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His shirt went up and off, revealing bronzed man and the cut of shoulder blades She shook with the need to stand, wrap her arainst his bare back What she wouldn’t give to soak up the warainst hers To inhale the spicy musk of sweat and Jack

His thumbs hooked on his boxers

She bolted to her feet and spun away Pale, she stared at the canvas of

heavy blue curtains blocking earlythe part in the coarse fabric Then to twenty while evening out the cord pulls

He always did this to her, da as she expected Like with the rescue mission Part of her wanted to kiss every inch of his beard-stubbled face in gratitude, while the rest of her wanted to scream in frustration because he hadn’t told her

Fears for her sister quivered through her, threatened to spill free, but she contained theht She’d looked for comfort in Jack’s ar chapel, for God’s sake

How hu in comparison to the burn of betrayal He’d kno she’d felt about waiting to be sure before co She’d shared her deepest fears with this uard down

Not again

Bracing herself for the i a tanned back and taut flanktoward the bathroom

Gulp

"Jack, will you please be reasonable" And could her voice please, please not crack next ti a shower" Muscles flexed and rippled as he continued walking away "And in case you ondering, you’re not invited"

"I wasn’t--" The bathroo"

Damn, that man chapped her hide

She stood alone, cinder block walls closing in like a cell A cell with Froot Loops She scooped the box off the floor and folded down the bag inside before replacing it on top of the e The shower started, louder, shooshed a different tune with the intrusion of a body

Options?

Wait Leave Go after hiround in the first place So what if he stripped bare-ass naed in front of her? She’d seen hiht suit slung over the back of the chair With one finger she traced the patch on his sleeve still war Anywhere Anytier-than-life ed his boots straight, correcting their haphazard landing on the carpet She should have blocked the path into the bathrooht to battle it out all vulnerable in the nude

Except she’d wager Jack Korba had never been vulnerable for one second of his sloalking life Her hand fell away from his uniform Even at tied to laugh it off Nothing rattled hi her

And that hurt Which chapped her hide even ht suit If he wanted to play the bravado game, then fine Her boots weren’t all that steady under her, but her resolve was strong enough to co the bathroom door wasn’t locked, Monica strode across the rooah!

She twisted Turned The door gave way So did a sigh Up and out her lass doorsas Jack worked soap across his chest He whittled away her resistance on a good day and today her defenses ranked low Herto the roof of hersloith an awareness that she’d joined hi The dinky cubicle crackled with the knowledge that a few short o she would have held his washcloth Hell, her body would have been his washcloth as she rubbed herself against him to work up a lather and more

Monica closed the toilet lid and plopped her hormone-riddled self down on the John before she fell on her face Or on him "Just so you’re clear, I’m not here about the divorce" Man, that last word bit on the way out "I know about yourthis conversation even if you stay in there until you’re a prune The best you did with your shower stunt was buy yourself ten extra minutes, tops"

"I’m sorry I didn’t know my bathroom was cleared for classified discussions"

Always quick with a coh slipped, exasperated this tihs around Jack

She shifted, fidgeted, stared at herself in the mirror as if her reflection above Jack’s twisted tube of toothpaste ht offer aid She couldn’t afford toup Still, it hurt that he could be so un her when she had a luauze roll

Her reflection blinked back at her She frowned Cocked her head to the sidesoht about the mirror She reached Touched Found

No steam

A smile creased her oh-so-clear reflection He’d been in the shower for at least five -free Well, hell He wasn’t unaffected by her after all

Jack was taking a cold shower

The Rubistanian desert was cold at night, and Yas outside the temporary military installation, she wrapped an ar te robes that had been ht be ure, but it definitely did not help fight a chilly breeze against the back

Cooking rated low on her list of preferences, as well, but hacking up a beheaded goat carcass proved a s herself alive

Stars, sand and rock stretched for miles with a reminder she could not survive on her own Yasainst the block, swiping entrails into a bin on the ground, then the re up theinto the converted airport soon to be overfloith American soldiers

A small team had already arrived, military personnel sent in as--what did they call it?--an advance ele facilities Set up security All of which offered her tiirl hired as aher into contact with the Aet

Her arht slanting through an open door The weight corit in her sandals to rub blisters and irritation She did not doubt her ability to pick wisely She had spent the first seventeen years of her life covered in public, often having to gauge other females as friend or foe by only their eyes

The cultural custoht have loosened, but even six years later, her skills stayed honed Good and evil scripted across the eyes if only a person looked Not