He bit back a groan as her gaze darkened. Hell, this was not the place to be having the fantasy he was having. Because he couldn't do a damn thing about it.
Evidently Jade agreed, because her breath came out on a whoosh before she changed the subject. "So what did Karin have to say?"
He tucked the fantasy away for later and smiled. "She offered to refill the box for us tomorrow if we need it."
God, he loved that blush.
"Relax, I told her we'd need a week at least."
He chuckled around the shrimp she shoved into his mouth, then choked as she sucked a drop of cocktail sauce off her finger. Several lines of division later, he opted for changing the subject himself. "Actually, Karin seemed surprised to see us here. You especially."
Jade laughed. "Surprised? That's it, huh? And to think I was half-afraid to show in case she had a heart attack."
By God, it was true. But just to be sure, he pushed it. "You really don't want to be here?"
Her smile was tiny, yet full of promise as she leaned close to whisper, "Where would you rather be? Here or home in bed?"
She had to ask? He stared at her for several seconds, thoroughly baffled. "If you don't want to be here and I don't want to be here, why are we here?"
"Because of the case."
"The what?"
She chuckled. "Your case. You remember? Greg Coffey? Mike Dillon? The whole reason you came aboard. I haven't seen them yet, but they're bound to show—they both eat this garbage up. Anyway, I thought you might discover some clue tonight." She shrugged, almost in embarrassment now. "Well, you never know."
He was floored. She'd brought him here—somewhere she didn't want to be—simply because she thought it might help him solve his case? If he wasn't already in love with her, he'd be falling right now. As it was, he just wanted to get out of here. He wanted to take her home and celebrate all night long.
Because she wasn't his father.
He only regretted it had taken this damn party to force him to see it. Jeff was wrong, Jade could put a man before the Fleet. She'd been doing it all weekend. More important, even with all this Navy brass floating around, she'd been doing it all night. Whether she realized it or not, she had been putting him first.
And he intended to stay there.
"Reese?"
He stared down at her, putting his heart into his smile. "Hmm?"
She took a deep breath and smiled back. "Well, I was going to ask what you were thinking about so hard, but I think I have the answer."
"Oh, honey, you don't know the half of it." He took her plate and slapped it on the table, then reached for her flute. "Let's go and I'll explain it to you on the way home."
"Chester? Is that you?"
Damn!
Reese nearly snapped the crystal in two. For a split second he considered just grabbing Jade by the elbow and hustling her out of the club. But it was too late; she was already turning toward a voice from his nightmares.
He had to do something. Now. But what?
Maybe he could bluster his way through? Cut the man off at the crucial spot. Anything, just to keep the truth quiet a few more hours. Until he could tell her himself. And he would, orders or no orders. Because it was getting too damn dicey as it was.
"Chester?"
Slowly, he turned and forced a smile. "Hey, there, Admiral."
Admiral Moore's craggy face split into a grin. "Son of a gun, it is you, Chester! And I've told you before, the name is Dan."
He told himself Jade's stiffening was just surprise. Surprise to finally learn what the C stood for—maybe ever surprise to learn he was on a first-name basis with an admiral.
She had not guessed the rest.
Relax, buddy.
If she hadn't made the connection by now, she wasn't bound to. Unless someone shoved her face into it. He clenched his fingers around the stem of the flute, praying Dan Moore wouldn't be the one to shove her face into it. He took a deep breath, combing his brain for some innocuous comment that would keep him out of the minefield.
"So, how is the old goat?"
He almost laughed in relief. How the hell should he know? Except for that clipped call the morning he checked aboard the Baddager, he hadn't heard from his father in three years. And then he'd only called to warn him to keep his identity a secret.
As if he wasn't smart enough to figure that one out on his own. "Far as I know, he's just fine. How about yourself?" Smooth, buddy, keep it smooth. He glanced around. "I don't see Alice."
The admiral laughed. "Nah, she never could stand these things. I'm just here to congratulate Captain Kennings on his promotion." The man's gaze took in a clearly befuddled Jade—who so far had remained silent.
Thank God.
"So how about you, Chester? I don't see your father, so you must be on your own—unless this young lady is the reason?"
Jade offered her hand. "Lieutenant Jade Parker, DCA, USS Baddager."
Grinning, the admiral returned her shake. "Well, I'll be damned. The DCAs are getting prettier every year."
She smiled back—but her eyes were cool. "Thank you, sir."
Reese was more than happy to take the hint. He shifted the champagne flute to his left hand before cupping her elbow. "Well, sir, we have to mingle. It's been nice seeing you again."
"Great to see you, too, son. Almost like old times. Well, you take care—and tell that old sea dog of a father to get off his lofty perch and give me a call sometime. I'm over at SURFPAC."
"Sea dog?"
Ah, damn. He'd been so close. He nearly snapped the stem again. Hell, it was only a matter of time now. It was the "sea dog" that did it. And now that she knew his dad was a sailor, she was bound to make the next connection. His father was so high up in her chain of command, she'd have to be an idiot not to.
And Jade was not an idiot.
The admiral grinned. "Chester didn't tell you?"
Her smile was frozen in place as she turned to glare up at him. It thawed only slightly as she turned back to the admiral. "No, it seems Chester left a few things out."
"Well, hell, Lieutenant, it's no wonder. Seems Chester's a bigger chip off the old block than his father suspected. He used to do the same thing, you know." He leaned over to confide, "Liked to know the ladies were after him and not his old man's reputation."
Reese stiffened. "Thank you, Admiral. I think I can take it from here." There was no mistake regarding his tone. He didn't mean for there to be.
The admiral took the hint and left.
Reese heaved a sigh as he turned to face the music, trying to figure out how to put the truth into words. How to keep Jade from feeling as though all the lessons and insight she'd given so freely were not for naught. To keep her from feeling like a fool.
He needn't have bothered.
She knew.
"If you'll excuse me, I have a hail and farewell I need to return to."
Like hell, she did. He clamped down on her elbow. "Oh, no, you don't. You're going to stay right here while I explain."
Oh, man, was she furious. If she wasn't careful, that expression was going to freeze right on her face.
"Please do. Please explain why you've been lying to me for weeks. Please explain why you continued to play the naval idiot savant even after you told me your real name. Please explain why you didn't bother telling me I was sleeping with my boss's son."
Nope, no one could inject venom into a whisper like Jade. However, she was off on that last one. And it irked him. Enough for him to push it. "My father is not your boss."
"I beg your pardon, Mr. Garrick, but he most certainly is. Admiral Arthur H. Garrick is Commander Fifth Fleet and that—though several times removed—makes him my boss. Or did you fail to notice his striking portrait on the quarterdeck of my ship—each and every time you passed it?"
He brandished the champagne flute. "Okay, okay. I'll give you that. But come on, there are four fleet admirals. Not only that, it's no secret my father has a son who's DEA. If I'd told
you my dad was Navy, exactly how long do you think it would have taken you—or anyone else on the ship—to figure out who he was? And then where would my cover have been?"
"That's not the point and you know it. You trusted me with the rest, why not this?"
She had him there. But this wasn't the place to get into his life history—nor the insecurities that stemmed from it. So he offered the only other argument he could, praying she'd understand. "Because that information was on a need-to-know basis. You're an officer, Jade. Surely, you can understand. Telling you was a risk I wasn't allowed to take."
"A risk? Now you're telling me I'm a risk?" She tried jerking her arm from his hand, but he refused to let her go.
He sighed. "That's not what I said and you know it."
"You're right, I do know it. I also know exactly how you feel about your father's family business." She bit the last word out as she tried jerking away again. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to be somewhere else."
"I'll take you."
"Let me go." It came through clenched teeth.
"Jade—"
"I believe the lady asked you to release her arm."
Reese ground his teeth as he glanced up. "Stay out of this, Coffey."
Lieutenant Coffey shook his head. "I don't think so. Now, release her before I have to help you."
Reese smiled grimly. Hell, he'd like to see him try. Unfortunately, the only thing he'd accomplish by smashing the man's face in would be to blow his case. And risk ticking Jade off even further than she already was. No, he'd have to bide his time. He'd give her a while to cool off and then they'd talk on the way home. She'd have to—her car was still at his place.
He stared down at Jade. "We'll talk later."
She jerked free and linked her hand into Coffey's crooked arm. "Don't count on it." And then she left.
A second later he stared down at the stem of the champagne flute as it finally snapped.
* * *
"So are you going to tell me what that was all about?"
Jade stared up at the man who'd now helped her through two of the biggest heartaches of her life and shook her head. Boy, had she been wrong. Wrong about Jeff and wrong about Reese.
How could one woman be so ignorant when it came to men? Heck, she was so good at picking the wrong men, she ought to be teaching the class. She could see the syllabus now: Incompatibility 101. Nope, better make that 401—this was definitely a senior-level course.
"You want to leave?"
Again, she shook her head. Perversely this time. She didn't know why she was still here. Heck, she'd done her duty, she could be long gone by now. She didn't even need Greg's help to do it. All she had to do was pick up the phone in the lobby and call a cab. Or walk, for that matter. She was already on base—the ship was fifteen minutes away at worst on foot.
But no, she'd rather stay here. Where else could she stand in a corner and watch Reese seethe? And he was seething. The amusing part was, he was glaring at Greg, not her. Well, let him glare. She might be a lousy judge of lovers, but she had a damn good head on her shoulders when it came to friends. Best friends.
God, why hadn't she accepted Greg's offer for a date all those years ago? Before they'd fallen in as friends and decided they'd be better off as buddies—because they thought it would last longer. Well, see? It had. Nine years longer. Long enough for her to know whom to trust.
And it wasn't Reese Garrick, that was for damn sure.
Coffey shook his head. "Okay, you don't want to talk about it and you don't want to go. What do you want?"
She pushed her hair over her shoulder and sighed. "I wish I knew."
"Will you be okay for a minute? I'm going to head over to the buffet and grab some champagne—I think the toasts and roasts are about to start."
She nodded absently, her gaze already slipping back to Reese. "Sure. Grab one for me, too."
"Will do."
She yanked her gaze away from Reese and turned to stare out the window beside her. It was one thing to glance his way when Greg was standing next to her, quite another when she was by herself. For one thing, she didn't need him thinking she was a lovesick puppy. Because she wasn't.
Who you trying to convince, Missy?
She sighed, her gaze skimming the surf breaking over the beach ten yards away. Dad was right, she was a liar. Only she was worse than lovesick. She felt like a dog who'd been kicked by its master and then asked to lick his hand.
Did Reese honestly think his feelings about the Navy wouldn't matter? And she did remember the things he'd said about his dad—and his business. She was sorry he'd had such a lousy father, but didn't he realize it wasn't the Navy's fault? The Navy didn't make bad fathers, people did. Surely he wasn't naive enough to think the man would have put Ward Cleaver to shame if he'd just been in another line of work, did he?
She rubbed her arms as a chill swept through her. Then again, maybe that was the real problem. Maybe his pain ran so deep he did believe it. Or at least wanted to. And where would that leave her? Out in the cold, most likely.
She felt her sigh all the way down in her toes.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Reese.
"No."
He sighed when she refused to turn around. "Not here, not now, or not with me?"
"All of the above."
"Honey, please—"
"Well, I'll be damned, Mack. You did it."
She didn't need to turn around to know Reese stiffened—she could feel it.
"Get lost, Dillon."
"Take it easy, buddy. You provided the proof, I'm just man enough to admit when I lost and pay up."
Dillon a man? Now there was an oxymoron. She snorted and turned around, despite herself. "Okay, Mike, I give. What are you trying to say? And make it quick, the Captain's about to start."
"Ah, the ice princess speaks."
"Spill it, or do what he says—" she jerked her head toward Reese "—and get lost."
Dillon's brow furrowed as he tsked to Reese. "Such a sweet disposition. You know, if she was a horse, you'd have to shoot her." He shrugged. "But it's your love life, buddy. And you did get her hair down. I'll drop the hundred bucks off Monday."
"Do it, and I'll shove it up your a—"
"Excuse me?" She gaped at them for several moments, before she recovered enough to narrow her glare on Reese. "You bet on me? And with him?"
She caught Dillon's sanctimonious smirk out of the corner of her eye. "Guess that's my cue. Bye."
She kept her stare pinned to Reese. "Well?" She gave him all of two seconds to answer before she spun around and marched off.
Reese reached for Jade's arm as she stalked away—and missed. Damn. He nearly growled as he shoved his hands through his hair, torn between wanting to follow her and wanting to hunt Dillon down with an ax—a well-honed ax.
He didn't have a chance to do either. Because Jade's Captain, true to his impeccable timing, chose that particular moment to hail him into the wardroom. He froze as some hundred and fifty-odd pairs of eyes turned to stare at him.
Unfortunately, he hadn't heard the Captain's words, so he had no idea how to respond. Several seconds of awkward silence stretched to several more. And then, mercifully, someone else stepped up to the microphone.
Coffey.
"I'm afraid you've embarrassed Mack with your compliments, Captain. I'm sure he'll return the favor when he fills his father, Admiral Garrick, in on the best repair ship in the fleet."
Had Coffey overheard—or was he the one?
For a split second, Reese thought he'd actually cursed out loud. But he couldn't have. Because if he had, everyone would be staring at him and not Coffey. And then they were. One by one, the entire room turned to him, stunned. In fact, he was the only one who didn't seem surprised.
And that was probably because he was livid.
He crushed his hands into fists as he tried to divert the rage coursing through him, knowing full well that no matter what the film critics sa
id, tonight he deserved an Oscar. Because somehow he managed a smile. It even felt real. But it wasn't. And then his beeper went off.
He ripped it off his waistband as someone called out, "Must be your agent."
He forced his smile into a grin as he glanced down. And then it became real. TJ. And from the code his partner had attached, he was on to something.
Something big.
"It is. Sorry, guys, gotta take this. There's a role I've been waiting to hear about." He was across the room and at the lobby pay phone in twenty seconds flat. Another ten, and his call had gone through and TJ was picking up.
"Reese here. What do you have?"
"Hola, amigo. Your lady came in on the money."
Reese gripped the receiver. "How so? And be quick, I could have an audience any minute."
"I hear you. Okay, here's the lowdown. One of the cruisers on the list did run her reactor out of specs, just as Jade suspected."
He whistled.
"It gets better. I finally got hold of the cruiser's personnel records and did a cross-check against your boys."
"And?" He clamped down on the cord. Please, God, let it be him.
"Seems Dillon sowed his childhood oats in the same field as two guys off the cruiser—and one of them works in the reactor. Also, we got a match off the partial print you took off the key. Again, Dillon's."
Yes! "How soon—"
TJ chuckled. "Way ahead of you, compadre. As soon as the judge signs the warrant, I'll beep you."
"Great. Anything else?"
Another chuckle, this one knowing. "When do I get to meet her?"
"Soon." And that was a promise. He hung up.
"Guess you'll be leaving now—right, Mack? Or should I say, Mr. Garrick?"
Reese held his fist in check as he spun around to face Coffey. Now was not the time. "Where's Jade?"
There was a wealth of insolence in Coffey's shrug. "Sorry. I'm just her friend, not her keeper. I leave the man-handling and lying to bastards like you."
Okay, it was time.
He took two steps forward and slammed Coffey up against the wall before the guy had a chance to breathe. Then he was two centimeters away, glaring into pure shock as he ground his request out again. "Where is she?"
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