Heart of Danger (Special Ops) Read online

  Okay, well since he put it that way she could stand to do a little shopping. She shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She walked toward the kitchen. She needed to try to get something down this morning. Pills and an empty stomach was not the best combination to kick the morning off with.

  Alex waited until Natalia cleared the room before speaking. “So how did night duty go, Micah? Did you have fun with the very drunk Natalia?”

  “Not the kind of man I am and you know it. She passed out on the way home.”

  Alex shook his head. “She really can’t handle a stitch of alcohol man. I’m glad we were there. I’m glad Charlie told us because that could have ended so much worse.”

  “Yeah, it could have. I don’t know what she was thinking.”

  “I can guess,” Alex shrugged. He knew exactly what Natalia was thinking. She was hurt. He had invited her to go with them last night because he could tell she was in love with Micah. The others were oblivious because they looked at her as a girl they needed to protect. Alex had long ago come to see her as a woman, and when Micah went missing and they thought he might be dead, he realized then where her heart was even if nobody else did. He hadn’t realized Jocelyn was going to show up, and he surely didn’t know Micah was going to invite her along or he wouldn’t have made such a big deal about incorporating Natalia into their Friday night hangouts. “She’s one of us,” he had told Preston.

  “She works for us.” Which was code for, she’s not one of us she just works for us, but Alex had a plan to change things. Natalia was always on the outside looking in and it shouldn’t have had to be that way.

  “Eight years you guys, just show her a little love.” He had kept his tone light to keep the desperation out of it. He understood that lack of connection, that lack of home. Before he joined the military he was in her position—kind of anyway. His parents didn’t care about him. They idolized his older brother, the hometown football hero turned professional athlete. He was in with the Cowboys now and they seemed to love him more for that trade. But Alex, hell he couldn’t do anything right according to his parents. He was the scrawny one on some level because he was always shorter, skinner, until he hit the military where he seemed to not only hit a growth spurt, but that basic training built some muscles too. He was still only five ten, but he had a runner’s body. His muscles were obvious, yet he didn’t look like a bodybuilder.

  His parents didn’t seem to care about his good health and good shape either. “Your brother is like a god,” his mother had said while they were discussing the golden boys new sports drink endorsement contract. “Too bad you didn’t have what it took to be a footballer.” His father had added.

  He wasn’t a sports man. Sure, he could watch it if he were hanging out with the guys, but if he had a choice between a PBS special on space exploration or watching the game he would pick the PBS special. He loved science and math. He was good at both, but his parents never cared about his straight A average, or his valedictorian graduation status. They cared more about Kevin’s sports than the report card full of C grades that he brought home. Even when Alex joined the military, went off to war and came home alive, they didn’t seem to care because Kevin had just inked some endorsement deal. Alex had received a purple heart and all they could see was the superficial dollar sign hanging over Kevin’s head.

  When he went to work for Micah and the guys he found a home, some place where he belonged. But before that he had been on the outside for a long time and maybe that’s why he could recognize Natalia’s position when nobody else could. It was lonely out there; lonely and cold, and he didn’t want that for her. It was time to make her a part of their family, not just one of their employees.

  “I sure as hell hope nobody slips her any alcohol while she’s Down Under. We’re not going to be there to take care of her,” Micah angrily pulled on his boots.

  “She doesn’t need us to take care of her, Micah. She’s a grown woman. She’ll be fine,” Alex needed to keep planting the seed here because Micah was clearly ignoring the obvious. Natalia was not a little kid who needed hand holding. She was a woman who needed some lovin’—some of Micah’s lovin’ that is.

  “Like last night?” He growled.

  “Damn man, you’re dumb as a post sometimes.” He was going to educate Micah on some things but Natalia came back in with her wrapped bagel and a mug full of her morning apple juice. Maybe that was a good thing because he really didn’t have a right to out her affections to Micah or the rest of the team for that matter. But he did feel a need to help. It had been eight years and neither one had made a move. Natalia hadn’t made a move because she was afraid of what Micah would say or do. He was sure of that because she was so shy that it took nearly a year for her to let out her first laugh in the office, at least that’s what Jet had told him. They had been shocked the moment she did laugh. She had been sitting at her desk when Preston had come in griping about something. She found something he had said funny and she laughed before she quickly caught herself, returned her attention to her computer screen and went right back to work. Her laughter had settled Preston down. After that getting her to open up was slow going, but nobody could really tell that now. She was still quiet and reserved, extremely shy, but around the guys, individually, she found her comfort zones.

  Alex was her most comfortable friend in the office. He hadn’t been with the team from day one like she had, but she had made him feel welcome when he came on board. He always got the warmest smile. Preston got her respect, but Alex wouldn’t say that Natalia would never take Preston out for coffee and a conversation. With Jet she was a little more relaxed, and with Micah…well, that’s where most of her tension was. She was friendly, but professional and she always seemed as if she were walking on eggshells around him. Alex understood why now. She was falling in love with him and she didn’t know what to do about it.

  Micah on the other hand, was just dumb. Not book-wise, the man was a genius there. He had graduated with his doctoral degree while serving in the Air Force. He had graduated summa cum laude with nothing less than an A plus in every class. But when it came to recognizing this woman’s desire for him, the man was dumb. Maybe they all were. She had hid it so well for so long, but now that Alex knew he was determined to help the two of them make a connection. Jocelyn wasn’t right for Micah, but Natalia was. When she returned home from Australia he was going to make sure he got those two together even if he had to accidently on purpose lock them in a cellar somewhere. Wine country, now there was an idea. Maybe he could covertly arrange something there. He could arrange things to make it look as if their office won a free trip for two. He could give one ticket to Natalia. With her best friend being gone he could easily make a reason for not giving her both tickets. He could casually mention sampling the wine. Micah would remember last night real quickly and would probably be the first to suggest somebody go, and Alex would be sure to suggest that somebody be him. He had a plan, and as soon as she returned home he was going to implement that plan.

  Chapter Three

  Thanks to Micah this was the first flight Natalia and Kelly hadn’t actually had to run for. Natalia alone was always early, at the latest she would be right on time, but she was never late. Kelly was her polar opposite. The woman wouldn’t know the meaning of on-time if somebody ripped the page out of the dictionary for her.

  They made it to Australia and she sent Alex a quick email to let him know she was there safely. He had insisted she check-in daily with him to let him know she was okay. Typical Alex behavior, she had thought. While all the guys were protective of her, he was the only one who had insisted she stay in contact daily.

  She was staying at Kelly’s new place and assisting with the unpacking and fortunately her place was already set up for wireless service so sending emails daily would be easy. “I can’t believe you’ve left me, girl.” Natalia felt as if she were losing her best friend, the only person who really understood her.

  “Oh come on, I’m just a plane ride awa
y,” Kelly laughed.

  “You’re like seventeen hours away in time zones. I can’t call you. I can’t just get in the car and come over.”

  “You can always email me,” she held a picture of the two of them when they were kids up to her face and plastered on her big “cheese” smile that she used to give when she was little. Back then, Kelly was missing her two front teeth so that smile turned out more hilarious than cute. They were crazy kids, they really were. Between the two of them they were always getting into some trouble. Or more like Kelly was always getting her into some trouble. From the frog Kelly coerced her into putting inside her brother’s pillow case so that he would get the fright of his life the moment he got into bed that night, to the time when they decided to paint her mom’s kitchen walls with nail polish. No sleepover went without incident, but thankfully their parents never tried to keep them apart.

  “Your mom always said you would be a total angel if it wasn’t for me, Nat. She was right too,” she laughed as she flipped her lusciously curly raven hair over her shoulder. Kelly was as porcelain as they came, but her skin was so creamy it was beautiful.

  “Just stay out of the sun while you’re down here,” Natalia shoved a bottle of sun block over to Kelly.

  “I know right; why do I always have to be the one to burn? My brother has that perfect to tan skin and I’m like a walking china doll.”

  “You’re beautiful.”

  “I want your skin and your color,” she quipped.

  “I’ve always wanted your hair. Without a relaxer I’d be Don King on crack,” she laughed. “I guess we all think we want what we can’t have. But at the end of the day maybe eventually we’ll realize we’re beautiful just the way we are. Even if nobody else does,” she mumbled those last words.

  “Still in love with the walking sex god huh?”

  “How do I let go of him, Kel? How do I move on? He’s never going to notice me as a woman. He’s never going to want me.”

  “You never know.” She tried to be positive as she always was, but Natalia couldn’t agree with her friend’s words. She did know; he would never love her.

  “He’s with the package,” she waved her hand in the air dismissingly. “And she’s perfect. Rich, tall, great hair, perfect teeth and the perfect body. They’ll get married and make perfect babies.”

  “You stop that right now! You are to die for and if that man can’t see it then he’s a blind ass fool.”

  Natalia laughed. “I hope you meant ass of the biblical persuasion otherwise you’re breaking your time to stop cursing rule.”

  Kelly laughed. “Who are we kidding? We both know I have a potty mouth and it’s not going anywhere sweetheart.”

  Natalia nodded. That potty mouth had gotten Kelly in trouble quite often when they were younger. Ironically she had picked every word up from her mother who insisted that ladies did not use that kind of language but still used it herself whenever she got frustrated or angry about something.

  “Is your mom okay with you living here?”

  “She told me to go,” she laughed. “Honestly I think she doesn’t care so much. She wanted a boy, not a girl. They had Hank for five years before I came along and they were really hoping for another son.”

  “Your mom loves you.”

  “Oh, no doubt, but she would have preferred it if I had been a boy. It’s why she let me swing from trees and play with frogs.”

  “Hmmm…she freaked out when she caught us kissing.”

  “Yeah, then it became less about me being a boy and more about me not being gay,” she fell on her back laughing. “I told her I was just teaching you how to get it right next time. When N’kosi broke up with you because you weren’t a good kisser I could tell that hurt you.”

  “I wasn’t a good kisser because even in eighth grade I wasn’t allowed to date and I knew I was doing something wrong by having a “walk me to class” boyfriend.” She laughed.

  “Mom goes, how do you know about kissing young lady?”

  “And you told her it was because you had kissed every boy in the eighth grade at least twice.”

  They laughed so hard Natalia felt her sides aching as she gasped for breath.

  “You were the first and only girl I kissed though. You weren’t that bad, squirt.”

  “Watch who you’re calling squirt, bean pole.” She tossed back out the childhood nicknames that had them kicking butt if anybody else called them that. Kelly was the same age as she was, but she was like her protector, her confidant, the sister she never had and the only woman she would trust to watch her back in battle. Heck, Kelly wouldn’t be watching her back she would be on the front line kicking butt.

  “I love you, Kelly. I’m going to miss having you near home.”

  “I love you too, hun. I wish you could stay here with me.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Because you’re in love,” she nodded. “If it weren’t for Micah you would have moved here with me and you know it.”

  Natalia couldn’t deny that. If it weren’t for Micah she would have left Austin eight years ago. “Maybe I should do it,” she placed her hands on her hips and titled her head to push her nose up higher.

  “Oh please, you are not moving in with me so you can pout day in and day out because you’re missing your love interest.”

  “I would not pout.”

  “You’re already pouting,” she pushed another box over for Natalia to start unpacking. “You were pouting on the plane that’s why you didn’t notice the hunky air marshal checking you out.”

  “First of all, that man was not checking me out. Secondly, how did you know he was the air marshal?”

  “Because when I went to the bathroom he asked me about you and I chatted him up for a few minutes. He let it slip…trying to toss out some impressive credentials I guess.”

  “What did you tell him; that I was madly in love with my boss and could not be swayed?”

  “No,” she handed her another picture frame to put with the pile of art that still needed to be hung on the wall. “I told him you were my lover and I’d appreciate it if he wouldn’t try to get in your pants.”

  “Wh—what?”

  She laughed hysterically. “I’m just joshing with you. I told him you were in Australia for the week, but you’d be back in Austin after that. I gave him your name and since he lives in Round Rock he said he’s going to look you up. Yeah baby,” she purred on a high squealed yelp as she wiggled her eyebrows.

  “How I survived being your friend for this long is a mystery to me. I’m surprised you haven’t landed me in jail already.”

  “Ooh, now there is a plan. Let’s go get arrested.”

  “You’re nuts! You are certifiably nuts. But I still love you,” she put another picture in the pile. “You have too many photos and not enough walls. We’ll have to get creative here.”

  “Let’s ditch unpacking. You’re here and we should have some fun. Let’s take a tour.”

  “I’m here to help you get settled. I can come back next year to play.”

  “No, let’s do it. I even picked up this pamphlet at the airport. Come on Natty Pattaty; come play with me.”

  Natalia laughed at Kelly’s obsessive use of their childhood play names. They really were kindred spirits. They were different as summer and winter, but they were still like magic together. She remembered the first time Kelly had called her Natty Pattaty; the same words had followed but they had an entirely different meaning because they were in the same youth orchestra ensemble and Kelly needed a duet partner. That one moment in her past had changed everything.

  “You’re my bestest friend in the whole-wide world,” Kelly cooed in her innocent child-like voice.

  “Okay, let’s play; but book it for a couple days out so we can get some unpacking done.”

  “Will do…so long as we get to go shopping tomorrow. You are my guiding light, my north star, my beacon of hope when it comes to fashion.”

  Natalia sighed. “Don’t dra
matize it, silly.”

  “Seriously, without you I would be lost. I’d just throw on some jeans, a worn t-shirt and my sneeks, you know. I want to enter that music school with style. My students will not say bad things about me.”

  “Of course they will, because that’s what students do when you assign Dvor’ak and Tchaikovsky simultaneously and expect them to have it perfect before they leave the class for the day.”

  Kelly giggled. “Oh please, you would be hard on students too…wish you hadn’t quit playing viola, squirt. We could be doing this together.”

  “You were floors above me in talent, Kella Manella,” she winked at her. “You deserve to be here; I don’t. And you know why I stopped playing.”

  “I do, but that wasn’t your fault and you know that right?” She placed her hand on Natalia’s thigh. She was always the voice of reason, but that didn’t stop the pain Natalia felt in her heart every time she thought of what she had lost.