Somehow, telling him about this disaster in a letter hadn’t seemed right. Nor had calling him halfway around the world to drop a bomb of a whole different sort than he was used to. The kind of shock she had to deliver deserved face-to-face time.
Yes, she’d been slightly concerned that her husband might meet another woman in the eleven months he’d been gone but, considering he was in a foreign country fighting a war, Rina had figured that possibility was pretty slim.
She covertly watched as Chase met the other officers. He moved with a familiar, well-oiled grace—precision-timed movements he’d honed with hours in the sky. From a safe distance in the corner she let her eyes wander across his body. It was good to see him…whole.
Not that she’d ever tell him that.
The last year of her life was supposed to have been amazing. She’d landed one of the most coveted assignments in the air force. The competition was fierce for each position within the squadron. It had been the culmination of years of work. Her father had been so proud of her.
She should have been ecstatic. Instead she’d spent the past eleven months living in fear—that Chase would die, that someone would discover their marriage, that her entire world and the career she’d spent her life building would be snatched out from under her.
Their one stupid mistake could cost her everything. If anyone in the air force found out that she and Chase were married—and by Elvis!—and hadn’t informed their superior officers, hadn’t filed necessary paperwork…they could be accused of fraud, demoted, asked to resign their commissions.
Not to mention she’d look like a complete idiot. That would do wonders for the reputation she’d built as a level-headed, competent officer.
At the very least they’d receive a formal reprimand in their files which would kill any forward momentum their careers had. Being stationed in Timbuktu wasn’t her life’s dream.
Actually, she wasn’t entirely certain what her life’s dream was anymore. She simply couldn’t shake the sensation that something wasn’t right. That something was missing.
And she didn’t mean her husband. One night together did not make a relationship long enough to miss. No, the sensation had started long before he’d rematerialized in her life eleven months ago. It had just gotten stronger once he’d walked back out of it again.
Rina sighed silently, not knowing what to do about it. Easier to concentrate on the mess she’d managed to create in one shining, unforgettable, destructive night.
She’d had a plan.
A plan that had been exponentially complicated when Chase had been assigned to the Thunderbirds. It would have been one thing if she’d simply contacted him once he got home, presented him with the annulment paperwork and they took care of the problem with no one the wiser.
But now they had to work together. Not to mention that she was in charge of his medal ceremony. A ceremony she’d just learned the President of the United States was planning to attend.
Chase was taking over the third position, right wing, for the four-man formation within the squadron. In all the years they’d both served in the air force not once had they been stationed together…until now. It was sheer luck—or misfortune depending on how you looked at it—that Chase had become an overnight media sensation by saving the life of a visiting senator and his assistant while in Iraq.
The air force hadn’t wanted to miss out on that kind of publicity. The Air Demonstration Squadron was the public face of the air force. Who better to place on the team than someone who would gain media attention no matter where they performed?
“Captain Rina McAllister, let me introduce Major Chase Carden. Rina is our public affairs officer.”
His eyes settled on her. She could feel them, not by the weight of their study but by the tingling sensation at the nape of her neck. Her shoulder blades itched to roll the sensation away. A plastic smile, not unfriendly but not quite real, died halfway to formation on her lips as he took her in. Something wicked sparked at the back of his eyes right before he snagged her outstretched hand in his.
She’d meant to be professional, to handle meeting the newest pilot for the Thunderbirds squadron with nothing more than the calm indifference everyone would expect.
Yeah, right.
Her palm began to sweat where it rested against his. Her lungs suddenly felt as if she’d sucked a brick through her partially opened mouth instead of much-needed air. And someplace, deep between her thighs, she began to tremble with a muscle memory she’d tried hard to forget.
“Sabrina.”
She cleared the brick from her throat, firmly dislodged her hand from his and said, “No one calls me Sabrina.” Hadn’t she mentioned that to him before?
“I do.”
Some nasty urge she should have fought wanted to wipe the twinkle in his deep blue eyes away. He set her on edge. She didn’t like it. Especially not here. Here where she was perfect, efficient Rina.
“No. You don’t.”
Their commander looked at them, a puzzled frown puckering his eyebrows. “Do you two know each other? I didn’t think you’d been stationed together before.”
Chase opened his mouth. She had no idea what he might say and couldn’t take a chance. She cut him off before he could do damage they’d both regret.
“We haven’t. My father introduced us several years ago. It’s been a long time, though. Right after I finished the academy.”
She’d spent the past eleven months keeping the biggest mistake of her life a secret until she could make it disappear completely. She wasn’t about to let one slip of Chase’s tongue ruin everything.
Although she could remember Chase’s tongue doing other things…Clamping down hard on the thought, Rina tried to refocus her attention.
With a shrug, the commander walked away toward some of the enlisted waiting to meet the newest members of the squadron. Chase lingered a moment too long before leaning in closely to speak in a low, rumbling voice for her ears only, “I don’t remember you objecting to Sabrina when I was buried deep inside you, screaming your name.”
A bolt of heat shot straight through her, electrifying every nerve ending on its path to her curling toes. His words were unexpected. That was the only reason her body reacted.
It wasn’t because his lips were close enough to her skin that all she’d have to do was simply turn her head and they would connect with the sensitive side of her neck.
Her body was melting. She could feel each deserting cell as it went AWOL against her better judgment.
She’d had a speech prepared, had an idea in her head about what this first meeting of theirs would be like. None of the scenarios she’d run through had involved a complete and total sexual meltdown.
Laughter echoed off the wall down the hallway, dragging her mind back from the brink of insanity. Jerking away from him, Rina pulled her spine straight, yanked her shirt flat and raised completely blank eyes to Chase.
“This isn’t the place for that kind of discussion, Major. It was one night. A long time ago. And it doesn’t matter.”
WHAT A COOL LITTLE LIAR she was. It did matter. She might not want it to, but her body remembered every last second of their night together. Her stiff little nipples fighting against her standard-issue shirt proved that.
He sure as hell remembered every last second, in living, vivid, Technicolor detail. He also remembered waking up alone in a big, cold bed.
He had not been happy.
Chase had known she’d be here today. Her presence was the only bright spot in the events that had led up to his appointment to the squadron. Any pilot worth his salt