Breaking Away (Delta Force Strong #3) - Elle James Page 0,7
didn’t like that Josh was going without her. She felt a strong sense of love and responsibility for the cameraman who’d been with her on many dangerous shoots. “Be careful out there,” Kylie said
“Who me?” Josh laughed. “I have an entire Delta Force team escorting me. I’ll be all right. I’m more concerned about you. If I were you, I wouldn’t walk too close to the fence. Don’t make yourself any more of a target than you already are.”
After the team left with Josh, Mac led Kylie to the logistics team to secure accommodations for her and Josh. He made certain that Kylie’s quarters were in the empty unit beside his. “If you’re not close, I can’t protect you,” he reasoned.
Once he’d secured their rooms, Mac showed Kylie where they were and let her ditch the camera inside. They stopped by the small hospital to check on Sergeant Garcia.
He’d already been stabilized and awaited transport via helicopter to the next level of care.
Kylie stood beside the sergeant’s bed and touched his arm. “Thank you for saving my life and protecting me.”
The sergeant smiled. “I should thank you for saving me.”
She shook her head.
He took her hand and held it tightly. “It was my pleasure to protect such a pretty lady. It was worth the bullets.”
“I don’t know that it was worth the bullets. I didn’t want anyone harmed on my account.”
“All part of the oath,” Sergeant Garcia said.
“What oath?” Kylie asked while squeezing the man’s hand.
“The one to protect and serve.”
“Well, thank you, sergeant. I hope you recover quickly.”
“The doc said I should. I’ll be back to my unit soon. In the meantime, I get a free trip home. Haven’t seen my wife and kids for six months. I’d say that was worth every bullet I took.”
Kylie leaned down and kissed the soldier’s cheek. “Tell your wife I appreciate your sacrifice. Thank you for your service.”
“Glad I could help,” he said with a sincere smile.
Then Mac showed her to the mess hall that operated 24/7 for people on all shifts. Mac chose a sandwich and a mug of steaming coffee. Kylie opted for a cup of hot tea and a piece of toast.
“You need to get more than that into your stomach,” Mac said.
Kylie shook her head. “I’m not that hungry. I’m more concerned about Josh and your team getting back here safely. Think the Taliban will go after them?”
“It’s possible. They were in that village, too.”
Kylie’s brow furrowed. “I should’ve gone myself.”
“No, you shouldn’t have. You’re the one person they will want the most. If you’d gone, you’d have put the rest of them at risk.”
“Good point,” she said, nodding.
Mac ate half his sandwich before setting it back on the plate and taking up his coffee mug. “Glad to see you got to where you wanted to go. Look at you, a war correspondent,” he said and grinned.
Kylie sighed. “Hasn’t been easy. People don’t take women war correspondents seriously enough. I had to freelance it for a while.”
“Are you still freelancing?” he asked.
“No,” Kylie said. “I work for an international news syndicate. They fund my travel and lodging in exchange for gripping stories.”
“I see you on all the news channels now,” he said.
Kylie shrugged. “I don’t know that I’ve made it, but I have moved up a little bit in this world. People don’t look at me like I’m a crazy woman anymore.” She smiled across the table at him. “And look at you. I remember you always wanted to be a part of the Delta Force.”
He nodded. “I wouldn’t have made it there without you.”
Kyle frowned. “What do you mean?”
“If you hadn’t dumped me when you did, I might not have gone for it.”
She reached across and touched his hand. “I’m sorry.”
“You had dreams. I had dreams. It just wasn’t the right time for us.”
She shrugged. “I couldn’t have married you when I hadn’t even begun living the life of my dreams. Speaking of married, what about you? Did you get married?”
He shook his head. “Being a member of Delta Force isn’t conducive to long-term relationships. “So, the answer is no, I’m not married.”
Kylie removed her hand from his.
“What about you? Did you tie the knot with some highly deserving man?”
“Being a war correspondent isn’t conducive to long-term relationships. Most guys want a woman who will stay home and raise babies. I wasn’t ready for that.”
“Are you now?” Mac asked.
She shrugged, staring across the table at Mac, amazed that this man could still get her blood moving.
After she’d