were devious, unreliable, out for whatever they could get.
“You shouldn’t have jeopardized your promotion.”
“Hey, that’s what buddies are for, right?”
Were they still buddies? He’d never questioned that before. And he didn’t like doubting it now. Hughes used to be just one of the guys. But hell, was she?
The thought of not having Hughes as a friend shook him. She was the only one who’d always been there for him. Avoiding her gaze, he headed for the lunch line like they did every day. As they passed tables, the room quieted.
Hughes slowed down and Mitch noticed airmen staring, following them as they grabbed lunch trays. Then he saw Sanders. The only guy in the room not staring at them. He was limping toward the door at a fast clip.
Hughes ignored the stares and piled her tray with her usual two sandwiches, bag of chips, apple, a bottle of tea and a bottle of water. Just one of the many things he’d always liked about her. No false declarations of needing to lose weight and eating only enough to keep a gerbil alive.
Didn’t show on that figure of hers, though. His gaze wandered down to her butt as she moved to sit across the table from him. Her ass was in prime condition. And so was the rest of her. The clinging dress she’d worn last night had left just enough to the imagination to drive a man insane.
“Hughes got catsup on her chest?” Their buddy Grady slid in beside Mitch and set his tray on the table.
Squeezing his eyes closed, Mitch realized he’d been staring at Hughes’s breasts, picturing them as they’d been last night. He was going insane. But even more unbelievable, Hughes herself hadn’t said a word. Since when did she miss a chance to make some remark at his expense? She was studying her sandwich as if it revealed the secrets of the universe. And was that a blush on her cheeks?
“I, uh. She… We—”
“This awkwardness wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain lady in a red dress at the officers’ club last night, would it?”
Hughes’s gaze snapped up to Grady. “You heard?”
Grady grimaced. “I don’t think there’s an officer on base that hasn’t.”
Panic seized Mitch. That meant somebody had probably seen him kiss Hughes. And not just kiss, he’d groped her with about as much finesse as a horny teen.
“I don’t listen to gossip,” Grady said, giving a pointed look to Hughes. “Just wanted to warn you. You’re not in the same squadron, but you still work together.”
Mitch winced. They were both up for promotion. His career was everything. And there was nothing more important to Hughes, either. At least, to the Hughes he used to know.
“I was just finally paying McCabe back for Guam,” Hughes spoke up, and then took a huge bite of her sandwich.
Guam. That’d been, what, four, five years ago? He’d told a bar full of gamblers that Hughes was a nymphomaniac, after which she’d had to fight off a truckload of drunks. He and a few other guys on leave had jumped in and they’d all been hauled off by the MPs. Mitch almost chuckled.
Of course, he’d known Hughes’s act last night had been a prank. And yet, he’d fallen for it. Damn, she’d probably had someone videotape the whole thing and post it on YouTube. An irrational feeling of betrayal crept up Mitch’s intestines.
Not Hughes. Anybody but Hughes.
That kiss had been…real. At least, for him. And she’d acted as if it felt entirely real for her, too. Would she deceive him like that?
“You all right, McCabe?” Grady cut into Mitch’s dark thoughts.
Mitch nodded. “Absolutely.” He forced a grin. “Man, Hughes got me good. I should’ve seen it coming after losing that bet with Jackson.” He ducked his head and spoke low only to Hughes. “You know, I could get you into bed if I really wanted.”
Hughes snorted. “Yeah, right. Lucky for me you’re…er, off duty for the next three weeks.”
The derision in her tone pricked his pride. As he stared into her eyes, an electric charge zapped between them.
And suddenly he pictured her again as she’d been last night. Only this time she lay on his bed, her head in her hand as she beckoned him with a crooked finger…
Grady cleared his throat and the image shattered. “So, you ready for night maneuvers, Hughes?”
“Yes, sir.” Hughes took a bite of her sandwich. “Looking forward to it.”
So Hughes was going to start teaching night maneuvers? That meant she’d be on night