Free Damage Control (Valiant Knox) by Jess Anastasi Page A

he’d singe her and leave her nothing but smoke and ashes?
    Dear God, just how dumb could she be?
    There was no scenario in which anything good could come of this attraction that had ambushed her. But, there were many, many ways in which it could destroy both their lives.
    Captain Alphin had a pristine reputation, no hint of scandal in his personal life whatsoever. Stuff like that never stayed secret very long, especially on a ship like the Valiant Knox , where everyone knew everyone and privacy wasn’t exactly an easy thing to come by. That right there was the number-one reason why she absolutely could not let anything happen between them. Someone would inevitably find out—which brought her right back around to all the ways in which this reckless little infatuation could destroy her life.
    At some point in the small hours of the morning, she’d reasoned that her tired mind had been seeing things that just weren’t there. Maybe Captain Alphin hadn’t even realized the intimate manner in which he’d touched her shoulder. Maybe his low curse had been more about the fact that she’d slipped up and used his given name. Possibly when she saw him today, he was going to ride her harder than any other student simply because they’d become a little too familiar with each other.
    The door to the transit-porter swooshed open in front of her. As if her thoughts alone had summoned him, Leigh stood toward the back of the transit, dressed down in a light gray pair of sweats and a faded navy T-shirt that stretched a little too nicely over his muscled chest, while his short hair was sticking out all over the place in a sexy, just-got-out-of-bed kind of way. Her next breath got caught in her lungs as her chest tightened, her heart feeling like it was being squeezed.
    He looked up and straightened when he saw her, a flash of what could have been alarm crossing his features. Yeah, she was feeling pretty panicked herself. Maybe she’d just wait for the next transit to come by. She stepped back, but as the doors started sliding shut again, Leigh came forward and slapped a hand against the edge so the transit stayed open.
    “We need to talk. Again.” His expression had settled into determined lines, though he glanced up and down the deserted passageway before nodding in a way that indicated she should join him.
    She swallowed down the unsettling mix of apprehension and anticipation being around him created. With a short breath, she stepped past him into the transit and then neither of them said anything as the doors slid shut.
    “Where are you headed?” Leigh asked without looking directly at her.
    “Gym. The lap pools, actually.” She glanced at the display listing destinations to see that the gym had already been selected. Was that where he was going as well?
    For a long second they both stood there, not looking at each other, while a growing awareness of them shut in here alone, and the hours she’d spent thinking about him, grew within her.
    Finally, Leigh scrubbed a hand over his hair, then turned to look directly at her. As soon as his blue eyes met hers, it was like a flash of lighting streaking from the tips of her hair all the way to her toes. No other man had ever been able to do that to her with a single look. Was this some weird forbidden-authority-figure thing, or was it simply Leigh that made her feel that way?
    “I feel like I should say sorry about last night, except honestly, we both know nothing untoward happened between us. However, I’m sure you’re aware that for a moment there, things got a little hazy in terms of appropriate interactions. I apologize if I made you feel uncomfortable, and you can rest assured, it will never happen again.”
    Wow . She’d heard Leigh was an honorable, straightforward, if somewhat hard soldier, but the fact that he was standing here, not trying to make excuses for what had happened surprised and impressed her. And she really didn’t need to be any more impressed than she