He looked across the table at the woman in front of him. God, she was beautiful! It was hard for him to try to remain on task. He needed to go over security details with her, discuss how they were going to evacuate an entire town, not lust after her. Yet, here he was, doing just that, lusting after her. He forced himself to look down at the clipboard in front of him, it was a list of things he absolutely had to accomplish tonight and staring at the woman in front of him was not on it! Though, discussing their relationship as commander and subordinate was. But, that was for later in the evening when they were alone. He was still determined to win this woman over and prove to her she wasn't a passing fling. He just wasn't built that way. In fact, he'd never had a passing fling in his life.
"Okay, so, do you have a security detail plan for while we are here?" He looked up momentarily and then looked right back down. He was actually flustered by this woman, another thing that hadn't happened to him since he was a teenager.
"Yes, sir. I've handed over the schedule to First Sergeant Hauser, I mean, Duke. Everyone has a shift. I've set it up so that the women have the first and the last shifts of the night, everyone will work in teams of two minimum and they have two hour shifts of walking a post." She said simply, surprised that he really was going to talk business. She was certain this dress was going to distract him, make him see how she felt when he objectified her. But, no, he barely looked at her and that was just to look at her face.
"Good, now, about that evacuation plan? How is that coming?"
"Good, sir, I have Sergeant Wilkes, I mean Bluebonnet working on it with Sergeant Perlmutter, I mean Mutt. Oh, I'll never get used to these code names." She answered.
"Good, good, glad to hear it." Hawk said as Roadblock placed the meal in front of the two officers. It was a succulent roast chicken covered in bacon and stuffed with a savory cornbread stuffing, a side of garlic mashed potatoes and tasty green bean dish Kathleen had never tasted before. "Thank you Roadblock." The monstrous chef smiled a smile as big as he and walked away.
"Hope you like it, sir, ma'am."
"It smells absolutely divine." Spitfire dug into the potatoes and closed her eyes as she savored the flavors embedded in the chicken. "Tastes even better than it smells."
He watched her relish the flavors the chef have somehow magically infused into the chicken and the rest of the dish. The way her face softened mesmerized him. He forced himself to look down at his own dinner and begin to eat the dish. He, too, found the flavors of the dish to be beyond compare. Roadblock had done it again.
"Now, how do you plan on working out the evacuation procedures?"
"I was thinking, we'd enlist the help of the Colorado National Guard, sir."
"Good, good thinking."
"Thank you, sir." Spitfire smiled as she took another bite of her dinner. "Oh my god, this is good! I've never tasted anything like it."
"Roadblock is a magician with food. Wait until you taste his dessert." Hawk smiled.
A half hour later, Hawk walked her to her tent. He stood in front of her, smiled.
"I had a good time. Thank you, sir." She smiled.
"I did too." He was confused. First, she wanted nothing to do with him, now all of a sudden she was starting to warm up to him. There had to be something going on. It wasn't that he wouldn't be happy if she did, in fact, actually start to warm up to him. He was convinced that he had met the future Mrs. Abernathy, he was questioning her motives right now.
"Would you like to come in? I have some drinks, still non-alcoholic, but , still drinks." She smiled. "I want to talk about some other things."
"Sure." He narrowed his eyes, suspiciously at her as he followed her.
She walked over to the small cooler next to her bunk, bent over causing the back of her dress to rise up in the back, exposing more of her thin, well-defined legs. Hawk's mouth went dry and he suddenly found himself uncomfortable in his dress slacks, thanking the lord he was wearing a jacket. He didn't want to scare the woman. He knew he had to take this slowly.
"Coke alright for you, sir?" She stood up, turning to him, looking at him questioningly. His face was redder than a fully ripened strawberry. "It's all I have" She handed one to him .
"It's fine." He smiled as he took the proffered drink. As his hand touched hers, he felt a jolt of electricity sizzle between them. She turned her eyes to him. "This is probably a bad idea." He said lowly as he dipped his head to kiss her. For once, she let him, winding her arms around his neck, pressing her body against his.
Kathleen couldn't believe she was kissing him and enjoying it based on the fire spreading through her.
"Wow, uh." She said as soon as his head lifted from hers.
"Yeah, I'm sorry, I promised you I wouldn't do that." He said breathlessly. Clearly that kiss had affected him as much as it had her. That made her happy, though she didn't know why , but it did.
"Uhm, I really don't know what to say." Kathleen said. "I dressed like this to give you a dose of your own medicine. Yet, it seemed to have backfired on me."
"Somehow I though so." He laughed. "It wasn't my plan to kiss you tonight. I was just planning on talking to you."
"Somehow, sir, I knew that. But, if I said I was sorry, I'd be lying." She smiled.
"Well, it shouldn't have happened." He said shaking his head.
"It's funny, but I was completely prepared to continue to hate you. But, tonight, and for the past few days, you've listened to me as though you value my opinion, want my input." She watch him take a sip of the soda, take a look at her and raise his eyebrows in question.
"Why wouldn't I value your opinion or listen to you?" He looked at her quizzically. "That's why I brought you onto the team. Why did you think I brought you here? To satisfy my, uh, needs?"
"That thought did cross my mind"
"I didn't exactly give you any reason to think otherwise." He sighed. "For that, I'm sorry."
I'm sorry I thought otherwise. A few of my previous commanders attempted to use their positions for, well, less than honorable reasons."
"Ah, I understand" He took another sip.
"I'm not sure you do, sir, completely, that is." She said simply. "A few of my previous commanders have made passes at me. They never really listened to me."
"Well, Kathleen, I won't deny I'm attracted to you, but you need to know that I will treat you as the competent officer you are. I treat all of my team members as competent. You and they wouldn't be here if they weren't the best at what you do. It's as simple as that. Yes, I want you, I'm not going to deny that. But, if we become lovers and much more, I hope, which I am fairly certain will happen, you will be treated no differently than any other member of this team." He walked up to her. "I need you to believe that." He said as he put his hands on her shoulders reassuringly. "Can you believe that?"
"From what I've seen so far, yes. But I don't want people to think I got this assignment because I'm sleeping with the commander." She said looking into his eyes. "Sir, I'm sure you know I am attracted to you as well, as much as I may want to deny it." She bowed her head and shook it. "But, I value my career." She pointed out.
"I know that, everyone here knows that. Remember this unit is more elite than even the Special Forces. First, you have to be invited here and second, women aren't permitted in the Special Forces, but you have to go through their schools." He said. "You have to pull your own weight here or you're gone. It doesn't matter who you are. Or if you're sleeping with anyone here." He said simply. "Around here, you could sleep with the entire team, but if you pull your own weight, do your job, you're fine. I base your fitness reports on your job performance. And in the end, that's all that counts when it comes to promotions."
"Sir, I..uh don't know what to say." Kathleen stammered.
"Say you'll think about it." Hawk said simply. "I'll respect whatever decision you make. No matter the decision, so long as you do your job, you'll have a position on this team." He crooked a finger beneath her chin and lifted it so she could look into his eyes to see the sincerity there. "I'm not like any other commander who saw you as just a pretty face." With that, he left her tent staring after him, wide eyed.
"Duke, I want to see Spitfire's personnel file, check on any complaints against any of her former commanders and Bluebonnet, I want to see you in my tent tomorrow morning." He stopped Duke and Bluebonnet who were hidden behind a tree.