Out of Uniform (Wingmen Warriors 14)

Dee’s shivered in response. “Not smart, huh?”

“Nope.” His hand shook as he hooked her hair behind her ear. A lone trailer of the Northern Lights shimmered across the sky. “I think you should go inside now.”

“Right. Of course.” She scrambled toward the tailgate.

“Dee?”

She glanced over her shoulder. Heaven help her if he called her back. “Yes?”

“Butter pecan ice cream. And Mako started out as Maaco, like the auto repair company, because I can fix any engine on any vehicle. Later the spelling tweaked to Mako, as in the shark, because it sounds cool.” He tipped back his head, eyes tipped toward the stars, conversation over.

His words settled into her memory along with his assertion that he knew her very well, regardless of time. She wanted…She didn’t know what.

A final look at Jacob confirmed he’d withdrawn from her. How remote he seemed, with those shadows muting the vibrancy of his beautiful eyes like the aurora lighting the sky then slipping away leaving the world feeling colder and darker than before.

In spite of all her intentions to be his friend while she pieced her life together, she’d done it again. She’d thrown herself at him. It didn’t matter that he’d made the first move tonight. She hadn’t thought to push him away for a long time.

Still wished she hadn’t pushed him away at all.

Dee scrambled out of the truck and raced as fast as she dared through the sludge back toward the warm safety and stark isolation of her hotel room.

Dee sank deeper into the soothing bubble bath, then jolted as she realized the water had cooled. How long had she been in here since tearing off her clothes to soak after the frustrating encounter with Jacob in his truck?

She swiped at the remaining few frothy patches of soap. She must have drifted off. Too bad she couldn’t wake up and find this whole time had been some freaky nightmare.

Except she wouldn’t want to wish away Jacob.

How many of her feelings for him were tied up in dependence? Or some sort of weird crush because he’d saved her? She wanted to think she was above such shallowness, but she didn’t really know that much about herself.

She did, however, know everything about Jacob so far spoke of honor and goodness. Her attraction to him was based on more than the way he filled out his blue jeans.

Laughing, she blew bubbles from the back of her hand. Laughter echoed in the small bathroom, bouncing off the tile and back around her until silence fell again.

Nothing but drip, drip, drip from the faucet.

An eerie sensation slid over her, chilling her faster than the cooling water. She tried to get a grip. Of course it was quiet. She was alone in her room, but she’d locked the door.

Had she put on the chain and the dead bolt?

She couldn’t remember. How could she have grown so complacent in such a short time? She shouldn’t count on others for her safety. No matter how much help Jacob and his friends offered, they had only known her a short while. How important could she really be to them so fast? She wanted to start relying on herself, to grow stronger to face whatever life she’d forgotten.

Carefully, she rose from the tub and reached for a towel to wrap around herself. Not much for armor, but she was only confronting ghostly fears, nothing real except her paranoia.

A bracing breath later, she twisted the doorknob and stepped into the room to—

Nobody. The motel room was empty but for the two neatly made-up beds and a chair with her hand-me-down blue robe on the armrest. She sagged back against the sink in the dressing area with relief.

Turning, she reached for her comb and blinked.

Streaks of bloodred lipstick glared back at her from the mirror. All capital letters. One word.

DEAD.

Jacob tipped back the chair behind the check-in desk and thought about his dead father, really thought about the old man for the first time. He’d done a good job of ignoring the man’s presence stamped all over the place, but then Dee had asked about the “Mako” call sign, which led to thoughts of learning everything he could about engines in hopes of earning his father’s approval.

Clyde Stone was gone. Really gone. For so many years, Jacob had worked to gain his dad’s attention, then worked harder to ignore the selfish bastard’s existence.

Now he was dead and Jacob couldn’t stop thinking about him. Because of Dee. Because he realized having a past, even a crummy one, was better than none at all.