Harm groaned as he sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He glanced at the clock and found it was almost lunchtime.
"Damn," he whispered, slowly moving to the bathroom to relieve himself and brush his teeth. As soon as he was showered and caffeinated, he called Mac as promised.
She was there thirty minutes later, pizza box in hand.
"You brought lunch?" He smiled as she walked through the doorway.
"I wanted to get you some good hangover food, but then I remembered you don't eat greasy burgers or Taco Bell. I hope pizza is okay," she said, heading to the kitchen for two plates. He wrapped his arms around her waist as she opened the box, resting his head on her shoulder while she divvied up four slices.
"Thank you," he gave her a squeeze and followed to the couch.
"From what you said yesterday, I expected you to be in worse shape," she took a bite.
Harm swallowed, "It didn't get crazy like I thought, just late. We played a couple rounds of pool, then Keeter met a girl he wanted to impress so we played a few more," he shrugged, pausing in thought. "He has gotten really good, by the way. Remind me not to make any more bets with him."
"You lost a bet?" she glanced out of the corner of her eye, "What did you have to do, use the woman's restroom?"
He turned to her with a part-curious, part-confused look.
Mac laughed, "Keeter and I spent a day in the desert together, remember?" Smiling at him, she continued, "He told me a few stories."
Harm sighed, wondering what other stories were in her arsenal, "Well this is a tame one. I just have to be his RIO sometime and cover the bar tab."
"His RIO?" Mac wiped her hands on a napkin, leaning back to look at him.
"It was something we did in college. We called it the 'Goose and Maverick.' Loser had to help the winner pick up girls."
"Well, I guess I'm glad you lost, then," she shot him a look.
He set down his pizza and scooted closer, "If I had won, we would be spending a night at the plaza in a suite."
"Oh, really?" She smiled; eyebrows raised.
"Really. It was too good to pass up the chance," his hand slid up her side.
"…but you lost," she teased.
"Yeah," he grumbled, sitting back, "The man kicked my ass. Twice," he shook his head. "Thank God a couple women challenged us to a game; I don't think I could have lived through a third."
Her eyebrow raised, "…and?" she waited for clarification.
"And we kicked their butts." Harm picked his pizza back up and took a bite. It was after he swallowed that he realized Mac was waiting for more details. "Keeter hit it off with one of them, a CWO, Coast Guard. I think her name was Kelly. They spent so much time talking, he forgot to make me drink my weight in beer."
She smiled, "Maybe the four of us can go out sometime? It would be nice to hang out with another couple. I can't wait to tell everyone and not have to hide anymore."
Harm shook his head, "She's shipping out at the beginning of next month. Keeter was upset when he told me. The guy talked to her for at least an hour and didn't get her number. I thought he was kidding at first, but he's all torn up, thinks he'll never see her again."
"Really? Keeter?"
He chuckled, "Yeah. They made a nice pair, though. Spent half of the first game goading each other. Eventually, he realized she wasn't going to take any of his crap, and she realized he wasn't going to go easy on her at pool, so they gave up on the game and started talking."
"And what did you do while they were busy getting to know each other?" she tried to sound casual.
"I finished the game of pool with her friend, Casey, who has a boyfriend named Sam. I can tell you all about Sam if you're curious," Harm grinned at her.
"No thanks, I'm good." She returned the smile, "So when are you going back out for your Goose and Maverick?"
Harm shrugged, "I don't know. Keeter's only in town for another week, so it will be soon. Think you can handle another night without me?" he teased.
"Only if I get you all to myself the next day," she ran her hand over his cheek, loving how the rough stubble felt under her fingers.
"Baby, you can have me whenever you want," he grinned, fully expecting the eye roll he received.
She kissed him anyway. As much as she hated being called baby, it was sexy as hell when he did it in a gravelly bedroom voice. Mac's lips parted to make way for his tongue, and he scooted towards her, closing the gap between their bodies. Little by little he took more until she was on her back and his leg was between hers, pressing into her thigh.
She hummed against his mouth when his hand slid under the hem of her skirt. He pulled back when cold leather interrupted his exploration of warm skin. Harm gave her a curious look as he pushed the garment to her waist, revealing a gun holster high on her leg.
Mac watched his eyes darken before he looked up, "What's this?"
"Just a little something I thought might go with my Halloween costume," she grinned, biting her lip. His hand resumed its path, pressing as it traveled over the holster to her hip where rough fingers curled over the thin straps of her panties, pulling them over the leather and down her long, toned legs.