Read Damage Control (Valiant Knox) for Free Online Page B

as she took in the masculine angles of his face and the military, short-cut perfection of his coffee-black hair. With a quick breath, she turned her attention to her boots, her pulse skittering enough to make her jumpy.
    When he’d come to see her in the ER medbay, he’d been like a different man. She got the feeling he didn’t let people see that side of himself very often. And it had taken until nearly the end of the conversation for her to realize he had no idea she’d been assigned to him.
    The way he’d spoken to her, the depth of emotion in those gray-blue eyes…the feel of his large, rough hand gripping her fingers… She shivered, unable to help her sensory response. She’d already admired the man, because who didn’t? Except by the time he’d left her room, she’d started having very un-soldier-like feelings for him. God , could she be any stupider?
    As if training wouldn’t be hard enough, getting starry-eyed over the CAFF would just add an extra layer of uncomfortable to the torment of the coming weeks. Okay, so he was freaking sexy as all hell. She’d have to be dead not to notice. And the side of him she’d seen this morning had opened up a crack in her heart.
    There’d been rumors that every year at least one female cadet went crushing hard for him. And the story went that he never paid any of them the least bit of attention. If anything, they became more invisible to him.
    Please don’t let me be the idiot who gets the hots for the CO…aka God.
    She’d already started things off badly enough without becoming a soppy-spined female over his handsome face. And tall, muscled body. And in that uniform . She swallowed and cleared her throat, forcing her mind to go blank.
    “Everything all right there, recruit?” Captain Alphin had moved to stand next to her while she’d been having her inner crisis and she hadn’t even noticed. She tipped her chin up and set her gaze straight ahead, putting him in her peripheral vision.
    “Sir, everything is fine, sir.”
    The few remaining recruits dispersed, leaving her standing alone with Captain Alphin.
    Her legs had started trembling, muscles aching through every inch of her body. That rest Sub-Doctor Moore had recommended sounded better and better. But she couldn’t walk off on the CAFF without being dismissed or committing career suicide.
    “Sir, was there something you wanted, sir?”
    “I seem to remember ordering you to follow the doctor’s instructions, did I not, Wolfe?”
    She locked her knees against her weakening muscles. “Sir, yes, sir.”
    Captain Alphin moved to stand directly in front of her again, but she didn’t let herself focus on his face. She’d never seen that particular shade of gray-blue eyes before. One glance at him and she’d lose the small amount of nerve she was clinging on to.
    “And did doctor’s orders include gossiping in the launch bay, Recruit?”
    She shook her head, not trusting her voice.
    “Well, since you’re so determined not to rest, come with me.”
    He waved his hand to indicate she should precede him, even though she had no idea where they were going. Well, there was only one main corridor leading from the launch bay.
    She caught a few interested glances cast her way as the CAFF marched her through the ship. Everyone greeted Captain Alphin with deference, even the few superior officers they passed. Every now and then, he would murmur a direction to her and by the time they’d gone down several levels, she’d started feeling like a prisoner being paraded about before heading for the executioner’s chair.
    The captain led her through the gym on squadron level, mostly deserted at this time of day, and continued into the locker room. Privacy on board a ship like this wasn’t exactly ideal. A few soldiers, both male and female, were in various states of undress in the locker room and no one seemed too concerned about it. Her cheeks heated, and she kept her gaze averted. One more thing she would need to