Still Read Online Free PDF Page A

“Do you think I didn’t notice the upswing in men doing mountain climbers after you arrived?”
    He stared at the road like it was suddenly infested with sharks. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, ma’am.”
    “Must have been my imagination when I saw you yelling at them to climb higher, to keep climbing until they remembered that the nurses inside that tent were superior officers, not some cute girl from their high school.”
    Heat filled his cheeks. “Must have been someone else. Us jarheads all look alike.”
    “Hmmm. Well, regardless, I appreciated it. It’s nice knowing I have someone at my back I can trust.”
    He wasn’t sure, but he could have sworn he heard a bit of heat in her voice. Then again, he was so obsessed with her it wasn’t even funny. While he knew she was way out of his league, and completely hands off as not only a superior officer, but a superior officer in a war zone, that didn’t stop him from thinking about what it could be like to hold her, to kiss her. The peach and vanilla scent of her shampoo haunted his sleep and he’d had more sexual dreams about Michelle than he’d had about any woman since he’d hit puberty.
    She cracked her neck and sighed. “I can’t fucking wait to be able to walk around without this heavy ass body armor.”
    “You have what, another six months?”
    “Yep.”
    She leaned forward and looked out the windshield as the break lights on the M-ATV in front of them flared red. The caravan slowed to a crawl and Wyatt hoped that whatever the fuck was holding them up would pass quickly so they could reach the other base. He really didn’t like being out on the road at night.
    “Any plans for after you get out, ma’am?”
    “Not sure. I want to help those who can’t get regular medical care - maybe volunteer at a free clinic or sign up with one of those doctors’ organizations that treat the poor for free.” She laughed. “I sure as shit don’t want to return back to Chicago. Too fucking cold. What about you?”
    “As soon as my time with Uncle Sam is up I’ll be heading back to Austin.”
    She smiled. “I’m not surprised with the way you and Winters talked about Texas. You gonna go herd some cows, or whatever the hell it is cowboys do?”
    Used to her good natured ribbing he shook his head. “No, ma’am. My dad is a master carpenter and I...”
    Something hit the M-ATV in front of them from the left and his words vanished beneath a massive roar. Time slowed and he stared in disbelief as the vehicle in front of them blew up. He had a millisecond to register what had happened before shrapnel and larger metal fragments from the blast tore through their vehicle shattering the safety glass of the windshield.
    Immense pain roared through his body and he blacked out.
    When he came to Sapphire was leaning over him and yelling. “Wake the fuck up Callahan!”
    “Doc?” His voice came out in a whisper and a shudder wracked his body from head to toe. He tried to remember what had happened. His senses started to come back and, as they did, he became aware of a terrible pain radiating from his lower abdomen. He reached down to his belly below his body armor. Before he could touch anything she smacked his hand away. “Don’t fucking move, Callahan. Stay with me, okay?”
    “What’s wrong with me?” The pain began to register in his mind and he groaned, unable to form words.
    “A mortar took out the vehicle in front of us. A piece of shrapnel sliced your gut open.” She swallowed hard. “I’m holding your intestines in right now so don’t fucking fight me and do not move.”
    Gunfire split the air somewhere ahead of them in a harsh chatter.
    “Never...fight...you,” he whispered. The world started to go soft and fuzzy and he gratefully began to slip back into unconsciousness. At least he would have if the woman holding his guts together hadn’t started yelling at him again.
    “Callahan, you wake the fuck up and stay with me. Look at