Page 77 of Winter’s Fire

“I will. Thanks, Chief.”

By the time they reached the medical facility, Lucy was heartily glad she didn’t suffer from claustrophobia. The ship was a confusing maze of narrow, stifling passageways, although Sam had no problem navigating their way to their destination. Once they arrived, Diana steamed straight to the head of the queue for the medical officer’s attention. The door to the consulting room closed behind her, at which point Lucy let out a massive sigh of relief.

“Sis, sit down before you fall down. Do you want something to eat?”

Lucy leaned against her brother. The warmth of his arm around her shoulders almost made her want to cry. She’d been running on an adrenaline high for days, and now she was ready to crash. “I don’t know. I think I’ll be sick if I have anything.”

“How about some soup? I can call the galley and have some brought up for you.”

Lucy shook her head. “I think what I need most is a shower and some sleep.” She lifted her arm and gave a delicate sniff. “I stink.”

“I didn’t like to say, but now you mention it…”

Brotherly teasing had never been so welcome. She gave Sam a feeble punch in the ribs. “Shut up. Just give me a shower, a bunk and some clean clothes, and I’ll be fine.”

“I know you will, Luce. I know.”

It may have been her imagination, but Lucy swore she could hear a new level of respect in her brother’s voice. At some point, she’d have to tell him everything—but not right now, because at this precise moment, she couldn’t even begin to think of the words to do it.

“Sam, I don’t know how you came to be here, right where we needed you, when we needed you—”

“Orders. We were diverted to this area a few days ago, and instructed to monitor all frequencies for any unusual transmissions. When your mayday came in loud and clear and Simmonds identified you all… Let’s just say, when word got to me, I gained a few more grey hairs. So what’s going on between you and Simmonds?”

Caught unawares by the sudden change of subject, Lucy tensed. “Nothing.”

“He hasn’t hurt you, has he?”

“Of course not.” At least not in any way she could tell Sam.

“But there is something between you two?”

“Whatever gives you that idea?”

“I saw the way he was looking at you.”

Sam had always been the most romantic of her siblings. “Whatever you think you saw, you’re wrong.”

“He couldn’t take his eyes off you.”

“He was standing behind me talking to you, and you were directly in front of me—he couldn’t really look anywhere else!”

The brotherly kiss to the top of her head almost had her blubbing like a kid again. When her other brothers had teased her mercilessly—their rather unique way of showing how much they loved her—Sam had been the one she’d gone to when it had got too much. He’d always been a nurturer, so it was little surprise he’d risen through the ranks in his chosen role of medical assistant.

“Okay, I won’t push it, but I think you have some unfinished business there.”

Did she? Lucy doubted it, but she was just too tired to start picking apart Logan’s words and actions, and examining them for any meaning other than the obvious. He was back with Diana and whatever had been starting to develop between her and him had been a lie, tossed aside like yesterday’s trash.

And yet, even though she was exhausted, even though she knew it was pointless, there was still a part of her that wanted to fight for the man, to convince him that she’d be better for him than Diana.

Three words stopped her. Three words her brothers had instilled in her from an early age, a lesson taught both in theory and in practice.

Pick. Your. Battles.

If Logan truly wanted her, she wouldn’t need to think in terms of battles. When it came to women, in her experience men made their choices pretty much on sight. Logan had made his choice. Even though she felt about him the way she did, she wasn't going to relegate him to the status of a bone to be scrapped over by two snarling bitches. She couldn’t fight for what was already lost, but she could win the battle to walk away with her dignity intact and her head held high.

Besides, there was the whole matter of the mission and the role she’d played in it. Sir Guy had to see her as more than just his PA now. That was one battle she’d picked and won, even though, in the winning, she’d lost the most precious prize of all.

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