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Navy Orders
Geri Krotow
After a romantic betrayal, naval Lieutenant Commander Roanna Brandywine doesn’t trust anyone the way she used to.When a chance encounter brings Chief Warrant Officer Miles Mikowski into her life, she’s intrigued. But Ro has spent so long focusing on her career, she resists the attraction. Miles has had his own share of trauma, but it’s taught him that life is short and he has to go after what’s important to him.Then, unexpectedly, they’re ordered to investigate a sailor’s suicide. They must rely on each other as they discover that his death is not as straightforward as it seems. During their investigation, they acknowledge the chemistry between them, but the real question is whether there’s trust…and maybe even love.
Falling in love is not an order
After a romantic betrayal, naval lieutenant commander Roanna Brandywine doesn’t trust anyone the way she used to. When a chance encounter brings chief warrant officer Miles Mikowski into her life, she’s intrigued. But Ro has spent so long focusing on her career, she resists the attraction.
Miles has had his own share of trauma, but it’s taught him that life is short and he has to go after what’s important to him. Then, unexpectedly, they’re ordered to investigate a sailor’s suicide. They must rely on each other as they discover that his death is not as straightforward as it seems. During their investigation, they acknowledge the chemistry between them, but the real question is whether there’s trust…and maybe even love.
Light-headedness wasn’t familiar to Ro…
But sitting next to Miles Mikowski made her feel as though the air had been sucked out of the truck’s cab. The leather interior of the huge vehicle was roomy even by American standards. Except with Miles in the driver’s seat. His long, lean yet muscular physique filled every inch of the driver’s side. He had to be at least six-four. Whenever she stood near him, which wasn’t often, he towered over her.
“You didn’t ask in so many words, but being out on this bridge in these winds is begging for help, Roanna. Then to see you stopped at the high point like that…” He slapped his hand on the dashboard.
Guilt licked up her stomach, and nausea threatened to overtake her anger. She’d really frightened him. Miles, the man who’d already been through hell and back in the war.
“I know you like to run in the mornings, Ro, but maybe you should check the weather report before you run on the bridge in near gale-force winds.”
His frequent use of her given name instead of her rank irked her. They were both officers, so of course it was okay to address each other by first name. Miles always called her “Lieutenant Commander Brandywine” in public. Privately he’d used her name—when he’d asked her out. And she’d refused.
It’s not that he uses your first name. It’s how he says it.
Dear Reader,
Navy Orders is only the second book in the Whidbey Island series and yet I feel I’ve lived with the characters forever! I hope they’ve become a positive part of your life, too. The romance between Miles and Ro in this story grew much hotter than I’d ever expected, and it was delightful to write about their journey.
Miles is a wounded warrior and exemplifies how veterans give back for all of us on a daily basis. Because of this, I wanted to give back in my own way and decided to come up with a great cause to support. Right around the time I started pondering this, I came across Delaware Head Huggers (www.delawareheadhuggers.org) (http://www.delawareheadhuggers.org) on Facebook. I’d been looking for a chemo cap pattern to knit for a friend. Robin Agar, who runs DEHH with her beloved dog Schnapps (rumor has it that Schnapps knits, too!), generously donated a hat knitting pattern that you’ll find at the end of the book. Please support Delaware Head Huggers by knitting a cap and mailing it to them. If you don’t knit, Robin accepts other hats and monetary donations, as well. As of this writing, Robin is nearing the 9,000 mark for donated caps! Cancer affects too many of us, young, old and in between. While we fight for a cure, let’s make those who are in the fight feel a little love with a hand-knit (or crocheted) cap.
Thanks as always for your support of my writing. I hope you enjoy spending time with Miles and Ro as much as I have. I’d love to hear from you via my Facebook page, website (www.gerikrotow.com (http://www.gerikrotow.com)) or Twitter.
Peace,
Geri Krotow
Navy Orders
Geri Krotow
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Former naval intelligence officer and U.S. Naval Academy graduate Geri Krotow draws inspiration from the global situations she’s experienced. Geri loves to hear from her readers. You can email her via her website and blog at www.gerikrotow.com (http://www.gerikrotow.com).
Just like wounded warriors, stepmoms and moms-in-law are not recognized or thanked enough. For this reason I dedicate this book with all my love and gratitude to two great ladies in my life, Grom and Sally.
Contents
Chapter One (#u428b1f8a-1c85-5d47-af73-8d9c56e4778d)
Chapter Two (#u10e335d5-722a-54e4-b0ce-2d40479317c9)
Chapter Three (#u313603af-dce3-5f26-a19c-fe985d9aa7c7)
Chapter Four (#u1eaf061a-519c-517f-a848-5794486f5ea8)
Chapter Five (#u30a0ae9d-e58b-50ca-a08a-b85bb7b1b86e)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-One (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Two (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Three (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Navy Hug Hat (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE
CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER Miles Mikowski was in no mood to save a life this morning. He’d driven across Deception Pass Bridge onto Whidbey Island countless times, and while it was common to see walkers or runners working their way across the pass, nearly gale-force winds usually kept the bridge clear.
Not this morning.
His hands gripped the steering wheel of his truck as the image of a lone figure clinging to the bridge’s side rail morphed into the all-too-familiar Roanna Brandywine.
No, no, no!
“Christ.”
Regret tasted metallic in his instantly dry mouth. Not another one, not another sailor lost to the aftereffects of the war. He never should have stopped asking her to go out with him.
How had he not seen the warning signs with her? He couldn’t bear the loss of another warrior-in-arms to the war. No matter if the cause was a bomb, rocket-propelled grenade, bullet or PTSD.
Not on his watch.
Instinct took over as he floored his gas pedal to get to her. He slammed on the brake, unclicked his seat belt and burst out of the truck’s cab in one practiced motion. He’d already checked his rearview mirror and knew he had a clear shot across Highway 20 to Ro.
* * *
WIND RIPPED AWAY any warmth from the early-morning sunlight as Lieutenant Commander Roanna Brandywine walked across Deception Pass Bridge. She’d run four miles and looked forward to the hot shower she’d get at the base gym. But first, she needed to complete a mission she’d planned for weeks. Poised nearly two hundred feet above the turbulent passage that connected the Strait of Juan de Fuca with Puget Sound, she fingered the engagement ring that lay in the palm of her gloved hand for the last time.
Her desolation loomed large and real as she paused at the bridge’s midspan. The grandeur of Deception Pass never failed to make Ro feel at once small and insignificant yet able to conquer the world.
The small diamond that cut into her palm had been her link to what she thought a real, normal family life meant. Proof that she had somewhere else to go outside of the navy. That the navy wasn’t the only thing she’d ever succeed at.
Her illusion of having a happy, fulfilling personal life was just that. An illusion she’d strung out over several years and half a dozen navy postings. Her relationship with Dick had been part of her fantasy life away from the military.
Face it—the only part of your life that’s been real since you graduated from the naval academy nine years ago is your career.
She blinked.
No more.
She was done with pouring her emotions into the out-of-reach life that was never going to happen for her. Not in the way she’d planned it, anyhow.
So much of her pain was represented by this one tiny diamond.
She’d failed Dick. She should never have expected any man, especially a man who didn’t understand her need to serve her country and see the world, to wait years for her. Would she have waited years for a man who’d gone off like she had?
Dick knew her family as well as she did, and he’d loved her despite all its crazy ways. He’d fit in to her family so damn well, in fact, that he’d gone off and married her sister at the first hint of Roanna taking orders to Whidbey Island instead of getting out of the navy. Once her aircraft carrier pulled back into Norfolk, Virginia, they’d broken up.
Dick’s timing had been unfortunate, since he’d told her he was breaking up with her at the same time he revealed he’d married someone else.
Her sister.
Their last conversation still replayed in her mind, over a year later.
They were at a chain restaurant in downtown Trenton, New Jersey. Dick’s idea of a welcome-back-from-deployment meal. She’d been able to overlook his lack of planning even then. It was okay—he waited while she went off and fought wars and she put up with his not-so-desirable qualities when she came home. It was how they did things, both accepting less than what they deserved.
But then he’d revealed that their engagement was off. And, in fact, that he’d married the love of his life.
“Face it, Ro. We’re more like brother and sister than a couple. Have been for years.” He’d shot her a remorseful grin.
“I don’t know of too many brothers and sisters who sleep together,” she’d retorted.
Her bluster had been automatic, the reaction she knew she was supposed to have. In truth she’d been shocked at how little she’d cared. As if he’d done them both a favor. Maybe it was time for her to look at herself and even let go of whatever image she’d set out to achieve for her life.
But that would have meant she didn’t know where she was going next. Roanna always had a plan B, a safety net, and it had always been Dick. Plan A had always been whatever her navy orders said they were. The orders to Whidbey Island sent her three thousand miles from Dick. Did she really think he’d follow her out there and start a new practice in a strange state?
Again, her career was the one thing she’d been able to count on.
At Dick’s silence, her cheeks had grown warm, and then she’d started to shiver.
“I’m sorry if it wasn’t good enough for you, Dick.” They both knew she was talking about their sex life. At its height it had been a release from months of separation, a simple youthful yearning that demanded fulfillment in their teens and had turned into an obligatory ritual.
“Ro, don’t do this.”
“Do what, Dick? Get upset that you got married before you dumped me? Or feel hurt that you’ve been less than happy with our sex life?”
She’d sighed. Dick’s face bore an expression she’d never seen on him before—resignation. Maybe it’s time to grow up and move on, she’d thought.
“I’m sorry, Dick. This isn’t what I’d expected, but you’re actually right. We’ve been kidding ourselves for a long time, haven’t we?”
“I think so.”
The waitress had come and taken their orders. Ro had picked her favorite fish and chips basket while Dick—previously the king of junk food—ordered a grilled chicken salad, dressing on the side.
“So who is she, Dick? I’m impressed that she’s gotten you to eat healthier. She must be your soul mate.” She’d felt genuine when she’d uttered that, too. Really, it had become clearer as their conversation went on that Dick had saved both of their lives by finding another woman.
Dick had stayed silent. She’d felt a flash of compassion for him then, and for his new wife. Poor dears must have tortured themselves over how she’d take the news.
“Oh, I almost forgot.” She twisted off the small engagement ring they’d bought at the navy base exchange on one of his trips to Virginia Beach to see her. It had been inexpensive and tax-free, perfect for the young couple they’d been at the time.
“Here.”
He waved her hand, and the ring, away.
“No, no, I can’t take that, Roanna. Sell it or give it away, but it’s yours to do with as you wish.”
She’d held her hand out awkwardly for a few more heartbeats before she’d slipped the ring into the small front pocket of her jeans.
“So, do I know your bride, Dick?”
The guilt on his face had been palpable. She’d reached out to him and put her hand on his forearm.
