Because he liked her. He liked her more and more. Their connection felt so real. She was feisty. She was good company. And she was sexy as hell. The perfect woman in every way. So why wasn’t he telling the world they were dating? And why wasn’t she?
He frowned at the faces around him. ‘What on earth are you guys talking about?’
Glances were exchanged but no one spoke. Blake Anderson walked up behind him and gave him a slap on the back. ‘Come with me, Captain Flynn. We need to have a chat about your risk-taking behaviour.’
He was smiling but there was seriousness behind his eyes. The rest of the staff found their voices again.
‘You’re in trouble now.’
‘The plane leaves for Ohio in an hour.’
Avery had no idea what they were talking about. Risk-taking behaviour? Maybe in the past, but not recently. He followed Blake into his office and closed the door behind him.
‘Are you going to tell me what all this is about?’
Blake looked at him carefully. ‘No one has told you?’
‘Told me what?’ Avery looked over his shoulder. ‘Is there a camera in here? Is this some kind of game show?’
Blake pulled his phone from his pocket. ‘There isn’t a camera in here, but there sure was one where you were a few weeks ago.’ He touched the screen and turned the phone around. ‘You really haven’t seen this?’
Avery took the phone and tilted it to get a better view of the screen. It was like a movie. A film clip.
The view was high, as if taken from one of the street cameras. It was Hachiko Crossing at night, lit up by all the neon lights. One second the crossing was swarming with people, the next the camera zoomed in on a couple. A couple kissing in the middle of the crossing, just as it emptied and the lights were about to change.
Avery’s breath caught somewhere in his throat.
There was no mistaking the couple. There was no mistaking his fedora.
And there was no mistaking the heat of the kiss.
He looked up at Blake. ‘What on earth...?’
Blake still looked faintly amused. He folded his arms across his chest. ‘Look at the caption.’
Avery scrolled back above the video clip. The words were written in English and—he presumed—Japanese: Can you identify the mystery couple?
He shook his head. ‘But this was weeks ago. Who filmed it? I never saw anyone.’
He felt distinctly uncomfortable. Had Katsuko seen this? What would she say? Would she be happy or upset that people knew their relationship had developed? He played the clip again and tried to ignore the instant dryness in his throat. There was absolutely no mistaking his intentions with that kiss. He had one hand in her hair and the other firmly on her backside, pressing her against him.
Blake sighed. ‘Check out the comments.’
Avery glanced underneath the video and blinked. More than a thousand comments. Then he looked at the views. ‘What?’
Blake held up his hands. ‘It seems you’re a bit of a slow burner. It appears that one of the street camera operators caught sight of your liaison and decided to post it, asking if anyone knows the couple. It’s gone viral. People have been posting it all over. And if you scroll through the comments you’ll see that some people have identified exactly who you both are...’ he paused ‘...and which air force base you’re from.’
Avery groaned. ‘Oh, no.’
‘Oh, yes.’
‘I need to speak to Katsuko.’
‘I think someone else is speaking to her—at least that’s the impression I got when the General phoned me an hour ago.’
Avery cringed and closed his eyes for a second. ‘What did he say?’
‘You really want to know?’ From Blake’s tone it was apparent that, no, he really didn’t want to know. ‘Consider yourself spoken to about being a captain in the US Air Force and being caught on camera undertaking risky behaviour. You made it off that crossing with less than a second to spare.’
‘I was kind of caught up.’
Blake smiled. ‘I could see that.’
Something shot through Avery’s mind. ‘You only saw this an hour ago? How did everyone else see it?’
Blake shrugged. ‘Coincidences, I imagine. I’ve got to assume you haven’t been online this morning. I imagine you have a few messages waiting. Once you’d both been identified and tagged, the video clip circulated like wildfire among the staff.’
Avery groaned again. ‘Great, just great.’
Blake gave him a serious stare. ‘Avery, do me a favour, don’t get caught on camera in future—I can’t afford to be down one doctor.’ He pressed his lips together for a second. ‘And just so you know, she might be called firecracker but she’s not as confident as you think. She’s popular around here. Treat her badly and it won’t just be the General you need to worry about.’
* * *
Something was wrong. It was her day off but she could hear the front door opening. Seconds later there was a shout. ‘Katsuko?’
What on earth was Don doing home? He should be at work. She rubbed her eyes and climbed out of bed, walking slowly out into the corridor and standing at the top of the stairs. He didn’t look particularly happy.
‘I’m off today.’ She sighed. She’d never fall asleep again now. ‘What’s wrong?’
He gestured towards her. ‘I need to speak to you. Come downstairs.’
She frowned. ‘What? Can’t this wait until later?’
He shook his head. ‘No. It can’t.’
By the time she got down the stairs Don had flipped open his laptop and had a video clip showing. Now she was really confused. She’d thought he wanted to talk to her.
‘Watch’ was all he said.
Two minutes later she had her head on the table. Shock. Embarrassment. And definitely cringeing.
‘I think just about everyone on the base has seen this.’
‘They have?’ She didn’t even ask where it had come from. She could find that out later.
‘Y
ou were standing in the middle of the crossing. You barely made it off the street.’
She tried not to smile as memories of the kiss flooded through her.
‘How do you think it reflects on this air base—on me—if members of our medical staff are seen behaving in a way that could put people at risk? What happens if the next big thing is people mimicking what you did? How long do you think it will be before one of those couples ends up the ER?’
She sat back in the chair. She wasn’t normally a morning person and her patience was always short. Don was saying everything except what he really wanted to.
‘It was only a kiss.’
‘I’m not talking about the kiss.’
She stood up. ‘Yes. Yes, you are. I’m twenty-five. I could be living in another country somewhere by now. I probably should be. It might surprise you exactly how many kisses I’ve had.’
He held up his hand. ‘Too much information.’
She licked her lips and tried to let her befuddled brain make sense of things. ‘I get it that you’re not entirely happy about two members of base staff kissing in the middle of the busiest junction in the world. Believe me, it wasn’t pre-planned. At least, not by me. I also get it that you might ask their supervisors to speak to them. But this isn’t a big deal, Don. This isn’t something you get reprimanded over.’ She ran her fingers through her hair. ‘So, if you want to ask me something about Avery, ask me.’
He raised his eyebrows and remained silent. It was difficult not to try and immediately fill the silence. Don had always been extremely good at this. It was one of his ‘techniques’. He’d told her once he used it often—particularly when trying to get to the truth of an incident. People tended to panic and fill the silence with babble—babble that probably gave more away than they intended.
It might be first thing in the morning but Katsuko was far too smart for that. She raised her eyebrows back at him.
The corners of his mouth started to turn upwards. ‘What do you know about Avery Flynn?’
She stepped forward and gave him a knowing nod. ‘I guess that’s the question I should be asking you. At this point, I imagine, you know his file off by heart.’