He lightly touched her cold cheek before he
spoke again, "Sarah, this is going to be difficult. We can't let anyone
know about us."
"I know. What are we going to do about
this though?"
"I don't know yet. We need to think
about it but not right now. You need to warm up, then once Webb gets back we'll
take you to get your ankle checked out."
"Ok."
"I'll be right back. There should be
coffee in the kitchen."
A few minutes later, AJ came back without his
jacket and a mug of steaming hot coffee. He handed her the coffee then
cautiously sat on the edge of the bed beside her.
"Feeling better?" he asked after a
few minutes.
"Much better. Thank you," she said,
as her hand moved and stopped on his knee. He looked down at her hand and
smiled slightly as he took her small hand into his. Before he could say
anything they heard the door open, and Clay calling out to them. With one final
squeeze of his hand, he released hers.
"I'm going to turn the heater on in the
truck then I'll be right back." He slipped out of the room as Mac curled
back into the pile of blankets.
"Clay, are you all right?" she
asked after he came into the room.
"Once I thaw out, I'll be fine. By the
way the horse should be okay too."
"That's good," she said as AJ
stepped back into the room, carrying a pair of his sweats for her to wear. The
men went to give her privacy to change but she called AJ back into the room.
"Um, Admiral, sir," she said
nervously, not sure what to really call him now. At his questioning look, she
continued softly, "I need help with my zipper. My hands are still too
cold." She watched as he drew in a deep breath, then crossed the room to
once again sit on the edge of the bed. She sat up and their eyes locked as he
reached around her with both hands to ease down the zipper. She enjoyed the
feel of his hands on her finally after all this time but she knew that he would
have to stop soon.
Unfortunately he did stop much too soon, but
not before Mac saw the passion flare up even more in his eyes. With a final
caress of her cheek, he left her alone for her to change. No longer cold, in
fact, quite the opposite, Mac flung back the covers to change her clothes. She
quickly changed, trying not to linger on the thought that she was wearing the
Admiral's clothes rolled up to fit her smaller frame. She put her jacket back
on then she attempted to walk to the door, but before she was halfway there,
someone knocked.
"Come in." She wasn't surprised to
see AJ standing there looking at her. At first all he could see was the woman
he had desired for years standing in the middle of a bedroom, hair tousled from
the pillows and wearing his sweats. Finally he realized that she was trying to
walk towards him.
"Stubborn woman," he muttered under
his breath as he quickly moved to her and again swept her up into his arms. He
carried her outside to his truck and settled her into the front seat before he
went back into the farmhouse. A few moments later, AJ and Clay walked out then
AJ climbed into the driver side door as Clay got in the back seat. They were
silent for most of the ride Mac was simply watching AJ as he drove eventually
her attention settled on his hands as they lightly gripped the wheel. She
noticed his Navy ring and couldn't help but think of what Mic's mom had said
earlier.
"Hood girls are good girls," she
suddenly blurted out. She couldn't tell if he was more surprised at the broken
silence or what she had said.
"What?" he asked stunned.
"Sorry. It was something that Mic's mom
had said. She told me to say that to the next Academy man I saw."
AJ looked over at her and smiled. "It's
been a long time since I thought of Hood." He chuckled then said, "Hood
girls used to drive down to the Academy and announce which dorm was having the
party that weekend. We all knew which dorm was which too, one of the first
things the upper classmen taught us."
"Mic's aunt said that all middies knew
the names and locations of all the dorms."
"Well that wasn't too hard there were
only five and one was the cafeteria also. Coblentz, Memorial, Meyran, Smith and
… I can't remember the last one."
Before Mac could suggest the name of the dorm
that Jenny and Mary lived in, Clay piped up. "Shriner."
"What?" asked AJ.
"Shriner Hall. That was the fifth
dorm."
"Clay. Isn't Harvard a little far away
to drive for a party?" asked Mac.
"Not when they have 24 hour visitation
on the weekends. I don't think I'll ever forget room 43," he said with a
sad smile.
Surprised that Clay had opened up so much she
decided to ask even though she didn't expect an answer, "Who was in room
43?"
"My girlfriend. I asked her to marry me
but she refused."
"Why?" Mac asked softly, turning in
her seat to look at him. He remained silent; Mac finally turned back around in
her seat and let the matter drop.
A short while later they were at the hospital
and as soon as AJ got out of the truck, Clay spoke again. "She said no
because her name was Charlotte." Mac spun around to look at him but he was
already out of the truck and headed to open the door for AJ as he carried a
laughing Mac in the Emergency Room. She could just picture a young dejected
Clay after his girlfriend said no because she didn't want to be known as
Charlotte Webb. Mac was in surprisingly good spirits considering the lateness
of the hour, her sprained ankle and the fact that her car was in ditch
somewhere.
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