Force of Eagles Read Free Page B

renting from a friend.
    *
    Barbara Lyon, the condo’s owner, was holding court by the swimming pool. Two younger men were stretched out on the deck chairs beside her, both intent on acing the other out in a bid for her attention, favors. Stansell couldn’t blame them. Barbara was on the spectacular side and the string bikini she was wearing would cause traffic accidents.
    “Rupe,” she called, twisting around on the deck chair and leaning forward. Stansell wondered if the rumors about her being a Las Vegas showgirl before she married and later divorced an Air Force major were true. He paused and walked toward her, deciding that even in her mid-thirties she had the body and looks many twenty-year-old girls would kill for. “I need to check your security system, we had a false alarm today,” she said, tugging the top back into place. Barefoot she was two inches taller than he was. The two younger men decided Stansell wasn’t in the game.
    He followed her up the stairs, startled at how the beige color of the bikini blended with her tan, making her look almost naked from the back. God, she does make it hard for the troops.
    Barbara turned in time to catch his half grin. She gave her long ash blonde hair a toss, a gesture she had practiced in front of a mirror, sure it would add to the effect she wanted to have on the colonel. Actually she found herself attracted to Stansell and his rather quiet ways. The difference in their heights didn’t bother her—she knew that it didn’t make a difference in bed. She liked his well-conditioned body and pleasant looks. And if he would let his dark hair with the few strands of gray at the temples grow long on the sides…She stepped aside to let him unlock the door to his condo, deliberately brushing his arm.
    “Let me deactivate the alarm,” she said. “What’s the code?” Stansell told her the four digits that worked the alarm. She carefully punched in the numbers and watched the digital display flash from “secure” to “ready to arm.” Her lips made a slight pout as she studied the box and shifted her weight onto her right leg. She recycled the alarm, fingers playing with the knot on the left side of her bikini, snapping it against her hip. “The problem’s not here. Must be the main box. I’ll get the repairman to check it.” She knew there was nothing wrong with the alarm.
    Stansell nodded. Barbara decided she was going to have to be more obvious. Some men just didn’t pay attention. “It’s hot today, you wouldn’t have anything cool to drink?”
    “Iced tea? Beer?”
    “Iced tea would be fine.” She leaned over the kitchen’s bar while he got the tea for her and a beer for himself. She had noticed the framed photograph of two small girls and a startlingly beautiful woman on the fireplace mantle. “Is that your wife?”
    “Was. Divorced. Three months ago.”
    It fell into place for Barbara. She had seen the same pattern before and knew there might be a future for her with Stansell.
    He handed her the iced tea.
    “Don’t those flight suits get awfully hot during the summer?” She reached out and drew a finger across his chest, touching the Nomex flight suit, stopping at the zipper. “All those zippers, and I do like the patch.” She ran a finger over the Triple Nickel’s squadron patch on his right shoulder.
    She waited. If Stansell didn’t take the opening it would be plan B-time.
    “I only wear It while I’m here. You can have it when I leave.”
    “I’ve got to go. Thanks for the drink.” She set the half-empty glass down, smiled at him and turned to leave. “Oh, could I interest you in dinner some evening? I do have some old friends in the Air Force. We might have some mutual acquaintances.”
    “Thanks, I’d like that.”
    She smiled at him again and left, running plan B over in her head.
    Alone, Stansell took his beer and sat down on the couch, wondering what the hell was wrong with him. Once, he would’ve been over Barbara like white