Headed for Trouble - By Suzanne Brockmann Page 0,33
what would you change about him to make him better?”
Alyssa shook her head. “Nothing,” she admitted.
“Sometimes imperfect is perfect,” Jules philosophized. “It’s a personal thing. Sam, with all of his imperfections—things that would drive me mad—is perfect for you.”
“So what would you change about Ben?”
Jules didn’t have to think about that one. “His parents don’t know he’s gay,” he reminded her. “And then there’s that whole don’t ask, don’t tell bullshit …”
Their entire relationship would have to be secret. Jules had worked hard his entire life to be open and out about his being gay. This would be a significant step backward—right into Ben’s closet. And the man didn’t even have a walk-in.
“I think it’s a good thing then,” Alyssa decided. “A sign of maturity. You know—that you’re being cautious with him. You’re taking things slowly. You’re not just giving your heart away indiscriminately.” The way you usually do. She left that part unsaid, because she knew she didn’t have to remind him.
She’d pinched him. “Don’t be an idiot. It’s kinda obvious your thing with Ben is serious—it has been for a while—even as … sex-free as it’s been. Up to now. But there’s no law saying that you have to plan to spend the entire rest of your life with every single person that you … make the magic with.”
“I know,” Jules said. And he did know. The concept, however, was easier for him in theory. He’d been friends with Alyssa for a long time, and she was well aware of his tendency to start planning a lifetime commitment ceremony within moments of a new relationship’s first intimate encounter. He was a romantic. A hopeless one. In some circles, though, that was considered a strength, not a weakness. “I’m just … I’m tired of not being a we. And here’s Ben, who’s made a point of making sure I know he’s looking for something real, and …”
So what did Jules go and do after spending a few very we-ish nights with the man? He ran away to Germany to help Alyssa and Sam with a Troubleshooters Incorporated op that was probably now going to get them all killed.
All but Ben, who was back in DC. For now.
In a matter of months, his Marine unit was heading back to Iraq. And wouldn’t that move their relationship to an entirely new level of crapitation? Provided, of course, that Jules survived the next few seconds.…
“What are you looking for?” Alyssa asked him.
But before he could answer and say that he didn’t know—which wasn’t really a lie—the timer buzzed and the bomb went off.
CHAPTER TWO
An hour earlier …
As far as distractions went, this was working.
Mostly.
Slogging through an ancient drainage pipe beneath a military installation made it very hard to think about anything besides the horrific smell.
At least they weren’t up to their ankles or knees in water. There were occasional puddles, but it was mostly just mud beneath their feet. At least Jules hoped it was mud.
He crept along, just in front of Alyssa, who was team leader for this little Troubleshooters Incorporated op, venturing into the bowels beneath a U.S. Army barracks that had been built here in Nachtgarten, Germany, just after World War II. The barracks had been built then, that is. This drainage system looked—and smelled—as if parts of it dated back to the days of the Roman Empire.
On point was Lindsey Jenkins, a tiny slip of an Asian American woman with mad tracking skills and a total kickass attitude—thanks in part to her years with the LAPD. Apparently, she’d committed to memory the blueprint of the maze of tunnels, and she moved surely and silently, leading the way through the dimness, proving to the world that size didn’t matter.
Which was something of Jules’s own mantra, since he was no hulking giant himself. He still sometimes shopped in the teen boys department in order to find T-shirts that fit him snugly enough to wear clubbing—not that he’d actually gone to a dance club in the past few years.…
But here and now, compared to Lindsey, who could move as if she had a note from her doctor excusing her from the laws of gravity, he felt oafish and noisy.
And freaking envious.
Lindsey was the relatively recent bride of Petty Officer Mark Jenkins, an adorable Navy SEAL who’d gotten leave from Iraq in order to meet her here in Germany. Her new husband’s transport flight had been delayed, however, and he’d shown up at