The Sergeant's Temptation. Sophia Sasson
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wouldn’t even look at him, and after asking how she was doing in a perfunctory way, Luke told Dan and Rodgers to take her back to her barracks to rest. He could walk back and use the time to clear his head.
“I’m fine. I need to go back and fix the travel issues you found earlier,” she insisted.
“The doctor said you need to rest for two weeks.”
“He said I need to keep the brace on for two weeks max. I am perfectly capable of using my left hand to operate a keyboard and mouse.”
“I’m ordering you to return to your barracks for the day,” he said firmly.
“With all due respect, sir, you’ve asked us to think and operate independently and to question orders if they don’t seem right. I disagree with yours right now.”
Luke didn’t miss the smirk on Rodgers’s face, nor the matching one on Dan’s.
“You are correct that that is how I want the unit to operate. However, in this circumstance, my order stands.”
She looked like she was going to say more but then thought better of it and responded with an unenthusiastic, “Yes, sir.”
He motioned to Dan to hand over the keys to the jeep they had borrowed. “On second thought, I’m going to drive you myself.” The guys could walk back or get another ride.
“Will you also tuck me in?”
“If I must,” he retorted.
Dan and Rodgers exchanged a glance and Luke glared at them. “Rodgers, get one of the guys to pick you and Dan up. I need you to round up the team. We’re going out for target practice. I’ll meet you there.”
Rodgers nodded, though disapproval was clear in the man’s eyes.
Alessa signed her discharge papers, then Luke held the door open for her as they exited the emergency room.
Once they reached the parking area, he watched her struggle to get into the car. Having the use of just one arm, and her non-dominant one at that, could not be easy. He extended his arm to help her but she ignored him, obviously unwilling to have any contact with him.
“I’m sorry,” he said turning to her as soon as they were seated.
“You should be,” she shot back while she fumbled with her seat belt. She glared at him. “This is all your fault.”
Meeting her gaze, he nodded solemnly. She had every right to blame him.
“I know. I am so sorry, I never should have fought you.” He reached over, pulled the seat belt and clicked it into place. She slapped his arm with her left hand.
“No, you should be sorry for not fighting me. What was that in the pit? You couldn’t decide whether you were going to let me win or force me to lose?”
She was right. He had let himself get into a situation and then hadn’t been able to decide how to handle it. He’d started by thinking he would let her take some jabs at him and then call a truce, but the more she pushed, the more the fight had spun out of control.
“The whole thing was a mistake. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“This wouldn’t have happened if you’d gone through the exercise like you were supposed to, and fought properly. Tell me something...” She turned in her seat and though she tried to hide it, she winced in pain. “If I’d been Rodgers or Steele or one of the other guys, would you have fought the way you did?”
He didn’t bother responding because it was a rhetorical question. They both knew the answer was a clear no. He started the jeep and put it in reverse. The next question was inevitable and he didn’t have an answer, even for himself.
“Either you went easy on me because I’m a woman or you don’t think I can cut it on this unit, or—”
Or I have inappropriate feelings for a soldier in my command.
“You’re not an official member of the team,” he interrupted. “An injury is what I was trying to avoid. If Colonel McBride finds out about this, I’ll have a lot of explaining to do.”
“If that were true, you wouldn’t have let me fight the rest of the guys. Unless you are so arrogant that you’re assuming you would’ve gotten the best of me.”
She was right, and he’d have to come up with a better excuse than Colonel McBride to explain his bizarre behavior.
“I did get the better of you. I was trying to spare you the humiliation.” He kept his tone light.
“I can take care of myself,” she said tightly.
The words were on his lips to reassure her but he focused on pulling up to her barracks unit. He leaned over and released her seat belt, earning another glare. Before he could get around to her door, she had it open and had stepped down, her eyes warning him not to help her.
She turned to him before going through the front door. His stomach twisted at the shine in her eyes.
“I don’t know what you’re playing at, but the army is all I have, it’s all I’ve ever had. Please don’t ruin it for me.”
ALESSA’S SHOULDER WAS killing her, but she couldn’t take the painkillers the doctor had prescribed. She tried going for her morning run but gave up after the first two miles. The sun wasn’t even up when she arrived at her desk. If Luke thought he could marginalize her, he had another think coming. She’d have all the corrections he had suggested yesterday done by the time he came in. Only she’d underestimated how hard it would be to type and operate a mouse with her left hand. When she’d dislocated her shoulder before, she’d been in middle school and then high school.
What was wrong with her? She’d been so desperate to get the upper hand on Luke, she’d twisted her body beyond the safe zone. The man brought out an irrational side of her that she wasn’t used to. The self-discipline she’d worked so hard to attain seemed to melt away when he was around.
One assignment, then I’ll request a transfer. Even as she thought it, she hated the idea. She loved the guys in the unit. They respected and accepted her, something that wasn’t easy to find in the army. Which made spying on them that much harder. And then it hit her. If Luke was right about his brother being alive, he wouldn’t necessarily remain unit commander. From what the guys had told her, he’d only gotten the job because his father had insisted on it. But if Ethan was alive, and they found him, wouldn’t he return to take command of the unit?
More incentive to find him and prove that the guys weren’t involved. Another reason Alessa wanted to complete her assignment was so she could have time to study the satellite maps from the area where Ethan had supposedly been killed. She wasn’t skilled at reading satellite imagery, so it would take her some time to learn. Once again, she marveled at what a great opportunity working on the unit was. Normal army assignments were remarkably monotonous; you did the same job over and over again.
A few hours later, she had finished her logistics work and had turned to her spy assignment. “What’re you working on?”
She jumped in her seat and turned to find Rodgers peering over her shoulder. “Just studying the satellite maps to get familiar with the area. I’ve served on the border, but never in Pakistan.”
Rodgers nodded and went over some of the landmarks with her, including the safe house where Ethan had been killed. He didn’t once question why she was so interested in the imagery, trusting her half-truth.
“Are you okay with going back there?” She asked carefully.
Rodgers shrugged. “I need to be. Our mission was simple—grab and interrogate Azizi to find out who the army leak was. We never even got to Azizi, though the guys and I talked about finishing the mission since it was important