“No. Don’t you dare embarrass me,” Jorden replied. Looking out the front window, she caught a glimpse of Alex’s red Mustang. The convertible top was down. Her fingers slipped through her loose flowing hair. She could imagine it flying in all directions. “Men never think!” Running back to her bedroom, she grabbed her comb and pulled her thick hair back with a designer hair clip, tucking in a few light brown strands, before she gave it a strong dose of hair spray. Her lucent blue eyes stared back from the mirror in approval.

The doorbell rang. Madison answered it and looked at her watch. “You must be Alex. I see you’re not late tonight.”

“Good observation,” Alex replied.

Jorden overheard her roommate. She never knew what could come out of Madison’s mouth, so she dashed to the front room.

“Hi, Alex.” Jorden did a double take. He looked nice out of his army fatigues, wearing gray slacks, a casual shirt, and a light tan sports coat. She looked from Alex to Madison. “I see you two have met.”

“Yes, we have,” Alex responded.

They went to Amore’s. The waiter, Antonio, introduced himself. He looked and sounded Italian, which added to the atmosphere. “I recommend the chef ’s special, Linguine’ Ai Gamberi’. Delicious black tiger prawns are tossed with sun dried tomatoes and red pepper flakes in a white sauce. It’s excellent.”

They both couldn’t resist his enticing description. Antonio was true to his word; the meal was outstanding. They lingered a bit longer over glasses of Chardonnay.

Alex leaned forward. “I’m sorry about last Thursday.”

“Those were tough circumstances. Why don’t you tell me about a typical day,” Jorden suggested.

“It’s pretty dull. I hate to bore you.”

“Try me. I’m curious.” Jorden tried to listen, but her attention soon faded. She watched his lips move and his expressions change. Her eyes drifted to his. They looked smoky brown—no they were hazel. The change in his tone made her realize she missed half of what he had said.

“I’m sorry. Can you repeat what you were saying about breakfast?”

“See? I’ve already lost you.”

“No you haven’t. Tell me more.”

“All right. As I said, the officer candidates go to breakfast about six forty-five. There is a pull-up bar in front of the mess hall, and each candidate has to do three pull-ups before entering.”

“If they can’t do them, do they miss breakfast?”

“No. Most of them can’t at first. I’ll have them do push-ups instead. At some point, they’ll gain the upper body strength to do the pull-ups. After breakfast, each platoon runs in formation to class, followed by PT around ten. It’s exhausting. I get worn out just like the candidates.”

Jorden looked surprised. “You lead these exercises?”

“Most of the time.”

Jorden was glad she couldn’t be drafted into the army. “And?”