"Oh." Her hand flew to her chest. "You look, wow. Brody, you take my breath away. You're so handsome in that sweater and jeans."
"I was just about to tell you how gorgeous you look, Mari. Those jeans, all I can think about is taking them off you."
She shrugged. "We could always stay here, but then I'd miss out on your surprise."
"True." He brought his right hand from behind his back. "These are for you." He knew she liked pink and white, so he'd had the florist put together a special bouquet.
"I've never received flowers before." She took them from him and then sniffed. "And they smell so good. You didn't have to do this."
"I wanted to. Put them in water and then we need to go." He followed her into the kitchen, unable to keep his eyes off her ass. "Those jeans," he muttered.
Mari turned and smiled at him. "So you like?" Then she wiggled her butt in a cute little dance.
And there he went, hard as steel. It didn't take much with her. He grabbed her elbow gently and pulled her back against him, then rubbed himself against her tight little butt. "This is what you do to me, Mari, every time I see you."
A moan escaped as she leaned into him. Her body was made for him. He'd figured that out the first night they'd made love.
"Go," he said, gently pushing her away. "You moan like that again and we'll never make it out of here." She gave him a playful wink, but then moved on to the kitchen to get a vase.
Twenty minutes later they were at the base. When he checked in at the front gate, she eyed him curiously. "Are you going to show me where you work?"
He nodded. "That's part of the surprise." He put the visitor badge on her chest, spending a bit more time there than he should. Then he kissed her.
For some reason, he was nervous. Maybe it was sharing this part of himself, or maybe it was what he felt he needed to tell her. He drove them to the hangar.
She took a deep breath and put a hand on his arm. "This is so exciting. A real look into the life of Lieutenant Brody Williams."
He'd never brought anyone from his personal life to work, but he wanted to show Mari. Tell her the truth and see how she handled it. If this didn't scare her, nothing would. But they were always honest with one another, and she had to see he had a darker side.
"Wow," she said as they arrived at the hangar. "They're so much bigger in person. You fly these?"
"All of them," he said, maybe a little proudly. "I'm teaching Viper navigation now, but I was flying a Stallion when-" His voice cut out and he cleared his throat.
"When you lost your friends in the crash," she said, finishing the sentence for him. She looped her arm around his and leaned into his shoulder. "I can't even imagine how tough that is for you. I've never experienced that kind of loss." He brought her around to face him and then he just hugged her. Hard.
"It's easier every day I'm around you, but I never forget. That's why I brought you here. I thought maybe I could make some new memories with the birds. Ones to help me through the tough times."
"You probably don't want to, and that's okay if that's the case, but if you do want to tell me about what happened, I, uh, I'll listen."
"That's why I brought you here. I want you to understand-" He wasn't sure what exactly. "Come on," he said. He took her hand and guided her through the bay door all the way to the cockpit. "Here. Sit down."
She glanced at her hands, which he noticed were trembling slightly. "I'm nervous, but not for me. For you. I know this is a big deal, Brody. I just don't want you to do anything that makes you feel worse or brings back the bad memories. You don't have to do this for me. After you explained on the yacht, I'm fine. Really."
She did understand better than most. That was how she was wired. She was kind and caring and that's why he had to tell her.
Dredging up the past was his least favorite thing to do, but something told him that he needed to do this. That she was the one person who would understand his hell. He focused on their hands holding tight to each other.
"We were heading back to base. The team had picked up some artillery from another base for transport. My guys had come along to do the heavy lifting. We were flying over some mountains in Afghanistan. It was just supposed to be a regular run, and then the rockets came out of nowhere. We were so heavy and I couldn't get her higher, and then I couldn't keep her up. We were only about three miles from base, but the rotors and fuel tanks were done. Whoever shot at us knew exactly what they were doing.
"The fire from the fuel took out everyone in the back, including my copilot when he tried to save the others, but then the whole bird blew apart. The next thing I knew I was on the ground with one of the blades coming for me. I ducked and rolled but it sliced across my back. You probably saw the scars. I broke ribs, an arm and a leg. Ruptured my spleen. But I survived. No one else did. The only reason I lived was because I was still in the front. It was sheer stupid luck. I shouldn't be here. I should be dead in that desert with my friends." His voice caught. He wasn't one for tears, but emotion clogged his throat.
"Brody," she choked and then sobbed. He glanced up to find tears streaming down her face.
"Babe, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry. I just wanted you to understand that I'm messed up. I lost so many who were close to me in one swoop. Those men were my brothers and they're gone. Just gone."
She stood and then slipped her arms around him. "I'm not crying because you told me, Brody. I'm crying because you were hurt. You could have died along with them. I wouldn't have ever known you. And that-it's selfish, but that makes me so sad. Now I can't imagine never knowing you. I care about you so much, and you've brought a lot to my life in such a short time. And I get why you're so torn up. You have every right to feel like that, but I'm grateful, Brody. So grateful that you're here and holding me."
Man, she was one of a kind. He kissed her. "New memories. This is why I wanted you here," he said as he squeezed her tight. "I've flown just about every bird except this one. But I want to do it, with you sitting right there." He pointed to the copilot's seat.
"Really. I've never even been in a helicopter. Won't you get in trouble with your boss? Taking it for personal use?"
He chuckled. "Technically, I'm about to take you on a training exercise. I have to fly a minimum amount each month and I'm a little low, especially with the Stallions. What do you think? Is this something you'd like to try?"
"If you're sure this is okay with you, I'm game for anything, so long as you're next to me," she said. Her smile stretched across her face.
"I may take you up on that ‘anything,' but first let's go for a ride. Hop up and I'll strap you in."
She clapped her hands. "I'm so excited. In a good way." He stepped across and made sure she was strapped in her seat. Then he put on the headphones. "You can talk to me through here." He pointed to the microphone attached to the headset. Then he double-checked her harness.
She gave him a winning smile.
He put on his headphones. "Are you ready?"
"Brody?"
"Yes?" He wondered if maybe it was a bit much for her. He'd just given her a lot to deal with-this was a big bird and for the uninitiated it could be intimidating. It was loud and a very different experience than flying in a commercial plane. He had grunts in his class who still cringed on liftoff.
"Thank you for making your new memories with me, and for sharing this."
It was Mari who was doing him the favor.
"There's no one I'd rather do this with. Let's go."
This was just one of many adventures he had planned for her.
New memories with Mari.
It was the first time he'd had a plan.
And the first time he'd been excited about living in almost a year.
12
FOR THE FIRST few minutes in the air, Mari was a nervous wreck. Her stomach churned and her hands gripped the sides of the seat. Then they flew out over the ocean and her heart slowed as the aircraft turned and hung in the air. She could see downtown Corpus clearly.
"You doing okay?" Brody asked.
She nodded and then remembered she needed to speak. "Yes," she replied. "It's so beautiful. I love it. As long as I don't look down, that is."
He chuckled. "You're doing great. Want to fly over your house, see what it looks like from up here?"