Camouflaged (Hiding From Love #0.5) Read Free Page B

would feel cold beneath my tongue while her ear would feel warm and silky. I shifted in my seat, everything south of the equator growing uncomfortable.
    The C.O. droned on until, from the depths of my lust-induced fog, I heard him say my name. My head snapped forward. He’d already continued past me, so I tried to look like I knew what the hell was going on. Meanwhile, Benji was persistently jabbing me in the side, saying, “You lucky fucker.”
    “What the hell?” I whispered, irritated at my own ignorance.
    “You got one of the women to escort, you dick,” Corbin answered.
    “A woman ? How? That’s against policy.”
    “Melanie’s on emergency leave and Traci’s confined to camp until her security training’s done. All the other female personnel are assigned to escort duty with other UN chicks. There aren’t enough women to go around, dude,” Benji whisper-screamed before the Captain in front of us turned around and gave us the “you’re one second from KP duty” stare. We all shut up for the remaining five minutes until the C.O. dismissed us.
    I turned to Corbin, keeping my voice low, “Who the hell did I get assigned to? I wasn’t listening.”
    Corbin stroked his chin, eyes rolled up to the ceiling. “Hmmm, who was that? Let’s see, was it Anna? No, not Anna. Maybe Adrienne? No, not that either…”
    I stepped closer to him and leaned my head next to ear. “Quit fucking around right now or I’ll make your life a living hell for the next three days. Now. Who. The fuck. Is. My. Assignment?”
    He squared his shoulders and glared at me. “Relax, man, I’m just screwing with you. It’s Alexis somebody or other.”
    “What?!” I sputtered loudly, causing several staff milling around us to turn and look at me. I managed to grit out a smile at them and then looked back at Corbin, lowering my voice. “So what does that mean?”
    He shrugged, and as I was about to explode in frustration, the C.O. came up, Alexis trailing behind him. “Thompson, there you are. I wanted to introduce you to your escortee, Alexis Garcia. Alexis, this is Sergeant Thompson, who hails from California, isn’t that right, Sergeant?”
    I cleared my throat and looked at Alexis, raising one eyebrow at her. Her face was pink and her lips were pressed tightly together. “Yes, sir, I’m from Sacramento.”
    “Wonderful. Ms. Garcia is from Austin, Texas, so you’re both westerners. Now, Sergeant, your job for the next thirty days consists of escorting Ms. Garcia to her daily assignments. She’ll be doing some work here in the camp but also visiting the nearby villages with the UN convoys. You’ll need to make sure she follows all the safety and etiquette protocols when she deals with the villagers. She’ll be delivering supplies to various entities, including individual families.”
    I looked at the little fireball, who practically had steam coming out of her ears.
    “Sir,” she gritted out. “I really don’t think all of that’s necessary. I can go with the other staff for my visits to the village.”
    The C.O. just patted her on the arm and then said, “Nope, it’s not optional. We’ve got very strict rules about civilians in the area, especially temporary volunteers like you. The Sergeant might look mean, but I promise he won’t bite. And Thompson . . . ” He crooked his finger at me and stepped a few feet away from Alexis.
    I followed and waited for him to keep talking. “As Commanding Officer of this camp, I hear everything, soldier. Everything. Your, shall we say, extracurricular activities don’t go unnoticed. I would also have to be blind not to notice that Ms. Garcia is a very appealing young woman. I’d suggest that you think very carefully before you follow your normal tendencies.” He gave me a hard stare and then a really unfriendly smile. “Things will not go well for you if you engage in any fraternization of a sexual nature with that young woman. Are you clear on that?”
    I swallowed hard.