Page 188

Story: Men of Fort Dale

David nodded, thankful, and shoved aside the image of Christian’s bare skin and the question of what the rest of him looked like. In a strange quirk, he liked his men younger than him but his women older. He knew damn well that if Christian was not firmly off-limits, David would be sorely tempted to try and find out what the rest of Christian’s pale skin looked like. But he was Christian’s superior, and there were strict rules about fraternization, particularly regarding generals.

“I’ll give it a look over and try not to consider dipping into the case full of liquor I have in there,” David said, rounding the desk once he thought it was safe to expose the front of his uniform.

Christian chuckled. “I’ll even be a good boy and warn you what kind of mood he’s in. I’m hoping for all business. If he’s jolly, he likes to stand around and chat before he comes in to see you.”

“Oh, the horror,” David said dryly as he pushed into his office.

Predictably,Philip was late. A full twenty minutes after the arranged time, David received a notification from Christian that Philip had arrived. It took another ten minutes before the next message told him Philip was on his way in. David took that to mean Philip was particularly happy and had lingered to chat with Christian. The addition at the end of Christian’s message raised David’s brow.

Seems a little too happy if you ask me.

David wasn’t sure what that meant, but he didn’t have time to contemplate it. The door to his office swung open, and Philip strolled in, or more accurately, strutted in. Philip Rogan enjoyed living big and did everything with as much expression and confidence as he could muster. Where someone else would walk, he would strut. Where they would talk, he would proclaim. Most of the time, David ignored it and let the man say whatever he had to, praying he would get through the meeting before the day was supposed to end.

“Phil, good to see you,” David said, standing up to take the man’s hand.

Philip grinned wide, shaking David’s hand briskly. “David, a pleasure as always. I hope you’ve been well?”

“As well as can be expected,” David said, gesturing to the seats.

Philip dropped into one. David didn’t require formality from those he worked closely with, and next to Philip’s desire to seem at ease with everything, there was a casualness between them that went quite far.

Much of that informal relationship came from David being responsible for Philip’s continued contract with the military. A few years before, there had been a quiet but substantial incident that could have cost Philip everything. David, out of pity for a man whose entire life depended on staying in the military, had quietly interceded. The situation had been swept under the rug, and Philip not only went unharmed but had even been, against David’s private concerns, placed as the head of operations at Fort Dale.

A decision David hoped would soon be changed.

“Well enough, I suppose. Seems like there’s always something needing my attention. I’m lucky to get my breath,” David admitted as he sat down.

Philip let out a loud laugh. “Yes, I’m more than aware of what that feels like.”

David chuckled, trying his best not to ask what exactly it was that kept Philip so damned busy. It certainly wasn’t his job since David did half of it. Though he supposed it was hard work, staying on decent terms with the other generals and the rest of Command. Those connections had made it difficult for David to finally get someone to listen to him about replacing Philip, and hopefully with someone who might do the job better than David, whose attention was constantly divided.

It just required one more piece of the puzzle, one he would have to follow up with Christian after his meeting with Philip.

“It’s been a bit since Sergeant Rider settled in. How’s he getting on with the team?” David asked, knowing the answer since he’d seen the reports.

Philip wrinkled his nose. “Not well. I can’t say I agree with your choice of an intel officer for Team Maelstrom, especially considering they’ve done nothing but argue since they met.”

Well, two of them were arguing. It seemed the team leader and the new intelligence officer were not seeing eye to eye. Then again, David hadn’t expected the transition to be smooth and wasn’t bothered by the reports. The deep crease in Philip’s brow told him he was bothered.

“Can’t expect everything to go smoothly, especially with all that’s happened with Maelstrom. Best to let them work things out on their own for a while. Just make sure the team leader knows to keep everyone busy, including himself,” David said.

“If you say so, David. I don’t think this will end well,” Philip said, continuing to frown.

Which boiled down to regret on Philip’s part for not having chosen in the first place and letting David do it instead. The difference between them, at least with the decision regarding the newest member of Team Maelstrom, was that Philip wouldhave looked at the bottom line and picked what looked the best. David’s approach had been to comb through the files of possible candidates, trying to get a good idea of each of the soldiers he was looking at and choose the one thatfeltright. His instincts, especially regarding command, had been right more often than not.

“Well, if that’s the case, then I owe you an apology, and I have no problem taking the fall if this blows up in our faces,” David soothed.

Philip laughed again. “But if it goes well instead?”

David snorted. “We both know Command isn’t going to care one bit if it goes well. They only pay attention when things go to hell.”

Philip slapped his knee. “Isn’t that the damn truth? We’ve been up to our necks here, and they don’t care as long as everything works out for them. At least you have Christian going for you, right?”

“He has been a great help, yes,” David admitted.

“Ah, what I wouldn’t give to have someone cute and nubile working my front desk. It would certainly liven my day up a bit,” Philip said with a wink.

David shook his head. “That’s hardly what I spend my day thinking about.”

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