By Request Collection April-June 2016. Оливия Гейтс

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СКАЧАТЬ she said coolly. She turned to Jessica and Marion. “It was really nice meeting both of you. Maybe I’ll see you over at the flight line, but in case I don’t, have a safe trip back to the States.”

      Marion gave her a hug. “Just remember that most guys are jerks,” she whispered in Kate’s ear. “Don’t be too hard on him.”

      Kate gave her a stiff smile and pulled away.

      “Now you listen to me,” Jessica whispered, as she hugged Kate. “I don’t know who this guy is, but I do know that he isn’t deserving of a second look from you. I saw what he was up to last night, too, so don’t you give him the time of day.”

      Pulling away, Kate smiled at both women and turned to Chase. He jerked his sunglasses off and frowned, his sharp gaze sweeping her from head to toe and missing nothing.

      “Everything okay?” he asked as they walked toward the Humvee that waited for them. “You have shadows under your eyes. Didn’t you sleep?”

      “Not really,” she said stiffly. “Looks like you didn’t get much sleep, either.”

      “I managed to grab a couple of hours.”

      Kate barely suppressed a disdainful snort. She didn’t want to think about what Chase had been doing that prevented him from sleeping, and she certainly didn’t want him to know that she had witnessed him kissing Captain Larson. He was the Special Ops guy; let him figure out why she was in a bitchy mood this morning.

      They rode in silence for several long minutes. She could sense his puzzlement and his concern, but refused to look over at him, or speak.

      “Are you sure everything is okay?” he finally asked. “Because if there’s anything you need to talk about, I’m here for you.” His voice was so warm and compassionate that Kate’s resolve almost wavered.

      Almost.

      Instead, she turned and gave Chase a level look, despite the fact her heart was hammering inside her chest. “I’m fine. Really.”

      “You know,” he mused, “I grew up on a ranch in Texas, and while it was just my parents and me and my brother, my uncle owned the neighboring ranch. He had five daughters. Five. Those girls spent as much time on our ranch as they did on their own, and I became pretty good at interpreting their moods.”

      Kate gave him a tolerant look. “So?”

      “So I know that when a woman says things like ‘I’m fine,’ and ‘Really,’ what she’s actually saying is ‘Screw you, I’m pissed at you,’ and ‘Leave me alone.’”

      Kate couldn’t prevent her quick smile, but then she sobered. “Well then, if you’ve broken the code, you should heed the hidden message.”

      “What’s going on, Kate? You can tell me anything.”

      Kate gave a disdainful laugh and turned her attention out the window. “Thanks, but I don’t think so. Why don’t we just go look at the site, okay?”

      She sensed his frustration, but he was nothing if not intuitive, and thankfully he didn’t pursue the topic. They drove in silence after that, until they arrived at an enormous parade field with a covered stage at the far end. Both the field and the stage swarmed with soldiers and technicians who were busy running electrical cables and wires, and setting up the amplifiers and speakers. A gigantic American flag provided the backdrop for the performers, and Kate watched as the lighting specialists flicked through all of the possible combinations.

      “Wow,” she said, climbing out of the Humvee.

      She walked toward the stage, taking note of the work being performed all around her. Along the perimeter of the parade field, food tents had been set up and Kate watched as the soldiers dragged out long tables and prepared enormous grills for what would surely be thousands of burgers and hot dogs over the course of the next two days and nights.

      “This is amazing,” she said, turning to Chase. “You really get the sense that these guys have done this before.”

      “They have,” Chase assured her. “This is the biggest base in Afghanistan, and hundreds of performers come through here. C’mon, I’ll show you where your client will be able to relax when she’s waiting to go onstage.”

      He took her elbow in a gesture that should have been impersonal, but Kate couldn’t prevent herself from stiffening at the contact, and then pulling her arm away. She heard Chase mutter a curse and sensed that he wanted to confront her, but there was no way she could let him do that. She didn’t feel strong enough to get into it with him about Captain Larson, and she absolutely did not want him to see how much it hurt her that he could go from her bed to another woman’s bed.

      Ignoring his frustration, she took her time examining the stage and the equipment preparations. She had been around concert performances for most of her life, first with her mother and then with Tenley. Watching the setup was as natural to her as breathing. When she had seen enough, she followed Chase into the building directly behind the stage. The USO had converted a dining facility into a large lounge area, with sofas and food stations, and just about everything the performers could want to either relax or practice before going onstage. There were several small rooms off to the side where they could even catch a quick nap.

      Chase came to stand beside her. “The USO has arranged to have massage chairs set up for the performers, and there are some rooms in the back where they can warm up, if they choose to.”

      Kate nodded, satisfied with everything she saw. “What time is the first performance?”

      Chase pulled a small notepad out of a pocket on his camo pants and quickly scanned through it. “The first performance is tonight, but it’s more of a warm-up, with each group only doing one or two songs. Tomorrow, two groups will each perform three sets during the Independence Day barbecue while the other groups do photo signings and meet and greets. The real show begins early tomorrow evening, with all the groups performing well into the night.”

      “So when will Tenley go onstage?”

      “I don’t have the order of the performances. If you’d like, we can talk to the USO. They’ll have that information.”

      “I know where they’re located,” Kate said quickly. “You don’t need to come with me.”

      Chase looked swiftly around, then caught Kate by the wrist and all but dragged her to one of the anterooms. He pushed her up against a wall and trapped her there with a hand on either side of her head. She would have to duck beneath his arm in order to escape, but she could see by the grim expression on his face that even if she succeeded, she wouldn’t get very far.

      “What the hell is going on, Kate? When I left you last night, everything seemed fine, and then this morning you begin treating me as if I’m a goddamned leper.” His eyes flashed. “Have I done something to offend you? Tell me what it is, so I can least try to fix it.”

      Kate swallowed hard. She’d known he wouldn’t let her behavior go unnoticed, but she hesitated to tell him why she was angry. Too many times, her relationships had ended because the guy she’d been involved with had chosen to leave. She’d had no choice and hadn’t been given an opportunity to try to correct the issue. She found she couldn’t do the same thing to Chase without giving him the satisfaction of an explanation. She knew from experience СКАЧАТЬ