Two Days Of A Dream (19 page)

Kelly followed his gaze and her heart fluttered. There stood Cap frowning at them. He took off his helmet before pouring half a cup.

Yanking a chair out, he sat across from them. "I thought you said you were going to keep her at the hospital?" He stared down Talbit. Cap didn't look happy, and for some reason that made Kelly happy.

Talbit's infuriating grin came back. "We were at the hospital, and I worked Kelly so hard I figured she deserved a break."

"That certainly wasn't the case." She laughed at the doctor’s absurdity. "I was afraid and the blood kept me so close to fainting that I had to keep moving so I didn't end up on the floor to be tripped over."

Cap allowed the side of his mouth to pull up slightly, a small smile that she might have missed on a man before this dream. But Cap was different.

Talbit sighed. "That figures." He got up. "Okay, but if you change your mind and want better company, you know where to find me."

"Okay." Kelly’s heart knew she couldn't find any better company than Cap, but her mind didn’t trust her heart.

They watched Talbit go before Cap downed the rest of his coffee and left the table.

Kelly wasn't about to be taken for granted and stayed put, pretending to be interested in something across the tent. She wasn’t a game player, but all men need to be trained. She took a sip of the cooled, bitter brew and watched from the corner of her eye as Cap left the tent. She waited.

She kept her voice light. "Why, because you still think I'm one of your puppy dog soldiers who automatically shadows you?"

"No, I was beginning to think you were an intelligent woman."

She grinned widely. "Ohhh, good answer." She stood up and put the three cups into a tub before she walked past Cap without looking at him. "I'm hoping to be able to return the nice compliment someday." He didn't say anything, and she didn't turn to see his reaction.

Chapter Twenty-six

The woman is infuriating.
I pay her a compliment and she slings an insult at me,
Duran fumed. Or was she just teasing him? He wasn't sure. She did have a sense of humor, or was that just part of her crazy?

Her dainty steps made no noise and he glanced often to make sure she was there. She was quiet, smiling while they walked, and he wondered what she was thinking.

It didn't take long to reach the intersection in the middle of camp.

She broke the silence unexpectedly, "I know where we are now." Her eyes shone in the moonlight. "That's the Colonel's tent and the hospital is three tents down that way, right?" She pointed south as he nodded. "So, where are we going?"

Duran pointed east. "Two more tents."

"I don't feel nearly as lost as I did. I still don't think I could find my way back to Coleman's tent, but maybe in a few more days I won't be so hopelessly turned around."

"You don't have a few more days. You'll be leaving tomorrow on the transport."

Her smile dropped and she pursed her lips, as she stared at the ground. Duran had to stop her when she almost walked past his office.

"Hey, we're here."

She stopped and looked about. "Oh, right."

He paused in the doorway, remembering what had happened at the Mess tent. He wasn't going to let that happen again and motioned for her to go first, and to his surprise, she obeyed immediately.

With Kelly here Duran became aware of how small, and badly abused the desks were that flanked each side of the tent and the even smaller one that sat at the back. The smallest one was in the best shape, and he felt it would keep her far enough away that he might be able to concentrate.

He pulled out a small stack of
Stars and Stripes
newspapers, sat them on the far desk. He lit a small lantern, knowing it surely couldn’t be what she was used to, but it would have to do.

"Here, this will give you something to read while I plow through my paperwork."

She batted her eyes. "Thank you."

At least he thought she had. Maybe she had something in her eye, or was it just his imagination? He went to his desk before he could do something stupid, like take her in his arms.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as she glided over to the desk and lowered herself as gracefully as one of those fashion models he had seen while on R&R in Germany. Those skinny girls had nothing on this woman.

Duran knew he could not match her gracefulness as he squeezed in behind his small desk. He needed a desk the size of Broan's. That desk could only be categorized as a man’s, man’s desk, not like this tiny sliver of wood.

He tried to keep his huffing from bellowing through the tent, but paper pushing was his least favorite part of the job. Not so much the writing as being stuck in one place. Now, give him a wide-open space to hike or a mountain to climb and that made him happy. He sighed, knowing his woolgathering was just his mind procrastinating.

Keeping Kelly in his peripheral, only glancing up when she looked down, Duran had a hard time concentrating on the report before him.

After an hour or so he noticed she, too, stared at him when he pretended to be busy. He wondered what she would do if he looked straight at her. He tried it a few times, but she only looked away. Each time it seemed like she avoided his gaze. Could she be too shy to meet his eyes? The thought made him laugh inside. Kelly? Shy? As silly as the thought was it made it harder for him to concentrate and get his report done. It didn't help that his report was mostly about pretty woman. It wouldn't do to write about her beautiful, sky-blue eyes.

Shoot
! He erased the last line.

Duran couldn't write about the way her body moved so smoothly even in those oversized sandals or how her gown fluttered in the breeze.

The eraser wasn't going to last long.

Others might enjoy the visuals, but Broan would bust his butt. He had been fearful when the insurgents popped up out of the sand but certainly he couldn't explain how jealous and afraid for her he got when she touched the men. Not to mention how his heart picked up a beat when she told Broan she had been looking for him. She was obviously crazy, but that didn't matter to him. It should. Duran thought he must be crazy, too.

Shoot
, he needed another pencil.

Chapter Twenty-seven

About five a.m. the heat in the tent had Kelly groggy. She daydreamed while looking at Cap. When he chuckled she realized he had caught her staring at him and she blushed.

Another soldier came in and greeted Cap. "Hey, Duran, there you are." He took off his helmet and plopped it on Cap's desk with a thunk. "Heard your blonde birthday present went for a walk in her negligee last night. I can't wait to read your report. I hope you described her in
full
detail." He guffawed as he looked over the desk at the report Cap was working on.

He laughed. "That's an understatement. There's a pool out whether you're a spy or not. After last night, there's talk of adding angel to the list."

Kelly shook his hand briefly. "It's nice to meet you too." Not really glad to meet him, she fought the impulse to wipe her hand on her pant leg. He was an interesting read.

"If you would like a tour of camp, I'd be glad to be your guide."

She looked down and lifted his left hand, where a gold band shone on his third finger. Holding it between them she looked into his small eyes. "It's a lovely ring." She smiled at him.

He grinned, a tinge of pink forming on his tanned cheeks. "Uh, yeah ... Well, maybe not. Duran's probably already given you the tour anyway."

She dropped his hand. "No, actually he hasn't." Kelly gave Cap a petulant smile. "I don't seem to be as interesting to the captain as I am to everyone else."

The colonel walked in and fear rippled through Kelly. Pendle was right behind him, clipboard in hand. The ripple turned into a tidal wave, and she had the urge to hide behind Cap.

"So how's the depot, Lieutenant?"

"Colonel, sir, we have the depot cleaned and back to working order. Taylor will be shorthanded but assures me his men can handle it."

Kelly easily greeted the doctor with a smile. So much had changed since last night. She noticed that he didn't leer at Pendle like he did with all the other women. He had no interest in her. A light bulb came on in her head. Talbit had no interest in -- the efficient and as capable as one of the guys -- Pendle.

"Ah, I finally figured out this dream."

"Oh?" Broan turned and peered over Cap's report. "Do tell us."

Kelly ignored his snotty tone. "Well, they say dreams are your subconscious trying to tell you something. So each person or thing in a dream is there for a reason. I couldn't figure why Pendle was here until just now."

Pendle smirked at Kelly. “Oh yeah?" Snort. "And why is that?"

"You represent me at work. Stern, hardnosed, quick to interrogate but slow to understand others’ feelings. You're the me that I have to be at work, unfeeling and unlovable, the me I don't want to be. You're here to show me what I need to change. Wow, this is an amazing dream."

Cap jumped between the two women and deflected the fist that was meant for Kelly. "Whoa, Lieutenant." Pendle barely missed Cap's jaw as he moved his head to the side.

Pendle straightened up, breathing heavy and seething, barely in control. The colonel's only acknowledgment of the incident was a huff as he kept reading the report.

Now that Pendle was under control, Kelly felt she could go on. "I know why you're here, too, Colonel."

"Oh, am I another part of you that needs changing?" He chuckled and went back to reading the report.

"Well, sort of. You represent my fear of my father and our relationship. You don't need to be changed, but our relationship sure does."