Free Operation Date With Destiny by Karlene Blakemore-Mowle

off.
     
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    Tupper glanced back across at Destiny and saw her staring at him with a look that would have disintegrated a thinner skinned man. “ Really? ” Holy hell, how could this woman get any hotter? He shook the thought from his head as soon as it popped in.
    Damn it—he didn ’ t want her in there. How was he supposed to keep his mind on the job when he ’ d be worrying about her? God damn it to hell! Of all the women he could have fallen for—why did she have to be a female Rambo? Whoa…what the hell? Fallen for? Oh no… no, no. N o God damn way in hell…
    “ Asshole, ” she muttered beneath her breath just a little too loudly , but Tupper was still in too much shock for it to register straight away.
    “ Come on dude—you ’ ve been called worse than that before, ” Chase said, slapping his shoulder as they watched Destiny walk over to her ruck to pull on her gear in prep for their OP.
    “ Is it just me or has he gone a little pale? ” Del asked with a chuckle.
    “ Tup? You okay? ” Tate asked, tilting his head a little to look at his friends face.
    “ I don ’ t think I am, ” he managed weakly.
    “ Uh oh, ” Maloney warned. “ I know that look. ”
    “ What look ? ” Tupper snapped, with a frown.
    “ That, look. He ’ s a goner , boys. ”
    There was a chorus of hoots and chuckles at his expense from the three men as they stared at him in disbelief.
    “ Shut the hell up—there is no look, ” he snapped. “ And how come I was the only one who didn ’ t get the damn memo about her being a field agent? ”
    “ Willow got back to me just a while ago, ” Del shrugged. “ I tried to tell you before you put your foot in it—but you two were already at each other. ”
    “ Never thought I ’ d see the day, ” Maloney said shaking his head slowly.
    “ You ’ re all out of your minds. Would you knock it off and concentrate on the job at hand? I don ’ t want to be carrying your lazy asses the whole day. ”
    “ Okay lover boy—we ’ re all ears. Walk us through the plan. ” Tate said with a straight face.
    “ Screw you guys, ” Tupper snapped, ignoring their smirks and getting back to business. Field agent ? F antastic …just what he needed , a know - it - all spook tryin ’ to take over the show.
     
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    L a ying down next to him as they watched the compound, Destiny resisted the urge to grit her teeth when she felt Johnny ’ s hard stare fall upon her. The guy was driving her insane . “ Deal with it Tupperoni, ” she murmured just loud enough for him to hear as she inserted the earpiece for their comm unication s set into her ear. “ I ’ m staying. ”
    “ You better be as good as you think you are , sunshine, ” he snapped.
    She allowed a ghost of a smile to touch her lips, keeping her eyes on the building before them. “ Scared I might show up a Marine? ”
    “ Scared you might get your stubborn head blown off, ” he retorted.
    “ Well, think of it this way—if that happens you won ’ t have to worry about me being a pain in your ass any more. Just get my brother somewhere safe, ” she added, and turned her gaze on him steadily. “ Nothing else matters—understand? ”
    He didn ’ t answer her immediately, and she saw a cocktail of emotions filter across his face ; anger, fear, frustration and finally , acceptance.
    “ You just watch yourself out there. ”
    She was enough of a realist to understand there were more than a few complications to this whole rescue plan—the main one being that she could potentially die. She couldn ’ t think that way though right now—she needed to stay alive for Jackson and she would do whatever it took to keep him safe…even if that meant risking her own life.

 
    Chapter Eight
     
    They spread out to take up their positions and Destiny closed her eyes briefly to rid herself of everything except her instincts and her training. She wasn ’ t a sister or a kidnapping , double-crosser right now—she was