Just Give In.... Kathleen O'Reilly

blinked twice, and then prayed that his vision was wrong.

      Survival instincts kicked in, he pushed Brooke aside and fumbled for the damned shirt.

      “What’s wrong?” asked the topless woman who didn’t think that modesty was a good thing.

      Wrong? She had no idea of the trouble her breasts were about to get them into. Everything was wrong because approaching the truck in her ridiculous heels was Sonya.

      Seeing the other woman, Brooke finally had the sense to cover herself. “Who’s that?” she asked, and he could hear the hurt in her voice. He hated the hurt.

      “I’m Sonya Kincaid. Mrs. Sonya Kincaid.”

      Brooke gasped, but before she could kill him Jason clarified the situation. “Ex. She’s my ex.”

      5

      OUT OF THE THREE OF THEM, Brooke was the only one completely relaxed. Inside the house, Sonya was perched on a barstool and the Captain brooded unhappily on his couch. Brooke pulled in a footstool from the porch and prepared to watch family dynamics in action. On television, families fought and then laughed, all in a thirty-minute interval punctuated with fast-food commercials. In shelters, families never fought, only stared ahead, silent and shuttered, not wanting to give anything away. Brooke suspected reality was somewhere in between.

      She glanced curiously back and forth, until Sonya flushed pink.

      “Could we have some privacy?” asked Jason’s former wife in a snippy voice that Brooke thought was stress rather than a natural condition.

      “I could go out to the car,” Brooke offered cheerfully.

      “She’s a guest,” the Captain said. “She stays.”

      At his words, Brooke looked at Sonya and shrugged innocently.

      “Why don’t you tell me why you’re here?” the Captain asked his former wife. Sonya Kincaid was very pretty in a very blond way and was wearing a sleek red suit that matched her lipstick perfectly. She wasn’t what Brooke would have expected of the Captain’s ex-wife. She was way too neat, but maybe that explained the divorce.

      Sonya brushed at her skirt, which was immaculate like the rest of her. “Aunt Gladys called last night. I had been planning to drive out to see you anyway, so I decided it was time to stop by. She was concerned. We all are.”

      The Captain scowled. “You drove out here for nothing.”

      Sonya nodded at Brooke. “Apparently not.”

      Sensing the tense undercurrents in the room, Brooke felt it was time to clarify the situation. “Primitive sexual urges are completely normal. No reason to worry about that. Giving in to our animalistic nature is inevitable.”

      Sonya rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. You’re taking advantage of Jason, and there’s no one out here to put a stop to it.”

      The Captain stood and glared at his former wife. “Get the hell out.” His voice was low, gruff, and it was the first time that Brooke felt a shiver of fear.

      Quickly, Sonya gathered her purse and started for the door, but Brooke called out before she could leave.

      “Wait. Don’t go like this. You walked in on an awkward situation. I’m sure that seeing your ex locked in a torrid embrace with someone new was difficult, and you’ve got a right to be a little bitchy.” Brooke winked at the Captain. “But we’re all mature adults here, and I know the Captain is a big enough man to forgive you.” Then she smiled at him. “Isn’t that right?”

      Sonya didn’t seem happy, but at least her nostrils had lost that pinched look. She stared at the Captain, and Brooke waited, hoping that she’d done the right thing.

      Finally the Captain waved a hand, and Sonya sat. “So why are you here?”

      “Can we discuss this in private?” Sonya asked, apparently not one to learn from her mistakes.

      “No. Brooke stays.”

      Once again, Brooke shrugged innocently and Sonya sighed. “I want to talk to you about the test well.”

      Test well? Now Brooke was intrigued. This was oil country, the land of black oil and undiscovered riches. Her home.

      “No,” snapped the Captain, apparently not so intrigued.

      “Why?” his former wife asked, a perfectly reasonable question in Brooke’s opinion.

      “After the discharge, I moved out here to be by myself. The last thing I want is people hanging around here.”

      “You need the money,” Sonya argued.

      “You mean you need the money,” the Captain replied. “You have the house in Killeen. I have this place. You got the better deal. Case closed.”

      Sonya glanced at Brooke. “Let’s not have this argument in front of the girl.”

      Brooke grinned. “Don’t mind me. I’m thinking of making popcorn.”

      “Jason!”

      “Brooke,” the Captain warned.

      Brooke held up her hands to keep the peace. “No popcorn.”

      By now the Captain’s color had returned to normal, his scar faded to the color of bone, and Brooke was happy to see the smile at the corners of his mouth. He was having a good time…just like she’d intended.

      He leaned back against the couch, legs splayed, the faded jeans clinging to powerful thighs that were as hard as bricks. Remembering exactly how they felt beneath her, Brooke felt a momentary throb between her legs, a reminder of an itch that had yet to be scratched. Secretly, she checked the digital clock on the wall. Eight-seventeen. It was still early. Darn it.

      “How’s Tom?” the Captain asked.

      Sonya crossed her legs, uncrossed her legs. “He left, and please don’t lecture me. I don’t want to hear it.”

      “I’m sorry,” the Captain said, and his former wife’s eyes were wide with surprise.

      “Did you love Tom?” Brooke asked, which was not any of her business, but Sonya seemed heartbroken and Brooke wanted to know exactly who had broken her heart. The Captain or this Tom?

      “I thought I loved him.” Sonya peeked under lashes at the Captain, apparently still fostering some hope. “I was wrong.”

      While the Captain watched his former wife, Brooke held her breath. If there were still feelings involved, she certainly would get out of the way. It was the honorable thing to do, but…

      Brooke frowned, not nearly so intrigued anymore.

      Sonya stood. “I’ll leave now. I’m sorry for interrupting. Think about the well, Jason. At least then you could hire someone to haul away this junk.”

      Brooke kept quiet, this wasn’t her concern, and after she heard the door close, she found the Captain watching her. There was no fire in his gaze, no feeling at all.

      The apathy hurt, and she wished it didn’t.

      “There’s a bunk in the shed outside,” he started, and Brooke managed a smile.

      “I’ll sleep in my car. It’s more comfortable and I bought this goose-feather duvet in Oklahoma. It’s very nice.” Brooke moved toward the door, but the Captain took her arm before she could leave.

      “I’ll take the shed. Sleep in the bed. You need the rest.”

      Okay, rest wasn’t what she’d been thinking. The Captain noticed her look, and his hand fell away. “I knew this wasn’t smart.”

      “You still love her?” Brooke hadn’t meant to ask, but the words were out before she could stop them.

      “No. A long time ago I was stationed at Ft. Hood. I met Sonya.