CHAPTER 16
All too soon, he was on base and standing in the commander’s open doorway.
“Sir? May I speak with you?”
Jimmy had both the newspaper and his note from the doc rolled up in his hand. He only hoped he would need the second after he showed the commander the first.
“Gordon. Come on in. It’s good to see you back, son.”
The question remained, was he back to stay?
Jimmy swallowed and gathered his nerve. “Sir. I have to show you something. I want you to know, if you want my request for transfer after seeing it, I’ll give it to you.”
He unrolled the paper and laid it on the desk facing the older man.
The commander read the headline then cocked one brow high. “Well, I have to say, that headline is far more creative than the one I read.”
Reaching under his desk, he pulled a different paper out of the garbage and pushed it toward Jimmy.
Dickson’s Fiancée and ???
Heart pounding, Jimmy shook his head. “She was never engaged to Senator Dickson’s son, sir. I swear.”
“Oh, good. That makes it all right then.” The commander rolled his eyes. “Tell me this, why is it every time one of you Gordons falls in love, it’s a headache for me? First your brother is pummeling Williams over that bartender . . .”
Jimmy frowned at that revelation. Trey and Jack had fought over Carly?
The commander continued, “Then I’m hearing rumors about Jack’s new girl being involved with the mob.”
How the hell had the commander heard that?
While Jimmy pondered that, the commander kept ranting, “And now, you and the governor’s daughter.”
He leaned way back in his chair, leveled a stare on Jimmy and waited.
“I apologize, sir. I didn’t know who she was the night of the party when we met—”
Jimmy’s explanation was cut short by the commander’s creative and colorful cussing. “Now I recognize her. She’s the redhead from the party. The night you—”
“Yes, sir.” No need to rehash that again. He’d already gotten enough of a reminder about his breaking protocol from the commander the morning after and from Jack yesterday when he’d recognized Lia. “I swear, sir, I hadn’t contacted her at all after that night. We ran into each other purely by accident yesterday and that’s when I found out who her daddy is. You need to know, I’m not willing to give her up. I realize undercover work is a major part of our missions and that dating a politician’s daughter will put me in the spotlight no matter how hard I try to stay out of it, which is why I’m ready to transfer out of the unit if you ask.”
The commander let out a frustrated sigh. “You’re a stupid man, Gordon.”
Uh, oh.
“You have the kind of night I heard over the comm unit with a girl who looks like that and you don’t call her?”
Once he got over the surprise, Jimmy couldn’t help but smile. “Yes, sir. She wasn’t happy about it either.”
“Listen, Gordon. Your undercover career was already over. You were compromised in Kosovo. You don’t think your face hasn’t been sent to every terrorist in the known world already?”
“I guess I hadn’t thought about it. Yes, sir, you’re right.”
“But that doesn’t mean I want you to leave. You’re a valuable member of this team, with more skills than just the ability to go undercover with terrorists. And I’m thinking having you be the heartthrob who’s dating the governor’s daughter will make you kind of the poster boy representing all the brave, red-blooded troops on this base. That would make it look really bad if the governor allowed Senator Dickhead to shut us down.”
“Yes, sir. It would.” Jimmy smiled.
The commander chuckled at that idea before turning serious again. “I’d watch my back for a while, if I were you. Dickhead Junior isn’t going to be too happy about being made a fool of on the front page.”
Jimmy nodded.
“Go on home, Gordon. I’ll see you tomorrow with the rest of the team for a zero-seven-thirty, end-of-this-fucking-furlough briefing. Oh, and if you want to marry her and pop out a few cute babies, I wouldn’t be opposed to that either. The press loves babies.”
Jimmy wouldn’t be opposed to that himself, in time. “Yes, sir. Thank you.”
He arrived home feeling far lighter than when he’d left.
Dressed in a pair of his navy cotton sweatpants and a grey USMC T-shirt, Lia greeted him at the door.
He lifted her in his arms and kissed her hard.
She pulled away and he saw the concern on her face. “Tell me what happened. I’ve been going crazy.”
He smiled, going a little crazy himself at the sight of her wearing his clothes. “Everything’s fine. Move in with me, Lia.”
“What?” She frowned and laughed at the same time.
“It felt really good waking up next to you. And coming home to you just now. I want you here every time I walk in that door. I know this place isn’t much. If you want we can move into a better one, but live with me, wherever we end up.”
A smile lit her face as she nodded. “Okay.”
“Really?”
She laughed. “Yes, really.”
He squeezed her hard and then realized he was hard too. Lifting her off her feet, he headed for the bedroom. “Let’s go celebrate.”
“James Gordon, is this what my life is going to be like when I live with you? Nothing but sex day and night?”
she asked.
“Yup.” He grinned at the thought.
She pursed her lips as if considering the idea. “I can live with that. It’s one of the many reasons why I love you.”
He stopped mid-step. “You love me?”
“Yes.”
Lia loved him. With a whoop, Jimmy spun her in a circle while she laughed and kissed him.
He stopped their motion so he could stare into her sky-blue eyes. “That’s a very good thing, darlin’, because I’m completely and absolutely in love with you.”
Since he still held her in the air, Lia was eye level with him. He saw the emotion in her eyes when she said, “I believe you really are.”
“Of course I am, woman. I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it. Now can we go to bed?” he asked, trying to lighten the mood before he teared up.
“Yes, unless you’d rather take me directly to the shower instead.” She raised one red eyebrow prettily.
“Damn, I’m going to really like living with you.” He carried her toward the bathroom, and this time he was locking the door behind them.
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