A Red Hot & Blue Novel
"heart-pounding adventure on the edge of the war torn Middle East" ~ Sizzling Hot Book Reviews
Staff Sergeant David “Hawk” Hawkins never refused an order, but he also never signed up for the duty for which he's been enlisted--becoming the Army's new recruitment poster boy and working side-by-side with a pretty little, big city marketing executive who has no business being in his war zone.
“Sergeant Hawkins. You did well up there today.” Commander Miller, the man in charge of this show, greeted him.
They did well? They’d done fucking great, was more like it. But instead of voicing that opinion, Hawk inclined his head and accepted the compliment.
“I can’t take credit for the complete molding of them, sir. I have one strong team leader and the other is decent. He’s a bit rough around the edges, but I’m working to fix that. Together, the team leaders and I have trained the rest of the Joes.”
He’d gotten them to where he needed them to be, acting together, their movements fluid. They were efficient killers when needed, capable of identifying the enemy amongst a crowd and engaging only those who were combatants. Following his orders without question or complaint and taking down the bad guys without hesitation or regret.
READ MORECommander Miller smiled and elbowed the man who had followed him into the room. “Damn. I guess I shouldn’t have told you guys to go easy on them. I would have loved to see what they could really do. What do you think, Dalton?”
“The guys would have loved to play full out, sir. I thought Bull would lose his mind having to hold back like that. Maybe next time.” The Task Force Zeta Operative Hawk recognized as leading the opposing team in today’s exercise shrugged casually.
Hawk swung his gaze from this Dalton guy to the commander. “Excuse me?”
“Ye s, Sergeant?” Miller raised a brow.
Shaking his head in disbelief, Hawk practically sputtered with anger. “You had your team hold back?”
“Nothing to worry about, soldier. I would never expect your squad to compete against Zeta when they play full out. Go and get some rest. And again, good job up there today, Sergeant.” Miller slapped Hawk on the shoulder then turned to go.
Anger-fueled and breaking all protocol, Hawk grabbed Miller’s arm. “Run the exercise again.” Then he added a quick, “Sir,” and then a, “please.” Although a little sojourn in the brig for insubordination would provide him some much needed rest, Hawk figured it was probably best to avoid it if possible.
Miller shook his head. “You won, son. There’s no need.”
The commander’s eyes lowered briefly to Hawk’s hand, still on him. Hawk dropped his hold immediately, but not the subject.
“There is no victory for me if your team didn’t go full out. Do you really think the insurgents in Afghanistan will be holding back when they face my men?” Hawk stifled anything else he might have wanted to say before he did end up in the brig.
An amused look crossed Miller’s face as his gaze moved from Hawk to his team leader for this exercise.
“Dalton?” Miller questioned the man with one word.
“He does have a point there, commander. And our guys would really enjoy being able to kick some ass unrestrained.” A cocky grin crossed pretty-boy Dalton’s face, just begging to be knocked off with the help of Hawk’s fist.
“All right, Sergeant. I’ll call Gordon back at the rear to confirm nothing’s come up that requires the team’s immediate attention. But barring that, you get your wish, soldier. I’ll see you and your squad here at zero-four-thirty.”
Hawk’s men were not going to be happy when he informed them they’d be traipsing around outside in God only knew how much fresh powder at zero-dark-thirty instead of dreaming in their racks. All because of him and his damn pride. Hawk mouthed a silent curse.
Dalton noticed and laughed. “You walked right into that one, Sergeant Hawkins.”
Yeah, he’d really like to slug this guy all right. But for now, he had to go break the news to his men that they were not only spending one more night and day on this mountain, but they wouldn’t be doing a hell of a lot of sleeping during it either.
The commander’s words echoed in his head. “You get your wish, soldier.” Hawk’s final thought as a smiling Dalton closed the door of the office behind him was that he really had to remember to stop wishing.
COLLAPSEon Joyfully Reviewed:"Fun and intense and sweet and so much more"
on Sizzling Hot Book Reviews:"Model Soldier isn't anyone's fairy tale, but has the real life bumps and bruises that come with falling in love, combined with the realities of life and war. A great story and continuation of a series that highlight the men in uniform we all love."
"If you like deliciously alpha soldiers, slightly love-crazed advertising executives, and heart-pounding adventure on the edge of the war torn Middle East, then Model Soldier is the perfect book for you!"
