A Snippet from Scavenger Falters
Jack gently pulled her into his arms. “I would have retrieved your catcher if it had been nothing more than regulation gear. He’s just mad because I had the opportunity to do it and he didn’t.” Jack paused and then added. “And maybe because you were coming on to me shamelessly.”
“I was not!” she countered, angry that her plan had been so transparent.
“I’ve seen enough flirting to know it when I see it. You were definitely hitting on me. Now either you’ve changed your mind and you do want to sleep with me, or you and Logan had a fight this morning and you wanted to make him jealous.”
Alisha leaned her head into Jack’s chest. “I don’t want to sleep with you Jack!” she growled with certainty.
“That’s good, because if you were seriously coming on to me, we’d have a problem.”
She glared up at him. “Am I that repulsive?”
“Not at all,” he assured her, stroking her cheekbone. “You are absolutely breathtaking, but my heart already belongs to someone else.”
“Then why are you so nice to me?” she demanded.
“Because I think you are the most extraordinary person I’ve ever met and I enjoy your company immensely.”
Alisha gave him an apologetic smile. “Thanks, I think you’re pretty swell too….as a friend.”
“I know. Your heart’s taken as well. But these old guys, they don’t cave easy.”
Alisha was on the verge of denying it was the colonel, but she hated lying to Jack, and he wouldn’t have believed her denials anyway. He knew her too well. “Is it that obvious?”
“Actually, no. You’ve got the general convinced there’s nothing going on, and he’s a sharp old bird, always looking out for that sort of stuff.”
“Then how’d you figure it out?”
“Give me credit! I’m a brilliant visionary, able to pull together bits of intel and develop the enemy’s strategy—no wait that’s you. Well, then it’s probably because the speakerphone was still open when Logan confessed he loved you.”
“Did the general hear that?” Alisha asked in horror.
“Fortunately, no. I was the only one there, working desperately on creating battle plans for two scenarios: if you could do the impossible and if you could not. It’s a good thing you did the impossible, because my other battle plan truly sucked. Powell would have stripped me down to private if I had put that one in play.”
“You can’t tell anyone about Logan,” she said. “It’s very important to him, so important that he’s willing to give me up rather than to have anyone find out.”
“I understand better than you can imagine. And someday, I’ll share with you why, but right now, General Powell is going to flay me alive if we lose any more time dallying in Broadtown.”
“We could just fly back,” Alisha offered.
Jack looked pained. “Alisha, I said I retrieved your catcher, I didn’t say it was in one piece.”
Alisha took a deep breath to stall off more tears. “This day just keeps getting worse.”
“Don’t worry, having the general grill you for every detail of your flight will make the first half look downright pleasant in retrospect.” He reached into his bag and retrieved a manual. “And to liven the trip, I’ve brought an up-to-date version of the regs. The general has put me in charge of making certain you don’t disobey any further regs. In fact, since I’ve a prior history of involving myself, any infractions you do make will go on my record.”
“That’s not fair!” Alisha objected.
“No, but he’s pretty sure it will be effective, both in the speed you are taught the regs, and in reminding me never to put my career on line for anyone again.”
She hated that Jack had put his career in jeopardy for her, all because she hadn’t known a recent addition to the regulations, which required her to sign out before going airborne during battle. Alisha opened the book. “Are there any more stupid ones like 14.69.2?”
“Hey, there’s a bright side. You’ve one less to learn today,” Jack teased. “And while I’ve got you cheered up, I should warn you that due to a sudden influx of Broadtown and Doakstown Ryders, there are insufficient quarters and we’re going to be roommates for the next couple of weeks.”
“That doesn’t sound right. I should be bunking with the captains, not a colonel.”
“Trust me when I tell you that’s out of the question. You will be bunking with a colonel. You could bunk with Colonel Drake from Doakstown, but I should warn you, he snores louder than morning mess call.”
“Why can’t I bunk with Colonel Logan, if the general doesn’t believe anything is going on?”
“Two reasons: first Logan would never agree to it. He’d go sleep with Drake before sharing quarters with you. And second, the general wouldn’t agree to it, because he wants to preserve Logan’s good reputation. If you two bunked together that would create speculation that DC’s accusations are true.”
“But what about your reputation?” Alisha countered.
Jack laughed and shook his head. “My reputation is so ruined, that nothing can harm it further. Besides we are already a couple in everyone’s eyes, so it will only seem natural that you should choose to bunk with me.”
The SkyRyders Series
Sci-Fi Romance
Scavenger Falters-coming 2017
Scavenger Vanishes-coming 2017
MEET THE RYDERS
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