Encounter with a Commanding Officer

‘And it’s also too close to the bedrooms. Do you really think you’d be able to relax? I felt it would help to get right away from here for a few hours, release the pressure valve and just get to know each other a little.’

Not entirely a lie.

‘Is that what you usually do? Get to know your one-night stands??

?

‘I’ve told you before, you shouldn’t go on reputation alone. Yes, I like to know a little about a woman I might choose to have sex with. And, even if I didn’t, I’d like to know a little about you.’

He let her digest that for a moment, wondering if it would frighten her off. He already knew enough to know that talking about herself was the last thing she enjoyed doing.

She sucked in a steadying breath, her words slow and thoughtful.

‘You’re talking about a meal and an evening out?’

‘Yes.’

‘Kind of like a date?’

‘Exactly like a date.’

‘Okay, then.’ Fliss offered him a weak smile just as the lift stopped and the doors pinged open.

Rucksacks in hand, they walked along the corridor together.

‘Fine, then how about I meet you in the lobby, say around nineteen-hundred hours?’

‘Nineteen-hundred hours.’ She nodded as she stopped at a bedroom door. ‘This is me.’

Obligingly, he set her kit down and as he stood outside her door he debated the wisdom of his decision to wait. It took a dignified effort to continue along the corridor.

A linen closet separated his room from hers.

Slipping his keycard out of his pocket, Ash deftly passed it through the lock, opening the door before he could change his mind. But in his peripheral vision he could see Fliss still stuck at her own door, stabbing the card into the reader. He watched it flash red a couple of times. Pushing his door open, he dropped his bergens inside and strode back down the corridor to take the keycard gently from her fingers.

‘Don’t be so rushed,’ he murmured, sliding it gracefully through the lock and seeing the green light. Like some kind of sign. ‘Take it slowly.’

‘Slowly,’ she echoed shakily. ‘Got it.’

They both knew they were talking about more than the lock.

‘You’re sure you’re not coming in?’ Tentatively, she raised one hand to touch his lapel with her palm.

He knew it was her attempt to avoid having to go to the carnival, but it still had an effect. He groaned. His self-control was barely intact as it was.

‘Fliss, I’m trying to do the gentlemanly thing here.’

‘I never asked for that,’ she whispered. ‘It wasn’t the gentle side of you which attracted me in the first place.’

‘You wouldn’t like the other side of me,’ he growled.

‘How do you know?’

They stood, unmoving and silent, until she snatched back her hand, yanked at the door handle and stumbled over the threshold.

‘Never mind. You’re right. I’m not exactly the kind of woman who elicits impulsive tendencies.’

He followed her in swiftly, catching her shoulders and spinning her back around as he drew her close.