“About time,” Blake muttered.
Axel and I both looked at him. “What?” I asked.
“It’s about time we have a little crazy good luck instead of all the crazy bad. And now I don’t have to try to fly the plane.”
Blake had a point. He had been our most experienced pilot—until we found Axel—but he’d only flown two-seaters. I was confident he could get us off the ground and headed in the right direction, but Axel could do much better than that.
I saw Axel looking around. “Is it just—”
“No.” I knew what he was thinking. “Everyone else is on the other side of the hangar.”
Relief flooded his face. “Thank God. Everyone’s okay?”
I shook my head. “No,” I mumbled. “Fraid not. We lost Keena and a few others we met at Cheyenne Mountain.”
“You made it to the bunker?” Axel was clearly torn between the loss of Keena and wanting to get up to speed with all that had happened.
“We did,” I confirmed.
“And you have Hayley?”
“We do.” Another confirmation.
“But Keena’s dead?”
“Basically. Baker and the Libyans have her.”
“Baker?”
Man, Axel you’ve missed a lot! “Yes,” I replied. I quickly explained what we’d seen with Commander Boli and Captain Baker.
Axel was stunned. “I knew I’d never met a bigger asshole in my life.”
None of us had.
The reunion with Axel was as joyous for Hayley as it had been for Blake and me. I introduced Axel to everyone else. He was particularly smitten by Ava, with good reason, but she only had eyes for me—something that was impossible for me to miss. Getting a good look at her up close—even too close for a bit—I was admittedly somewhat in awe. She was slim, muscular, and five foot nine or ten with a beautiful face, perfect ass, and the ideal amount of her 125 or so pounds in her perky softball-sized breasts—which I’d actually measured with my right hand a little earlier. At the moment, those breasts were straining against her gray T-shirt as she stretched—perfectly outlined. Wow…and then some. Tight tan khakis and black boots nicely wrapped up the ensemble with a long tail of brown hair pulled through the back of a black cap. One of the most beautiful women I’d ever met. I swallowed hard, took a deep breath, and looked away—locking eyes immediately with Hayley. Great. She’d seen me staring—or ogling. I broke away from Hayley’s glare and took another deep breath.
Ava had mentioned she’d been a general’s daughter for twenty-two years, so I was guessing she was only a few years older than that. Whatever the case, I couldn’t remember feeling about anyone like I was feeling right now about her. Hayley’s disapproval had done little to still my thoughts or calm my hormones. I couldn’t think about anything but her, and was finding it harder and harder not to look at her—something she clearly was enjoying. It took entirely too long for me to seriously think about Kate, and when I finally did, I was surprised to find I defended my current attraction with the idea I might not even make it back to Kate. I should have been embarrassed and considerably smarter, but—truthfully—I wasn’t thinking with the right part of my body.
Temptation is wicked—powerfully wicked. I was exhausted. I was lonely. I was full of excuses, but none of them should have obstructed me from the truth. Ava’s husband and father had just died—today—and I had a wife with a baby on the way back in Hawaii. I shouldn’t have needed convincing in any way—should have been able to walk away from Ava easily…redirect her to Axel or Blake—anyone but me—but I couldn’t. I should have been telling her about Kate—about my love for Kate—but I didn’t. Neither of us should have had any romantic thoughts of the other tonight, yet we both clearly were. I couldn’t explain it. When I suggested we take a brief two-hour nap before leaving at 2:00 a.m., she came over and lay a few feet from me. I caught Hayley’s hands-on-hips glare peripherally this time but ignored it.
“Your sister tells me you’re married and expecting a little one.”
I turned my head to look at her. I could smell her now. She smelled wonderful. “Did she now?” I asked. Of course she did. “Out of the blue?”
“Pretty much.” She laughed. “Are you excited?”
I don’t want to talk about Kate and the baby. I want to know more about you. “Sure.” I shrugged. “Of course I am.” Change the subject. “How long were you and John married?”
“Four years.”
I watched her face to see if my question had bothered her. I couldn’t tell.
“It was more a marriage of convenience. He worked for my dad. His dad was retired military…I don’t know. It was kind of arranged—that’s probably a terrible word for it. Maybe I should say there was a lot of pressure to get married. We definitely weren’t ready for it. We didn’t have much of a relationship.”
Clearly she doesn’t mind talking about it. “Ah,” I said.
“I mean, we were good friends, and I cared a great deal about him, but we hardly ever saw each other. He didn’t want kids. I did. Don’t know why we ever got married. Sorry.” She reached over and poked me. “I’m rambling now, aren’t I?”
“Huh?” I mumbled. “No, that’s fine.” Smooth. But so what? She and John are not you and Kate.
“This ground is so hard.” She sat up and glanced over at me.
“Yeah, a pillow would be great.”
“You can always use mine.” I watched her cup her breasts and felt my face flush. I swore I heard Hayley gag on something. I looked in her direction but couldn’t see her in the darkness.
Ava laughed again. “Totally kidding. Sorry, that was awful.”
“No shit.”
Definitely Hayley. “Thanks.” I glared in Hayley’s direction. “I’m good. But why don’t you come over here.” I motioned to her. “My shoulder is better than the ground.”
She scooted over next to me, and I slid my arm under and around her. She laid her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes. “Thanks.”
Now I couldn’t help but breathe her totally and completely in. Wow! If my heart was jogging before, it was sprinting now. Dumb move, Danny. I could feel her breasts squished against my chest, and I was certain she could hear—and probably even feel—my heart trying to break out. “Better?” I asked. What kind of stupid question is that?
“Much better.” She squeezed me tightly. “Thank you.”
Ava fell asleep, and I continued to hold her, and the longer I held her the guiltier I felt. I was not that guy. I was not my father. This was what I’d hated him for—for years. I felt like he betrayed Mom when he did basically the same thing to her that I was doing now. If no one else were here, how far would this have gone? That was the real question. I knew the answer—unfortunately. I was, in fact, that guy. I was no better than my father.
Loyal, well-intended people are only that until they’re not—it only takes one cheat to be a cheater. But knowing you’re making a mistake and stopping it are two entirely different things. I was failing right now and knew it. I could have—should have—stopped it but didn’t. I finally let my dad off the hook—so many years too late—but only because I now was on it. Today he was a better man than me. The guilt he always said he felt… I understood it. Today I finally—and completely—forgave him.
FORTY-NINE – The Surge