Fay's Six

CHAPTER3

Fay twistedher long hair into a wet, messy bun on top of her head and stood in front of the coffee maker, willing it to percolate faster. Surprisingly, she’d slept like a log. Perhaps it had been because she’d had that third glass of tequila, which she shouldn’t have had considering the tasty adult beverage made her loose with her lips.

She rubbed her temples, not because she had a headache, but because she wanted to rub away the memory of mentally undressing Walker.

Just because she found the man attractive didn’t mean a damn thing.

She should only be interested in the skills he brought to the mission.

Not what she thought he might be able to do in the bedroom.

“Good morning,” he said with way too much enthusiasm. He strolled into the kitchen smelling of a forest. His hair was still damp from his shower. He wore a pair of jeans, a black T-shirt tucked in, and was barefoot.

Damn.

“Did you sleep well?” He reached past her and snagged a mug.

“Actually, I did. That bed is amazing.”

“Good to know.” He leaned against the counter. “I got up early and went through all the files again and there’s a question I can’t answer.”

“Why did the father move to Fool’s Gold when he has no ties to the small town and it’s a weird place to open an insurance office.”

“From a business standpoint, it’s a stupid decision. He should be in a city, or at least in a town four times the size of this one. He has to travel to get clients because he’s not getting many here.”

“But there’s a casino here and he can gamble and he does so all the time,” Fay said.

Walker nodded. “But he loses more than he wins.”

“Which means he’s not making the money he needs to pay the loan shark that keeps showing up.”

“We don’t know for a fact that he owes Craig any money.” Walker arched a brow. “But I thought maybe I’d take my girlfriend out tonight. Are you up for a little gambling?”

She laughed. “Believe it or not, I’ve never been to a casino, so this could be fun.” She lowered her chin and shook her head. “You and me having fun together. I think that’s an oxymoron if I ever heard one.”

“Stranger things have happened.” He squeezed her shoulder before lifting the old-fashioned coffee pot and pouring the bitter brew into both mugs. “Speaking of strange things, I got a voice message late last night from Lee informing me that he’s coming to Fool’s Gold this afternoon.”

“You must be excited to see your old buddy.” Fay took a hard swallow of the hot liquid. She might have struggled with Walker in the past, but it had been worse with Lee. Not because of the mission.

But because of the way he treated women in general.

She should be used to it as she’d had to fight to be respected by her male counterparts most of her career. While most treated her like an equal, there were many who didn’t want her in the field.

“I’d say I’m more conflicted.”

“Why?” That wasn’t the response she’d expected. Most SEAL teams were tighter than families. Sure, there was the occasional misfit that didn’t fit in, but they were usually quickly weeded out.

“It was my first time being team leader and we’d only been together for about a year. During that time, we hit a few speed bumps.”

“Are you saying you didn’t get along with Lee?”

Walker shook his head. “No. We got along fine. Mostly. I took issue with his problem with women in the military and women as leaders in general.”

“Did he know about your sister, Tammy?”

Both of his eyebrows shot up.

“I do my homework,” she said. “I knew about Tammy being killed in Operation Wingfoot before I executed Operation Nashville.”

“You never said anything.”

“You never gave me the chance to tell you that I’m sorry for your loss. She was an exemplary fighter pilot.”

“Yeah, she was and thank you for that,” Walker said with pride. “I don’t believe Lee knew about my sister.”

“Why?” Fay asked.

“Because I put him in his place at a bar one night after a few too many drinks. A couple female officers were there, and he had said some shit he shouldn’t have.”

“You hit him?” Fay tried not to smile, but it was impossible.

“Not at first. I first did a crazy thing and tried to reason with him by sharing with him my sister’s story. I thought I had gotten through to him because he stared at me like he was dumbfounded. He took a long sip of his beer. Tossed a twenty on the bar, and then said, I’m sorry. That sucks. But did you ever think she didn’t belong in the cockpit?”

“That’s fucked up.” Rage filled Fay’s heart. She’d heard it all as a woman going up the ranks in the CIA. It was never the masses, but it only took one asshole to tear someone down. One man in a position of power to keep her from either doing her job or getting a promotion. She always had to be better than her counterpart and it wasn’t fair.