by Ford, Mia
More than ‘JUST’ Friends
Mia Ford
Copyright © 2019 by Mia Ford
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This book is a piece of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
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Published: Mia Ford 2019
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Contents
Author’s Note
Blurb
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Excerpt
Stay connected with Mia Ford
Also by Mia Ford
Author’s Note
More than ‘JUST’ Friends is a full-length standalone novel. At the end, I’ve included an excerpt from my Amazon TOP 20 and bestselling steamy romance Rock My World.
More than ‘JUST’ Friends concludes at around 90% on your device.
Happy Reading!
XO, Mia Ford
Blurb
Jay Wylett: Army Officer, Strong, Charismatic, Perfect.
Also, the man I love.
Wait…did I just say love?
In love with a military man?
No way!
Well, this can’t happen.
I can’t get into the love boat,
For me it’s a sinking ship.
And to prevent myself from drowning,
I agree to a ‘just friends’ kind of arrangement,
The problem?
I think, I am falling for Jay,
And this relationship is turning out to be ‘more than just friends.’
Suddenly, I’m convincing myself that everything’s going to work out just fine,
Even the baby that we made together!
Chapter One
Jay
I woke to the sound of my alarm and opened my eyes widely forcing them to quickly adjust in the darkness. I laid there for exactly ten seconds allowing all of the bad thoughts in my head that pleaded with me to forego the day’s workout and just lay in bed and drift back to sleep for another ninety minutes. I had plenty of time before I had to report to work. Those voices were always there… even after all the years I’d conditioned myself to ignore them and show that I was going to do my duty and honor my commitment to myself and to others. It was funny how the brain worked, it really was.
I rolled out of bed and shut off the alarm on my phone. The moment my feet hit the floor I felt invigorated and almost anxious to get the morning workout done. Only after that would I feel calm enough to lead my troops through the drills and the routines that needed to be completed that day. The day began with me and taking care of myself.
I grabbed my clothes I’d laid out on a chair in the corner of the room the night before. I then quickly put on my boxers, my T-shirt, and my sweatpants. I’d always slept in the nude, for as long as I could remember. Even wearing a pair of skivvies felt hot and restrictive to me and would interrupt my sleep. Living my life as a military man had made me very rigid, almost cold. But I loved living that way. It had kept me grounded, especially after all of the turmoil I’d been through.
The brisk morning was a great wake up as the cool air hit my face when I stepped off the stoop coming off the steps of my small porch. I loved to start the day off with a run. It was a great way to warm up the body and to allow the debris from a nighttime of heavy dreaming (sometimes I remembered them, but more often I did not) to clear out of my head, otherwise the anxious tension would become too much to deal with and leave me distracted all day.
Of course I never talked to anyone about these issues. I bet you would have been hard pressed to find a career military man (I considered myself one even though I was just thirty years old) who had served in the battle and who did not have the same kind of emotional scars. You made that choice and made peace with it when you entered the military to serve and honor your country. And even with the pain I’d endured and the tragedy, I couldn’t have imagined really doing anything else with my life. It was my passion, my purpose, and I considered it a never ending mission.
“Out here again?”
I smiled as I passed the pretty young woman that I often saw running past me at the same time each morning. I hadn’t yet bothered to slow down long enough to have a conversation with her or even learn her name (I didn’t want to interrupt her workout any more than I imagined she wanted to interrupt mine) but I thought she might have been interested in me. Or maybe she was being polite and I was letting my head get a bit swollen. That happened more than I cared to admit.
“Always,” I answered back with a slight grin as I passed. I couldn’t help glancing back at her as I jogged and I caught her glancing back as well. Our eyes met for a moment and for just a brief second I was tempted to turn back and make today the day that I actually introduced myself, but in the end I decided I needed to stay focused on the task at hand.
I rounded the corner onto Douglas Street starting the second half of my five mile loop which would lead me directly back home. Home… that was still an interesting concept to think about. Being an officer in the United States Army, I didn’t have anywhere I really called home anymore. I’d been stationed in six different bases, and Fort Campbell in Hopkinsville, Kentucky so far seemed to be the most interesting.
But then again, I’d only just moved there three weeks before and I was still getting used to the lay of things. I didn’t mind moving around at all. In fact if I was in one place for too long, I started to go a bit stir crazy and long for a new adventure, something new to achieve and accomplish, even if that meant doing the same exact job but with a different base.
The sun was just beginning to rise up over the crest of the horizon when I started down Douglas Street. It was a picturesque sight that I never got tired of seeing. In a way it was lighting my way back home and somehow adding the extra spark I needed to get rolling in the mornings, especially since I now required my lovely cup of hot, black coffee but it was still about an hour away from me.
When I arrived back at my new home, which was a one story ranch house sitting in a very nice middle class neighborhood, I grabbed a bottle of water and quickly downed it. For a lot of people they would have considered the five mile jog a morning’s workout, but I was just getting started.
I quickly moved into my garage and began lifting weights in the home made gym. So many people made their
gym setup so complicated. All that was required was a barbell, a bench, and maybe some dumbbells if you wanted to get fancy.
I sat down and began doing some warm up bicep curls. I had been lifting since I was a teenager and had gotten into it because of sports like football, basketball, wrestling, and baseball—I’d done them all and excelled. I could have gone to college on a number of sports scholarships in fact, but the military had always called to me. As long as I could remember I wanted to serve.
After my workout I felt invigorated and clear headed, ready to take on the day. I had a quick, hot shower, and then fixed my black coffee. I no longer ate breakfast, instead preferring to wait until lunch to have my first meal. I’d been skeptical about practicing intermittent fasting at first, but the mental clarity and the physical stimulation from it had really proven to be beneficial for me in countless ways.
When I got to work, I went to my office to check on a few messages and emails. The recruits would be up very soon and ready to start another day of basic training. So far this new class had shown to be fairly exceptional and there had been no major screw ups as I was used to, but I did have my eye on a couple of privates who did not seem to be taking things as seriously as they should have. It happened quite a bit, actually. Not everyone was Army material. And a big part of basic training was helping people to acknowledge that.
“How are we this morning?” Lacy Charles, my secretary asked me as I walked into the office. Lacy was sexy as could be. She was medium height with mocha skin, big, bright, hazel eyes, and a smile that drove me crazy in every possible way. She also filled out a dress uniform beautifully. And she was very interested in me. She’d been flirting with me when no one was around ever since the very first day I arrived.
In my younger days I would have jumped on the chance to make that sweet love to Lacy in a heartbeat. But that was then and this was now. I’d noticed a big change happening to me over the past year or so. I no longer wanted to have random encounters or flings with women I didn’t have any real feelings for. In my younger days I’d done nothing but chase skirt when I had a free moment from the Army and from my martial arts training (I used to compete and once seriously considered going pro), but now I wanted something more. I laughed almost out loud when I thought of who I used to be versus who I was now. My twenty-two year old self would have laughed hysterically if he could see who I had become.
But I was proud of myself. I had reached a point in life where I craved the affection and love of someone that was real. There was no shame in wanting to be in love and wanting to raise a family. I’d finally reached that point in my life and I was fairly excited about it.
“We are doing just fine,” I said with a smile. “I do hope you are staying out of trouble.”
I knew I shouldn’t, but sometimes it was too much fun not to flirt back. It kept the day sunny anyway.
“Now there is no fun in that,” Lacy purred back with a flash of her eyes and sweet smile. Damn, she was tempting…
I shook my head and smiled as I entered my office and closed the door behind me. I quickly poured another cup of coffee (thank you Lacy) and sat down to log into my computer and pour over my work emails.
As I sat there trying to get into my work mode I kept stealing glances towards Lacy. The fantasy of escorting her into my office, closing the door and dropping the window blind so we could go at it like animals had crossed my mind more than once or twice a day since I’d started at Fort Campbell. I wasn’t sure how long I could hold out on her, but getting involved with someone I worked with was always a bad idea and the Army had pretty clear rules about that sort of thing.
Of course, my younger self never had any issues breaking those types of rules. In fact, I used to get off on it.
I sipped the coffee and closed my eyes for a moment.
Getting off on something was no longer anywhere near enough for me.
* * *
“UP! DOWN! COME ON! LIFT YOUR CANDY ASSES!”
My voice was finally getting warmed up thanks to the several cups of coffee I’d consumed earlier and it helped the rush of adrenaline barking orders that it always gave me. The chilly morning air still tried to rob me of the strength I needed to shout orders at the mongrel recruits. My job was to make sure each and every single one of them hated my guts and spent most of their precious little free time fantasizing about my death. Then I knew I’d done my job well and prepared them on at least a rudimentary level for whatever they may encounter in their future as soldiers, however long that might have been. Most would decide that four years was long enough and then go back to civilian life. Few others like myself would find a calling in the military and happily stay in it for the long haul.
“That’s pathetic!” I shouted. The men had already done three sets of twenty-five pushups, thirty jumping jacks, and twelve burpees. Now they were going back to pushups to start the second round all over again. They had no idea how easy this would be to actual combat conditions, should any of them ever have to face it.
I looked up at the beautiful sun shining down on the sweaty, tired, and hungry recruit and felt a bit of pity on them. Even after doing this job for several years I still felt that sometimes I was too hard on my recruits, but when those feelings crept in I had to remind myself to move forward and make things even harder. I had to show them no mercy. Their enemies in combat or even their struggles in life would not be so lenient.
“Move it! You wimps can do better than that!” I shouted.
The recruits groaned and pushed even harder.
After some basic calisthenics it was time for some tactical training. The team began doing some rifle marksmanship drills for infantry, starting with the prone supported position. Everything was going along smoothly until Ryerson—one of my most troubling recruits—did something erroneously dangerous.
As the team was shooting towards their targets, I noticed that Ryerson was not shooting. I hung back and observed the private for a moment. He seemed to be having trouble with a rifle jam. That was going to happen from time to time and it was up to each soldier to learn to clear the jam quickly. They wouldn’t always be able to grab another rifle on the battlefield while enemies were shooting at them.
“Ryerson! What the hell are you doing?” I yelled at the top of my lungs.
I ran towards the private who was looking at me with a scared and very confused look on his face. I had just witnessed Ryerson looking down the barrel of his rifle without taking his hand off the trigger as if he was trying to see what might be causing a jam from that angle.
“Release your weapon soldier!” I yelled when I reached the stunned private.
Ryerson sat his rifle on the ground.
“STAND UP!” I shouted at the top of my lungs.
Ryerson did as he was told quickly. I demanded the rest of the platoon to cease fire.
“What in the hell were you just doing?” I demanded.
Private Ryerson was very confused. “My gun jammed…”
“And you thought it was a good idea to look down the barrel of it with your finger still on the trigger and the safety not engaged?”
Ryerson realized his mistake instantly and did not have an answer.
“I…um…” He started.
“Yeah. You… um… could have blown your own damn head off! What in the hell is wrong with you? Do you have some major, mental malfunction I need to know about? Or did you just leave your brain back in the barracks?”
The private started to answer but I cut him off swiftly.
“Get to jogging! That moronic move just cost you five miles! You are lucky it didn’t cost your life!”
Ryerson sighed and started jogging.
“Back to drill!” I yelled at the rest of the crew.
As they continued with the shooting drill I started pacing back and forth. I tried to concentrate on what was happening, but I was still angry about what had just happened. Had I overreacted? I didn’t think so. A stupid, rookie mistake by a young soldier like that
could have cost the kid his life. That was no joke. But I hated yelling like that. Was it really necessary?
I didn’t know. The rest of the morning went along without incident, but I kept dwelling on the occurrence. When the day finally ended I was glad to be free of the base for a bit. Some days were hard to stomach and today had been my hardest at Fort Campbell, so far.
I left the base that day feeling drained. But I also felt satisfied. One thing was certain; I didn’t think that Ryerson would ever make that same mistake again.
Chapter Two
Naomi
“Now, don’t be that way… you are fine…”
I pulled the needle out of the small dachshund’s arm and then disposed of it. The dog’s eyes were very sad and he was trembling slightly with fear. I had tried to be as gentle as possible, but sometimes it was more difficult than others.
“That’s fine, Pepper,” Mr. Bonnar said. He was a regular who had been coming to the Valley Veterinarian Clinic for the past six months. “Patrick” as he’d asked me to call him was a skinny, nerdy guy who was obsessively worried about his dog. He brought the dog in for every little thing under the sun and there was rarely anything wrong. Today the dog actually needed its booster shot, but just three weeks ago Patrick brought him in because the dog sneezed. Just one sneeze…