Jill Shalvis - Her Perfect Stranger

"Just like that?" he asked. "Fast as it started?"

"Yes."

"Harsh, don't you think?"

"That's life." She forced herself to remain cool when she had the most insane urge to ask for a hug. "Goodbye, Mike."

"You can't say goodbye to me. I'm on your team."

"I'm not saying goodbye to you as my teammate."

He shook his head and looked at her in a way that made her want to weep. "And I'm not saying goodbye to you as my lover-"

She set her finger on his lips, barely able to speak. "Don't say it," she begged. "Don't say anything."

He took her hand from his mouth and gently, so gently it brought up the tears she'd been fighting down, kissed her knuckles. "I won't," he said. "Only because I don't have to. We're not finished yet. And I think you know it."

Then he was gone.

After their middle of the night run-in, Mike slept poorly, haunted by visions of his new commander and her cool, cool eyes and even cooler voice.

Damn it, where had all that iciness come from? And why had she refused to acknowledge him and their night together, if only between them? Try as he might to make sense of it, he couldn't.

He understood the obvious. She was ashamed of what they'd shared. But why did that hurt?

As for how he felt, he was having a hard time reconciling the woman he'd held all night in his arms-the woman who'd showed him such passion and hunger-with the cool cucumber he'd been introduced to today.

Giving up on sleep, he got out of bed before dawn, still feeling insulted and angry, whether that was rational or not. With hours to spare before he had to be on site, he paced his room.

Damn it, he'd wanted this opportunity, had worked for it for years. He wouldn't let her ruin it.

He knew how he was going to spend the day- hell, probably the next week. He'd be in the water tank. It would be tedious, time consuming and restricting; they'd be in full scuba gear.

He couldn't wait, but first he had to get rid of some of this restless energy. He could hit the weight room or take a swim, but as he'd be spending every waking moment in the water for the foreseeable future, he decided to run.

Mike had left his room and was walking down the hall when Jimmy's head appeared outside his own door. Looking rumpled and tired, Jimmy took one look at Mike's running gear before he groaned. "Perfect. You're going to make us all look bad for the-" he glanced right, then left, then lowered his voice to a conspirator's whisper "-Ice Queen."

"Who?"

Frank stuck his head out another door, a fierce frown on his face. When he saw Mike and Jimmy, he grinned sleepily. "Hey, just like old times. You're going running? Wait for me-"

"No," Jimmy said quickly, but Frank had already disappeared back into his room. Jimmy sighed. "Damn it, now I'll have to come, too, just to keep the two of you in line."

"Wait," Mike said. "About this Ice Queen thing-" But Jimmy had already shut the door in Mike's face.

He'd wanted to be alone, to burn off this undeniable, restless energy and to think, but he was destined for company now. Maybe that was for the better. Maybe he could stop thinking and just try to enjoy.

Frank and Jimmy were both dressed and ready to run within two minutes, and just as all three men started down the hallway together, yet another door opened.

Dressed in loose running shorts, a baggy tank top and aviator sunglasses that completely blocked her eyes from view, the commander herself emerged. She saw Jimmy and Frank first, both of whom happened to be standing in front of Mike, and she smiled. "Hey, guys. Up for some company?"

Then Mike stepped out from behind them. For lack of a better greeting, he lifted his hand and wagged his fingers at her.

Her expression froze. "Hello," she said flatly.

Hello. That was all she could manage. Not I'm sorry I'm ignoring you. Not I didn't mean to deal you the biggest shock of your life. Not Wow, just the other night you made me come half a dozen times. Can you do it again?

Instead she looked through him, as if only thirty hours ago he hadn't had her every which way but Sunday.

Frank hitched his head toward Mike. "We dragged his lazy butt out of bed, Commander. We're forcing him to run this morning so he can be in as good a shape as you."

Jimmy jumped right in. "He didn't want to come, ma'am. You should have heard all the new words he taught us, even though we asked him nicely."

Mike watched as good humor warred with wariness on Corrine's face. He still couldn't get used to knowing her real name, but it suited her. Just as the team suited her. Evidently, they'd gelled as a group during their time together. Their camaraderie bode well for the mission.

It didn't bode well for him. For one, he hated being the outsider. He didn't mind the work entailed to catch up; in fact he would thrive on the challenge of it. But damn it, he wanted her to like him, not look at him as if he were some sort of deviant.

He didn't understand how she could go from soft, laughing and full of heat to hard as nails, unsmiling and totally controlled.

Oh, and then there was the kicker-she was his commander. He'd seen her naked, sprawled out beneath him and whimpering for more, and she was his damn boss.

"Let's go," he said as lightly as he could. "Let's see who keeps up with who. And just so you know," he added to Frank and Jimmy, "I plan on outrunning both of you."

His friends simply exchanged knowing smiles.

Which only doubled Mike's determination.

They started off at a quick pace. Not that Mike couldn't easily maintain it, but he remembered Jimmy and Frank as not being the most disciplined of men. Curiously enough, they were disciplined now.

Corrine stayed with them, silent and determined, and he wondered how long she could hold her own. Wondered, too, how she would give in. Would she gracefully drop back, or kill herself trying to keep up? He told himself he didn't care. Either way, it would give him great pleasure to see her sweat.

At the twenty-minute mark no one had even slowed, but Mike was starting to sweat. Jimmy and Frank, too, especially since they'd kept up a steady stream of banter all along about the exploits they'd shared with Mike in Russia.

"You should have seen the crowd after we landed in '97," Frank said to Corrine, who might or might not have been listening, as she never slowed her pace or glanced over. "The Russian women couldn't get enough of Mike. He's a huge celebrity. They yell and cry for him as if he were Mel Gibson."

Jimmy snorted. "Yeah, tough job we had, fighting them off for him. And then there was that one who sneaked into his shower in the hotel room. Remember, Frank? Remember how he screamed like a pansy?"

"She scared the hell out of me," Mike said in his own defense, sending a sheepish glance at Corrine.

She didn't so much as crack a smile.

"Oh, you poor baby," Jimmy said, now gasping for air. "Hey, can you still get a different woman every night if you want?"

"Uh…" Another glance at Corrine assured him she was listening, after all; her face had definitely gone a shade redder. What he didn't know was whether she was exhibiting embarrassment or anger. "I never had a different woman every night."

"Right. You took Sundays off."

Definitely anger, Mike decided, as Corrine's face darkened even more.

Frank and Jimmy took great delight in his growing discomfort, but they had no way of knowing they were innocently revealing parts of him he absolutely, positively didn't want exposed in front of this woman.

Apparently he hadn't yet made the switch from Corrine's lover to her teammate. He was going to have to do that sooner or later.

At the forty-minute mark, he started huffing, but refused to show it, distracting himself by watching the commander's tush swing gently to and fro with each stride.