“But you’re so young!”
Kira smiled at the familiar refrain. “I’m older than I look. I got my PhD ten years ago.”
“When you were what, twenty?”
“Closer to thirty.”
“Wow. What moisturizer do you use?”
Kira didn’t want to say it was probably more about a life spent indoors and out of the sun than a good skin regimen, so she smiled and said, “Just good genes, I guess.”
At least the too much time indoors thing would change with the trip to Malta. She was going for family research, but she’d have plenty of time to wear a bikini and swim in the Mediterranean. She’d walk along the walls of forts that were nearly five hundred years old and would feel the warm Mediterranean breeze on her skin as she looked across the water and tried to imagine what the sea had looked like as the Ottoman Empire attacked and eventually captured Fort St. Elmo during the Great Siege.
She would visit the Blue Lagoon on the island of Comino and hike to see the megalithic temples on the island of Gozo. And she would drink fruity cocktails and be bold and flirty with handsome strangers. She would do all these things outside, in the searing Maltese sunshine. Starting tomorrow.
The line moved forward, and the young soldier got her food. Moments later, Kira had hers and nodded to the woman as she headed out the door.
She had just survived an unplanned social interaction. Good practice for her trip.
The next session went better than the first. No one asked awkward questions about her abduction in relation to Makram Rafiq’s arrest. She got into the groove with Diana’s presentation materials now that she had one session under her belt. The third would be a snap.
She only had a fifteen-minute break between sessions two and three. She dashed to the ladies’ room. There was a line when she got there, but thankfully, it moved quickly. By the time she was done, the room was quieter.
She washed her hands and checked her makeup. After reapplying lipstick, she stared at her face in the mirror and breathed deeply. The scar on her forehead stood out in bright red on her pale skin. Over time, she imagined it would fade to white, but it was still fresh six months later.
Even with the scar, she looked so much like her mother.
After her mom died, her father would cup her cheeks, smile, then say, “It is my greatest joy that your mother lives on in you.” But in the weeks before his stroke, he would scowl as his finger touched the ugly red wound, the only visible evidence of her abduction. He didn’t say his thoughts aloud, but she knew him well.
“It’s not Freya’s fault, Dad.”
“She—and her whole family—were always trouble.”
Considering what had happened to Freya’s family, his words were downright cruel, and she had to wonder at what had made her once sweet father into a man with such a mean streak.
Maybe it was triggered by facing his own mortality. It was certainly fueled by fear for her.
She closed her eyes and took a final deep breath.
Today, I am a Valkyrie.
When she returned to the classroom, it was nearly full. She glanced at her watch and gave a small sigh of relief to see she had two minutes to spare.
She kept her head down as she traversed the center aisle to the front of the room, wading through a sea of camouflage.
One more class. Two hours. Then Malta, sunshine, and answers.
She fiddled with Diana’s lecture notes, hearing the low buzz of conversation as the last students filed in.
Her throat was dry, and she was glad to see the empty water bottle on the lectern had been replaced with a fresh one. She pulled up the spout and raised her head as she squeezed the bottle to fill her mouth.
That’s when she saw him. Sitting in the front row, just feet in front of her. Blond, blue-eyed, muscled perfection. Lieutenant Commander Randall Fallon.
The water hit her throat, and she choked, involuntarily spewing a geyser in his direction.
She coughed and clapped a hand over her mouth.
Drops of water dripped down his handsome face as he grinned. “Hello, Kira.”
Chapter Two
Rand was glad for Kira’s penchant for keeping her head down when entering a room. It had given him time to brace himself for her reaction to seeing him. He’d imagined this moment a thousand times in the last six months, but never envisioned this. Her invading his territory. On his base, teaching classes, looking every bit as sexy-librarian as she had six months ago.
He’d seen the posts about the hot teacher in one of the base chat groups and had been irritated but not surprised that Diana was being objectified by her students. Scrolling down further, he’d been stunned when the name of the substitute teacher was posted.
Now he knew why Chris was out on sick leave. And he finally had a chance to see Kira when she couldn’t turn him away.
He’d expected surprise, been braced for anger, hoped to see a kindle of excitement.
What he got was water in the face. Par for the course, really.
Her pale white skin flushed a bright red as she caught her breath and said, “Rand! Er…Lieutenant Commander Fallon. I’m so sorry! I didn’t expect to see you…”
She was adorable flustered. But then, after about ten minutes alone with her, he’d been smitten and thought she was adorable no matter what her mood or manner.
He wiped the drops of water from his face with a bandanna as he chuckled. To be fair, she’d barely splattered him. He deserved much worse.
