leaned an elbow on the table and
put his chin in his hand to regard her. “So...guess this means we’re back to the
‘ma’am’ and ‘sergeant’ thing?”

Candace blinked at him. What did he expect out here in plain
view of everyone? That just because she’d suffered a lapse in judgment and been
kind to him that day outside the briefing room, they were suddenly not subjected
to the rules of military protocol? Doing everything she could not to draw
attention to them, she pursed her lips before speaking quietly. “I’ve asked you
not to do this.”

“Sorry?” He leaned in closer. “I didn’t catch that.”

The hell he hadn’t. Her cheeks flushed and she darted a glance
at Maya, who was trying to hide her grin behind the rim of her mug and failing
miserably.

Though it went against her better judgment, Candace raised her
head and met his gaze. The instant she did, she regretted the action. Completely
without permission, her body responded to the frank male interest in his eyes
with a wave of heated arousal.

Even though he’d gone semi-native with his grooming standards,
he was something to look at. His deep auburn hair was tousled over his forehead,
and a short, thick beard covered his cheeks and square jaw. Both went against
regular Air Force—and military—regulation, but that didn’t surprise her in the
least. Even if his job didn’t require him to have more relaxed grooming
standards to blend in better out in enemy territory with whatever Spec Ops or SF
team he was embedded with, this man would happily push the boundaries all on his
own. She barely knew him, yet she knew him well enough to be certain of that. He
was all A-plus alpha male with the sort of confidence that bordered on arrogance
and tended to teeter on the brink of alphahole. In short, he was way more
trouble than she wanted to deal with.

Obviously she needed to try a different tactic.

Eyeing him like an opponent in a chess game, Candace considered
her response with care. She was good at strategy; she should be able to figure
out how to win this standoff as long as she didn’t allow his charm and good
looks to distract her. And that was proving more difficult than she’d
anticipated.

Still watching her, Ryan shifted in his seat, drawing her
attention to his body. The width of his shoulders and the swells of muscle
beneath his snug T-shirt spoke of countless hours of hard work in the gym and
from regularly hauling around a hundred-plus pounds of gear. Following the
strong column of his neck up to his face, her eyes flicked over the long nose
that looked like it might have been broken a couple of times.

Can’t
imagine
why
, she thought with a mental snort. Yet as rugged
as the planes of his bristled face were, he was still a shockingly handsome man.
Intense. Confident. Masculine. And so sexy that every cell in her body sat up
and took notice whenever they crossed paths. Another reason why she intended to
stay the hell away from him.

“You were saying...?” he prompted with a casual lift of one
eyebrow. His directness was always a shock. It was obvious their difference in
rank didn’t faze him. He honestly didn’t care what people thought of him.

She, however, did. Was this some sort of a game to him? Because
she didn’t find it amusing.

Releasing a calming breath, Candace braced for the ensuing
confrontation. Damn him for forcing her to be impolite. “Why are you doing
this?”

His brows went up, as though he hadn’t the faintest idea what
she meant. “What, talking to you?”

“You know what I mean,” she said through gritted teeth. She
fought the urge to glance around and check to make sure they hadn’t drawn an
audience yet. Bumping into each other on occasion on base was one thing. Him
seeking her out at every opportunity was another. Though she wasn’t wearing
anything that identified her rank, any one of her superiors might see them
together and draw the wrong conclusion.

He shrugged those wide shoulders. “Because I’m a friendly guy
and I like you.”

Her face grew even hotter. Another degree, and her skin might
burst into flames. Her spine stiffened. “I can’t decide if you’re trying to get
us both written up or if you just get off on embarrassing me.”

“Embarrassing you?” He drew back like she’d slapped him and
shot Maya an incredulous look. “Do you think I’m trying to embarrass her?”

“I’m abstaining from this conversation,” she answered, tucking
a lock of long, dark hair back into her bun. “It’s way more fun watching from
the sidelines. And besides, I’ve got to sleep beside her later.”

Ryan flinched and put a hand over his heart. “God. Don’t talk
about sleeping with another woman to a guy before he’s had his morning
coffee.”

Candace fought not to roll her eyes. That was so typical. Did
he actually think he was charming or something? He must have, because his smile
was pure wickedness when he returned his attention to her. After studying her
set expression for a moment or two, the teasing glint in his eyes faded,
replaced by concern as he zeroed in on the shadows beneath her eyes. “Been
sleeping okay lately?”

Nice. This from a man who desperately needed a shave and a
haircut. And she did
not
like the way something
inside her softened at the concern in his tone.

“I sleep fine.” Well, she hadn’t slept well since the mission
where she’d helped his team and Devon on the ground, but she wasn’t going to
tell him that. Lots of people here dealt with varying degrees of PTSD and still
managed to perform their duties without any problem. She was battling her demons
the best way she knew how and liked to think she was winning that war.

His brows pulled together in a slight frown. “Is your bunk
still bothering you?”

Her mouth parted in surprise. He did
not
just say that. She could hardly believe he’d actually mention
the incident with her bunk here in front of anyone that cared to listen. It
sounded way too intimate, when the reality was perfectly innocent. Dammit, she
should never have accepted his offer to fix it in the first place, back before
she’d decided to be nice to him. “It’s fine, thank you.”
Go
away
,
go
away
,
go
aw
—

“Didn’t I work all the kinks out of the frame last time?”

She set down her fork with a clink and glared at him as Maya
choked on her tea. The concern in his eyes was gone, like it had never been
there, and the teasing glint was back. He was way too handsome and outrageous
for his own good. Or hers. But if he thought he could charm her or continue this
inappropriate conversation, he was dead wrong. It was partially her fault the
boundaries had become blurred between them in the first place. And she hadn’t
gotten this far in her career by letting people walk all over her.

Hardening her expression, she attempted to look down her nose
at him, but it wasn’t easy, considering he was still taller by a few inches,
even sitting down. “My bunk is fine, and I already thanked you for fixing
it.”

“I know, and I appreciated that.” His slow smile was both
disarming and rakish. Her heart did a weird little annoying flutter. “But I’d be
happy to take another look and see if I missed anything.” He reached out and
stole a half slice of toast from her plate with his fingers, then bit into it.
His eyes twinkled, daring her to call him on it.