Behind Enemy Lines by Cindy Dees Read Free Book Online Page A

beside him. His eyes flew open and the expression in them shifted from annoyed to startled. She kept forgetting he’d been unconscious most of the time she’d been getting so intimately familiar with him. He looked away.
    She spoke quietly to his averted face. “You must hate having anyone see you like this.”
    He didn’t respond. But then she didn’t really expect him to.
    “I can only imagine how frustrating it must be for you to be accustomed to perfect health and then to find yourself in this situation. Give it a little time. You’ll be back to your old self soon.”
    He turned his head and gazed bleakly at her. “Will I?”
    His words cut like a knife. She was responsible for potentially ending his career and causing him all this anguish.
    She reached out to smooth away the frown from his forehead. To her surprise he closed his eyes and accepted the comforting touch. And as usual her fingers couldn’t resist straying into his dark, silky hair. She massaged his scalp gently.
    As much as she savored touching his vital warmth, she had to stop this. He’d made it crystal clear earlier that he wanted nothing personal to do with her. She’d pegged him correctly. He was one of those men to whom the mission was everything. Reluctantly, Annie removed her hand.
    “Are you sure I can’t get you anything?”
    He sighed. “Actually, you can. In the top pocket on the right side of my pack, there’s a beeper.”
    She fished around and found a small black object that looked like a pocket pager. “Is this it?”
    “Yeah.”
    She handed it over, watching while he punched in a series of numbers.
    “What are you doing?”
    “Seeing if my team has left a message for me.”
    “They probably don’t know you’re out of the hospital yet, let alone that you’ve got your gear back.”
    “They will soon. I just sent each of them a message to come here.” He set aside the beeper. “In the big section of my pack, near the top, there’s a little vinyl notebook. Could you get it for me?”
    Annie found it and gave it to him. Interested, she watched him flip to several pages covered with a jumble of numbers.
    “Do you have some paper around here?”
    “Yes, sir.” Annie got up and fetched a yellow legal pad for him.
    He tore off a single sheet of paper.
    “Never write on a pad of paper. The impression goes through to the pad and can be lifted for someone else to read.”
    “I’ll remember that, Major.”
    Tom stopped and looked up at her. “What’s all this sir and Major stuff?”
    “Well, you do outrank me, and I am working for you now.”
    He scooted back on the sofa. “Sit down.”
    She sat beside him in the spot he patted by his hip.
    “You and I are going to be living together in very close quarters, Annie. And as much as I hate to admit it, I’m going to need your assistance. I’d feel awkward accepting your help if you decide to stand on military ceremony with me.”
    Annie resisted the charm in his voice. She knew better than to become vulnerable to one of these gung-ho types. “I understand your point, but it wouldn’t be proper to fraternize—”
    “Hey, I’m the first person to shout about the danger of superiors and subordinates getting too friendly and blurring the lines of command. But you don’t work for me.”
    “Then what was all that stuff about me following your orders without question?”
    His voice went dead serious. “I don’t give orders often, but when I do, it’s because people are going to die if something doesn’t happen pronto. If I ever do give you an order, I expect you to hop to it.”
    She nodded. “Fair enough.”
    “One of my team’s missions is to pull civilians out of dangerous situations. That’s essentially how we’ll treat you, even though you’re military. It’ll be less confusing for everyone if we treat you as a non-combatant evacuee. Can you live with that?”
    Annie considered him. She knew full well he was splitting semantic hairs with her, but he had