Cinderella Liberty (10 page)

He'd go to the strip club with his friend. He'd sit there, even have a beer, but Crash knew he'd only be there in body, not in spirit. His mind would be on the woman in that car driving away from him.

CHAPTER 8

Camp Leatherneck/Bastion

Helmand Province, Afghanistan

June 2013

"We have to have a roommate? Seriously?" Zippy turned on the three overhead ceiling lights with a flip of the switch inside the door of their quarters. His lips were pressed together as he shook his head, telling Crash he wasn't done ranting yet. "We're fucking senior staff NCOs, and we don't even get our own quarters on this deployment?"

Crash propped his M4 against the wall just inside the heavy steel door of the windowless, metal Containerized Living Unit he'd call home for the near future.

He made his way across the bare tile floor, leaned against the single table in the CLU and tossed the piece of paper in his hand onto the bare surface next to him. On it was written the five-digit code for the cypher entry lock on their door, but he'd already memorized it.

Crossing his arms, he took in the rest of their accommodations for the next seven months. He eyed the two bunk beds and four mattresses lined up along the walls. Given the set up, he figured they were lucky they only had to double up. One word from command and things could get a whole lot more crowded in their ten by sixteen foot quarters. "You know, most of the other gunnies have four in a can. We should be grateful there's only the two of us in here for now."

"Great." Zippy rolled his eyes. "Keep talking like that and you're gonna jinx us."

"Well, look at it this way. As least we were assigned together. They could have stuck us with some Marines we don't even know." Crash tried to point out the bright side of the situation, though given Zippy's mood right now three strangers as bunkmates might be preferable to his company.
 

Zippy twisted his mouth to one side. "I guess."

"I heard there's free Wi-Fi. That help any?" If he was going to have to live with him, Crash was determined to knock this shitty attitude out of Zippy.

"I heard it doesn't work more often than it does and the signal is crap." His friend shot him a look and moved toward the bunk beds. "Which side you want?"

"Does it matter?" Crash asked.

Four undecorated steel walls, uninterrupted except for a single door, made up the backdrop of their lush accommodations. It wasn't like there was a view or one side that was better than the other.

"Just asking." Zippy bent to unzip his duffle. "It's freaking freezing in here."

"Well, Jesus, don't bitch about it to anybody. Use a damn blanket and be happy we're not sweltering in this steel box." Given it was about a hundred and eighteen degrees Fahrenheit outside Crash wasn't about to complain the A/C in their can was too cold.

Being raised in the South, Crash firmly believed it was better to be too cold than too hot. A man could always put on more clothes, but he could only take off so many. And he had no intention of sleeping naked with Zippy in the next rack.

"I only brought one blanket with me. I'll see how it is sleeping tonight. I might have to ask Trish or my mom to send me another one."

The mention of Trish caught Crash's attention.

They'd agreed it was a predeployment fling, yet Crash revisited memories of those two nights he'd had with Trish every time his head hit a pillow.

Sometimes when there wasn't even a pillow. He'd thought of her during the layover in Germany while leaning against his bag on the floor of the airport waiting for the next flight. He'd thought of her until he dozed off on the four flights it took to get them from North Carolina to their final destination in the Helmand Province. He had no doubt he'd continue to think of her and the time they spent together while in his rack just feet from her brother.

Boredom. That's what it was that brought his mind to her so often. It's not like there was a television or much else for distraction. Crash hadn't wanted to waste the space in his bags bringing anything to read other than the compact leather-bound bible he'd carried during every deployment he'd been on in his career.

Of course, he'd resort to thinking about Trish. It was a good memory and there was nothing else to think about. That was all it was. It wasn't like he was falling for her or anything.

Still, he couldn't stop himself from extending the conversation. "So, you talk to your family since we left?"

While pawing through clothes in his bag, Zippy said, "Not since we were laid over for those few hours at the base in Maine."

Crash nodded. "I guess we should boot up our laptops and see if there really is usable Wi-Fi. Then we can at least email home to tell them we're safe."

Zippy pulled a set of sheets out of his bag and tossed them on the bed. "I'll try tomorrow. I think we have to get a code to log in anyway. I wanna get unpacked and lie the hell down. I didn't sleep for shit last night in Kyrgyzstan. I'm exhausted. Besides, there's what? An eight and a half hour time difference? Neither Trish or my parents are going to be on Skype right now."

Skype.
Crash hadn't thought of that possibility. Email yes, but live video chats, no. While Trish was on with Zippy in their tiny, shared space, Crash would hear her voice. Her image would be just feet from him, in living color on the computer screen.

Shit. So much for his hopes that the memories would fade, that he'd forget about her so he could concentrate on getting through these seven months. This wouldn't help their mutual plan to have a no-strings fling and then part ways.

Strange, but the more Crash thought about it, the more he realized he wasn't all that upset that plan had gone down the crapper. He liked the idea of seeing and hearing her again, even if she was talking to Zippy and not him. Crash couldn't afford an emotional attachment right now, but hell, he could hear her bicker with her brother and enjoy the sound of her laugh without getting attached. Hell, that would be almost as good as having a television.

~ * ~

New Jersey

"Look. I know there's something up with you." Dawn's eyes zeroed in on Trish across the table.

Trish paused, her glass of wine halfway to her mouth. "What? No. What makes you say that?"

"Because the past couple of times we've been out you haven't mentioned our trip to New York once. And if I bring it up you change the subject."

"No, I don't. You're crazy." Trish's heart rate sped. She'd been so careful to not talk about that trip so nothing would slip out about her and Crash, that now Dawn suspected.

"No, I'm not crazy. You're obviously pissed about what happened between your brother and me. I'm sorry, okay? If I'd known it would affect our friendship, I never would have done it. I honestly thought you were behind helping me be with him when you suggested we go up to the room that second night. But I see you weren't and I can't change it now, so can you just please forgive me so we can move on?"

Phew. Trish tried to hold in the breath of relief that threatened to whoosh out of her.

"It's fine. I forgive you." And now Trish had double the guilt to carry around. First, because she was hiding her night with Crash, and more because now Dawn assumed it was the hookup with Danny making things weird between them.

"How's he doing anyway?"

Trish glanced up. "Who?"

"Danny. Your brother. The one in Afghanistan." Dawn's eyes widened as she stared at Trish.

"Oh, he's fine." Christ, she sucked at this lying stuff. "I got an email telling me he's okay and that they'd gotten to Afghanistan. It took them a few days, but they're on base now. They're sharing a room, which they weren't expecting so they're kind of pissed about that."

"They? Who is this
they
you keep talking about?"

And there was one more mistake. Trish had been better off when Dawn thought she was mad. "Danny and Crash. The guy who was here—"

"I remember Crash. He was cute, don't you think?"

Cute was not a word Trish would use to describe Crash. Puppies were cute. Toddlers were cute. Crash was—silent but strong. Big but gentle. Rugged but handsome.

Trish tore herself out of her own thoughts long enough to glance up and see Dawn watching her, brows raised, apparently expecting some sort of response to her last comment. "Uh, yeah. I guess."

Dawn frowned. "Jesus, woman. You need a man. If you're so deep into sexual hibernation you didn't notice that hunka man and how he was looking at you that weekend, we've got an emergency situation here."

"Was he looking at me?" Trish couldn't help it. She had to ask.

"Uh, yes. Oh my God. I'm getting you laid tonight. That's it. Desperate times demand desperate measures." Dawn craned her neck to look around them, presumably for a candidate for her quest to get Trish some sex. Little did Dawn know that Trish had so much sex that first night with Crash, the next day she'd had sore muscles. She'd been sore other places, as well.

There was no way she could be with another guy for a meaningless night of sex now, because what was supposed to be exactly that with Crash, hadn't been meaningless at all. She was clearly incapable of having a one-night stand. She couldn't get him or their parting kiss out of her mind.

Dawn leaned closer. "Okay, there's a guy at the bar. No wedding ring and he keeps glancing this way. I think he's checking us out. You should go flirt with him."

"First of all no wedding ring doesn't mean he's single or available. Second, he's probably checking you out, not me." Trish tipped her head toward the good expanse of cleavage Dawn was showing tonight.

"Yeah, because men never look at you with all that hair of yours bouncing around and those gorgeous green eyes and legs so long you could play women's basketball." Dawn rolled her eyes. "Please."

Trish smiled. "Aw, thanks. You're sweet."

With all the flirting and cleavage, it was sometimes easy to overlook what a genuinely generous person Dawn was.

"Not sweet. It's true." Dawn pushed her chair back from the table and stood. "I'm going to ask if he'd like to join us."

"No!"

Dawn frowned. "Why not?"

"Just please, sit back down."

With a huff, Dawn sat. "What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing. I'm sorry. If you want to talk to him, you go ahead. Just don't bring him over for me, please." Trish remained under Dawn's scrutiny.

"And I'll ask you again, why not? He's cute. He dresses nice. He looks interested. Why don't you want to meet him?"

"Because I had sex with Crash that weekend we were in the city and you were with Danny." The truth came spilling out, and Trish felt the wave of relief wash over her once it had.

It would have come out eventually anyway and everything would be so much easier now that Dawn knew. Not just so Dawn would stop trying to fix her up with random men, but also because Trish needed someone to talk to about what had happened.

"You what?" In her surprise, Dawn's voice was so loud Trish cringed.

"Shh," Trish hissed and kept her own voice low. "You heard me."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I guess maybe I was embarrassed. I didn't even know him before that weekend."

Dawn dismissed that with a wave of her hand. "So what if you'd just met him? You spent hours together, touring the city, eating, drinking, getting to know each other as well, if not better than you would have if you'd been on a first date."

"I guess."

"I still can't believe you didn't tell me." Dawn put on a scowl, but seemed to get over it as she leaned across the table. "Have you talked to him since? Did he call before he left? Have you been emailing him?"

"No. It was just some fun before he deployed. We agreed on that before we did anything. It wasn't meant to be the start of something." Too bad. Trish wouldn't have minded something. Anything.

"Hmm, I wonder if he's said anything about you to Danny. You could feel your brother out—"

"Oh my God, no. Are you crazy? Danny can't know."

"Trish, they're friends. Why would he care if you're interested in Crash?"

"Because it's not like we agreed to start dating. It was a one-night stand. Well, two nights, but you know what I mean. Danny can't know that."

"You know about Danny and me." Dawn cocked a brow.

"Women are different, I guess. And Crash is different. He's honorable. He didn't want to even consider doing anything because I was his friend's sister. I had to convince him it was okay."

"Convince him, huh? You dirty girl. I never knew you had it in you." A sly smile bowed Dawn's lips.

"Stop. I've been holding this all in with no one to talk to for weeks. Now that you know, I need you to be my friend, not tease me."

"I am your friend. And I don't see a problem."

"You don't?" Trish saw nothing but problems. She'd have to lie to her brother forever about this. And she couldn't stop thinking about Crash.

"Nope. You should be writing to that man. Letters. Emails. Send him dirty pictures of yourself. Whatever. Make his time fly by and when Crash gets back you'll be the first one he wants to see."