Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Awakening Aubrey (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Jack 'Em Up Book 7) (4 page)

Jude

We left
Mamacita’s
and headed south. I really wanted to take Aubrey to Stillhouse Hollow Lake, but it was too dark. Instead, I took her to base. I tipped my head at my buddy, Jones, who was manning the front gate as he waved us through.

Fort Hood wasn’t exactly a tourist destination, but I found myself wanting to share a piece of myself with her. The Army, and Texas in particular, had become my home away from home and I longed to share that with someone.

I showed her the squadron, the base gym, the barracks I’d lived in until I gained enough rank to move to my own place. She took it all in stride, asking lots of questions like she was truly interested. Not just in Sergeant Cortez, not the guy with the garage and more than a passing knowledge of cars, not the Mexican guy from the Bronx. Just me. Just Jude.

She shifted to me as I pointed out the base park, illuminated by the moon and one streetlamp. “Pull over?”

I parked in the empty lot and killed the engine to follow her as she headed for the swings. I leaned against the support beam and watched her sit and kick her legs to get started, a carefree smile on her face as she gained speed and height. The breeze rustled her copper curls around her face as she swung even higher. To her left, the lone streetlight cast a lonely pool of light on the ground, so we were virtually in the dark except for the moon above that painted her features like some kind of sweet fairy.

“What? Too old to swing?” she taunted, her giggle floating on the air like fairy dust.

“Nope.”

“How old are you, anyway?”

“Twenty-four.”

“And your mom already wants you to settle down?”

“It’s a cultural thing.”

She nodded, but didn’t say anything else as she kicked her legs and turned her face to the sky.

I couldn’t resist. I sat in the swing next to her and began pumping my legs to catch up. The wind whooshed through my ears as I mimicked her carefree joy. Joy I hadn’t experienced with such abandon in so long, too afraid to shirk my obligations to everyone but myself.

“I’ll bet you think I’m just a kid like the rest of the guys.”

I glanced over as our rhythm lined up and we swung back and forth, back and forth, in perfect sync. “Not at all.”

“What
do
you think?” Her voice had become breathy and windblown.

“I thought I already told you at dinner.”

“Anything else?”

What did she want from me? Her eyes, dark as night, caught and held me captive as we rushed through the summer breeze together, the creak of the swing echoing around us. In that moment, the truth bubbled up in my chest and burst free. “I think I really want to kiss you.”

She said nothing, just studied me as she stopped kicking and let her swing slow to a stop. I toed the sand and halted next to her.

“Really?”

I nodded, my eyes dipping to her mouth. Who wouldn’t want to kiss those lips?

“Why don’t you?”

Those words, the promise in them, filled the warm air like a raincloud promising the relief of rain. And I had been living in the desert.

I gripped the chain on the side of her swing closest to me and drew her over. Keeping her close, I gently unpeeled her white-knuckled grip from the chain and thread our fingers together. I licked my lips and sucked in a deep gulp of her scent. Her pupils dilated as I inched closer until our breath mingled. I’d swear I could hear her heart galloping like a wild stallion in her chest, but maybe that was my own.

Her eyelids fluttered closed as I grazed her lips with mine. God, she was sweet. I tasted the seam of her lips and she opened to me with the same abandon she’d shown as she swung through the air. She clutched my shirt and leaned into me, our mouths fused like magnets. It was like we’d been born for this moment, everything within us lining up like two halves finally making the whole they longed to be. Peace and lust and fireworks and a tinge of fear roiled within me as I kissed her with the fervor of a religious experience. In that moment, she was my salvation.

She pulled away, her breathing ragged as she faced the sky.

I studied her profile, struggling to calm my raging emotions. I’d never felt this way before. Alive with the fierce energy of a livewire. I needed to know if she felt it too. I opened my mouth to ask, but she beat me to it.

“That was intense.”

“You could say that.”

Wordlessly, we began to swing again, gentler this time.

“Is that okay?” I finally asked, desperate to know her heart.

“Yeah. It’s just . . .”

“What?”

She glanced my way. “It’s crazy.” She bit her lip as if in deep thought. “I’m a little surprised. And turned on. And confused.”

A wry laugh escaped me as she echoed my thoughts with blazing honesty. “That makes two of us.”

We swung a bit higher. “So, what happens now?”

My stomach clenched into a fist. “What do you want to happen?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know, hence the confusion. All I know is I’ve never felt like this about anyone before and we’ve just met. That’s either totally insane or totally meant to be. I’m leaning toward insane.”

“Well, I’m leaning toward meant to be.”

Her legs stopped pumping as she flew to face me. “What?”

I kept going. “Here’s the thing, Aubrey. I had to grow up really fast, so I learned to listen to my gut and I don’t pull any punches. ‘No regrets’ is my life motto. I say what I mean and I mean what I say and I go after what I want.”

“And you want me?”

“You have no idea.”

“Huh.”

“Does that scare you?”

“No. Not really.” She thought a moment. “But that still leaves us to decide what that all means. We have totally different lives, hundreds of miles apart. What can possibly happen past this month?”

“I don’t know.” I did know that I had no right to expect anything of her. We had our own lives and were working toward our own dreams. It wouldn’t be fair to ask anything more of her than this brief time we had together.

“Well . . .” She slowed and jumped off to land on her feet in the sand. “We’ve got tonight. Let’s go get some ice cream.”

~ ~

It was nearly midnight by the time I got her back to the hotel. After the park, we got ice cream cones and drove around town, talking and laughing until I caught her stifling a yawn.

The parking lot was quiet, the Jack ‘Em Up diesel truck parked next to the flatbed, but no other sign of any of her self-appointed guardians.

“Goodnight, Aubrey.” My voice rumbled like the grit from a boulder.

Her seatbelt unbuckled with a click. “You gonna ask me out again?”

Our eyes met in the dark. “Do you want me to?”

“Do you really think there’s something meant to be about us?”

“I do.”

“Then, yeah, I want you to.”

“Even if things have to end when you leave town?”

“We can cross that bridge when we come to it. Now ask me out so I can kiss you again.”

I laughed at her refreshing boldness and realized I hadn’t smiled this much in a long ass time. “Okay. Go out with me again tomorrow . . .” I checked my watch. “Tonight.”

She frowned. “I said
ask
. Don’t tell. It’s presumptuous.”

“But you just said—”

“I know what I said. Now hurry up, Cortez. I don’t have all night.” She bit her bottom lip against a smile.

I cupped her jaw in my palm. “Beautiful, sweet Aubrey, will you please go out with me again tonight?”

Her eyes softened as she leaned into my hand. “Much better.”

“Is that a yes?”

“It’s a yes. Now will you kiss me again?”

I dove in and let myself drown in her taste, but I was still less than satisfied when I had to let her go. I watched her walk away and knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that I’d never get enough of that girl. I was in deep, deep trouble.

~ ~

Bright and early the next morning, Fletch was banging on my door. “Up and at ‘em, Romeo. Time to get to work.”

I stifled a groan and padded to the door in my boxers. “You’re entirely too cheerful for this time of morning.”

He greeted me with an unrepentant grin. “What do you mean, Cortez? I’ve been up for three hours already.” He handed me a bag. “Here. Breakfast from the woman. She’s been experimenting with muffin recipes. I can vouch for the banana nut.” He spun around. “Get dressed and meet me in the garage. The guys’ll be here at 0900.”

I scratched my chest and peered down into the delicious smelling bag. That gave me time to eat at least one of these bad boys. I grabbed one and stuffed a bite in my mouth as I moved to get dressed.

After sliding on work jeans and an old T-shirt, I started a big pot of coffee and finished off my muffin. I found Fletch in the garage, his big body crowded under the frame of his poor Charger.

“It’s fucked, huh?” he said as I got closer.

“Apparently. But it’ll be up and running and perfect in no time. These guys are really good.”

He inched out and met my gaze. “The girl’s good, too, isn’t she?”

I nodded and focused on a flaking bit of rust.

“Cute little thing.”

I agreed noncommittally, not sure where this was going.

“Cortez.”

I faced him, bracing myself for the lecture about how I shouldn’t mess with her, she was too young, we had no future, the Army should be my life, blah, blah, whatever.

He shocked me when his expression softened. “It’s okay to want it all, Jude. If you work your ass off, you can have anything . . . do anything. Hell, look at me and my girls. They’re my life, but so is my job. It works because it’s right. She’s right.”

“What’re you saying? It was one date. We just met.”

His eyes narrowed as he seemed to see to the heart of me. “Time doesn’t matter. Truth does. What does your gut tell you is true?”

I was saved from answering when the Jack ‘Em Up truck rumbled into my driveway and the guys piled out with boisterous conversation and laughter. Morning people, I swear.

Aubrey took up the rear, back in her coveralls and work boots, flaming red curls in a loose ponytail. Her smile was bright and automatic as soon as she spotted me. She bypassed her cohorts and made a beeline for me, plastering me with a kiss.

Shocked, I hesitated, but she was persistent. Silence ricocheted through the garage like the blackness blanketing the bottom of the ocean. I didn’t want to cause a rift between her and her friends, or get my ass handed to me, but, damn she was perfection.

What does your gut tell you is true?

I had no idea what was true, but Aubrey Clemson felt like the only right thing to ever grace my life in that moment. I wrapped her in my arms and kissed her back. To hell with what they thought. This was between us and I’d never hurt her.

Someone cleared their throat behind us and she drew back, her expression soft and dreamy. “Good morning.” Her voice was even softer.

“Good morning.” I glanced over her shoulder to the four men’s expressions, ranging from proud to confused to It’s-none-of-my-business. “Maybe we should get to work,” I whispered.

“Maybe you’re right. Pick this up later tonight?”

“Absolutely.”

We parted and she moseyed over to the Charger, now all business. How she managed the switch so seamlessly was beyond me, but color me impressed.

Aubrey

I was jumping head-first into the deep end with Jude, but I couldn’t find the energy to care. It was flirty, it was fun, and it felt so right I refused to believe it could be wrong.

I caught the guys, especially Jesse, giving me inquisitive glances, but I ignored them all. My life, my business, my heart on the line.

“Stop looking at me like I’ve grown another head,” I grumbled when Jesse and I were side-by-side on creepers, inspecting the undercarriage of the Charger.

“I’m not.”

I shot him a glare. “Yes. You are. And I don’t appreciate it. You’re married to my sister, but that doesn’t give you the right to judge my choices. I’m an adult.”

“I know you are. I’m not judging.” He lowered his voice as someone walked by us. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I won’t.” The words crowded my throat, clogged by doubt. Truth was, Jude could very well hurt me, even though he didn’t mean to, and I’d only have myself to blame.

“Just be careful. Having a good time is one thing, but I see the way he looks at you.”

“How does he look at me?”

“Like his last meal.”

I felt the blush heat my cheeks. Truth was, I wanted to devour Jude myself.

Fletch saved me by popping his head down next to ours. “What’s the verdict?”

Jesse laughed. “Shit. Sorry, man.”

“Ah . . .” People stirred at the garage door and Fletch glanced up. “My lady’s here with lunch if y’all are hungry.”

We all crowded around Jude’s dining room table, enjoying the air conditioning and devouring Emily’s brisket sliders and coleslaw. I inched my way closer to Jude’s side while everyone was busy eating and talking about the Charger.

He licked sauce from his finger with a grin when I nudged his arm with my shoulder. “So, where are you taking me tonight?”

“You’re the visitor to town. Where do you wanna go?”

“What’s to do around here?”

“Not much, unfortunately.”

“Movies? Miniature golf?”

“Golf?”

“Sure, why not?”

His laugh was smoky and eased over my skin like silk. “Okay, then. Golf it is.”

I glanced around at the other guys. “But frame work first.”

“Definitely.”

~ ~

By late afternoon, Jude’s garage was packed as Fletch’s friends from work trickled in. And by “friends from work”, I mean the biggest, scariest, most intimidating yet nice men I’d ever met in my life. I had no idea what they did in the Army, nor did they elaborate, but I could only imagine by the looks of them and their nicknames that it was something fierce. If not, the Army was totally wasting their resources.

Ghost and Blade (I’m not kidding about those names) sauntered in first with kisses for Emily, who’d also come over, and arm punches for Fletch. Later, Coach, Beatle, and Truck (still not kidding) arrived and introductions were made as the men all crowded around the car and its pieces.

Blake explained to them what was happening and our plans for the Charger as they looked on and made inside jokes. I jumped right in when he started describing the transmission overhaul we had planned, since trannies were my specialty.

“I’ve got big plans for the transmission, and with the racing performance-grade clutch kit and high-stall torque convertor we’re gonna drop in, it will definitely be able to handle the 426 HEMI Blake’s got in the works and probably clock in near 500 horsepower. All I need is one of these slackers to build a rear end that can handle it all.”

All six of the men who didn’t know me, stared with varying degrees of shock.

“What?” I demanded. “What do you think I’ve been doing here for the past two days? Painting my nails?”

“Well, no . . .” the biggest one, Truck, said a bit sheepishly. “We just figured maybe you were—”

“A girl?” I slammed my fist into my hip.

“No,” Ghost clarified. “Well, yes, but maybe just tagging along as a helper or whatever. Sorry.”

“Well, think again,” Jesse said with a shit-eating grin. “This little lady is a fast learner and she’s already damn good. Before we’re done with her, she’ll be able to put most other mechanics under the table. Man or woman.”

I grinned, pleased.

“What’s going on around here? Where the hell is everyone?” a seventh stranger called out with a big grin as he strolled into the already crowded garage.

“We’re in here working on the Charger,” Fletch called.

Everyone shuffled as the new guy joined the ranks of his friends with ease.

Everyone still seemed a bit shocked that I knew a clutch plate from an exhaust, so I stuck out my hand. “Hey, I’m Aubrey. I work with these guys.” I hiked my thumb in the general direction of Blake, Jesse, and Micah. “Nice to meet you . . .”

He accepted my handshake. “They call me Hollywood.”

I took in his brazen good looks and cocky smile. “I’m sure they do.”

He laughed. “I like her.”

Jude shifted his weight. I shot him a wink and he grinned in return. No Tom Cruise lookalike was going to sway me so easily from my infatuation with him.

Eventually, the big guys blazed out with Fletch early. Something about a work meeting or whatever. Blake and Micah headed out to the parts store, leaving me, Jude, and Jesse.

After a quick call to check on Rachel, Jesse grabbed a bottle of water and wiped his brow. “I don’t think we’ll be at it as late tonight.”

I nodded, concentrating on a rusty bolt that was stuck to the engine mount.

“You two have plans later?”

I peered up, trying to gauge the innocence of Jesse’s question. He was focused on Jude, who shot me a quick glance.

“Uh, yeah,” Jude finally answered.

I uncoiled to stand and wiped my hands on a rag. “Did you need me for something?”

“No.” Jesse shifted my way, his gaze inscrutable. “Not at all. You guys have fun.”

He and Jude exchanged some kind of guy-code communication that I couldn’t begin to understand, nor did I want to. Probably some sort of Neanderthal take-care-of-the-little-woman crap.

Well, I could take care of myself, thank you very much.

I purposely strode between them on my way out to the truck. I wrenched open the door and grabbed my cell phone to call my sister for some reinforcements and girl talk.

“Hello?” Rachel answered on the first ring.

“Expecting a call?”

“What? No. I just hung up with Jesse.” Their baby, Avery, cried and fussed in the background. “She misses her daddy.”

I glanced at my brother-in-law, who was hunched over the car with Jude, their conversation hushed. Ugh. “I’m sure.”

“What’s wrong?”

I sighed at Rachel’s quick understanding. “Men.”

“What happened?”

I plopped onto the bench seat and studied the two sorta men in my life. “I met someone.”

She was silent a long moment. “You
met
someone? What does that mean?”

“Jesse didn’t say anything?”

“No. Why would he?”

“I don’t know.” I guess Jesse would have no way of knowing how quickly I was losing my heart.

“Well? Spill it. You obviously called me for a reason.”

I picked at a thread in my coveralls as sweat began to bead on my body out of the circulating air of Jude’s garage. “He’s the neighbor of the guy whose car we’re working on. We’re using his garage—which is awesome, by the way—and he’s super sweet and more than a little good looking. I really like him.”

“That was fast.”

“I know. Am I being stupid?”

Her pause was palpable. “Not necessarily.”

“But . . .?”

“But I can’t really tell you anything from here. I haven’t met this guy and I don’t know anything about him. But what I do know is that you’re a smart girl. I trust your intuition. If you think he’s a good guy and you care about him, then I think there’s probably something to it. You’ve never been like this with a guy before, right?”

“No.”

“Then go with it. What’s the worst that could happen?”

I peered up at Jude’s thick black hair and broad back. “He could break my heart.”

“Good.”

I flinched. “Good?”

“Yes. Good. That means you really feel something. Do your best to protect yourself and him, but don’t let fear hold you back. I did that for entirely too long with Jesse and it got us nothing. If he’s special, let him know. If your feelings change, be honest with yourself. That’s the best advice I’ve got for you, little sis.”

I swallowed. “Thanks, Rach.”

“What’s his name, anyway?”

“Jude.”

“Sounds sexy.”

I laughed. “Right?”

We hung up and I made my way back to the garage, my sister’s words fresh and rolling around my mind like restless waves. I expected her to be more conservative and tell me to take things slow. I never expected her to encourage the possibility that this thing between Jude and I could be real.

He met my eyes as I approached. “Everything all right?”

I swiped my brow and moved into the whir of the fan, letting it rustle my hair around my face. “All good. Just talking to my sister.”

Jesse’s head whipped around. “Rachel? Everything okay?”

“You just talked to her yourself, weirdo. Of course everything is all right. This was personal.”

I avoided both sets of prying eyes as I made my way to the cooler and grabbed a Coke.

Blake, Micah, and Fletch eventually found their way back to the garage and we finished up a few small projects before calling it a night. Before we were done cleaning up, another guy showed up who looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place him. As big as the men who’d left that morning, he held an air of reserved strength as if he could see right through your soul and crush you with his hand like a tin can at the same time. Fletch pounded him on the back in greeting.

Micah grinned like a loon. “Creed! What the hell are you doing here, man?”

The stranger’s face lit in a smile as they greeted each other. “I could ask you the same thing, Corporal.”

My eyes bounced back and forth between the men. I cleared my throat.

Micah faced me. “Shit. Sorry. Creed, this is Aubrey. She’s Jesse’s sister-in-law and works with us at the shop. Aubrey, this is my good buddy, Asher Creed. We knew each other in Afghanistan.”

Now it clicked. I shook his hand and eyed the man who’d seen the combat that had wounded Micah in every way that could be hidden. “I think we met at Micah and Jewel’s wedding.”

“Right. Nice to see you again.”

Micah finished introductions and I closed up the last of the tools as Asher explained he was in town to teach some kind of tactical training.

“Tactical logistics and hand-to-hand combat takedown maneuvers?” Jude spoke up, making my stomach squirm as I faced him.

“That’s the one,” Asher said, nodding once.

“Guess I’ll be in your class for the month.”

Hand-to-hand combat?
I swallowed the lump of cotton in my throat. I knew Jude was in the Army and he’d told me he was Military Police, but I guess I’d never really considered the potential dangers of that job. I never really considered anything except how my heart strummed a silly love song every time he was within fifty feet.

Tawny eyes flicked toward me and I faked a smile. I excused myself and strolled out to Jude’s tiny front yard as the guys continued to talk military shop. I plopped on my butt under the only tree that decorated his lot. I leaned back on my hands and studied Jude’s home. Weathered but clean siding, a huge picture window with plain white curtains. A tidy row of planters lined his walkway, filled with wilting greenery and flowers that needed to be watered, as well as one dotted with the brand new sprout of something just planted. For a young, single guy, he really had himself together. I wondered what I could possibly add to his life. What could he add to mine?

Love.

The word whispered through my heart like a balmy breeze, and though I tried to ignore it and deny it, the idea took root and sprouted just like the tiny bud he was nurturing. Could we truly love each other? We hadn’t known each other more than a handful of days, yet I felt like I knew him better than some people I’d known for years. Did it even matter? Our lives were in such different places. Maybe it would be best to not read too much into things. Have fun, enjoy his perfect kisses, give him what I could of myself until it was time to go home.

I closed my eyes as a gust of air blew by. I could do that. The question was, would it be enough or would it break me?