“I like her,” Gumby said, chuckling. “She’s got moxie.”
“Well, thank God. I can sleep well tonight knowing you like me.” Avery smirked.
At that, Gumby damn well guffawed.
Rex smiled again and let go of Avery’s neck with a light caress of his thumb. He didn’t miss the way she blushed.
For the next ten minutes, while Avery finished off her meal, they talked about nothing of importance…what vegetables she liked and what she refused to eat, what she was looking forward to most about being back in California, and a little about the other men on the team she hadn’t had a chance to get to know.
When she finally put down her utensils, Rex was happy to see she’d eaten almost all of the meal Gumby had gotten for her.
“Feel better?” he asked when she pushed the tray away.
“I do. Thank you. Except now my eyes feel so heavy I can barely keep them open. It’s like how I feel at Thanksgiving when I eat too much, and I hardly ate all that much here.”
As Gumby stood and picked up her tray to take back to the kitchen, he said, “Not surprised. It’ll take a while for your stomach to be able to handle the same size meals you were eating before.”
“Ready to go?” Rex asked as he stood.
Avery nodded and scooted her chair back. Rex put his hand on the small of her back as he led her toward the exit. Before he got there, he turned back toward the lieutenant commander’s table and sent him a smirk. It was more than obvious the man had been doing his best to pick her up, which was such a douche move, considering she’d been a prisoner not forty-eight hours before. But Avery was with him—and he was keeping her for as long as she’d have him.
They went back out into the hot desert air and met up with Rocco and a man Rex hadn’t met before.
“Avery, Rex, this is Trigger. His Delta team is here hunting down the weapons that were taken and trying to find the men who killed the privates.”
Rex shook his hand and Avery did the same.
“It’s good to meet you both, I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances,” Trigger said. “I’m very glad to see you alive and well, Lieutenant Nelson.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m sorry we didn’t get to you before your fellow sailors did.”
Avery shrugged. “I appreciate that you came out in the first place.”
“I understand you’ll most likely be leaving tomorrow. If you could find some time to speak to me and my team, we’d greatly appreciate it. Any information you could give us will hopefully help us catch those behind the attack on the convoy and lead to the ringleader.”
“I’m not sure what kind of help I’ll be. I was inside a cave for all of my captivity, and I couldn’t even tell you where that was. Cole and the others would probably have more information than I would.”
“We’ve already had a chat with Ace and Bubba, and we have those coordinates. I’m more interested in the man you said spoke English. If he’s someone the army and navy have been working with, and he’s pretending to be on our side, we need to find him and get some answers.”
“I agree. I’m happy to talk to you tomorrow, Trigger.”
“Good. Thank you. And I apologize for keeping you from your shower. There’s nothing better than a long hot shower after spending a few days, or weeks, in the field.”
Rex liked the Delta. He clearly had a good head on his shoulders, and he especially liked how sensitive he was being toward Avery. Rex suspected Trigger might have a woman of his own back home who’d taught him how to be more perceptive when it came to the opposite gender.
“We’ll see you tomorrow,” Rex said as he shook Trigger’s hand again.
Once he left, Rex said under his breath, “Can I finally get you to a shower and bed now?”
“It’s a little soon in our relationship for that, isn’t it?” Avery quipped. “I mean, you haven’t even taken me out on a date yet.”
Gumby and Rocco burst out laughing, and Rex couldn’t help but chuckle. “I didn’t mean it like that, and you know it, but I’m glad to hear you admit that we’re in a relationship.”
“Well, I mean, you came all the way across the world to take me white-water rafting and give me an adrenaline-inducing thrill of a helicopter ride. It would be rude of me to blow you off now, wouldn’t it?”
Rex couldn’t stop himself from wrapping an arm around Avery’s waist and pulling her into his side. He liked that she immediately put her own arm around him and leaned against him as they walked.
“Seriously though, we’d kick ass in a three-legged race,” she said with a smile as she matched her stride to his.
“You’d kick me and Caite’s butt, that’s for sure,” Rocco said. “She’s almost a foot shorter than me. Of course, if we had a race where the men had to carry our women, I’d win hands down.”
“Don’t be so cocky, SEAL man,” Avery teased. “Cole had to carry me for part of our escape and it didn’t seem to slow him down in the least.”
They arrived at a large, sturdy canvas tent near where Avery had been bunking down with about twenty-five other female soldiers and sailors before she’d been captured. Gumby opened the door and gestured for her to enter. “After you, Lieutenant.”
“It’s Avery,” she corrected, going inside. “Where is everyone?” she asked in surprise, after looking around and seeing no one else.
“It’s just us for tonight,” Rocco said. “I requested we have a space to ourselves. Considering what you’ve been through, the top brass were eager to accommodate.”
“I don’t like to use what I’ve been through for special treatment,” Avery argued.
Rex lifted her chin with a finger and forced her to look at him. “You should be in the hospital yourself tonight,” he told her. “You’ve probably got way more aches and pains than you’ve admitted. Not to mention, a full blood panel to find out exactly what vitamins you’re deficient in wouldn’t be a bad idea either. But not knowing who the traitor is, and whether he’s working alone so he can finish what the insurgents should’ve done in the first place, means that it’s too dangerous. So you get a few SEAL bodyguards to cater to your every need. And Rocco figured you could use some privacy. You’re kind of a celebrity around here now, and we didn’t want anyone staring at you or taking pictures of you sleeping to sell to some gossip magazine back home. Is that all right?”
She nodded immediately. “More than. Thank you.” She turned to Rocco. “Thank you, as well. I appreciate how much you and your team have gone out of your way to help me.”
“You’re one of us,” Rocco said simply. “A sailor through and through.”
“I’m not sure I’m exactly one of you,” Avery said with a chuckle. “I can’t say tromping around the desert dodging bullets is my idea of fun.”
“Come on,” Rex told her. “This tent’s usually reserved for visiting dignitaries. There’s a private shower you can use, then you can crash on the bunk over there. Gumby collected your things from where they’d been stored, so you’ll have something clean to put on after your shower.”