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“What do you mean, ‘here we are’?” she asked, coming to stand beside him.
She stared at the nearest tent, which Chase silently acknowledged looked as if it had seen both world wars. The canvas was faded in spots and sported patches and duct tape where the fabric had ripped or the tent had sprung a leak. The outside had been stacked with sandbags for protection and for insulation, as the temperatures could drop below freezing at night. Several female soldiers came out of the tent, their weapons over their shoulders. They gave Chase and Kate curious looks as they passed. Chase could hear feminine voices from inside.
“This is the best the USO could provide for sleeping quarters,” he explained. “I hope you don’t mind bunking with the troops for one night.”
He watched as Kate pushed back the flap that covered the entry. Two dozen or more army cots were lined on either side of the interior. Several female soldiers were stowing their gear in foot lockers, and the floor was covered with duffel bags and military gear. The women gave Kate a nod, but otherwise ignored both her and Chase. One cot was conspicuously free of gear, with only a pillow and a tightly rolled sleeping bag placed at the foot.
“I’m assuming that’s where I’m sleeping?” Kate asked Chase, eyeballing the empty bunk.
“You would assume correctly.”
Kate gave him a helpless look that went straight to Chase’s protective instincts. He silently cursed Colonel Decker for giving him this assignment, because he was within two seconds of telling her she could bunk with him in his CHU. Or without him in his CHU. He’d pretty much give her whatever she wanted if she would just stop looking at him like that. He reminded himself that he was an Army Ranger, a member of an elite force able to operate in any environment. Unless it was within fifty feet of a woman like Kate Fitzgerald.
Kate put her hands together and drew in a deep breath. “Okay. This is okay. I can definitely sleep here. Can you tell me where my client and her band will sleep when they arrive?”
“The concert will be held over at the parade field. There’s an administrative building nearby that the USO will use to house the bands while they’re here, but it hasn’t been converted yet.”
“Would it be possible to see it?”
“Absolutely,” he assured her. “Why don’t you stow your gear, and then we’ll grab something to eat at the dining facility before we head over there? I don’t know about you, but I could use a good meal.”
Hefting her pink duffel over her shoulder, Kate walked into the tent, and Chase could almost read her thoughts as she stared around her. The walls were reinforced with plywood, and army blankets hung from the roof supports between several of the cots, providing a minimal amount of privacy. As she stepped inside, Kate’s footsteps echoed on the plywood floor.
Seeing it through her eyes, Chase had to admit that it looked pretty bleak. Overhead, a large, flexible tube ran the length of the tent and pumped in cool air, but it couldn’t compete with the blistering temperatures outside and the interior was stifling hot and smelled like musty canvas.
Dropping her duffel bag onto the empty cot, she turned to him with an overly bright smile. “This will be great,” she assured him. “After all, it’s not like I’ll be doing anything except sleeping, right?”
He had another decadent vision of her, this time straddling his hips as he lay on one of the narrow cots. Oh, yeah. He’d been outside the wire for way too long. He’d told Kate point-blank that he had no intention of sleeping with her.
He’d lied.
4 (#ulink_3f3085cc-3335-5ac6-8bb5-af28d63ade52)
KATE TRIED NOT TO LET Chase Rawlins see how completely horrified she was by the sleeping quarters he’d secured for her. Clearly, he belonged in this kind of Spartan, militaristic environment. He probably thrived on danger. He certainly looked as if he did.
Casting a dubious eye around the tent, she wondered how many spiders or other multilegged critters waited in the shadows.
Two soldiers lounged on their cots, chatting idly. Neither of them seemed concerned about eight-legged bunkmates, and Kate decided that if they could sleep in this tent, so could she. Pulling her small handbag out of her tote, she determinedly joined her chaperone outside the tent.
“So, can I call you Chase, or is there some kind of military protocol that demands you be addressed by your title?” she asked as they began walking across the base to the dining facility. “I’m sorry. I peeked at the mail on your desk. That is your name, isn’t it?”
He slanted her an amused look. “It is. I have no objection to you calling me Chase, unless there are uniforms nearby, and then I would prefer you address me as Major Rawlins.”
“Well, you can call me Kate even if there are other people around,” she said, unable to resist the urge to tease him just a little. He was much too serious. “I prefer it, actually. I feel old when you call me Miss Fitzgerald.”
Chase swept her with an all-encompassing look that missed nothing and caused heat to bloom low in her abdomen.
“I find that hard to believe,” he finally said, “considering you’re like … what, twenty-five?”
“Ha!” Kate gave a bark of laughter. “Thank you, but now I know you’re trying to flatter me. I just turned thirty-one.”
She could see by his expression that she’d surprised him.
“Really? I didn’t think you were much older than your client. Maybe it’s the freckles.”
Kate couldn’t suppress the pleasure she felt at knowing he had thought she was younger than she actually was. Unless he figured she was immature? He’d already implied she was nuts for having come over here by herself, when clearly no other celebrity representatives had felt the need to do so. But what he didn’t know was that her relationship with Tenley went beyond business. Tenley was more than just a client, more than just a sister. Tenley was like her own child, and she’d do whatever she needed to do to ensure her comfort and safety.
“I used to hate my freckles for that exact reason,” she said ruefully. “People always thought I was younger than I am.”
“I don’t know,” he said, studying her face. “I like them.”
To her dismay, Kate felt herself blushing. “That’s because you’ve never had them or been teased about them. Just how old are you?”
He grinned. “I’ll turn thirty-one next month.”
So they were essentially the same age. Kate felt a wave of relief, which was ridiculous. It wasn’t as if she had any interest in Chase Rawlins, regardless of his age. But a little voice whispered that she was a liar.
“When do the dining facilities open in the morning?” Kate asked, in an effort to move the subject to safer ground. She so did not need to be thinking about him in a romantic way. “Please don’t tell me I have to be up at some ungodly hour or risk going without breakfast.”
“For the most part, the peak hours are during the traditional meal times. But we also have a midnight chow, and then the dining facilities open for the day at 4:00 a.m.” He slanted her a quick grin. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you don’t go hungry.”
Kate felt her pulse leap at his smile, and wondered how he would react if she told him she wasn’t hungry for food, but for him. Shocked by her own thoughts, she focused her attention on her surroundings. As they walked between the rows of tents and housing units, Kate’s feet kicked up dust and despite the fact the sun was dropping lower on the horizon, the intense heat hadn’t yet begun to abate.
“How do you tolerate the climate?” she murmured, passing a hand over her eyes. “I’ve never felt so hot.”
“Believe it or not, you do get used to it. In fact, it gets surprisingly cold at night.”
Kate cast an appraising eye toward the mountains, where the sun was just touching the peaks. She’d heard that the desert grew cold at night, but right now she had a hard time believing it. “I’ll take your word for it.”
Chase stopped in front of a long building constructed of corrugated metal. “These are the female facilities. The men’s showers are just on the other side. If you’d like, I’ll wait for you here.”
Kate stepped inside the women’s bathroom, relieved to see there were plenty of shower stalls. Traveling for forty-eight hours had left her feeling sticky and uncomfortable, and she couldn’t wait to get back here with a bar of soap and a change of clothes.
She washed her hands and then splashed cool water on her face, studying her reflection in the mirror over the sink. She looked pale. Her freckles stood out starkly against her skin, and her hair was coming loose from the ponytail holder. Pulling it free, she combed her fingers through it and then secured it in a loose knot at the back of her head. Pinching some color into her cheeks, she rejoined Chase outside. Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew a small, plastic device and handed it to her. Kate realized it was a beeper.
“If you need to use the bathroom during the middle of the night,” he said carefully, “I want you to ask one of the female soldiers to walk here with you, or I want you to contact me. This is a beeper that goes directly to my phone. Just press this button, and I’ll be at your tent in under five minutes. I’ll walk here with you.”
“I’m sure I can walk to the bathroom by myself,” she said, studying the small device. Raising her gaze, she gave him a leering smile in an effort to lighten him up a little. “Unless, of course, you want to scrub my back.”
To her astonishment, two ruddy spots appeared high on his cheeks and he stared at her for a moment as if he thought she might actually be serious. Kate waited breathlessly for his response.
“This is a combat environment, Miss Fitzgerald,” he finally said, dragging his gaze from hers. “There are more than twenty thousand troops stationed here, and while I can personally vouch for my own men, I can’t say with one-hundred-percent certainty that you would be safe walking across the base at night. So I need you to promise me that you’ll ask one of the female soldiers to accompany you, or you’ll contact me, understood?”
Kate swallowed. There was no way she’d call this guy in the middle of the night for any purpose, especially not one so personal. Just the thought of being alone with him after dark caused her imagination to surge. “I’m sure the last thing you want to do is escort me to the ladies’ room.”
“My job is to keep you safe. If you decide to go somewhere without me, I can’t guarantee that safety. So you will call me.”
His tone said clearly that it wasn’t a request, and Kate nodded as she dropped the beeper into her pocketbook. “Okay,” she promised. “I’ll call you. But only if you stop calling me Miss Fitzgerald and start calling me Kate. Jeez.”
They walked in silence after that, until they reached a large complex of buildings. Dozens of soldiers milled around outside, smoking cigarettes or talking, while other groups walked past them with purposeful steps.
“Here we are,” Chase said, pulling open a door to a large building as Kate breathed in the enticing aromas of roast chicken and grilled hamburgers.
The dining facility was essentially an enormous cafeteria, complete with soup and salad bars, a drink fountain, separate lines for hot entrees or sandwiches, and one section for desserts. There must have been at least five hundred soldiers either eating at the long tables, or waiting in line, and the noise level was so cheerful and normal that Kate had a difficult time remembering that they were in Afghanistan. The air-conditioning was a welcome relief from the dry, dusty heat outside, and she wanted to slither to the ground and press her overheated skin against the cool tiles.
“C’mon,” Chase said, accurately reading her thoughts. “Let’s start you with a salad and plenty of fluids. Traveling can dehydrate you, and I don’t need you to become sick.”
He steered her toward the salad bar and, without asking her what she preferred, took a plate and began heaping it with salad greens and toppings.
“Is that for me?” she asked doubtfully.
“What?” he demanded. “You don’t like salad?” He ran a critical eye over her. “Looks to me like that’s all you eat.”
Kate grimaced and took the plate from him. “Trust me,” she said drily, “I can wipe out an entire container of Cherry Garcia ice cream in one sitting and still not feel satisfied.”
To her surprise, he laughed. “I’d like to see that.”
She stared at him, transfixed by the way his smile changed his face. His teeth gleamed white in the sunburned bronze of his skin, and she felt a nearly irresistible urge to press her fingertips into the deep indents of his dimples. His grin was so captivating that Kate had a ridiculous sense of pleasure that she had been the one to cause it.
“Well, maybe one day you will,” she found herself saying as she returned his smile. In the next instant, she realized he would never see her gorge herself on ice cream. She would only be in his company for the next few days, until Tenley arrived, and then she would likely have no more opportunity—or reason—to share meals with him. Or anything else, for that matter. She found the thought oddly depressing.
“When you’ve finished building your salad,” Chase said, “grab a seat at one of the tables over there. I’ll go get us something a little more substantial to eat. What do you like … chicken, beef, pasta?”
Turning, Kate studied the menu board at the front of the food line. “I’ll try some of the fried chicken. And mashed potatoes.”
Chase nodded. “Good choice. It’s kinda hard to screw up chicken and potatoes.”
Kate watched as he turned and walked away, telling herself that she was not admiring his ass. But it was an effort to drag her attention back to putting toppings on her salad. She was vaguely aware of the interested glances she drew from several nearby soldiers, dressed as she was in a turquoise blouse and white jeans. Finally, she pulled a bottle of water from a cooler and selected a seat in the far corner of the cafeteria, where it was less crowded.
She picked at her salad, keeping one eye on Chase as he moved through the line, piling a tray with plates of food. When he finally made his way through the cafeteria toward her, she noticed how several female soldiers turned to watch his progress. She couldn’t blame them. Major Chase Rawlins had a combination of good looks and an easy confidence that captured your attention and then held it.
He placed the tray on the table and began unloading the plates. Kate stared in astonishment at the heaping servings of fried chicken and mashed potatoes that he had chosen for her. But that couldn’t compare with the double helpings of two different entrees that he had taken for himself. And he had no less than three bottles of chilled water.
“Are you going to eat all that?” she asked, before she could prevent herself.
But instead of looking insulted, he merely grinned. “Oh, yeah. I’ve been surviving on MREs for the past two weeks. This is going to be sheer ambrosia.”
“MREs?” she asked, taking a mouthful of potatoes. “What is that?”
“Meals Ready to Eat, although some of the troops like to call them Meals Rejected by Everybody, or Meals Rarely Edible. They’re prepackaged meals in a pouch, designed to provide the soldier with all the basic caloric and nutritional requirements for one day. They’re basically field rations.”
“Not so appetizing?”
Chase shrugged as he dug into a plate heaped with baked ziti. “They do the job. I don’t pay much attention to what I eat when I’m in the field.”
Kate could well believe that. He struck her as the kind of man capable of intense focus. If he was on a mission, one hundred percent of his attention would be on his work, not on food. She could easily envision him skipping meals simply because he was too busy to eat. But right now, he made short work of his dinner, devouring it with gusto.
“So what is it that you do, exactly?” she asked.
He glanced up, and quickly wiped his mouth with a napkin. “The usual.”
Kate gave him a half smile. “Which is … what, exactly? You said you’ve been in the field for the past two weeks. What do you do when you’re ‘in the field’?”
Chase shrugged and took a long swallow of water, nearly draining the bottle. “A lot of nothing, actually.” He gave her a quick smile. “At least, nothing very exciting.”
He wasn’t going to give her any information, she realized, studying his bland expression.
“Is it normal for soldiers to grow beards? I thought there was some strict protocol about being clean-shaven.”
He smoothed his hand over his jaw, and Kate found herself wondering how his beard would feel against her skin. Would it be soft or bristly? If he nuzzled her neck, would he leave a rash? Disconcerted by the direction of her thoughts, she fixed her attention on her food, pushing it around the plate.
“Well, there wasn’t much opportunity for a close shave while I was out there,” he said offhandedly. “I got back to base just before you arrived, so not much chance to clean up, either. Sorry.”
“So how did you end up becoming my escort?” she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. “I don’t know much about the military, but if I had to guess I’d say you were special forces. They’re the only ones who get to grow facial hair, right? So why would they assign someone like you to bring me to the different concert sites? I promise you I’m not dangerous.”
Chase stopped eating the second she suggested he was special forces, and listened to her with a combination of amusement and surprise. But when she said she wasn’t dangerous, he gave a soft laugh and muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like, “you have no idea.”
Now he sat back in his chair and considered her. “Okay,” he said, a smile still tilting his lips. “You’re right. I’m an Army Ranger, part of a special-operations unit. But my team screwed up on a recent operation and so here I am—” he gestured expansively with his hands “—anxious to prove to my commanding officer that I can complete this assignment without incident.”
“Ah,” she said, meaningfully. “So this is sort of like a punishment for you.” Leaning forward, she lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I promise to be on my best behavior.”
“Uh-huh.” His voice said he didn’t believe her, but he couldn’t hide the dimples that dented his cheeks, evidence of his amusement. “If I can’t handle one woman, then I have no business being an Army Ranger.”
Kate laughed in astonishment. “Oh, wow. Be careful what you say. That just sounded like a challenge.”
Chase grinned. “Going to give me a run for my money?”
“I just might.” Kate let her gaze drift over him. She watched his hands as he toyed with the saltshaker. They were a lot like him, lean and strong. She wondered how they would feel on her body. “I’d be doing you a favor. After all, I wouldn’t want you to get soft, considering your current assignment is so easy.”
He snapped his eyes to hers. “Trust me,” he said drily. “There’s no chance of that happening around you.” Before she could register what he’d said, he stood up. “Are you going to finish your meal?”
Kate pushed the plate away. “No, I don’t think so. I’m actually not that hungry. What I’d really like is to head over to where the first concert event will be held.”
Chase nodded and began stacking their plates on his tray. “No problem.”
She watched as he disposed of their dishes, her heart still thumping unevenly. Had he meant his words the way she had interpreted them? That she aroused him physically? The very thought sent hot blood surging through her veins. She wondered what had happened to get him pulled off his last assignment. He had made light of it, but Kate could see it bothered him. She didn’t know him at all, but guessed he would much rather be back in the field with his men than here with her. Especially if he found himself attracted to her. She didn’t know him well, but guessed that he was the kind of guy who would keep his professional and private lives completely separate. And right now, she was definitely part of his professional life.
When he returned to the table, she drew in a deep breath. “Listen, Chase, if you’d rather not take me over to the concert site, I’m sure I can get someone else to go with me. I understand that this probably isn’t your favorite thing to do.”
“No chance,” he said smoothly. “You’ve been assigned to me, and I’ll be the only one to take you over there.”
She’d been assigned to him. As if she were nothing more than a number, or an unpleasant project that he just needed to get done. Realistically, she knew that wasn’t true, but in that instant she realized she wanted him to see her as more than a task or an assignment. She wanted him to see her as a woman.
“Okay.” She stood up and pushed her chair in. “Then let’s do this.”
Outside, the sun had finally dipped behind the mountains and the base was quickly growing dark. Kate welcomed the change, both because the temperature had dropped and because the indistinct light made it more difficult for Major Rawlins to read her expression. They walked in silence, and she didn’t miss how he adjusted his stride so that she could keep up with him. She was fading quickly from sheer exhaustion. Part of her wanted to suggest that they wait until morning to view the concert site, but the stubborn part of her—the part that wanted to impress this tough man—refused to capitulate.
Thankfully, the parade field wasn’t far from the dining facility. A large stage had been constructed at one end of the field, and an enormous American flag had been hung behind it as a patriotic backdrop. Dozens of heavy-duty extension cords snaked across the ground near the stage, and two tall light poles provided illumination.
