“Xanthe, if you don’t get the job, this thing between us is really easy. We try the long-distance thing, we sex up skype as hot as you want. We grab some dirty weekends away and mess up as many hotel rooms as we can get kicked out of.”
“I like the sound of that, not that I don’t get the job, but my consolation prize.” He tightened his abs as she ran her fingers down them, kissing the top of her head.
“But if you do get the job, we need to be smart. The base is huge, but small at the same time. If you and me crash and burn, it could get awkward for both of us and it doesn’t look good for women when relationships go bust. I’m sorry, but I care enough to tell you how it is.”
“So you want me long distance, but not on base?”
Mack pulled them to a stop, standing on the sand with the water lapping around their bare feet. “Last night when I first saw you at the bar, I had ever intention of ending the night with you in my bed, screaming out my name. After the phone call with your ex, I wanted to show you exactly where a man should put his hands and how those nipple rings should be used.”
The pale-green eyes looked up at him with the same confusion he had thrashing inside. She wasn’t making it easy for him to do the right thing by her and her old man.
“At the party, the sun lounge seemed like a great place for our first time, in the dark where no one would come looking for us.”
“I thought you said it couldn’t take the beating?”
“If you remember, that was after we got to know each other. Xanth, I’ve wanted you in the worst possible way from the time you first ignored me at the bar, now I want you in the best way. I want to do this right, for both of us and that means not doing something now that you might regret in a week or so.”
“I leave tomorrow for my interview and if I get it, I’ll stay on base for all the medicals and on-boarding.”
“So, either you come back before I leave and we start with messing up your bedroom before we move onto hotel rooms,” he gave her a taste of the kisses to come.
“And if I get the job?” she panted, those eyes softening like clockwork.
“Then I hope you don’t mind if I look you up when I get back to my unit. We can hang out on the down low until we’re both sure.”
“How will we know?”
“Because I’ll buy you that thin chain and you’ll wear it around your neck.”
Xanthe
She loved her new job!
The whole medical unit was a well-drilled machine with one goal – to get and keep the soldiers battle-ready. For the first two weeks, she didn’t have time to be home-sick or think about anything other than not getting lost and trying to remember all the acronyms and terminology so unique to Defence and made no sense in the real world.
What she didn’t expect was how insular life could get. Most of the staff were involved or had been involved with other staff, but the prize for most of the women was the uniform and rank slides their lovers were wearing. More than one kept souvenir photos of them wearing their lover’s slouche hat with the Unit Color Patch showing. There were lover bingo competitions, and even monthly challenges where one of the units would be pulled out of a hat and any member was fair game.
“What about the ones that are married?” Xanthe had asked the girls who readily invited her to their after work drinks.
“You’ve heard the expression, what happens on base, stays on base. It’s only a problem when the wife finds out,” one of the nurses shrugged.
“And she always does!” the physio laughed.
“Only because you told her!” the nurse shoved her. “Charli keeps forgetting I was there to witness the little scene. So Xanthe, are you ready to join the games?”
“Maybe later, I’m still trying not to get lost.”
At first she thought the women were playing at sex as hard as men did. Until she started to see the fractures beneath the surface. Most of the women were all talk and only some action. The boasting was to hide the hurt when he didn’t call or got posted, and didn’t call. Or when a long forgotten wife appeared, with children and he expected his girlfriend to understand.
Was this what Mack had been warning her about? He wasn’t married, so what was the problem?
Taking a short break in her office, she flicked through her phone. Texts after steamy texts from Mack made sure she didn’t feel forgotten or ignored. She expected the sexts, but not the conversations. Gradually he got her to open up abut her childhood including precious memories of her father. Things she had long forgotten were shared with this man who should have been a one night stand but had become so much more.
He hadn’t wanted to share about himself in return, but within a week his short, one-word answers about his family turned into screens. Once his older sister left home, his parents all but left him for their own careers and travels. Almost raising himself, the independence, strength and resilience that Xanthe admired were his necessary survival traits of a boy raised to believe he was unworthy of their attention, or any real relationship.
“Have you figured out what we have in common?” he asked her earlier that morning.
It was crazy, talking by text instead of just dialing and hearing his voice. Somehow, it was easier to be honest behind her keyboard. “We both want to see your monkey?”
“Cheeky girl!” His next text was quickly followed, “Relationships.”
“You’ve got me confused – I don’t do relationships well.”
“Neither did my parents or your mother. Neither do you or I. Why is that?”
“Love doesn’t last,” she sent the message without thinking. Trapped by the uncensored honesty of communicating by phone.
“What if it could?” She could imagine him punching the buttons on his phone. Short fingernails out of proportion to the long, thick fingers and broad palm. Hands big enough to cover her waist, strong enough to hold her and yet gentle enough to raise up her chin for one kiss.
Damn him! She put her phone away and went out to the reception area to check on her afternoon schedule.
“Yet another five new patients wanting to check out our Ms Davies!” Jodi handed over the updated client list. Charli grabbed it from the receptionist before Xanthe could, ticking off the names with a commentary.
“Oh, here we go ladies, Mackenzie, Damon!”
“He asked for the last appointment of the day,” Jodi smiled. “If she’s going to start with someone, it might as well be him.”
“Who is he?” Xanthe kept her face blank, Mack warned her that he’d been around but it wouldn’t hurt to hear it from her new friends.
“Only the hottest, most fuck-worthy player on base. Believe me, when he offers to show you his monkey, go for it. He’s worth the ride.”
“Just don’t get too attached to it, as soon as you think you’ve got it sorted, the ride is over and he’s moved on,” Jodi hugged Charli, “We’ve all been there and got the scars to prove it.”
“Nah, doesn’t seem my type,” Xanthe wondered how many of her colleagues had already taken the ride. Was this what Mack had been warning her about?
“Honey, he’s every woman’s type.”
Crap.
“Lieutenant Mackenzie, nice to meet you, I’m Xanthe Davies …” she barely closed the office door before he had her pressed against it, his mouth ravaging hers.
In one movement, he released her hair from the tight bun until it fell across her face, their bodies pressed together until they came up for air.
“Xanth, oh, babe. I’ve fuckin’ missed you.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls,” she forced herself to point to the exam table, overwhelmed by his presence. For weeks he had been words on a screen, delving deeper inside her mind and heart. Now, he was all body, totally The Mack.
“I guess by now you’ve heard about my reputation?”
He sat on the bed while she pulled up his records on screen, trying to get a professional perspective.
“Am I the only female here you h
aven’t slept with?” Things she couldn’t have asked in a text.
“You’re the only one I’ve dated.”
She’d seen all she needed to. Perfectly healthy and fit specimen of a man, requiring no further assessment from her. She closed his file.
Purposefully sitting across the room in her office chair when all she wanted was to be in his arms. Her head warned her to keep her distance while her heart was already spoken for. Still, she pressed, “Lieutenant Mackenzie, you are perfectly healthy so perhaps you’d like to tell me why are you really here?”
“I know how women talk, I figured as soon as I put my name down on the list, you’d find out all about me. Better to have it out in the open now than later.” The slight bite of his lower lip was his only tell that this was a conversation he’d been anxious to avoid.
“What if I don’t want to be another number.” She clenched her teeth together in a forced smile, twirling a pen absently. Anything other than thinking that what she felt hadn’t been so special and that all those texts could have been another routine perhaps cut and pasted from his pursuit of a thousand other women.
“Babe, I told you, if you ended up here we’d play it slow until we’re both sure. I don’t want them talking about us as if you didn’t mean something. We passed that point somewhere between nipple rings and camembert on our first night.”
Xanthe wanted to believe him but needed to focus on something neutral, “I’m liking my job.”
Instead, Mack laughed and this time when he opened his arms, she went to him without thinking, “Good, and I want to hear all about it but let’s be smart about how to go about things between us. When do nominations for your next unit challenge come up?”
“You know about that?”
“Of course, we do. Is there anyway you can swing it so it’s my unit?”
“Why?”
“Because then we can hide in public. Everyone will think I’m too stubborn to give up on the new girl and you’ll get respect for playing hard to get.”
Breathless she whispered, heart overruling her head, “What if I don’t want to be hard to get.”
He pulled her between his legs. “I want you to be hard to get, impossible even. I want you to go to sleep every night and think about what you’re missing.”
“This monkey I keep hearing about?”
He laughed, “Baby, you can see my monkey any time you want but I have a different gift for you today. I was going to call it a congratulations on your new job present, but … well, open it.”
A small long box appeared from his shirt pocket. No wrapping or card. Xanthe opened to find the finest rose gold chain. He then handed her a smaller box. The chain was almost expected, but she held the second box almost afraid to open.
“I told you, I’d give you the chain when I was sure. Xanth, you’ve heard about my reputation so it’s gotta mean something that I haven’t been with another woman since I met you. That might not mean a lot for other guys, and it’s not for a lack of interest, from women I mean not from me.”
Xanthe looked at the clock, they only had a couple of minutes before questions would be asked.
“What do you want me to do with it?”
“When you’re sure that this is something you want, more than hanging out and having fun, then wear the chain.” One last kiss and she had forgotten the second box until after she had finished all the paperwork and was closing up her office.
Two, rose gold nipple rings. A perfect match for the chain.
Mack
Xanthe had worked her magic and her new friends even helped try to set them up as part of the unit challenge. To their chagrin, he was obviously content to take things slowly, as far as they knew Xanthe was playing hard to get and his friends were taking great delight in ribbing him about the one girl he couldn’t introduce to his monkey.
Nothing mattered other than Xanthe and the way he felt whenever he saw her name appear on his phone or the anticipation of hanging out. He knew she wanted to feel the same, only surrounded by his exes wasn’t easy, for either of them.
He felt her walk into the rec hall before he even saw her through the crowd. There was something about feeling a connection to another human being that he couldn’t describe, he certainly never felt before.
Xanthe and her friends joined his unit’s table, her lips giving him a gentle kiss before his arm made its home around her waist. “Nice outfit,” he checked out the skirt and shirt he had bought her on their first date. Instead of the ripped t-shirt, she had a classic black singlet and while he hoped for the black heels, she had the almost uniform flat black boots.
“This old thing? I only wear it because of the memories.”
“Be careful, Xanthe, our boy gets jealous.” Jodi laughed as Sprout delivered her drink on time and without being asked. The guy was making a serious play and Mack hoped Jodi would give him half a chance.
“It’s okay, Jodes, Xanthe can have all the memories she wants as long as she agrees to let me replace them,” another kiss this time to her neck. “One by one.”
“Oh, you two, get a room already. How long are you going to string him along?” Jodi asked, “I’ve never seen him wait this long for any woman.”
They shared a look, before Mack kissed Xanthe’s cheek and told the group, “Who says I’m not the one playing hard to get? After all, if I’m only going to be with one more woman for the rest of my life, I’d better make sure she’s worth it.”
There, he put his intentions out for a reaction, and he got one. Three of his former one-night stands were at the table and even though they ended on good terms, none of them would have expected him to want to settle down, let alone settle down with one woman.
“We need to talk,” he didn’t protest when Charli and Jodi pulled Xanthe away to the ladies’. He’d been honest with Xanthe and if she didn’t know how he felt by now, she never would. And if she couldn’t handle working with his past, well, now was as good a time to find out before she became his future, in every way.
The “talk” took longer than he expected and it was time to head into to the movie theatre with the girls all still MIA. Nervously, he tried to keep up with his mates’ banter while watching the door to the bathrooms, wanting to see her face and get a heads up on where her head was at.
“Mack, what do you reckon?” Reith got his attention with a punch.
“What?”
“Get your mind of your dick and back in the game. Do you reckon they’re about to send us back over?”
“Dunno.” Fuck, the signs were there. Training had ramped up, most of his unit had been subjected to so-called random fitness and medicals. The brass had been conspicuous wandering around training and calling the Captain off to the side for animated discussions. Yep, something was brewing and he’d been oblivious to the signs.
“Better make the most of these nights with your girl, unless you think your personality is big enough for her to miss.”
“Yeah.”
He saw Jodi come back first but couldn’t read her expression as she ignored him for Scout’s arms. He didn’t know if her intention had been to talk Xanthe out of getting involved with him or to tell her how to tame his beast. He tried not to worry, but it would help if Jodi would give him some sign.
Charli followed. Theirs had been far more intense and for all her claims of never falling in love, he knew they crossed the boundary of “just a fling”. Not exactly sex on tap, but for over a year if ever they were single and in the mood, somehow he always found his way to her bed, at least for a night.
Not since Xanthe.
Not for lack of invitation, he just didn’t have the inclination any more.
Finally, he saw Xanthe. She looked for his eyes and the world parted as she returned to the table and any questions had to wait until the last call to the movies played over the public address system.
Smiling broadly, as if she held a secret that he needed to know. She twirled her pony tail before releasing the band, quite delibe
rately, but it was only when she shook out her hair that he caught the glimpse of gold.
Rose gold.
The thin chain he’d presented her weeks ago was finally around her neck.
“Hey, you.” She’d never been so blatant in public before her arms around his neck and her body fully against his.
“It’s taken you bloody well long enough.”
“Shut up and kiss me like you mean it,” so he did.
Xanthe
One, long, drop-the-panties kiss before they escaped from the cheers of their friends into the dark theatre.
“Are you sure?” he whispered, taking her hand in the dark. “I mean, I don’t want to talk you out of anything, but what did the girls say?”
Xanthe squeezed his hand. The girls had been very blunt about what Mack was and had been to them. There was no opportunity for her to pretend this was going to be a romantic love story, or even that it would end well. Most likely it would end in her heartache, but so what. At least there was a chance he’d be worth it. An even smaller chance that he meant about her being special.
To hell with waiting, she’d been crazy about him since the first night and this self imposed “waiting for a sign” that which was only wasting both of their time.
“I agreed that I’m sure I want to see this monkey that all the girls are talking about.” A forced smile to hide her insane jealousy, “I’ve heard the reviews but need to see it for myself.”
“You know that the chain means more than that, at least it does to me.”
“When was the last time you gave jewellery to any female.” As soon as she said it, Xanthe wished she could take it back. Don’t ask questions, she thought, that you don’t want to know the answers to.
They were interrupted by the thunder heralding the start of the movie and for the next hour or so, Xanthe held out for his answer, partly hoping he forgot the question. Instead, even when they walked out she waited, getting more panicked. What if this was his go-to move and she’d been played, he might have been trying to figure out if Jodi or Charli had given away his secret. Still, since they had sat down, he hadn’t released her hand, their fingers playing their own games.
Protect Her (Aussie Military Romance Book 2) Page 4