Sunday Snippet: Why We Fight

Happy Mother's Dayto all the moms, mentors, and mother figures out there! Enjoy the day, and ifit's a hard day to celebrate, take care of you.

Another wildly busywork week but a lot of projects moved ahead and some were completed. Onecontrary work thing took an unexpected turn and I'll be trying to figure thatone out later today.

Had a decent weekof viewing despite the busy schedule. I made it through a full round of myshows, minus one—Dark Winds—because it's not on the streaming service Ihave anymore. I think it's on another one, but I've been too busy to track itdown.

Started the weekoff with Brokenwood Mysteries. This one ended up being a lot of fun witha couple of interesting secrets being revealed. Truly hope to see more of Trudyand Ray's mom.

Watched anotherepisode of Death in Paradise and enjoyed the mystery. Really not surewhat Neville's DI friend is doing on the island but have a feeling it's notgoing to mean anything good.

Loved the BeyondParadise holiday special for this past Christmas. I'm looking forward todiving into the rest of the season when it's available in the US.

Enjoyed anotherepisode of Elementary. Interesting to get some backstory of Sherlock'stime under the influence. Also intriguing that he stayed somewhat in thebackground. I like that kind of character progress.

Watched another episodeof Batman Beyond and didn't really have any recollection about this one.I did enjoy seeing Terry use his Batman moves while out of the costume.

Caught anotherepisode of Classic Rugrats and enjoyed both vignettes. I didn't remembereither of them so more new-to-me stuff.

That's pretty muchit for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Why We Fight, anovella that puts a spin on the enemies-to-lovers trope.

Here's theminiblurb:

Emmett Barley, an embedded investigative reporter, pushesPier Luphen, the squadron leader, for honest answers about the war they'refighting. She tries to take the status quo, but Emmett won't have it. He'sheard the military party line his entire life and he wants the truth ornothing. He also wants Pier, but she's not willing to compromise her missionregardless of how she feels about Emmett.

And a sneaky peek…

After a full week withthe unit, Emmett had some ideas for stories. "Right. Filling half anotebook is more than a few…" Of course, some of his notes could beconsidered fiction about a certain liaison officer.When a knock sounded athis door, he tucked the booklet into his satchel.He blinked in surpriseto find Pier outside with two dinner trays. "Um, hi." Stepping back,he motioned for her to enter.She flashed a quick smile."Thought I'd return the favor and bring supper." Handing one of theentrees over, she arched her brows. "Unless you had other plans or wouldrather eat alone."He shook his head."I'd like company. Thanks for this." He cleared space on the smalldesk and pulled up an extra chair.Pier took a seat andremoved the cover from her plate. "I didn't interrupt anything, didI?" Her gaze landed on his open satchel.Emmett's lips curved."Not really. I was going through my preliminary notes, trying to settle ona topic for my first report." The aroma of baked steak wafted from his tray."Ah … this brings back memories of joining my dad for meals at the basemess hall whenever my mom had other plans.Pier chuckled."It's probably the one meal every branch of the armed forces makes just alittle bit differently, but they can't possibly screw up." She noddedtoward his notebook. "What are some of your ideas for stories?"He took a bite of food,trying to decide which one to discuss first. "I'd like to do a series abouthow the joint forces keep track of everything. You know, receiving supplies, fillingthe orders, then scheduling the transports to get goods delivered." Thesheer magnitude of allotments, from food, clothing, and weapons to hospitalsupplies and aid station equipment, could be mind-boggling.And this hub handled morethan half of the requisitions. Not to mention the protection of the base,personnel, and transport units en route to the various substations and shipsthey were supplying.Pier's brows furrowed."Not exactly scintillating stuff." She stuffed a forkful of greenbeans into her mouth.Emmett shrugged."Maybe it's not guts and guns, but if something happens here to haltgetting the supplies out, the ripple effect could be catastrophic." Whichmade for an interesting story with a human-interest angle.Pier cocked her head toone side. "I'm a little pissed I have to revise my opinion on reportersbecause of you. You're definitely not like the jackass glory-seeking hound wejust got rid of."Emmett huffed out abreath. "Um, thanks. I think." He jabbed at her a little."Pretty sure it wouldn't take much to improve your low opinion ofreporters though."She laughed."Okay, true. But seriously, you already got points for not bringing awardrobe of flashy clothes to the middle of a warzone."Emmett rolled his eyes."When the reporter puts themselves at the center of the story, they're nolonger reporting. They're playacting on a stage." His dad and brotherswould flip if Emmett ever dreamed of doing something so stupid.Pier gave a slow nod."Very aptly put."They dug back intotheir dinner and ate in companionable silence.Once they finished, hecleared away the dishes and set them by the door. "Do you have to reportfor duty or are you free for a while?" He hoped she'd stick around.Pier shook her head."I'm off for the night." She took a spot on the small two-seatercouch.Emmett retrieved abottle from his footlocker. "Would you care for some?" He held up aglass.Pier shrugged."Sure. I don't report until the afternoon watch." She kicked her feetout and crossed them at the ankles.He placed a tumbler onthe camp stool to her left, and he settled next to her. "I heard somerumblings about the action moving closer. Will that affect your incoming oroutgoing shipments?" He mainly wondered if the closer proximity wouldthrow a cog in a well-oiled machine.Pier studied him for along moment. "Can I request to be off the record?"He narrowed his eyes."You still don't trust me?" So much for making headway.She tsked. "It'snot that. It's because I trust you that I'm asking for it to be off the record."She waited a beat. "What I'm going to share is classified."Well, hell … he didn'tsee that one coming. "Consider yourself off the record."She leaned in andpitched her voice low. "The shipments won't be affected. Part of what wedo on our transport runs is gather intel and fortify our perimeters. We don'tdeviate from our schedule for that reason." She met and held his gaze, sayingthe unspoken part with her eyes. They weren't just asupply hub. They ran covert ops from this location.He exhaled slowly."Shit." Amazed that she did trust him, he let the truth sink intohim. "Okay. No wonder you wanted to be off the record. I don't blame you.That's a powder keg of information." And he'd have to sit on it for thetime being.She made a bit of apromise. "It is, and if this ends up in some sound byte I'll come for you.Doesn't matter where you are or who your family is." She picked up herdrink and drained the glass. "Just saying." Putting the tumbler backon the stool, she held his gaze again.He read a lot in hereyes. She put herself on the hot seat. He could break this story and lay openthe true purpose of this facility for the entire planet to see. But he understoodthe importance of the mission too much to do anything underhanded like that.And he respected her and the trust she'd placed in him to not violate his promise.Taking a chance, hecupped her face. "I do not break confidences." His thumbs stroked hercheeks. "Or go back on my word." Leaning in, he tested the bondfurther by brushing his lips over hers.He didn't mean for thekiss to spiral out of control, but she opened her mouth, and he slipped histongue past her teeth. She made a low moan and fisted her hand in his shirt. Okay,he hadn't imagined the crackle of attraction between them.He didn't know who cameup for air first, but he dragged oxygen into his lungs and leaned in again.She backed away andheld up a hand. "Sorry. That should not have happened." She got upand paced back and forth.He narrowed his eyes."I'm not sorry it did."She worried on herlower lip. "I'm not either. I'll admit my curiosity got the better ofme." She met his gaze. "But this isn't a good idea. I'm responsiblefor your safety and getting involved more than we already are can muddy thingsup." A frustrated sigh escaped her lips.He pushed back alittle. "So, it's not one-sided? There's something here between us."He got to his feet and motioned between them.She gave a jerky nod."There could be … if you weren't you and I wasn't me."He didn't like theanswer, but he understood. "I can accept that. But, for the record, if youweren't who you are and I wasn't who I am … we'd be great together in—"She held up a handagain. "Don't. Don't say it." She scooted past him, pushed the dooropen, and angled her head around. "Also, for the record? I'm notdisagreeing." She ducked out before he could formulate a response.Which … all thingsconsidered … gave him more fictional ideas to imagine.

Very happy with howthis scene came together. These characters are a lot of fun to write.

 

That's it for thisweek. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye