by Shona Husk
He ditched the condom and washed his hands. One date—with sex, even great sex—did not a relationship make. No, but he wouldn’t mind giving it a go. He had months before the boat would sail.
Maybe he wouldn’t sail.
Maybe he’d decide that he was going to get out.
He opened his eyes and looked at himself in the mirror. Because being an unemployed cook was so much better than being a navy cook. That would be so much more appealing to a woman like Rainy, to any woman worth having. He shook his head, either way he was fucked. No one wanted a part-time boyfriend who spent six months of the year in a tin can, out of contact and doing God-knows-what.
‘Did you find it?’ Sheets were rustling as she got up. She’d want the bathroom.
‘Yes, all yours.’ He turned away from the vanity and turned to stand in the doorway, looking at her for a moment. Her body and face cast in slivers of light from outside. He wanted to take her to bed again.
‘You look like you’re thinking too hard.’ She brushed past him and then nudged him out of the doorway. She smelled like sex and perfume. So much better than the scent of diesel that infected everything onboard a sub.
‘Just wondering what to make for dessert so you’ll agree to see me again.’ He turned around and she closed the bathroom door on him.
He forgot that most people weren’t used to sharing all spaces all the time and with everyone onboard. The only privacy on a sub was in your rack and under your blanket and even then five other guys could be listening.
With a shake of his head, he went and gathered up his clothes and started dressing. He was doing up his shoes when she came out of the bathroom, still naked. His gaze slid from her face and down her body.
She looked as good as she’d felt in his hands, the curve of muscle without being skinny. For a moment he wondered how the hell she’d remained single working as a mechanic. She must have guys hitting on her all the time … and he was no different, yet she’d agreed to see him. Had he been dating the wrong women all his life? Pretty but not practical; the girls who thought he should notice when they changed their nail polish or earrings.
Rainy was practical and very pretty.
For an awful moment he thought she was going to show him the door now she’d gotten what she wanted. No, he corrected. They’d wanted the same thing—to explore the attraction that had made them both show up at the bar again. The only question was did she want more, like him, or had he scratched an itch that she couldn’t reach on her own?
She tilted her head as she studied him for a moment. He was almost sure he’d been the latter. Damn.
‘You can use whatever you can find in the kitchen. If you can make anything delicious and edible for dessert, we can have a second date.’
How long had she spent coming up with those words? It was obviously important to her that she didn’t simply suggest they swap numbers and meet up next weekend. For a split second he wondered why she was resisting. How complicated was her life? Perhaps she picked up guys more than she’d originally admitted. None of that dampened his interest; if anything that she wasn’t making it easy only added to the fun.
‘I accept that challenge.’ How hard could it be?
***
When Rainy walked into the kitchen, after getting dressed, Kurt was looking in the pantry. She took a moment to glance around and was very thankful that her sister had given the counters a once-over with a cloth and that everything was put away. The dining table was another matter. It was covered in books, drawings and a variety of pen, pencils and crayons.
Sunny was studying and Lily had homework and liked art. The table was never clear. Rainy had gotten used to it and nine times out of ten ate at the kitchen counter.
‘This is a slightly more difficult than I expected.’ He opened the fridge. ‘Do you or your sister ever do a proper shop, or do you pick up bits and pieces as needed?’
‘Errr, mostly bits and pieces. Sunny grows a lot of veggies.’
He nodded. ‘Well …’
‘Are you giving up?’ She didn’t want him to give up. He was fun and good in bed.
‘No, no …’ he picked up a loaf of sourdough bread. ‘I’m thinking. Something quick and delicious.’
‘Why quick?’
‘Because I’m hungry and I don’t want to wait an hour for dessert.’ He glanced over his shoulder and smiled. There was a definite glint in his eyes, as if he was enjoying himself.
He placed a tub of chocolate spread—Lily’s favourite afterschool snack—and a banana on the kitchen counter with the bread. Rainy raised her eyebrows. Nutella sandwiches? She could’ve made that.
His grin widened. ‘I was thinking bread and butter pudding, but it takes time and I’m guessing your niece will need bread for lunch tomorrow … so banana and chocolate French toast sandwiches.’
She knew what French toast was, but French toast sandwiches filled with chocolate and banana, was that even a thing?
He looked around the kitchen again, as if lost. ‘Knife block?’
‘In the cupboard. Sunny says it’s bad fung shui to have it on display.’
Kurt opened a few cupboards and found not only knives, but the frying pan and everything else he needed. It was almost a bit weird how easily he moved around a kitchen that she could hardly find a cup in. She took a seat on the stool at the counter to watch as he made the dessert, and then served it up. The sandwich was neatly cut into quarters, and he added a dollop of double thick cream. She hoped he’d checked the date as she wasn’t sure how long it had been in the fridge.
Then he placed two spoons on the plate and moved it toward her. ‘What do you think? I’m going to call it fast chocolate-and-banana bread and butter pudding for two.’
‘I think it takes as long to say the name as it does to make the pudding.’
‘Yeah, I need to work on the name.’
The dessert was still more creative than what she could’ve done. ‘It looks very nice.’
‘Try it and tell me if it passes the taste test.’
The cream was starting to melt. While she was sure the dish wouldn’t win him any awards, that he’d looked in the pantry and fridge and come up with something so fast was impressive. She could stand there for half an hour and still be undecided about what to cook.
Living on ships or on bases meant that she hadn’t really learned to cook or enjoy it. However, she knew what she liked.
She smiled at Kurt and picked up a spoon. The bread gave way to the gooey chocolate and banana centre. Her smile grew a little further as she scooped it up and ate. It was delicious. She was going to earn some serious auntie points by making this for Lily—she was sure she could make it, even though it probably wouldn’t look as good and she’d make twice the mess.
‘Good?’ His eyebrows were drawn together in concern.
She considered stringing it out for a little longer, then gave in and nodded. ‘I’m impressed.’
‘You sound surprised.’
‘I wasn’t sure. I haven’t dated guys who can cook.’ Anything past BBQing a sausage was usually left to her, which meant spaghetti. She could manage mince, veg and pasta. She took another bite of the pudding. ‘You should know I can’t really cook.’
‘Everyone can follow a recipe.’
She probably could, but it wasn’t fun—unless she was helping Lily make brownies or cupcakes, but that had more to do with her niece than cooking.
‘Yeah, but I don’t like it. It’s kind of a chore.’ She cooked because she had to, because she needed to eat or she’d promised Sunny a night off. And home cooking was always better than mess food. Maybe that was a deal breaker for him and she was killing this before it got going, but it was too late as they were already having this conversation. ‘Don’t you get sick of cooking?’
‘Following a set menu day after day, yeah. Mucking around in my own kitchen, nope.’ He picked up a spoon and had a taste of his creation. After a moment he said. ‘It would probably be better with strawbe
rries … or it needed more cinnamon.’
‘I’m going to make it for Lily.’
‘I thought you didn’t like cooking?’ He took another mouthful of the dessert.
‘I don’t, but Lily does.’
Kurt grinned. ‘Want me to write out the recipe?’
‘I think I’ll manage.’ She finished her half and helped herself to a glass of water before handing one to Kurt.
He took a drink and watched her for a moment. Her heart beat a little faster under his considered gaze. What was he thinking? Did he want to go back down the hallway to her room? She did, but they both had early starts tomorrow. The nerves about joining the boat resurfaced and she pressed them down. Tonight was about her and Kurt, tomorrow she’d worry about the boat. She swallowed and resisted the urge to reach out and run her hand over his stubble one more time, before leaning in for a kiss that would taste of chocolate.
‘So next time I’ll make you breakfast at my place?’ When he smiled, his brown eyes lit up and fine lines formed at the corners. He must smile a lot.
That sounded so good. She’d be on duty a couple of times a week, but surely she could squeeze in one date a week? She’d eventually have to tell him she was in the navy and that she wasn’t going to be around much … and then she’d spend her whole deployment thinking about him and what he was doing while she was away.
She didn’t want to think of what had happened last time she’d left a boyfriend behind. It would be easier on both of them if she said no. Tell Kurt that it had been nice, really nice, but that she wasn’t looking for a boyfriend and that she’d only wanted one night from him. But the words wouldn’t form.
Then she moved closer and took that kiss, determined to push thoughts of tomorrow further away. Out of her mouth tumbled something much more dangerous than no. ‘That sounds lovely.’
Chapter 5
Rainy’s stomach rolled as if she were already at sea in a bad storm, not walking along Diamantina Pier toward HMAS Ellis. The black sub was tied up alongside, her sister sub Farncomb behind her. During her training she’s been on Farncomb several times. She knew what the inside of the boat looked like and how one worked. In theory.
In practice she had no idea. She didn’t know the crew and how they clicked or even who was in the crew. But submariners were a tight-knit lot. She gave her hands a wipe on her blue and grey cams. She wasn’t a newbie and this was not her first posting but it might as well have been.
Someone jogged up beside her. Hessey. He was the other trainee Marine Technician. He’d never been to sea and was a gobby son of a bitch. At nineteen he knew everything and wasn’t afraid to make sure people knew. He hated that she’d been to sea and outranked him. When he thought no one was listening he’d reminded her that she was skimmer scum. That’s what all surface-fleet sailors were to submariners, and she’d have that tag until she was a qualified submariner and had her dolphins. In return she’d smiled and reminded him that he was a pleb who hadn’t achieved anything yet.
It had been bad luck that they’d ended up on the same boat.
However she’d met plenty of Hessey’s type before; they usually got straightened out on their first deployment. That thought was almost enough to make her smile, except if she screwed up she’d be the one getting straightened.
‘Milly, ready to get started?’ Hessey grinned.
Rainy cut him a glare. She hated that nickname—yet doubted she’d ever shake it as there wasn’t much else that could be done with Miller—but from Hessey it was more of an insult.
A couple of junior sailors stood by the gangway to Ellis smoking. Both men had dolphin patches on their uniforms. Her breath caught as her chest tightened. This was it, her boat until she qualified. She wanted that patch so damn bad. The men watched as she and Hessey approached.
One of them smiled. ‘Fresh meat.’
Rainy nodded. ‘Can we see the coxswain?’
The other man who hadn’t actually been smoking, just holding the cigarette she realised, tucked the cigarette into his pocket. ‘I’ll get him piped up.’
Rainy scanned his uniform before he left. LS Tasker and he had the propeller of an MT on his uniform. She’d be working with him at some point. She glanced at the other guy’s uniform to get his name and rank.
Leading Seaman Jacques looked at them. He pointed at Hessey. ‘First time?’
‘Yes, I’m really looking forward to—’
Jacques pointed at her. ‘Miller, where did you come from?’
‘Last posting was Paramatta before I decided to change over.’ Since then it had all been training. As much as she’d been freaking out about joining the boat, it would be nice to be doing her job again.
He held out a hand. ‘Jack, Blue went to get the coxswain, Smith … but we call him Smithy.’
Rainy catalogued the names and nicknames. The faster she learned them, the better off she’d be. Blue had obviously earned his nickname because he had ginger hair.
‘You two are the last to join the boat, even the head cook has put in appearance this morning—we have the best cook so you’ve joined the right boat.’ He dropped the butt on the ground and scuffed it with his foot.
A tall, thin man wearing glasses climbed out of the boat and walked toward them. Chief Smith no doubt.
‘Miller, Hessey.’ Smithy nodded at them. ‘I hope you’re ready because we have two weeks of maintenance before STG comes down.’
Only two weeks to find her feet before Sea Training Group started evolutions to test the crew and their responses in all kind of situations and emergencies. It didn’t feel like long enough. At least she knew what it was like to do seagoing workups—even if it was on a ship and not a boat. She’d been under that kind of pressure before. While the job was new, at least bits of it would be familiar.
If the boat passed it would get its seagoing certificate. Then they’d be sailing for a week at a time to get the weapons certificate before heading off on deployment for three months or so. By the time she got home she should’ve finished her competency log and be close to getting her dolphins. Already she was breaking what was going to happen into bite-sized stages so she could tick them off.
‘Yes, Chief.’ She was as ready as she was ever going to be to start. The nerves were back, twisting in her gut. This was it. She’d be living and working with these people for months on end. No fucking up.
At least the first day only happened once. All she had to do was get through today and remember as much as possible. Tomorrow would be better, though she doubted it would be easier. From here on everything would get harder.
‘Let’s get you signed on to the duty roster and introduce you to whoever is around. Engineering Officer Clarke is still on leave.’
Without her, or Hessey, saying a word Smithy was leading them onboard and down the hatch. For those not used to it climbing down could be awkward. But she was used to ladders and excitement joined nervousness, bubbling in her blood and making her heart beat faster.
She caught the sweet scent of diesel on the air. Usually she didn’t notice the smell unless she hadn’t been to sea in a while. Rainy inhaled enjoying the feeling of being where she should be.
Smithy got them signed in and started the tour of the boat. ‘Let’s start aft since that’s where you’ll be spending most of your time.’
She followed through narrow corridors and hatches ducking her head, once again wondering how tall guys like Smithy handled it. And yet he bobbed and weaved past obstacles as if he had a sixth sense and no longer needed to look. It would take time before she was moving that easily around the boat.
‘We have a rowing machine back here and weights. There’s a bike in the weapon stowage compartment.’ Smithy kept moving.
‘What kind of game consoles do you have?’ Hessey obviously felt that entertainment was more important.
‘Xbox and PlayStation.’ Smithy said without missing beat. ‘But you will be too busy completing your comp log,’ he added.
At least
Hessey wouldn’t be bothering her while she was off-duty, plus they’d be on opposite watches once they sailed. Six hours on, six off would be hard to get used to.
‘Chief Petty Officer Oliver, Miller and Hessey have arrived.’ Smithy said to the Engineering Chief.
Oliver gave them a cool glance. ‘Welcome aboard.’ He turned to Smithy. ‘Are you done with them?’
‘Just started. I’ll send them back to you when I’m done.’
Oliver nodded and Smithy turned and led them back through the boat, pointing things out as he went. ‘Like I said, there are about a dozen on leave. They’ll be back next week.’
Good, she could learn their names in stages. There was nothing worse than having to wait for someone to turn around so she could see their name.
‘Hessey, when we sail your rack will be in the weapons stowage compartment with the other trainees. Miller, you are the sixth female onboard.’ He paused. ‘This is the female cabin.’
It was no different to any of the others. Three racks on each side. While senior sailors and officers often had mixed accommodation, junior sailors were separated. As space was limited, a boat needed all six female berths filled. That was why she’d ended up on Ellis.
Hessey gave her a poisonous look, which she ignored. She didn’t make the rules. The only thing separating the female cabin from the rest of the boat was a blue curtain. Hardly high privacy, but certainly better than where Hessey was sleeping.
‘Right, one last stop, and the most important one. The mess.’ Smithy led them through to the junior sailors mess.
It was a reasonably large area, for a sub, that was, but tiny compared to other messes in the fleet. It had four booths spread across the width of the boat, some storage units and an entertainment system all rolled into one area. There were a few people sitting in the tiny mess. A couple were busy writing, one was making coffee and looked like he needed it.