Romancing the Crown: Kate & Lucas. Justine Davis

of the special nature of their assignment, they had been able to bypass the Navy’s usual requisition procedures and had commandeered equipment from every available source. Telephones and a fax machine had been hooked up, along with a row of computers. A printer chugged away in one corner, spewing out maps of the surveillance grid and the course each boat would take. Uniformed men and women, some from the navy, some from the Montebellan police, moved purposefully at their tasks.

      The unconventional fleet was already taking shape. In order to keep the operation from the public, only members of the Montebellan police had been asked for the use of their private vessels. The response from the police had been overwhelming. Offers of everything from cruisers to runabouts to sailboats had been coming in all day. As of twenty minutes ago, the number of boats that had been volunteered would be sufficient to cover the grid.

      There had been no shortage of volunteers from the Navy and the police to help crew the boats. Cruising the picturesque coast of Montebello in search of a lone woman—and being the acting captain of one’s own vessel, no matter how small—was one assignment that had them lining up at the door.

      Communication specialists from both the police and the Navy had set up the radio links, assigning a separate frequency for the boats in each grid and for the nearest Coast Guard or Navy vessel that was cruising offshore. All the frequencies would be monitored at the command post so that reinforcements could be dispatched at any sign of trouble.

      Unless they ran into a major snafu, the first shift should be in place within the hour. They just had to hope that Chambers hadn’t already managed to find a boat.

      Kate was still surprised that Sam had gone along with her suggestion without protest. In her experience, men usually preferred to put their own stamp on an idea before acting on it. She’d run into this time and again during her rise through the ranks and had learned to handle it with calm, steady logic.

      Yet Sam had listened to each of her points and accepted her conclusion without argument. Of all the men she knew, he was one of the most stubborn about getting his way, yet he’d given her credit for having a brain.

      Just because I was more interested in your body than in your mind doesn’t mean I thought you didn’t have one.

      She should have taken offense at his comment the day before, but in all honesty she couldn’t. After all, she knew perfectly well their relationship had been purely about sex. They’d been clear about that from the start. Five years ago, she’d been more interested in his body than in his mind, too.

      Kate glanced over the top of the clipboard she held. Sam was leaning over the shoulder of a young petty officer who was typing furiously at a computer keyboard. The pose flexed Sam’s arms against the short sleeves of his khaki shirt and tightened his pants in a way that outlined his taut buttocks.

      He was six feet two of lean, well-muscled Navy SEAL. Broad shoulders, tapered waist and a set of buns that would get the notice of any woman who had a pulse.

      She shouldn’t be looking, but simply looking wasn’t going to reawaken the pain, was it? The attraction was there, it would always be there, but she wasn’t going to let it screw up her life again. They had reached an understanding yesterday, and they’d managed to function well together for a full day. The emotions that had been stirred up by the incident at the hospital were once more firmly under control. Yes, they were. She could handle this.

      “Lieutenant, I have the meteorological data you requested.”

      Kate quickly yanked her gaze away from Sam’s rear end and focused on the young blond woman in front of her. She glanced at the insignia on her police uniform as she searched for a name. “Thank you, Sergeant Winters.”

      “Here’s a copy of the printout,” the sergeant said, handing Kate a thick stack of papers. “We’ll be getting hourly satellite updates on the major weather systems affecting the region.”

      “Good work. What about forecasting?”

      “I’ve networked my computer with the research station. We’ll have the latest forecasts the moment they’re available.”

      Kate stacked the printout on top of her clipboard. “Excellent.”

      “Would you like me to coordinate the data with Petty Officer Thurlow?”

      “Who?”

      “He’s setting up the program for current patterns.” The sergeant nodded toward the young man at the computer keyboard, but her gaze was on Sam. To be more exact, it was on Sam’s butt.

      Kate wasn’t proud of the feeling that went through her. She had no claim on Sam—she’d been crystal clear to both of them on that issue—so she had no right to be annoyed at the woman’s interest. Furthermore, she had just been enjoying the view herself. It would be hypocritical to disapprove when another woman did the same.

      Sam clapped the petty officer on the shoulder and straightened, arching his back in a brief stretch that rippled the muscles in his arms.

      Kate’s pulse thudded hard. Enjoying the view was an understatement. He wouldn’t be aware of the display he was putting on. He had always been comfortable with his body and was completely unselfconscious about using it. It went along with his penchant for touching. He was a physical man, so he naturally drew the interest of women, even one who vowed never to let a man get under her skin like that again.

      If you ever change your mind, be sure to let me know.

      “Lieutenant?” the sergeant asked.

      “Yes, that would be helpful,” Kate answered belatedly.

      She turned her attention to the papers she’d been given. She could handle this, she repeated to herself. No matter how difficult it was to concentrate, the situation was only temporary. As soon as Chambers was captured, this mission would be over and Sam would be on his way to his next one. Just like last time.

      No, it wasn’t going to be like last time, not by a long shot. They were colleagues, that’s all. She wasn’t going to get drawn into a physical relationship with Sam Coburn again. She lifted her hand, her fingers touching the small bulge where her necklace rested beneath her uniform. When they parted this time, her life wasn’t going to take any painful twists. She was going to insure they had an easy goodbye.

      The Montebellan policeman who was manning the tip line that had been set up for the public pulled off his headset and swiveled in his chair. “Lieutenant Coburn?” he called. “We have a development.”

      Sam strode across the room. Kate hesitated only briefly, then set down her clipboard and followed him.

      “A woman just called,” the policeman said. “I thought you would want to listen to this.”

      Sam glanced at Kate, then waved away the telephone headset. “Put it on the speaker, Sergeant Chelios, so we can all listen,” he said.

      Chelios nodded and punched a button on his console. “Go ahead, ma’am. Please repeat what you just told me.”

      “Hello? Yes, my name is Sophia Genero. I’m worried about my son.”

      “I’m Lieutenant Sam Coburn, United States Navy,” Sam said. “What seems to be the trouble, Mrs. Genero?”

      “Armando’s only sixteen. He’s usually a responsible boy, but he didn’t come home for dinner tonight and I just know something is wrong.”

      Sam glanced at the policeman who had taken the call. “Ma’am, this is a special police tip line. It sounds as if you should be talking directly to someone at—”

      “No, you don’t understand. He’d been out sailing this morning, and his friends told me they saw him, uh, flirting with a strange woman on the beach around noon.”

      “Flirting?”

      “He’s only sixteen,” she repeated. “He’s a wonderful boy but not the kind a grown woman would be interested in. It didn’t sound right.