"Thanks, baby girl." He dropped a kiss on top of her head, a quiet stalwart man who somehow still left such a void of silence when he was away.
She blinked back tears she refused to let mar this homecoming and stepped aside. Rena returned to J.T.'s side, so much love humming between them, Nikki inched farther away to give them more space even in public.
Her mind winged back to her father's return nearly two years ago after being shot down and captured, how her heart had been in her throat waiting for Carson, too. By letting Carson into her bed, yes, she was entertaining ideas of forever. She couldn't ignore it. Some folks had a more casual approach to sex, and that was fine by her, but for her life, she simply wasn't wired that way.
She was well-equipped for military life, she understood it, she'd lived it. She knew all the jargon, headaches, heartaches—the joys, as well. Yes, she could handle this with her hands tied behind her back.
But did she want to spend the rest of her life waiting on a tarmac with tears in her eyes?
Carson hated waiting. And waiting to get Nikki alone this week had been hell.
Only a couple more hours until duty could be placed on the back burner for the night. First, he had to finish in-processing the returning squadron members—paperwork, customs, turn in medical records and equipment while the families passed time at an informal gathering inside the squadron briefing room.
Not much longer and things would wind down. He strode through the corridor from his office back toward the buzz of voices. A door swung wide from the public bathroom. He dodged, just as Nikki stepped out.
Thank you. A reward at the end of a killer week.
He stepped closer without touching. "Hey you."
She smiled back. "Hey you."
"I've been going crazy this week wanting to see you." He advanced again.
Nikki stayed put, her smile full but her eyes...sad? "I understand you're busy."
Did she want space? Jesus, he was thirty-five years old, way past college-type dating scenes. Honesty. If they didn't go with that, then they were screwed.
He cupped her elbow and ducked into his office, door still open but out of the mainstream of nosy folks. Clear for the moment, he allowed himself to move closer, near enough to exchange body heat as he flattened his hand on the wall behind her. "Just because I'm busy doesn't mean I'm not thinking about you."
Her smile filled her eyes now, too, breezily confident Nikki meeting him one for one. On a sexual level they were able to communicate openly. "And what did you think about when I crossed your mind?"
While they were being honest... "You usually crossed my mind naked."
"Totally?"
"Would it be piggish of me if you were only wearing heels?"
"Do-me pumps? Hmm... I may own a pair."
"Really?" He couldn't disguise his surprise. She'd never been much for heels, but then her barefoot appeal turned him inside out more than any other woman in stilettos ever could.
"No, I don't." Her grin went downright wicked. "But I will by this weekend."
He let his growl of appreciation rumble up and out as finally he got to be near her again. "How much longer until we can be alone?"
"What color?"
"Color?"
"Heels." Just below his neck, she toyed with the tab on his uniform zipper. "Since I'm shopping you can put in your order. Red or black? What's your pleasure?"
"You." He canted closer, a whisper away from her lips glistening with a gloss he would have to kiss off soon. He ducked his head close to her ear to whisper, "And I very much want to be your pleasure once we're out on the ocean, away from the rest of the world, no heels, no clothes, no outside worries. I wish it was summer so I could love you on the deck, out in the open, kissing every inch of your body while the sun does the same."
Her hot, panting breaths puffed over him. "Close the door. Now. Five minutes. Nobody'll miss us."
His brain fogged with possibilities of what they could accomplish in five minutes.
"Scorch?" a bass voice echoed down the hall.