Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

Mark

I heard giggling and slowly opened my eyes. I'd seen Jen as we were heading out on a mission, so I knew the MED crews had made it down. There hadn't been time to speak with her, even though all I'd wanted to do was drag her off somewhere and finish that kiss we'd shared. Every move I made had her running off, I had to stand still and wait, then grab her before she could run.

I hadn't expected her to react that way and it completely threw me off my game. I had been so exhausted after the fight, and she was the last thing I expected. All I could do as she'd run away that night was groan. I'd had my lips on hers and fucking blew it.

We'd done our best not to wake anyone coming in last night, but it was a small, cramped room and we'd still woken up a few people. Jen had been out cold, though.

Santos, the conniving bastard that he was, made sure to keep the cot next to Jen clear. When we came in, the others didn't make the slightest attempt to claim it. Nope, without speaking a word they all conspired to make sure it was mine. Not that I wouldn't have claimed it anyways, I just wanted more discretion. Jen had hardly budged when I came in and laid down.

I heard the ‘shh' over the giggles. They were trying to stay quiet, but failing. What were they laughing at? I blinked a few times and turned my head toward the noise. A few feet away was Jen. She looked like I'd just caught her stealing cookies from the cookie jar. I don't think I'd ever seen someone blush so hard and turn so fast to avoid me.

I sat up and realized that some of me was already standing at attention. "Whoops," I muttered, reaching down and tucking my dick away. At least now she knew what I was working with. I wondered if that was something that would convince a woman who was doing her damnedest to avoid me, that maybe there was a better choice.

Time to get up, I guess.

I made my way to the bathroom, took a piss, washed, and woke up enough not to stumble on the way back. It'd taken me hours to fall asleep after laying down. Part of it was because I was amped after the mission. The other part had to do with the woman laying so close to me I could practically feel the heat radiating off her body. I'd wanted to crawl into her cot with her and work off the adrenaline surging through my body.

When I walked back into the room everyone was crowded around a new source of entertainment. Brady. Sarah's cot was next to Brady's. She was watching with a horrified look on her face. Everyone else that was awake was sitting on their bunks observing the spectacle.

Watching Brady sleep was an experience all unto itself. He would draw in a deep, crackling snore of breath, then proceed to choke, cough, curse, and whatever the fuck that last noise was on the exhale. It sounded something like, "Snuurrrk, ugh ooff, FUCK, memememe." Over and over again.

It was always a source of amazement for people who had never heard it. I went back to my cot and dropped my toiletry bag on the floor underneath it.

Nick was looking from Brady to me and back, trying to formulate the question that most people asked after they'd heard his snoring. Jen was still too busy inspecting the floor and attempting not to make eye contact to ask any questions.

Nick finally asked me, "What's wrong with him?"

"He's allergic to oxygen," I said, with no trace of sarcasm in my voice. "He also has a need to be the center of attention at all times."

Brady finally choked himself awake and flailed about trying to sit up. He coughed several times. "Fuck, you people are too loud." He rolled back over and smashed his pillow over his head trying to shut out the sounds of the world so he could get more sleep.

"That's my cue to get out of here and scrounge up some food." I said. There was no chow hall here, just MRE's and snacks that were air dropped every few days. MRE's were Meals Ready to Eat. A prepackaged meal that had a ten-year shelf life and was devoid of flavor. I dug through the boxes and settled on one labeled Chicken, Chunked. It was basically what you would find in a can of chicken, only in a bag and wetter. I grabbed a bag of cookies to help offset the flavor. Breakfast of champions.

I found a table—really a stack of pallets—outside by the aircraft and sat down. A door slammed behind me, followed by grumbling and muttering. Brady must have given up on sleep and left the building.

This might work to my advantage.

With Brady awake and stumbling around with nothing better to do, he was bound to home in on Jen and start rambling about something that no one cared about, which would inevitably lead her to escape—right into my open arms.

As if on cue, I heard him spooling up and starting to rant about exercise. I looked over and laughed as Laura expertly side stepped behind Jen, leaving Brady completely focused on her. Jen, not knowing what to do, pasted on a fake smile and started nodding along. Laura made her way back to me and sat. We both sat watching Jen as she tried to disengage herself from Brady.

"That wasn't very nice you know, leaving her like that," I commented, shoving a cookie in my mouth.

"Right of passage," she said with a shrug. "Besides, Jen deserves this for always trying to avoid real fun." She winked at me.

It was perfect, Brady had his back turned to us, but Jen could see past him to us. She frowned as she saw us clearly laughing at her.

After a few minutes, I decided she'd suffered enough. I walked up to them and grabbed her by the arm. I could feel her body tense in my grip "Go sit down by us and get some food. Brady, make sure that Santos finished the morning inspection on the aircraft." He grunted in agreement and shuffled off. I kept my eyes locked on her the whole time. When I saw her breathing get heavier with anticipation, I let go and followed her over to the table.

"Not funny guys," she said it more to Laura, but I laughed anyway.

The look of bewilderment on her face while he'd droned on had made it worth it. Served her right for trying to avoid me. If she kept it up, I'd sic Brady on her each night until she gave in. It was a solid plan.

She sat opposite us, still trying to gather her wits after Brady's verbal onslaught.

I could tell she was caught off guard by him because she hadn't finished getting herself together. She was in uniform, but her hair was down. Not in a ponytail, but actually loose and flowing free over her shoulders. It was longer and thicker than I'd expected. It framed her face in a way that made her smile shine. Not that she was gracing me with that smile.

She hardly looked my way as she grinned at something Laura said. Her eyes were bright blue today, like the ocean after a storm, and it was all I could do not to stare. The only thing that could make her hotter right now would be for her to bend over and flip her hair back like in the music videos.

Trying not to get too thrown off by how stunningly gorgeous she was, I said, "He's harmless. He can't read social cues at all and doesn't understand personal space, but he's harmless otherwise. Besides, you look like you need some humor in your life."

"What I need is coffee and breakfast." She looked down at my food and frowned. "Or just coffee."

I laughed at her. "Welcome to Pamir, it's small and shitty, but at least the food sucks," I joked.

She shook her head, hair moving over her face. She brushed it aside, and son of a bitch she did the hair flippy thing. My mouth must have dropped open, because while Jen was fixing her hair into a bun Laura kicked my foot. I glanced at her and scowled, but she just gave me that knowing, shit-eating grin and winked.

Dammit, she caught me ogling her friend. As if she didn't already know I wanted Jen.

I shouldn't have been surprised, it's not like I exactly hid my attraction for her. The guys have been steering clear of her except for business. Word had unofficially circled around that Jen was off limits. Hell, even the Beards steered clear and those guys hit on anything that moved and was gorgeous—man or woman.

Despite the fact that I wanted to tackle this woman right here and do unspeakable things to her, I knew I had to keep it restrained. I still had to watch my career, and it wouldn't be fair to jeopardize hers when it was just starting. I would be forty this year, able to retire. She was barely thirty, with most of her career in front of her still. Getting in trouble for fraternizing could put my retirement in jeopardy, and stop her from ever getting promoted. Although, every time I looked into those blue eyes I couldn't fight the feeling that she would be worth it, whatever the cost.

Jen finished getting her hair tied back before talking to us again. "Okay, seriously, where can I get some coffee and… What's he doing?"

Laura and I turned around to where she was staring. Jim was out on the flightline, talking on a satellite phone. He was walking backward and cupping his hand around the mouth piece. We turned back around to face Jen.

Laura stood up and said, "I'll let you explain that one. I'm off to find coffee."

Laura ran off and Jen kept staring. "Seriously, what is he doing?"

"He's talking to his wife. What's it look like?" I asked, as if this were normal behavior for a man to walk backward while on the phone.

She rolled her eyes at me and gave me a flat look. I gave in and explained, "In order to get a steady signal he needs to move away from all the radios. Since this is the desert, he needs to move around to maintain that signal. And just to make it more fun, the wind never stops out here, and is constantly blowing from different directions. So he walks backward, to make sure his wife can hear him okay and not lose the conversation due to the wind." 1

Her perplexed look softened into the sweetest smile I had seen on her yet. "That's so...adorable. Who does something like that?"

So there is a soft side to you. It's not all icicles and sharp edges.

I glanced over my shoulder at the man trying to perform miracles on the runway just so he could hear his wife's voice. It was times like this that I was envious of those who had relationships like that. There didn't seem to be many, but I was willing to bet every last dollar that it was worth it.

"He does." I pointed to Jim's silhouette. "When the signal gets really bad he'll climb up the guard tower...sometimes carrying a pole to act as an antenna." That made her smile again. "He absolutely worships her. If you met his wife you'd understand."

"Understand that she makes him walk backward into the wind for a phone call?" she asked, still smiling with that soft look in her eyes.

"Oh, she has no idea what he goes through to get a call out. She's just happy to hear from him. He wouldn't tell her either; she would make him stop. No, he's much happier going through the trouble." 2

"You sound jealous." She was mocking me, or so she thought. She was spot on. I leaned forward and grinned at her. I wanted to keep her friendly and unguarded as long as I could. I enjoyed seeing this side of her.

"I am," I admitted. She sat upright, shocked at my open honesty. I continued, "A little bit anyway. I certainly never went through that kind of effort for my ex. It probably contributed to why she's my ex," I said thoughtfully. "Although she wasn't worth walking backward across the flightline for, so there's that. But Jim's wife is worth it." Our eyes locked. "I'd like to know what it's like to have a wife that's worth that kind of effort."

Jen let her gaze stray off mine and settle on Jim. "Me too," she said softly. She jumped when Karolyn dropped a can—some kind of packaged meat that was acting as breakfast—on the pallet next to her. Karolyn huffed out a sigh as she sat, unaware of what she was interrupting.

I wanted to bare my teeth and snarl at her to go away. Although the little freak would probably think I was flirting. The wariness and closed off look I'd seen in Jen's eyes more often than not had returned. Gone was the wistful look and there wasn't much I wouldn't give to put it back in her eyes.

"The food here sucks," Karolyn grumped and poked at the can in front of her.

"You were just bitching the other day that you'd gained weight," Sarah said, dropping down onto the bench on the other side of Walker. "This will help you lose some."

Karolyn glared at her friend, then sent me a megawatt smile. "‘Morning, Mark."

Jen's head snapped in her direction and Karolyn withered under her glare. She cleared her throat. "I mean, good morning, Chief," she corrected. Jen slowly let her gaze slide off the other woman, appeased that Karolyn had addressed me properly.

I bit back the grin that was fighting to surface. Karolyn was just a bit too friendly. She needed to be kept in check. From what I could tell she was a good crew chief, just a little immature. We needed all the good crew chiefs we could get. We just didn't need the drama. I decided to take care of it.

No one gave Sarah a hard time because she was discreet and mostly kept to herself. If anything, we tried to bring her out of her shell a bit. The two women couldn't be more opposite, but they appeared to be friends nonetheless.

"Since you don't want your breakfast we should get going. I want to check over the aircraft before our shift."

"Again?" Karolyn whined.

The high pitched, nasally sound was like nails on a chalkboard for me. That sound was one my ex-wife had perfected over the years and even after all this time I couldn't stand the sound of whining, from a man or woman.

"We went over everything last- '' Karolyn broke off when Jen sent her a death glare.

"Let's go," Sarah said, grabbing Karolyn by the arm.

I reached out and grabbed Jen's hand before she could get away from the table. "Don't think I forgot about what you did the other night."

Her face blushed and she tried to pull her hand away from me. I tightened my grip, holding her in place. "Nothing happened. It didn't mean… just forget it."

I held her gaze for ten solid seconds before responding. "No. When you're done with your shift, we'll revisit this." I held her hand for another second, then let go. She brushed her hair back nervously, then the surprise vanished from her face and a scowl appeared. She was looking past me.

I turned in my seat to see the asshole from Bagram, who had been arguing with her the first day I met her, heading our way. He walked up in a huff and glared at me.

"The fuck you think you're doing, Chief." He spat my rank at me, it was only now I realized that he was a captain, too. Well, nothing like starting my morning with some insubordination.

Mark

I stood slowly, and with exaggerated care stepped away from the table and approached the asshole. A bit theatrical? Yeah, but I wasn't going to do this a third time.

"Don't let me catch you holding her hand again, Chief." There it was again. Tiny man hiding behind his rank.

"Or?" I folded my arms over my chest. It was mostly so I didn't reach out to strangle the man who was glaring up at me.

"Huh? What?"

"Are you a midwit? You said not to let you see me holding her hand." Dropping my hands to my sides, I stepped forward, forcing asshole to step backward in order to hold my gaze. "What happens if you catch me holding her hand again?" I tilted my head, daring him to respond.

"Mark, don't." Jen put her hand on my shoulder and tried to step between us. "Scott, just…go away. I don't want to speak to you and you're not welcome here."

I put my hand on her shoulder, then, looking the asshole in the eye, lowered my hand down to hers, and took her hand in mine. Turning back to her I said, "You tried it your way, that didn't work. Now it's my turn." I let go of her hand and grasped her around the waist, lifting her out of my way and setting her aside. The last thing I wanted was for her to get hurt if this guy got the bright idea to do anything other than what I told him.

Jen just stared, slack jawed, at me and the fact that I'd gently set her out of the way. She didn't seem to know how to take that. I was grateful she was held immobile by shock. It allowed me to do what I needed to.

When I let go and turned back to asshole he was stepping toward me, jabbing his finger into my chest. So much for him making a good decision today. He was about to find out why he should have chosen to listen. "I told you to keep your hands off of her, I'm not fucking around."

I grabbed his finger and bent it backwards. His scream was louder than expected, especially since I hadn't broken it. Yet. My ears rang with the high pitched sound, further irritating me.

"Ow, fuck! What are you doing?" he cried.

I pushed against his twisted finger and started walking him backward. Getting him away from Jen was my only thought. Once that was accomplished, I planned to explain, in painful detail, how he was going to leave her alone from now on.

"Mark, knock it off." Jen was trying to get into the middle of us again.

With my free hand I put my palm against her waist and gently, but forcefully, moved her aside. "Artie!" I called out.

"Yeah, boss?" Artie appeared out of the shadows. I knew he'd be nearby; he always was when I was about to get into a fight. It was like he had a sixth sense about these things.

"Hold her please."

"Sure thing." He wrapped his arms around Jen's waist and lifted her off the ground.

"Mark, I swear to God." She struggled in Artie's grip, but I knew he wouldn't let her go. He also wouldn't hurt her. It allowed me to focus on my mission.

I turned my attention back to asshole. I let his finger go. He jerked his hand toward himself and cradled it. "I've had enough of you. Leave. Leave Pamir, go back to Bagram. Don't ever show your face around Jen again. She's mine. Understand?"

Now that I had let go of his hand and he wasn't in agonizing pain he got his courage back. He was still massaging his finger. "Fuck you, Chief. I'll give you a choice, walk away, or I round up my guys, beat your ass, then ruin your career."

"Ooohhhh bad move there, Ace." I heard Artie chuckle. "Hey! No biting."

I knew Jen was just trying to keep me from getting into a fight. It was hard to hold that against her, but she needed to realize that there were going to be times where I had to put my fucking foot down. This was one of them. I was done dealing with this piece of shit trying to get back with her. He was going to learn today not to fuck with what belonged to me.

My hand shot out and grabbed him by the throat. I squeezed and lifted him so that he was on his tiptoes. Staring at him, I silently counted to ten.

He gasped and flailed, slapping uselessly at my arms. "You're choking me. I can't breathe."

I got to ten before I responded. "You're talking, means you're breathing."

"Mark! Let him go!" Jen yelled again.

"No. Asshole needs to learn his place." I shot her a quick glance before I turned my attention back to him. "I'll give you two options. Leave Pamir and go back to Bagram and never speak to Jen again. Or I squeeze harder until you agree, or you pass out. Your call." I moved my fingers another quarter inch, squeezing harder, making his face start to redden like a tomato.

He coughed and tried to choke in more air. I'll give the little bastard some credit, he was holding out longer than I thought he would. But a few seconds later, he broke.

"Fine!" he gasped. "I'll go." I could have made him beg, but I'd made my point. If I continued to embarrass him he'd end up doubling down on the bad decisions he'd made here today. I let go. He collapsed down onto his knees and started gulping in air. Now who was being dramatic?

"Well?" I asked after a few seconds. "What are you waiting for?"

He looked up at me wide eyed, then turned and crawled a few feet before getting to his feet and staggering off. He made it to the corner of the building and ran straight into Brady.

"Dude, you look like shit!" he mocked, as asshole stumbled past. Brady watched him go and then continued on his way. He stopped a few steps later, looking from me to Artie—who was still holding Jen. "What'd I miss?"

Artie let go of Jen and started laughing. Brady just scowled and kicked the ground in his usual way. "I always miss the good shit; why didn't you call me?"

As much as I would have loved to torment him, I had to bring my focus back to Jen. She was already storming off toward her helicopter. I grabbed her forearm and spun her around to me.

"Let go of me. I can't believe you."

"Can't believe what, Jen? What exactly is the problem?"

" You're the problem. I don't need you fighting my battles for me. The last thing I wanted was a showdown with Scott in front of everyone. He already embarrassed me like that once before. I didn't think you would humiliate me like that, too."

I let go of her arm. I didn't know what to say to that. I wasn't going to apologize. I certainly wasn't sorry. But, humiliate her? I hadn't expected that as a reaction from her. Instead, I tried blunt honesty. "I don't know about that, but so long as I am here, I won't let any man disrespect you."

"What the hell do you call what you just did? How is that not disrespectful? You're unbelievable."

I didn't chase after her this time. I didn't see taking that little shit down a peg as disrespectful. I'd been protecting her. Why couldn't she see that? What was I missing? How was that the inappropriate thing?

Letting her cool off was going to be the only way forward. Nothing was going to get resolved if I spoke to her now, while she was still pissed. Still, this had to be done. I couldn't let him continue to hound her. No man would ever speak to her like that again, she was mine now. She was just going to have to get used to the way I did things. Once she calmed down, we'd discuss it and hopefully we could come to terms with what'd happened.

I let a slow smile spread over my face. She was mine. That's why she was pissed. If I was some random guy she'd have just rolled her eyes and walked away. She hadn't wanted me getting into that fight. She didn't like being the center of attention. And your boyfriend telling off your ex was bound to draw a crowd. Now I knew why she had been avoiding me, what her hang ups were. She already knew she was going to end up in a relationship with me, and she'd been doing her best to avoid it. Little did she know I always got what I wanted, and I'd had my eye on her since that first day in Bagram.

It was going to be a good day. I stretched and let myself watch Jen's ass as she walked away. I turned to find Karolyn staring up at me.

"That was such a nice thing that you did for the Captain back there. Too bad she doesn't appreciate it. I would appreciate any man that did that for me."

Yeah, sure. "Go back to your helicopter."

She frowned, her bottom lip forming a pout. When I narrowed my eyes she huffed and stomped off. A woman like Karolyn would get off on the drama of what just went down. That was why Jen was so fucking fascinating. Why I couldn't get her out of my mind. She forced me to chase her. To convince her of how good we'd be together. She tried to avoid anything that would smear her reputation. I liked that she took pride in her job. That didn't change what was happening between us.

A loud crash snapped me out of my thoughts. Brady had decided to join me.

"Brady, I need a favor from you," I told him, not taking my eyes off Jen.

"Just name it."

"Karolyn is becoming a bit of a problem for me. I need you to…take care of her. Make her not my problem."

His expression was unusually serious. "Here? But you said…"

"I know what I said, but just this once, you can."

He nodded solemnly. "Consider it done."

That night I awoke from a rather peaceful sleep. I rolled over and watched Jen. She had tried to sleep with her back turned to me, but sometime during the night she rolled over and was now facing me.

I held back a laugh. The movies always show the girls sleeping so delightfully, making hardly a sound. Jen had her mouth open, hair a mess, and was letting out the funniest little snores. She would probably be mortified if she knew I was seeing her like this. Yet all it was doing was making me want to crawl onto the cot next to her so I could gather her in my arms and hold her as she slept.

My nostrils filled with a new scent. Honey and butter, on warm, fresh pumpkin bread. I shifted and caught the sound of movement. Glancing around, I made sure no one was watching me watch her. The movement was from outside though, as was the smell. I leaned up, trying to hear better.

I heard the gentle and unassuming music of an accordion, followed by a woman's scream and rapid footsteps. The music faded with the footsteps, chasing them across the base.

The noise woke Jen up. "What on Earth is that noise?"

"That's the sound of a problem being tamed," I replied, leaning back into my cot and shutting my eyes, a smile plastered on my face.