“Cheers,” she said. But it reminded him of Lewis.
“Mia.” He caught her hand.
“That’s a serious tone.”
“Your parents would really like to see you.”
“Oh, no. They arenotpulling us apart.”
He pulled her hand to his lips and kissed it. “Not possible.” He smiled, and she cautiously returned it. “But if we’re going to be … together.” He swallowed and said, “I don’t want to alienate your parents. You have a good relationship with your mum, and I think your dad was being overly protective of you and truly cares for you. Let’s go to England together. We can stay for a few days, or as long as you’d like. We could still come back here for Christmas—”
Mia threw her arms around his neck and kissed him quickly. “You’d go spend time with my mum and dad. You care about me that much?”
“Mia.” He smiled and shook his head. “I love you. I’d do anything for you.”
“Oh, Zeke.” She kissed him again. It started intense and almost out of control, but then it settled to a kiss of devotion he’d never thought was in the cards for him.
His phone was buzzing and buzzing. He fumbled to push a button to make it stop, then kept kissing her.
Mia finally pulled back and grinned at him. “I’m going to shower and pack. Then you’re going to shower. Then I’m taking you home to meet my parents.” She clapped her hands together, grabbed some clothes from the closet, ran by him but stopped at the bathroom door to blow him a kiss before shutting it behind her.
Zeke leaned against the nearby wall. He was weak. Not because he’d hardly slept. He could deal with that and had often. He was weak for Mia. His chest expanded, and he rubbed at it.
His phone buzzed again. He finally pulled it out. He stared at eleven missed calls from Admiral Gusbane. Oh. A three-star admiral and Chief of Naval Operations. Not a person he should miss calls from.
He slid the phone on, feeling like the world was going to stomp on his and Mia’s newfound love quicker than he’d thought. “Good morning, sir.”
“Captain Hendrickson. Finally. I need you and your unit.”
An assignment. It didn’t matter that they had leave if they were needed. He said nothing. He wasn’t expected to.
“Intel found the location of the still-at-large leaders from King Frederick’s regime hiding in a remote village in the Swiss Alps. I’m assigning you and your men to bring them in.”
It was an honor. Since he’d helped the Deltas protect the secret weapon from King Frederick, and Admiral Gusbane was one of the few who knew the truth about it, Zeke and his unit had received quite a few honors that traced back to this admiral. But this honor would take him away from the woman he loved. Touch therapy would not happen. Tantalizing kisses would have to be put on hold. He hated this. What would Mia say? What should he say?
“Gather your men and report as soon as possible. I’ll have the details for you then.”
“Sir …” He paused. What could he even say? Telling him no wasn’t an option. You didn’t refuse an assignment unless you were dead. He’d gone AWOL on one of Admiral Gusbane’s assignments once already. Coming here to this valley, declaring allegiance to Admiral Davidson Delta and deciding the assignment was protecting the weapon of the century. He and his men had been graciously forgiven and rewarded because they had made the right choice. But if he tried something like that again, he’d be court martialed. “I was supposed to go to England for Christmas,” he heard himself say.
“Okay…?” Admiral Gusbane’s voice proved he had no idea why that was information he needed. “It’s December eighth, son. This assignment should be a matter of forty-eight hours. You can hop a plane to England well before Christmas.”
He was right. Zeke rubbed at the back of his neck. “Of course. Thank you, sir.”
“Thank you, Captain.” The admiral hung up.
Zeke stared at the phone for a bit. Then he pocketed it. Then he paced the room. For a long time. He needed to call his men. He needed to get on a plane to Virginia Beach. He needed to …
The bathroom door opened. Steam swirled out and the woman of his dreams pranced out. She was wearing a long, burgundy dress that wrapped all around her with various ties and emphasized her small waist and her other curves. His breath rushed out.
She ran to him and threw her arms around him. Lemon candy. He loved her smell. He loved everything about her. He wrapped her up tight and kissed her, though not as thoroughly as he would like. He needed to brush his teeth.
She pulled back, beaming at him. Her dark eyes were all lit up. “I haven’t even put my makeup on, but I had to have a kiss. It had been too ruddy long.”
“You don’t need any makeup,” he told her. “You’re the most beautiful woman in the world.”
“Ah. I fancy you from head to toe.” She kissed him again. Then she pulled back and started toward the bathroom.
“Mia.” Zeke caught her hand. She turned back with a smile, as if certain he wanted more kisses. “The Chief of Naval Operations called me eleven times this morning. I have an assignment.”