Because she needed space, right? He didn't want to scare her off. Okay. Logical. So why not say it now when she'd opened the door wide?
The answer nailed him nose-on like a missile hit. Their marriage rocked him as much as it did her.
He hadn't held back the words for her. He was doing it for himself. He'd denied any deep-waters crap because he was scared as shit of risking a repeat of losing someone he loved.
Damn it all. He did not need these kinds of thoughts seconds before flying into combat. Thank God none of the other crew members could peek in his head or they'd be booting his butt off the truck onto the tarmac.
Plane drawing nearer, he worked to get his head on straight. All right. So he loved her. Really loved her.
The hell of it was, acknowledging the emotion didn't make him feel one bit better. But it sure made the prospect of flying into combat a lot less daunting in comparison.
"You gonna eat that?"
Monica stared across the chow hall table at Crusty already scooping up her chocolate-chip cookie. "Not anymore."
Not at all, actually, since her stomach was turning flips, but Captain Junk Food didn't need to know or he'd clean her out of even the things she might be able to choke down tonight.
"Thanks," he said as he jammed the whole cookie into his mouth.
Sitting beside him, Max Keagan ate silently, moving his cookie to the far side of the tray away from Crusty while the rest of the medivac crew and medical staffers took their seats in the nearly deserted mess hall. Quiet that should have been peaceful only served as an echoing reminder of crews and Rangers in the air. Monica shoved her tray aside.
Across the room, a lone figure peeled away from the food line with her meal. Yasmine stood solitary, holding her tray with her guard three steps behind her.
Did she have to look so damned pathetic searching for which of the hundred empty seats she would select? >"All I want is to get out of this country. You can listen to what I have to say or not. Your choice, Mr. Keagan."
"What about the hostages in the compound?''
"Who?" Her fingers stilled on the silk. "Which ones? Ammar is always holding somebody. Snatching people for bargaining influence. You seem to think I am making an easy choice in telling you because you can offer me military protection. But you do not seem to realize how far his reach extends. I risk much more by talking than by staying silent."
Finally, Drew let himself ask, "Then why do it?"
She met his gaze directly for the first time since she'd sprawled na*ed on top of his chest. "Because I want people to look in my eyes and see honor."
Damn but she fought dirty. All the more reason to keep his guard up around her now more than ever. She knew him, had used her time wisely to find the chinks in his armor.
A knock sounded. Snipped the tension between them.
Baker swung the door wide to Monica Hyatt standing tall and pissed, Jack Korba scowling just behind her. Both wore rumpled flight suits and barely combed hair.
Apparently, Yasmine had wrecked everyone's sleep.
Keagan closed the door behind them. "Seems we have a situation here."
Hyatt's eyes stayed locked on her sister. "So Rodeo informed us."
"Do you have anything to add, anything that might vouch for her character so we can all breathe easier today?"
That sure snapped Hyatt's attention off her sister. "You're joking, right?"
The OSI officer nodded to Jack and stepped toward a far corner of the room. "How about taking a look at the compound map."
The question of the hour. Was Yasmine's input about the layout genuine? Or a trap. Baker, Keagan and Korba huddled in a corner while Drew did his damnedest to stare at the file in front of him instead of looking at Yasmine and her rose scarf. Because then he wouldn't have to see that slight quiver on a mouth that used to smile at him.
She damned well had reason to be scared.
Hyatt walked with calm deliberate steps toward her sister, stopping. "You little bitch," she said low.
Drew kept his head down. He had to give Yasmine credit, she didn't blink, kept her regal calm and took what her sister doled out.