Putting the large water bottle and the bag of bagels I�d brought with me down on the dresser, I took a calming breath before going to wake Harm.
�Hey, Flyboy, time to get up,� I said gently as I wiggled his shoulder a little. Harm is always such a bear in the mornings, and, though the thought of bringing a Marine in to sound off with his trumpet is alluring, I know that my life will be much easier if Harm is awakened slowly and gently. �Come on, Harm, we�re going home soon, and they might let you fly,� I said, though I knew the Navy had no intention of letting him fly. Hell, I had no intention of letting him fly. He grumbled something unintelligible and pulled his shoulder away from my fingers.
�Go away,� Harm mumbled, swatting blindly at me.
�No can do, Harm. We�ve gotta go,� I said while tugging on his arm. I was about two failed attempts away from dousing him with ice water. �Come on, Harm. If you don�t get up I�ll have to call the Admiral and explain why we�re not on our way back� and you know that he�ll probably put you on desk duty for a few months until he�s forgiven you� long hours sitting in the office, no chances to fly, forced to eat from vending machines� I know you won�t be able to stand it. And I really don�t want to have to break in a new partner now that I�ve finally got you right where I want you.�
Harm frowned and lifted his head a little, his aqua coloured eyes meeting mine. �And where would that be?� he asked in what would have probably been a seductive tone if he didn�t sound like he�d spent the night digging in the desert with his mouth.
�That�s for me to know and you to find out,� I replied with a smile. �Now get up. I�ve got water and bagels and some news that you may or may not like, depending on how your savings account looks right now.�
Harm groaned. �I don�t think I want to know,� he said before rolling out of bed and stumbling toward the bathroom, grabbing the bottle of water along the way.
I stayed where I was until I heard the shower start up and then I started packing up Harm�s things, leaving him one civilian outfit to wear on the way home. I was dressed in a pair of comfortable jeans and a light sweater instead of my uniform because flying across the country in uniforms is not the most comfortable thing in the world and, since we�re going to be taking civilian transport, we won�t stand out in civvies, which is always a plus.
Plus Harm looks mouthwateringly good in civvies.
True, his uniform is just as sexy, and don�t even get me started about him in dress whites, but when Harm wears jeans and a tee shirt and he steps out of the �officer and a gentleman� clich� role that he lives ninety percent of his life by, there�s something so seductive about him that it makes my head spin.
After I�d tidied up I wrote out a note and left it on top of the neatly folded clothes I�d left on the foot of the bed for Harm. Knowing that he wouldn�t be able to hear me over the water and the pounding in his head, I left the room silently and headed for the mess hall where I�d asked Harm to meet me.