Page 16 of Joshua's Mistake
“Sorry to wake you, buddy. I need a safe place where we can sort a few things out.” He jerked his chin in her direction.
Will released him and turned, seeing Tessa for the first time. “Oh, sorry.”
“Will Starkey, Tessa Clark.” Joshua made the introductions.
Will took a step forward and was so tall his head literally touched the roof of the fuselage as he held his hand out to her. “Nice to meet you.”
Will Starkey blushed as if he was a schoolboy. He was not exactly good-looking, at least not in Tessa’s opinion, but there was a quality in his eyes and his easy smile that immediately endeared him to her. He was big enough to crush a grown man, but when he took her hand there was startling gentleness within the giant. She detected no psi ability and little anger at all. Most people were a mix of positive and negative emotions, but there was no bad within Will’s gray eyes.
She couldn’t help smiling up at him. Most men were at eye level with her, but both Joshua and Will consumed space and the small jet became very close. “The pleasure is mine, Mr. Starkey.”
“Oh no, just Will if you don’t mind.” He blushed deeper.
Joshua said, “Just Will, do you think we could get off the plane anytime soon?”
Will dropped her hand. “Yeah, of course. Come on. I’ve got some tuna steaks I caught today. I’ll throw them on the grill for you. You must be hungry.”
She watched as he sprinted down the steps and took off into the dark. “Is he for real?”
Joshua gave a short burst of laughter. “I’m afraid so.”
“He’s so…nice.” She couldn’t think of a better word to describe Will.
“Don’t sound so surprised. And yes, he is nice. He’s also one of the deadliest snipers in the world.”
“Impossible.” She couldn’t believe anyone with so little anger could be deadly.
“Will’s a pretty unique guy. He’ll be back up here in a minute if we don’t join him.”
He started toward the door, but she put a hand out to stop him. “I’m going to have some questions for you at some point tonight.”
They were pressed close together near the exit. Joshua’s eyes locked with hers and he lifted a hand to touch her cheek. Gentle yet fierce, she didn’t want him to affect her, but every touch either of his hand or his mind moved her.
Dropping his hand, he smiled. “You and me both, Tessa. Let’s get some food first.”
Had he read her thoughts or was his comment in reference to asking questions? She followed him down the stairs to the runway.
* * *
“Idon’t thinkthey should let women like you into military or paramilitary organizations.”
She would normally be offended by any man saying such a ridiculous thing, but Will had been talking nonstop through a delicious meal of salad and grilled tuna. Most of what he said led to some anecdote or joke. She was sure there was more to his statement. “Why is that?”
“Too distracting. I mean even I would have had trouble putting a bullet between those pretty eyes. One time, when I was in Beirut, I had to kill three women who were all spies. It was not at all easy to think of them as the enemy when they had legs that went all the way up.”
She guessed she should be flattered, but the content of his rant was too disturbing. “That’s quite a story, Will. How much of it is true?” Joshua and Will both burst out laughing.
“You got me there, girl. I swear. You got me. Only one was a woman. How did you know?”
She smiled. “Well, it would be rare for any team to be made up of that many women and even rarer for you to see a woman’s bare legs in Beirut. You’re not very hard to figure for being full of shit.”
Joshua continued to laugh.
“Aw, come on. Most of my stories are as true as the Bible.”
Tessa got up from the large farm table and took her plate into the kitchen. The house was a converted airplane hangar and had been left as an open plan, so her departure from the table only took her to the other side of an island countertop. “I’d stay away from whatever Bible you’ve been preaching from. I think you got a bad copy.”
She started to wash the dishes, but Joshua took the plate from her hand. His touch was gentle and she didn’t fight him. She moved to the side and went to clear the remaining table items.
