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Yet as he walked under the warm sun, feeling the breeze from the nearby ocean, he didn’t regret his choices. David had been given a chance to exist outside the usual politics and crap of dealing with others and given command of his own base. It had been a risky move by the higher-ups, entrusting an entire base to the command of a young general who had yet to prove themselves. David had relished getting his hands dirty, so to speak, and to prove to himself and others that he was more than fit for the job.

Sure, there were still plenty of things on his list to fix. Operations was still a bit of a mess, and more often than not, David had to take control and ensure training was running smoothly and that any soldiers coming from outside the base were properly cared for. He still had to contend with the occasional complaint from the nearby town when they had to deal with a soldier getting drunk and aggressive on a night off. Yet, all in all, he considered he had fulfilled his wish to be a success.

His phone trilled softly, pulling him out of his thoughts. It was the tone reserved for Christian. He wasn’t sure how the man had set it up, but when it came to the ins and outs of the system, David had made sure was installed at Fort Dale, Christian knew most of it.

Philip is supposed to be showing up in an hour.

David grimaced, knowing he had to cut his tour short to be prepared for that meeting. Any sit-down with Philip was usually twice as long as needed and half as efficient as it should be. Resigned to his fate, he tapped a message back to Christian.

Understood. And you are aware he has a title, correct?

Christian’s response came back so quickly David would have thought the younger man was using an actual keyboard.

Yeah. Why, what are you going to do, report me?

That brought a soft laugh from David, who pocketed his phone rather than responding and encouraging Christian. It was probably not a good idea, at least professionally speaking, to let his receptionist show him what could be called disrespect, especially since it had begun with Christian referring to a superior by his first name without his proper rank and title.

Yet, it was a small pleasure for David to have someone like Christian around. Everyone else he dealt with, save his sister, treated him as General Winter, a man to be respected and spoken to carefully. There was the occasional unruly soldier whoignored that, but General Winter knew full well how to throw his weight around if necessary. With Christian, David knew there was no disrespect from the younger man when he spoke flippantly or even when he harassed David. If anything, there was a playful casualness David welcomed in his otherwise stiff and formulaic life.

But he also wasn’t so foolish as to encourage the man more than necessary.

When he returned to the office, Christian was seated behind his desk, as usual, popping something from a small plastic bag into his mouth. When David grew closer, he realized the snacks were, in fact, carrots, and he couldn’t help but smile smugly.

“I see you decided to take my advice,” David said.

Christian sighed. “Yes, General Winter, after your repeated...reminders, I decided I could incorporate a few healthy snacks into my meals.”

“Sounds like a polite way of saying I nagged you,” David pointed out.

“I would never be so bold as to accuse my superior of being a nag,” Christian said, batting his eyelashes.

The gesture was affected and not meant to be taken seriously. Yet David couldn’t help noticing the slight pull in his gut. Along with finding the man’s personality absolutely endearing, there was something about the entire package. David would have been a liar if he tried to tell himself he wasn’t occasionally drawn to men a decade or two younger than he was.

“No, you wouldn’t, but you’d be willing to insinuate it strongly when there’s no one around to hear you,” David said.

Christian winked, popping another carrot into his mouth with a crunch. “I might be guilty of that sort of shady behavior occasionally.”

David chuckled. “So, what time is my Operations leader supposed to be showing up?”

“You mean your Operations leaderat the moment, right?” Christian asked with a raised brow.

David frowned. “Have you been reading my outbound messages again?”

Christian sighed. “I’m sorry, yes. I thought General Pollack wanted another one of your recipes when I saw the message. Didn’t realize it was work-related. I told you to mark any emails I’m not supposed to see, but you never do.”

That was true. “You didn’t need to keep reading it once you saw what it contained.”

Christian wrinkled his nose. “Once I realized, I stopped reading. But it was too late. Cat was out of the bag. You’re trying to get Philip transferred.”

David cleared his throat. “That you’re privy to the information is fine, I suppose. But I’d prefer that you didn’t talk about it openly, thank you.”

Christian winked. “You got it. Lord knows keeping my mouth shut is a skill I’ve had to master over the years.”

David cocked his head, wondering why Christian felt the need to say, ‘years’ rather than just ‘year.’ Christian had been placed directly under David about a year ago, and working the front desk required discretion. Not just because Christian was exposed to David’s life but because of the problematic soldiers he dealt with, and when Command showed up.

However, his question was tossed aside as Christian put down the carrots and linked his arms behind his head. He leaned back in his seat, letting out a low groan as he stretched the muscles in his back. It had the unintended side effect of making the front of his uniform ride up, showing a flash of bare skin and the pale blond hair of his stomach. Once again, David felt that pull in his gut, but much harder than before.

“The water Philip is so fond of is already in your office fridge, and he was nice enough to mention that he just wanted to‘catch up’ on things. So, I took the notes you gave me from the last meeting, mixed them with what’s changed since then, and created a little cheat sheet. Maybe it’ll be good enough to get you through the meeting faster than usual,” Christian said as he dropped his feet on the ground and stared at his computer again.