"I know; the world as we once knew it has ceased to exist. This growing up is a spooky business." He killed off his brew and set the bottle on the table. "Speaking of growing up, when you plan on giving up field work?"

"Goddamn never." Because it hit a nerve too close to the surface, his voice was flatter than he might have wished.

But John didn't seem to mind; he merely hitched one shoulder in an easy shrug. "The twenty-year-olds haven't managed to run you into the ground yet, then?"

"They try, but I'm hanging tough." Although maybe not bouncing back as fast as he used to. "Jesus, Rocket, were we ever that young? Or that stupid? I just got back from a detail inSouth Americawhere I had to ride herd on a bunch of horny teenagers bent on chasing the local senoritas. We damn near had ourselves an international incident by the time we pulled out."

"One of your men compromise a local girl?"

" 'Ruined' her is how her betrothed put it." He shook his head in disgust. "We went down to extract a hostage from a drug cartel, then stayed to defend the local village against retaliation. It was supposed to be quick and professional. We were to get the hostage out, set up defensible parameters around the village and show the villagers the basics of maintaining them, then select a few of their young men to bring back to Pendleton."

"To train in the rudiments of warfare?"

"Yeah; you know how it works."

"Sure." John shrugged again. "Teach 'em everything you can cram into six weeks, then send them back to educate the rest of the village and hope for the best. So, was it actually your man getting his rocks off that nearly caused the incident, or was this just one of those ops that are fucked from start to finish?"

"No, the recon and extraction went great. My unit is young, but they're good. The problems didn't start until we got to the village. That's when they turned from a corps of highly trained professionals into a bunch of pussy-chasing morons."

"And this is something new? Hell,Midnight, there's always shit like that to rein in whenever young soldiers are exposed to nubile sweet young things. Or to any female with a pulse when it comes to that—particularly following a successful mission."

"I know, but this time one of my men diddling with a local girl damn near meant the difference between a village getting the training to defend itself and not. And I sure as hell wouldn't have enjoyed having to explain why to the brass."

"What happened?"

Zach noticed John's empty beer bottle and got up to get two more longnecks out of the fridge. "The best candidate for the program by far," he said, "was a young man named Miguel Escavez. He had the most raw talent, the greatest determination to protect what's his, and unquestionable leadership potential." Handing Rocket a beer, he sat back down, then stopped in the midst of twisting the cap off his own to look at his friend across the table. "Unfortunately, he was also the girl's fiance."

"Oh, shit."

"Tell me about it. After talking to the girl and determining the sex with Pederson was consensual, I got the happy job of telling Miguel that since that was so, and she was of age, I didn't have jurisdiction to punish my soldier-cum-stud of the hour." Zach got a sudden flashback to swarming flies and thick, steamy heat, saw again the outraged ego burning in the young Latino's eyes.

He finished twisting the bottle cap off and took a swig of beer to wash the vision away. "A couple days later we found Pederson outside the village, beaten to a pulp. I know damn well Escavez was responsible, but lacking concrete proof, there wasn't a helluva lot I could do about that, either." His jaw set. "Which pretty much summed up the entire detail. I didn't do a helluva lot."

John shrugged. "Some missions are like that—there's just not much you can do. And it's probably just as well you didn't find evidence against Escavez anyway."

"How do you figure?"

"We've both spent more hours than we can count in these villages. If there's one thing you can depend on in some of the more macho cultures, it's the store they place in saving face. Is Pederson okay?"

"Yeah. He's still not one hundred percent, but you know how fast a nineteen-year-old heals."

"There you go, then. Your soldier survived and might even think twice before he messes with another villager's woman. Escavez got his retribution, which probably helped him save face in front of his village."

"True." Zach felt some of the weight he'd been carrying slide away. "And in the end Miguel even volunteered to be part of the three-man delegation we brought back with us." He saluted Rocket with his beer bottle. "So all's well that ends well, I guess."

He heard the sound of the front door opening. Knowing it had to be Lily, he looked toward the archway, waiting for her to pass by. It bugged him to realize his blood was pumping a little hotter and faster through his veins than it had been a few moments ago. Then, recalling his friend's words, he took a slow, controlled breath and gave himself a break.

Rocket was right. Lily was the exact type of woman that usually drew his attention—at least in the physical sense. I'll be damned , he thought with a little surge of relief. I'm not turning into the world's worst brother, after all. I merely need to get laid .

He almost laughed out loud. As John had said, successful reconnaissance missions had a way of getting a guy's juices flowing. Combine that with the fact that it had been a long time since he'd been within belly-rubbing distance of a woman—even before the South American detail had come un—and any woman would look good to him, never mind a hot little number like Lily Morrisette. Just give him the chance to rectify the sexual limbo he'd been in, though, and she'd likely lose whatever small hold she had over his senses.

He kept that thought firmly in mind when Lily sashayed into view, all cotton-candy hair and swinging hips as she strutted toward the archway. Still his temperature cranked another notch higher. Then, just as he was thinking he'd better start trolling the bars pretty damn soon, Lily glanced up from the tiny handbag into which she dropped her keys.

With a little yelp of surprise she stopped in her tracks, a splayed hand slapping the full swell of her breasts. A half dozen narrow gold bangles clinked and jingled as they slid down her arm from wrist to forearm. Her eyes locked with Zach's.

"You startled me!" she exclaimed breathlessly, and more jingling ensued as her hand patted her chest as if to contain a racing heart. "I didn't realize anyone was here." Then she jerked her gaze away and glanced at Rocket, offering him a tentative smile.

It pushed all Zach"s buttons, and he laughed harshly. "Right," he snarled. "Like you can't smell fresh meat a block away." Jesus, what an actress He jerked his head toward Rocket. "So meet John. He can't afford you."

You would have thought he'd pissed in the middle of a tea party, the way she looked at him. Without a word, she turned on her heel and walked away.

His blood flat-out boiled. How did she do it? How did she make him feel as if he was in the wrong when he knew damn good and well that she was the one playing all the angles?

"So that's Lily, huh?"

Zach blew out a breath and turned to look at his friend. "Yeah."

" Hoo –ahh," Rocket breathed. "Now that's lethal stuff." He reached over to punch Zach on the arm. "But my money's on you, buddy. You'll have her disarmed in no time." He cocked a dense black eyebrow. "That is, if you start thinking with something besides your dick. What's the matter with you, anyway? I've never seen you like this, never heard you be anything but polite to a woman, no matter what her agenda. You gotta quit letting this one mess with your head."

Then he bared his teeth. "Lucky for you, you've got me at your back. You've established you're the bad guy. Now it's time for ol' brother John to see what he can learn."

Chapter 4

LILY WAS PANTING IN ABSOLUTE FURY BY THE TIME she closed the door at her back. He was a pig ! A pig, a pig, a pig ! Where did he get off treating her like that?

Well, he won. She'd pack her bags and start looking for another place this afternoon. It just chapped her hide to let him run her off this way, but she couldn't take it any more. She simply wasn't built for this kind of confrontation.

Unlike last night, when she'd thrown everything she owned into her case, she began gathering together only the nonessentials she could live without for a while, so she'd be ready to move at a moment's notice. But she made a face as she retrieved her luggage from the closet. This was way too reminiscent of her life growing up, when a year rarely went by without her restless parents telling her to pack her things because they were moving on. She'd learned at a young age never to get too comfortable in any one place, so heaven knew she had a decent grasp on what was necessary in order to get by for a day or two, and what were just extras.

She'd really thought all that was finally behind her, though. Until her apartment went condo, she'd lived in the same place for seven years, a record for someone who had gone to eleven different schools in six different states—and that wasn't counting two culinary schools. When Glynnis invited her to stay in this lovely ocean-front home, she'd appreciated it more than she could say and had truly hoped her next move would be her last. Ideally, when she found her restaurant, it would combine a living area with the commercial space. She'd planned to search for the perfect spot as soon as she got back from her next cruise.