Free Hussy by Selena Kitt

the doorframe, his arms crossed.
    Her mother shook her head, waving her hand in dismissal. “It doesn’t matter. Just go, Lindsey. You’re going to do whatever you want to do. You always have, and you always will.”
    “ You got that one right.” She edged by her stepfather, heading for the front door and the promise of another night with Zach.
    “ Lindsey!” Her stepfather’s voice was a warning, but she didn’t stop. When she opened the door, there was Zach, waiting in the dusky light, whistling some tune. He smiled when he saw her, glancing down at her long, flowing skirt, his eyes widening in surprise.
    “ You look nice.”
    She snorted, taking his hand and pulling him down the porch steps. “I’m changing in the car.”
    He laughed, shaking his head as he opened the passenger door for her. “Don’t tell me—you’re wearing the ‘come-fuck-me-shorts’ under there?”
    “ How did you guess?” She was already wiggling the elastic waist of the skirt down over her hips when he slid in, putting the key into the ignition. “Thought I’d give you a great big hint.”
    “ Damn, girl.” Zach glanced over as she slid the skirt down her slim thighs, kicking it into a ball on the floor next to her sandals and putting her now-bare feet up on the dash. Her toes were painted pink. “You sure do make it hard to say no.”
    “ I hope so.” She grinned over at him, pushing the button to roll down the window and putting her face up to the breeze. “So where are we going tonight?”
    “ It’s not far.” He smiled over at her as she turned up the radio, leaning her seat back a little and dangling her arm out the window. Her hand danced in the breeze.
    “ You’re big on surprises, aren’t you?” The air was warm, even though it was near dark already and she twisted to put her feet out the window, too.
    “ Do you want me to tell you?”
    She contemplated this, chewing her gum. “No.”
    “ I think you like surprises.” Zach steered the car around a corner.
    “ Good ones, sure.” Lindsey gave a half-snort, half-laugh. “It’s the bad ones that get me.”
    “ Like what?” It sounded like a casual question, but she knew better. She could feel herself closing, something in her snapping tight. Telling people about what went on inside Lindsey wasn’t ever part of the deal. The good thing was, it was pretty easy to get most guys to talk about themselves.
    “ Oh, you know, the usual stuff.” She flipped the radio station. “So have you been overseas yet in this war thing?”
    Zach was quiet and for a moment she thought her tactic hadn’t worked. “I’ve been on two tours in Iraq, yes.”
    “ How was it?”
    “ Lonely.” He shrugged, and she saw his eyes moving over her thighs. She slid down a little further in her seat. “I spent six months in a submarine, five hundred meters under the surface of the Indian Ocean.”
    “ Six months?” She stared at him, incredulous.
    “ Actually, eight months on the second tour.”
    “ But you never saw any action?” She snapped her gum, changing the station again.
    Zach reached over and turned off the radio. “I’ll talk about it if you really want me to, but don’t use it to just try and change the subject, okay?”
    She flushed, glad for the coming darkness. The next words that came out of her mouth surprised them both. “My father was killed in Iraq.”
    “ I’m sorry, Lindsey.”
    “ I was very little.” She shrugged, shocked at herself. There wasn’t one other person in the world she could remember ever speaking those words out loud to. “I don’t remember much about him.”
    “ It was Desert Storm?”
    She nodded, pulling her feet into the car and sitting up. “He was in the army. I guess he got lured in by that whole college education and a free ride spiel.” Zach didn’t say anything, he just drove, but she knew he was listening. “You know, that whole travel to exotic, foreign lands, meet new and interesting people… and kill