Love in the Drop Zone by M. L. Buchman

Author:M. L. Buchman [Buchman, M. L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Buchman Bookworks, Inc.

8

JD still couldn’t get a read on what Cindy was thinking. She was not a woman who wore her thoughts on her sleeve. Or on those beautiful lips.

Her smile had either said that’s all she thought the op was, an interesting challenge. Or was it some sort of double entendre about himself. He just couldn’t tell. He could hope, but he couldn’t tell.

Once they were seated side-by-side in the Viper—hot lady in hot car inside a combat aircraft, damn but he was doing something right—he reached into the miniscule glove compartment. The car’s cockpit was so tight, he was practically in her lap to do so. He still didn’t know if that was welcome or not, so he pulled back as fast as he could.

“Here’s your ID.” He handed her a battered set of Mexican papers.

She riffled them open, “Gloria Chavez.”

“I thought it would be easy for you to remember to respond to because you’re so freaking glorious.” And he really needed to remember when to shut up.

Cindy— No! Gloria, for the duration of this mission, held the papers to her chest as if they were somehow special.

Before he could ask what she was thinking—not a chance she would tell him but he wanted to ask anyway—the loadmaster tapped on the hood of the car. Then he raised a hand as if pulling up the parking brake.

JD made sure it was raised, then gave a thumbs up.

The loadmaster began knocking loose the tie-down chains on each tire.

“What’s your name?”

“I’m Juan David Ramírez on my papers.”

“What’s your real name?”

The loadmaster lowered the C-17 Globemaster’s rear ramp. It opened to reveal the dark of night and a remote stretch of a gravel road deep in the Sonoran Province south of Nogales.

He tried to find some way to not answer the question, but couldn’t find one.

He stomped down on the brake and started the car’s engine. It thrummed to life. He could feel the vibration, but the redoubled roar from the jet and the open cargo bay door completely drowned the sound out.

“Jimmy Dean.”

“Like the sausage?”

He sighed, “Exactly like the sausage. My parents wanted an American sounding name and didn’t know much English when I was conceived.”

Her laugh sparkled to life. She reached out a hand and rested it on his arm as if to steady herself. It was the first time they’d ever touched, other than that one stolen brush of his finger down her cheek—the softness of her skin had almost undone him there and then. She’d become a thousand times more real in that moment.

Now, with her fingers wrapped lightly around his bare forearm, energy jolted through him like lightning.

“You asked how I was so patient?” The laugh still bubbled in her voice.

“Yes?” JD responded cautiously. Now he wasn’t so sure he wanted to hear her answer.

The loadmaster flashed ten fingers twice. Twenty seconds.

JD slipped the car into third gear, but kept his foot on the clutch. He hit the headlights, and the outside world leaped to visibility. Beyond the open hatch and a dozen meters below, a two-lane unpaved road raced away from them.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.