Chapter 27
Harm stood at the bar in one of the Radiant Heart's dance clubs, quietly nursing his bourbon. Mac had already gone to bed and the HALO session wouldn't start for another hour, so he was killing time. Heavy techno music throbbed through the crowded room, so loud he felt like his teeth were vibrating. A couple of women had come by already with invitations to dance, but he'd turned them down. For one, none had been Nikki. And even if she had been there, it was a step he was deeply hesitant to take. There would always be another opportunity. On this ship, that much was guaranteed.
He took another sip of his bourbon. Maybe if I procrastinate long enough, we can come up with a better plan. One that didn't involve walking the gray line between fidelity and betrayal.
A hand closed on Harm's shoulder, strong fingers digging into the joint. Harm turned in surprise to find Boothe behind him, his face suffused with anger.
Boothe leaned forward, his eyes narrowing. "Just where do you get off telling people that I abuse my wife?" he shouted over the music.
Harm pulled out of the other man's grasp and turned to face him. "Do you?" he shouted back.
Boothe took a deep breath, then opened his mouth for a response. Harm braced himself. But then Boothe seemed to deflate. He gave Harm a look that was part fury, part disgust, and rolled his eyes. He waved toward the door as if to usher Harm outside.
Curious, Harm complied. Leaving his drink, he followed Boothe out of the club. The main concourse was fairly deserted at that late hour, giving them some semblance of privacy.
Once they had walked a short distance from the door, Boothe stopped and turned around. "Now I'll answer your question. No, I do not-- and have not ever-- abused my wife." His voice was taut with suppressed anger. "Where do you get off accusing me? Did you know Tony Ariel came to see Carmen and me and suggested that we withdraw?" He made a sharp gesture. "Apparently they don't want a wife-beater on their show!"
Harm watched the other man cautiously. Boothe appeared to be sober. Harm crossed his arms over his chest, keeping his demeanor casual.
"Carmen told Mac you hit her."
Boothe looked startled for a moment, then the anger returned. "You're lying." He took a step closer.
Harm shook his head, but otherwise didn't give. "I'm not. Do you deny hitting her?"
"You sound like a cop."
Harm frowned. "No, just a lawyer."
Boothe glared. "Then stop talking to me like a lawyer!"
They were nearly nose to nose now. Harm smiled in what he hoped was an engaging way. If at all possible, he wanted to defuse the situation. "Sorry about that. It's what I am."
Boothe stared at him, the menace in his expression unwavering. "Look, I don't know where this is coming from, but it's not true. It's some head game of Carmen's, so stay out, got it?"
Harm raised his hands, palms out. "Hey, Mac was concerned so we started asking some questions. That's all. Do you know if Carmen has any abuse in her past?"
Boothe's laughter was hard and brittle. "Little Miss Rodeo Drive? Daddy would have had them shot."
Harm took a deliberate step back. "Wait-- Carmen grew up on Rodeo?" Boothe nodded, and his mind started turning in new directions. Rodeo Drive meant serious money. "She hasn't been disinherited or anything, has she?"
That earned him an odd look. "No. Why would you say that?"
Harm shook his head. "Never mind. You're right. She's playing some kind of head game with Mac."
Boothe's stormy expression began to fade. He nodded sharply. "All right then."
Harm studied him. He was beginning to get the feeling it was Boothe's position in the marriage that was precarious, not Carmen's.
Harm cocked his head. "Her family doesn't like you very much, do they?"
Boothe gave a derisive snort.
"How'd you two end up on the show?"
Boothe shrugged. "Carmen's idea. I figured it'd be a lark, though." He looked at Harm. "What about you and Mac?"
Harm chuckled. "I'm chalking it up to temporary insanity."
Boothe grinned, and for the first time Harm began to feel like he had some idea what was going on inside the other man. He wondered if Boothe had married Carmen for her family money, or if he really cared for her. Harm didn't envy him, in either case.
He took his leave then and headed for the HALO rooms. Now all he had to do was figure out how to continue the investigation without the excuse of digging into Boothe and Carmen's relationship.
#
Mac wandered the confines of the stateroom restlessly. She'd told Harm she was going to bed, but she couldn't force herself to lie down. Every time she closed her eyes, her mind conjured another image of her husband-- in the arms of Nikki Upton.
"Oh, for goodness sake!" Frustrated with herself and her overwhelming insecurity when it came to her relationship with Harm, she stalked over to the closet and began to dress. She would go crazy trapped in here.
The night air felt good against her face as Mac stepped out onto the deck. Overhead, the stars were bright and so numerous they looked like salt scattered across a dark cloth. She went to the rail and stood there for a while, watching the water.
"Penny for your thoughts?" a man's voice asked from a few steps behind her.
Mac glanced over her shoulder to find Toby watching her, his expression curious. "You wouldn't be getting much for your money," she answered, and turned back to the water.
He came forward, leaned his elbows on the rail next to where she stood. "That's o.k. It's an investment."
Mac couldn't help a small smile.
"So where's hubby?" Toby asked after a moment.
"Playing video games."
"He got sucked in to that, huh?"
Mac nodded, unconsciously clasping her hands together in front of her. "Third night this week." She sighed softly.
"Uh oh. Well, he's an idiot for ignoring someone as nice and smart and beautiful and funny and--"
"Oh, stop!" Mac was grinning widely. Her smile quickly faded. "Thanks."
"No problem."
They stood together in silence. Mac watched the dark water and listened to the soft rush of air past her face.
"You hungry?" Toby asked suddenly.
Mac flashed a smile. "Always."
"You want to go get something to eat? I hear the midnight buffet's to die for." After a moment's hesitation, he offered his hand.
Mac stared at him. I don't want to do this. It's necessary. It's not worth the price. Harm knows it's not real. It too easily could be. Mind and conscience warred over her response.
"Just friends?" she asked, biting her lip.
He grinned and shrugged. "Sure."
Taking a deep breath, Mac slipped her hand into his.
They wandered the length of the ship, arriving eventually at the buffet. There were a few people around, and Mac self-consciously pulled her hand away from Toby's as those nearby took note of their arrival.
Together, they moved to the head of the buffet table. Mac picked her way through the food, wishing she was as hungry as she claimed. Eventually they settled at a table near the edge of the cavernous room. Despite Mac's fears, Toby did nothing overtly suggestive. He was friendly and lighthearted-- exactly what she needed to take her mind off Harm. They talked about inconsequential things, shared stories from their college days (though his were a good deal more recent than hers), and had a generally good time.
They'd been there about an hour when a voice she knew better than her own shattered the small measure of peace she'd gained. Mac heard her husband's laughter and looked around, startled. He had just walked in, along with five or six others. They were all chatting companionably, but Mac's gut twisted at the sight of a certain blond head bobbing along beside Harm. Nikki Upton had apparently figured out where Harm was spending his evenings.
"Looks like the game crew got hungry," Toby commented. He sounded as wary as Mac felt. "Do you want to go say hi?"
Mac started to shake her head, but stopped when Nikki reached up to lay a hand on Harm's shoulder, leaning into him as she talked.
Something inside Mac snapped at the casually familiar gesture. She rose from her chair like an uncoiling spring, hands curling into fists at her side. Marines didn't back down, didn't surrender a position once they'd taken it. And Harm was hers.
She stalked toward the group. A small, rational voice in the back of her mind insisted she was making a foolish mistake, but the rest simply wasn't listening. In that moment, Mac didn't care about the investigation, the Navy, or even the two reservists waiting for them back in Virginia. All that mattered was that there was another woman making a move on her husband, and he was doing nothing to stop it.
The group of gamers was too involved in their conversation to notice Mac's approach. Even Harm, who had uncanny spatial awareness, didn't give any indication he'd seen her.
Nikki had her back turned, so it was a simple matter for Mac to walk up, grab the other woman by both shoulders and spin her away from Harm. Mac caught some of Nikki's hair in the process, and was rewarded by a screech that plunged the room into silence. She stepped into the vacated spot, putting herself between Nikki and Harm, and glared at the blond co-ed. Very deliberately, she raised her hand to shake away the long blond strands that clung to her fingers, keeping her eyes locked on the younger woman's.
"Mac, what are you doing?" Harm's voice came from behind her, hard-edged and carrying a clear warning note.
Mac ignored him. She took a step forward, arms held away from her sides and fingers spread in an unconscious fighter's stance. Nikki swallowed hard. Mac grinned at her discomfort. She leaned forward until her face was only a couple of inches from Nikki's.
"Stay away from my husband," she said in a quiet, clearly-enunciated voice.
Nikki stared.
Mac studied her for a long moment, then nodded in satisfaction. She spun on her heel to leave, only to nearly collide with Harm who stood a pace behind her. They stared at each other in silence. Harm's expression could have been chiseled in stone for all the reaction he showed. Only his eyes were alive, flashing with indignation and anger.
"What do you think you're doing?" he demanded.
Mac raised her chin, her stomach clenched in a hard, cold knot. "Defending my marriage, which you, apparently, don't care to do."
Harm's gaze flicked to Toby, who had followed Mac and now stood a few feet behind her, watching everything with ill-concealed nervousness. Harm raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" His tone was thick with sarcasm. "Looks to me like we're on pretty even ground. Maybe you should go look in a mirror before you make any more accusations."
"Maybe so," she agreed tightly. "At least then one of us would still remember what I look like." With that, she turned and strode away.
"Thanks for the company, Toby," she told the young man as she brushed past him, her eyes firmly fastened on the far wall.
"Any time," he answered from behind her, but the statement lacked conviction.
Feeling the eyes of everyone in the room on her back, Mac forced herself to keep her steps even as she walked out.
Having nowhere else to go, she went back to the room she shared with Harm. She turned the lights on as she entered, knowing that she'd turned on the cameras as well despite the hour, and dropped heavily onto the edge of the bed.
Reaction set in. She began to shake. Tears quickly followed. Leaning forward, Mac clasped her hands together between her knees and let them fall.
#
Harm returned to the room just before 0400. Mac was still awake, curled up in one corner of the bed, reading. She'd been too keyed up to sleep and too afraid of the kinds of dreams she'd have if she'd tried, so she'd done her best to lose herself in a halfway intelligent mystery novel she'd bought a few days earlier.
She looked up when Harm entered. Their eyes locked across the length of the room. Mac couldn't bring herself to speak.
After a moment, Harm pulled his gaze away. He headed for the bathroom, stripping off his shirt as he went and leaving it in a heap on the floor behind him. Mac stared at the crumpled pile of cloth. It was such an un-Harm thing to do that she was momentarily shocked.
Tossing her book aside, she followed him, wondering with some trepidation what she might find. She tried not to let her fear show, though. If anyone had a right to be angry it was she, and to that effect, she kicked the bathroom door closed behind her as she entered.
Harm was waiting for her. He leaned casually against the edge of the sink, arms crossed over his bare chest. But the cold, impassive face he'd worn since walking into the stateroom cracked when the door slammed shut.
"Wow, Mac." The blue eyes suddenly twinkled with wicked humor. "You're good."
Mac caught her breath in a gasp as everything turned right in the world once again.
"You're not so bad yourself," she managed, crossing the distance between them in two strides. Harm barely had time to open his arms before she hit him, wrapping her arms around his neck and seeking his mouth with desperate need. He pulled her tight against him, one large hand knotting in her hair as he kissed her roughly in return.
The kiss ended as abruptly as it began. They stared at each other for a long, frozen moment. Then Harm's painful grip on her hair loosened. His gaze softened as he gently stroked the disturbed locks back into place and leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead. Mac smiled at the feeling of his lips against her skin.
"Are we o.k.?" he asked, his breath warm on her hairline.
Mac let out a deep sigh. "Yeah." She kissed his throat, then tipped her head to touch her lips to the soft spot just beneath his jaw. The dark stubble of his beard scraped her mouth, sending a thrill through her entire body.
He chuckled. "I thought for sure you were going to take the poor girl's head off."
"I was tempted, believe me." She turned her attention to the other side of his neck, feeling his skin warm in response to her ministrations. His pulse quickened beneath her lips.
The tenor of his laugh changed. His hands came to rest on her waist. "Mac, I really like what you're doing, but you've got to stop."
Regretfully, she pulled away. "I suppose, seeing as we're supposed to be arguing."
Her comment damped the desire flaring in his eyes. His lips twisted in a sour smile. "How do you want to play it?"
Mac gave the question careful consideration, ignoring the insistent voice in the back of her mind that told her to bag the investigation in favor of kissing this man until she couldn't remember her own name.
While she thought, Harm gave her an amused look from beneath his brows. "I would love to know what's going through your mind right now."
Mac flushed, grinning in embarrassment. "Yes you would," she agreed, but didn't elaborate. She pushed her thoughts back onto the question at hand. "We both need some sleep. Do you think frigid silence would be believable? I'd really like to lay next to you even if I have to pretend I'm not enjoying it."
He smiled ruefully. "I think we can make it work." He paused, eyebrows wriggling with irrepressible humor. "If you think you can keep your hands off me, that is."
Mac chuckled. "I can if you can."
He bowed with a flourish, gesturing toward the door. "After you, then."
