the bathroom tile and boomed back at her. As if chastened, she sank deeper into the lavender and honeysuckle scented bubbles and scrubbed the same clean spot on her knee until it glowed red raw. “Haven’t you’ve been listening to what I’ve been telling you? The guy is an arrogant ass.”
Steven chuckled. “I like him already.”
“Will you get serious?” she snapped. “I have to spend the next nine weeks dodging this jerk. He’s lucky I didn’t report his manhandling to our C.O.”
Steven said nothing as Sydney launched onto a new soapbox.
“When women bitch about the military’s overly testosterone jerks it’s viewed as we can’t handle the heat,” she ranted. “If I file just one complaint it will sink my career, and you know it. Let’s not talk about what could have happened if someone walked in when he was kissing me!”
“Wait. He kissed you?”
Sydney cursed under her breath. She hadn’t meant to share that tidbit of information.
Amusement seeped back into her brother’s voice. “Did you kiss him back?”
“No,” she stressed and ignored the prick of consciousness for lying.
“Uh, huh.” Steven’s doubt resonated through the line.
“Forget it.” She straightened up the tub and shook her head. “I don’t know why I bother talking to you.”
“Because you don’t have any friends,” he laughed. “I’m your brother, your best friend, and your diary all rolled up into one. Lucky me.”
“I’m hanging up,” she threatened, but had no intentions of doing so.
“Oh, c’mon. Don’t be like that,” Steven pleaded with a soft laugh. “How do you expect me to act when you tell me this guy kissed you and you didn’t punch his lights out i.e. Bobby Blalock?”
Sydney rolled her eyes at the memory of her senior Academy Ball. “He tried to do more than just kiss me,” she reminded him.
“Most guys do on prom night, but none of them end up in the emergency room with a broken arm and rib.”
A laugh tumbled from her lips. “Okay, maybe I overreacted.”
“Ha!” he barked. “ Now you admit it?”
Her smile widened. To tell the truth she was rather proud of herself for teaching Bobby “Octopus Arms” Blalock when a woman said ‘no’, damn it, she meant ‘no’. “I admit nothing,” she chuckled.
“Figures.” Steven released a long exhalation. “So what are you going to do about this ‘Jett’ character? If you’re afraid to report-”
“I never used the word afraid ,” she corrected. “I said it would sink my career. There’s a difference.”
“All right. You want your big brother to fly up there and put this guy in his place?”
“No, I don’t need anyone to fight my battles,” she sulked and played with what few bubbles remained in the tub. “I just wanted to vent. That’s all.”
“Venting accomplished, Captain,” Steven said gruffly. “Now if you don’t mind, it’s time for me to hit the sack. I have an early morning appointment.”
“You?” She asked not bothering to mask her astonishment. “Wait. What do you consider being early?”
“Noon.”
She laughed. “I should have known.”
“Don’t hate. I’m not interested in ‘doing more than most people all day by nine a.m.’ I’m quite content to study the back of my eyelids around that time.”
“I just bet you are.”
Steven’s ability to just go with the flow was one of the things Sydney loved about her brother. Routine, regime, and discipline smothered him. He was never meant to work for ‘the man’ as he liked to put it and he sure wasn’t going to join his military. It was strange, Steven, the spiting image of their father, inherited their mother’s free spirit, where Sydney, who was her mother’s replica, inherit her father’s personality.
Steven emitted his first yawn of the evening. “So. What you’re going to do?”
“Do?”
“About your Romeo.”
An instant image of Jett’s penetrating golden eyes somehow knocked the chill off the tub’s
Steven chuckled. “I like him already.”
“Will you get serious?” she snapped. “I have to spend the next nine weeks dodging this jerk. He’s lucky I didn’t report his manhandling to our C.O.”
Steven said nothing as Sydney launched onto a new soapbox.
“When women bitch about the military’s overly testosterone jerks it’s viewed as we can’t handle the heat,” she ranted. “If I file just one complaint it will sink my career, and you know it. Let’s not talk about what could have happened if someone walked in when he was kissing me!”
“Wait. He kissed you?”
Sydney cursed under her breath. She hadn’t meant to share that tidbit of information.
Amusement seeped back into her brother’s voice. “Did you kiss him back?”
“No,” she stressed and ignored the prick of consciousness for lying.
“Uh, huh.” Steven’s doubt resonated through the line.
“Forget it.” She straightened up the tub and shook her head. “I don’t know why I bother talking to you.”
“Because you don’t have any friends,” he laughed. “I’m your brother, your best friend, and your diary all rolled up into one. Lucky me.”
“I’m hanging up,” she threatened, but had no intentions of doing so.
“Oh, c’mon. Don’t be like that,” Steven pleaded with a soft laugh. “How do you expect me to act when you tell me this guy kissed you and you didn’t punch his lights out i.e. Bobby Blalock?”
Sydney rolled her eyes at the memory of her senior Academy Ball. “He tried to do more than just kiss me,” she reminded him.
“Most guys do on prom night, but none of them end up in the emergency room with a broken arm and rib.”
A laugh tumbled from her lips. “Okay, maybe I overreacted.”
“Ha!” he barked. “ Now you admit it?”
Her smile widened. To tell the truth she was rather proud of herself for teaching Bobby “Octopus Arms” Blalock when a woman said ‘no’, damn it, she meant ‘no’. “I admit nothing,” she chuckled.
“Figures.” Steven released a long exhalation. “So what are you going to do about this ‘Jett’ character? If you’re afraid to report-”
“I never used the word afraid ,” she corrected. “I said it would sink my career. There’s a difference.”
“All right. You want your big brother to fly up there and put this guy in his place?”
“No, I don’t need anyone to fight my battles,” she sulked and played with what few bubbles remained in the tub. “I just wanted to vent. That’s all.”
“Venting accomplished, Captain,” Steven said gruffly. “Now if you don’t mind, it’s time for me to hit the sack. I have an early morning appointment.”
“You?” She asked not bothering to mask her astonishment. “Wait. What do you consider being early?”
“Noon.”
She laughed. “I should have known.”
“Don’t hate. I’m not interested in ‘doing more than most people all day by nine a.m.’ I’m quite content to study the back of my eyelids around that time.”
“I just bet you are.”
Steven’s ability to just go with the flow was one of the things Sydney loved about her brother. Routine, regime, and discipline smothered him. He was never meant to work for ‘the man’ as he liked to put it and he sure wasn’t going to join his military. It was strange, Steven, the spiting image of their father, inherited their mother’s free spirit, where Sydney, who was her mother’s replica, inherit her father’s personality.
Steven emitted his first yawn of the evening. “So. What you’re going to do?”
“Do?”
“About your Romeo.”
An instant image of Jett’s penetrating golden eyes somehow knocked the chill off the tub’s
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