Operation: Endgame by Christi Snow Read Free Book Online Page A

sorry for the lousy welcome. I’m Derek, Cassie’s TA. She didn’t mention you were coming into town.”
    Jake shook his hand, wondering what the hell was going on here. Why was this guy feeling protective about Cassie? Were they involved? That thought sent another rolling wave of nausea through Jake’s gut. “She didn’t know I was coming into town. I decided to surprise her. What do you mean by things have been crazy?”
    Derek shook his head. “That’s not my tale to tell, but I have to admit I’m glad you’re here. You’re military aren’t you?” He looked at Jake speculatively.
    Jake gave a terse nod. Why would it matter if he was military? Jake was starting to get a prickling sensation on the back of his neck and this time it had nothing to do with his eminent confrontation with Cassie. Something definitely wasn’t right here. Jake had a feeling Colton had been right to send him for a visit. “It sounds like I need to talk to Cassie. Where is she?”
    Derek looked at the clock on the wall. “Right now she’s reviewing the Principles of War with a bunch of freshman. I just came back over here to grab some paperwork she forgot. They’re over in Holden Hall, room 134. The lecture should be over in about an hour. You could head over and slide into the back. It’s one of the big lecture halls, so you could slip in unnoticed.”

    ***

    Jake slid into one of the chairs in the back of the lecture hall. Thankfully, part of his training in the Air Force taught him how to move quietly, even with the inconvenience of crutches. The room was darkened except down on the platform where Cassie stood lecturing. Damn she looked good. If he’d been lucky enough to have professors that looked like her when he was in college, he definitely wouldn’t have skipped so many classes. Looking around the room at the boys’ enraptured attention he had a feeling that she didn’t have too many openings in her classes.
    She was dressed in a fitted grey skirt which cupped her ass like a glove. Her top was a flaming orange, button down with French cuffs. The color highlighted her auburn hair which was hanging loose in waves down her back so it looked like flames. The entire look was finished off with fuck-me heels which were the same color as her skirt, with little orange bows on the back of them. She even had a little pair of reading glasses perched onto the tip of her pert nose. The entire look sent his naughty professor fantasies flying and he felt a tightening at the front of his jeans.
    She had a laptop computer feeding into the lecture hall’s projection system as she talked about Sun Tzu’s The Art of War , specifically… the five types of intelligence sources and how to use them. She moved and spoke with a self-assurance earned by her expertise on the subject and her voice carried out over the lecture hall.
    As Jake watched her lecture, he realized there were details he’d missed during his initial physical perusal of her. She’d lost weight since May. Not too surprising with the stress Chris’ death would have caused her, but she didn’t have any extra to lose in the first place. Also, behind the rims of her glasses, he could see dark circles under her eyes. She obviously tried to cover them up with make-up, but there was no disguising the fact she wasn’t sleeping as much as she needed.
    He continued to watch her, simply enjoying the view of her while she was in her element. Regardless of what brought him home, he savored this moment. There were times over the past few months when he’d wondered if he’d ever see her again. Surprisingly, with everything else on his mind, he found himself interested in the lecture too. She was passionate about military strategy and it showed when she talked about it.
    Suddenly, there was a huge bang over on the right side of the room as someone dropped a book. Cassie screamed and swung around, obviously startled and frightened. Quickly, realizing what the sound was, Cassie