it. He hadn’t held hands with a girl since high school. Somehow, though, this felt right. Sort of old fashioned and good. Pure.
Unlike the steamy sexual thoughts he’d been having about Emily since last night. Better to tamp those down so he could function today. At least a little.
Being with Emily was proving harder on his self-restraint than he would have believed just two short days ago. She was a dynamo in a size petite captain’s uniform and more competent in the cockpit than he’d have credited. Boy, had he been wrong about her. From the get-go, he’d had the wrong impression, gleaned from the thin personnel file and lousy photo he’d been given as background information before he went undercover.
She was nothing like the serious, harassed looking woman in the photo. There was something almost vulnerable about her at times that appealed to his protective instincts. At other times, she was fierce. A good partner to have at your back in battle. He’d never thought of any other woman in those terms. Not even the women warriors on his new team. Sure, he respected them all, but he didn’t know them half as well as he thought he knew Emily after only a short acquaintance.
Of course, he’d never kissed any of them. Or had naughty dreams about them. No, that was just Emily. A woman who was working her way under his skin without even trying.
They walked toward the downtown area where the market was located. Emily stopped short of the busy market area and ducked into a small bistro.
Emily surprised him with her choice of restaurants. It had a fun ambience and eclectic menu. Lots of health food dressed up in appetizing ways. If she thought he’d be put off by the choices, she was sadly mistaken. He ordered fresh cinnamon wheat toast and a big portion of something called rice and raisins.
It was served hot and was basically a bowl full of seven or eight different kinds of rice that were mostly of the brown and long grain varieties, dotted with plump raisins. The waitress brought a bunch of fussy little dishes along with it, including a small carafe of milk and his choice of brown sugar, molasses, honey, or maple syrup and with a few different choices of chopped nuts and other things he could use to dress up the rice. He went to town, much to Emily’s amusement, decking out his bowl of steaming rice and raisins with a little bit of everything.
“Nothing fazes you, does it?” She shook her head as he dug into his bowl of unconventional breakfast.
“Not much. I’ve eaten worse in the service, Em. If you want to stump me you’ll have to try harder than this.” He winked at her and they shared a grin as she buttered her whole wheat toast.
“Duly noted.”
She nibbled daintily on the toast while he chowed down on the unexpectedly good concoction in his bowl. He’d have to remember this and try it sometime when he got back to base. He liked experimenting with different foods though he wasn’t much of a chef.
“So what was your rank in the Army?” she asked out of the blue.
“Lieutenant. Wasn’t that in my file?” He wondered if she’d read his file. Was she testing him or fishing for information?
“I only glanced at your file before they put it in the drawer. Officially, Buddy hired you. He’s the one who read through all the statistics and reports. We do background checks on all our flight crew. You can’t be too careful these days with all the smuggling and illegal goings on.”
“Have you had problems with that kind of thing before?”
“No. Nothing like that. But I like to think our careful hiring practices are the reason we’ve been problem-free to this point.”
“You did have a couple of fatal crashes in recent months, though. See, I researched you guys before I accepted the position.” He tipped his imaginary hat to her belying the seriousness of his words. Hopefully if he kept everything in a friendly tone she’d continue to be open with him.
A frown wrinkled her brow. “Yeah,
Unlike the steamy sexual thoughts he’d been having about Emily since last night. Better to tamp those down so he could function today. At least a little.
Being with Emily was proving harder on his self-restraint than he would have believed just two short days ago. She was a dynamo in a size petite captain’s uniform and more competent in the cockpit than he’d have credited. Boy, had he been wrong about her. From the get-go, he’d had the wrong impression, gleaned from the thin personnel file and lousy photo he’d been given as background information before he went undercover.
She was nothing like the serious, harassed looking woman in the photo. There was something almost vulnerable about her at times that appealed to his protective instincts. At other times, she was fierce. A good partner to have at your back in battle. He’d never thought of any other woman in those terms. Not even the women warriors on his new team. Sure, he respected them all, but he didn’t know them half as well as he thought he knew Emily after only a short acquaintance.
Of course, he’d never kissed any of them. Or had naughty dreams about them. No, that was just Emily. A woman who was working her way under his skin without even trying.
They walked toward the downtown area where the market was located. Emily stopped short of the busy market area and ducked into a small bistro.
Emily surprised him with her choice of restaurants. It had a fun ambience and eclectic menu. Lots of health food dressed up in appetizing ways. If she thought he’d be put off by the choices, she was sadly mistaken. He ordered fresh cinnamon wheat toast and a big portion of something called rice and raisins.
It was served hot and was basically a bowl full of seven or eight different kinds of rice that were mostly of the brown and long grain varieties, dotted with plump raisins. The waitress brought a bunch of fussy little dishes along with it, including a small carafe of milk and his choice of brown sugar, molasses, honey, or maple syrup and with a few different choices of chopped nuts and other things he could use to dress up the rice. He went to town, much to Emily’s amusement, decking out his bowl of steaming rice and raisins with a little bit of everything.
“Nothing fazes you, does it?” She shook her head as he dug into his bowl of unconventional breakfast.
“Not much. I’ve eaten worse in the service, Em. If you want to stump me you’ll have to try harder than this.” He winked at her and they shared a grin as she buttered her whole wheat toast.
“Duly noted.”
She nibbled daintily on the toast while he chowed down on the unexpectedly good concoction in his bowl. He’d have to remember this and try it sometime when he got back to base. He liked experimenting with different foods though he wasn’t much of a chef.
“So what was your rank in the Army?” she asked out of the blue.
“Lieutenant. Wasn’t that in my file?” He wondered if she’d read his file. Was she testing him or fishing for information?
“I only glanced at your file before they put it in the drawer. Officially, Buddy hired you. He’s the one who read through all the statistics and reports. We do background checks on all our flight crew. You can’t be too careful these days with all the smuggling and illegal goings on.”
“Have you had problems with that kind of thing before?”
“No. Nothing like that. But I like to think our careful hiring practices are the reason we’ve been problem-free to this point.”
“You did have a couple of fatal crashes in recent months, though. See, I researched you guys before I accepted the position.” He tipped his imaginary hat to her belying the seriousness of his words. Hopefully if he kept everything in a friendly tone she’d continue to be open with him.
A frown wrinkled her brow. “Yeah,
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