“Come on, Iz. Play along.”
“Running really fast so I’d never have to fly again,” I managed to get out. Shifting my head, I looked up at Nate. Other than the worry in his gaze as he met mine, he seemed completely unfazed. “I always thought I’d be calm and collected if anything like that happened,” I whispered. “I froze.”
“You telling me that Isabeau Astor might actually be human? She’s not perfect?” He flashed a grin, and that dimple appeared, rendering me speechless again.
“You know every flaw I have.”
“Including your horrendous taste in men,” he teased.
I scoffed.
“There she is.” He ran his thumb over my cheek and stood, helping me to my feet. He took stock of everyone around us doing the same. “Hate to break it to you, but it’s about to be a long night.”
“Because the helicopters are gone.” I nodded. “We’re stranded.”
“Stranded and surrounded,” he said. “But don’t worry, our ride will come back armed to the teeth. Until then, we’ll make sure we’re safe here.” A corner of his mouth lifted. “And in the meantime, the twelve-inch rule still applies.”
I rolled my eyes and pulled myself together, and all playfulness left Nate as we went to greet the people we’d been working for months to get out.
Later that night, we sat around one half of the VIP lounge we’d taken over on the second floor to give the operators a higher vantage point. They all took shifts, some patrolling, some sitting, others sleeping.
Everyone except Nate, who’d stuck to my side, only breaking the twelve-inch rule when I told him he would not, in fact, be handing me the toilet paper. At least he’d let me take off the helmet once they’d made sure the airport grounds were clear. The actual fighting was miles away.
Darkness settled around the airport, and the lights in the lounge were dim as most of the squad finally settled in to eat. Turned out that they traveled with their own food, which they’d split with the families who were now mostly asleep a couple of rows over, stretched out on the chairs like they were just on an extended layover.
“That’s not what happened,” Sergeant Rose said, pointing his finger at Gray as the others laughed.
Nate shook his head, but a smile curved his mouth as his friends told stories. At least, I assumed they were his friends. I could tell he was close to a couple of them, though they didn’t have names on their uniforms. Seeing Nate smile, even briefly, was intoxicating. I found myself watching him to see if he’d do it again.
“What?” he asked, catching me staring.
“Just thinking that it’s been a while since I’ve seen you really smile. Go figure we’re in an airport.”
“Fucking airports.” His dimple appeared again. “You should eat,” he said, handing me an opened, heated packet of something. “It’s spaghetti, and trust me, it’s the best of the options.” He glanced at his watch. “I’m guessing your meds are wearing off, so you’ll be ravenous any minute.”
My lips parted as I took the packet. “You remember that.”
He nodded.
“Okay, since it’s just us,” Gray said, leaning back in his chair across from us. The radio unit was next to him, which I guess made him the comms guy. “Tell us about Sergeant Green here, would you?”
Every other operator, even the guy sitting at the window, turned to look at me.
“No.” Nate shook his head as I took my first bite.
It wasn’t gourmet, but it would stop my stomach from growling.
“Come on,” Gray groaned. “It’s more than obvious she knows you.” He grinned at me and lifted his eyebrows. “You do, don’t you? I bet you know tons of stories he won’t tell us.”
I folded my legs under me so I sat crisscross in the wide seat and glanced Nate’s way.
“Just because you guys are a bunch of narcissists who talk about yourselves all the time.” He glared at Gray.
“As opposed to you, who says absolutely nothing,” Black countered. At least I thought the blond guy was Black. Pretty sure the guy with the dark beard in the corner was Lilac or something ridiculous.
“You have to give us something.” Gray leaned forward, putting his hands together. “Please. We’ll never get this opportunity again.”
I took another bite and looked at Nate.
We locked eyes for a second, and he rolled his eyes. “Fine. Just . . .” He sighed. “I’m trusting you.”
I nodded, understanding what he was saying. If he didn’t share the personal details of his life, there was a reason for it. He’d barely shared the details with me. “What do you guys want to know?”
Gray whooped and sat on the floor like it was story time. “How long have you known our boy here?”
“Almost ten years.” Innocuous enough.
“Did he hatch from an egg? Arrive in a spaceship?” Lilac asked. “Grow up like George of the Jungle?”
“No.” I laughed. “He grew up on a farm.” The farm. I glanced at Nate, wondering if his father still lived there, or if he’d sold it like he’d threatened.
We locked eyes, and his expression softened.
“A farm?” Gray’s eyes widened. “Really?” he asked Nate.
“Really.” Nate nodded, looking away with a slight smile.
I took another bite.
“What else do you have, Ms. Astor?” Black asked, rubbing his hands together.
“He likes cookies and cream ice cream.” I grinned.
“Traitor,” Nate accused, his eyes lighting up.
For a second, I forgot we were in Afghanistan. No, we were on a street on Tybee Island, laughing and flirting behind ice-cream cones. I could almost taste the butter pecan. It was a lifetime ago, and yesterday, all in the same breath.
That’s what Nate was to me. As far away as a lifetime and as close as yesterday, as near as twelve inches.
“This is so good.” Gray glanced between the two of us. “Has he ever been married?”
I nearly choked on my spaghetti but forced it down my throat. Had Nate found someone and married her in the almost three years it had been since New York? If he had, surely these guys would have known, since they were a part of his present. Why did the thought cut like a damn knife? I’d worn Jeremy’s ring until last night. I was hardly in a position to judge.
But apparently, I was in the perfect position to be jealous as hell of a woman I’d never met and would never know. She’d have his heart, his laughter, his smile, his arms around her at night, his body, his kids . . .
And I hated her.
“So is that a no?” Gray asked.
But he’d never changed his next of kin form.
“Only once,” I answered, ignoring the way Nate gaped at me.
“Really?” Lilac’s eyebrows rose.
“Really.” I grinned. “At least that’s what he told the nurses so he wouldn’t get kicked out of the waiting room when I was in surgery.”
Nate snorted. “Never living that one down.”
Gray laughed. “This is amazing. Okay, what’s with the taped-up tag he carries around?”
My brow puckered, and I looked to Nate.