Roberts, Sarah - Action Hero Junkie [Movieland] (BookStrand Publishing Romance) by Sarah Roberts

Mia’s shift at the field hospital, she was informed by her jeep driver that the general wanted to see her at headquarters after she’d had a chance to clean up.
    When Mia got to headquarters, an aide escorted her to the general’s work area. She saw that Aiden was already there. Mia grinned at sight of him, but Aiden didn’t smile back. He looked pretty serious. So Mia rearranged her face to look serious, too. She didn’t put her hands on him or kiss him like she wanted to, either. She didn’t know what the military protocol was. She might get him into trouble with a public display of affection. Maybe we’d both get the firing squad, what do I know?
    The aide asked Mia if she wanted a cup of coffee. After working in the field hospital all day, a shot of caffeine sounded good to her. “Okay.”
    The general greeted Mia with a nod. There was a measure of approval in his expression when he looked at her. “I hear that you did quite a job yesterday, Dr. Haven. I’m grateful.”
    Mia nodded. All day, she’d had a certain question burning inside of her, so she just blurted it out. “I’m curious, sir. Where did all of those wounded come from? Surely not just from here. It isn’t possible.”
    The general rolled his unlit cigar between his teeth. “You’re right, ma’am. Our forces are fighting on more than one front. This base is a catchall.”
    Mia thought that made as much sense as anything else. Actually, she reflected, it made a lot of sense, in a weird way . There were a lot of action and military-themed movies. The wounded and dead had to go somewhere offscreen. Mia wondered if she would see any casualties from the thrillers or spy flicks. The Queen’s man, 007, always racked up a few. She might even see Bond himself! Mia was majorly juiced. She really, really loved action movies! She grinned, feeling happy with her strange new world. “I feel right at home.”
    “Much as we need someone like you on a permanent basis, Dr. Haven, you cannot remain here.”
    Mia snapped back into the moment. She looked at the general. The general stared back, his face expressionless. His cigar didn’t even twitch. Suddenly, she was getting a really bad vibe. She shot a look at Aiden. He didn’t look very happy, and he kind of avoided her eyes. Uh-oh. Funny, isn’t it, how something great can be shit-canned in an instant? And you don’t even see it coming. “What? Why can’t I stay?”
    The general shook his head. Mia thought she saw a glint of regret flash in his narrow stare, but his jaw was rock hard. “You worked at the civilian clinic.”
    “Uh, okay.” Mia frowned. Civilian clinic? She could only suppose that the general was talking about the hospital. The real hospital, in the real world. She was thinking hard, trying to find the logic. She guessed that she had to be explained some way in the movie. It all made a crazy kind of sense, when she thought about it.
    The general gestured with his squared hand. “You work for that international aid outfit, right?”
    Mia lifted the cup of coffee to her mouth. “Mmm.” She didn’t want to lie. She was a real person stuck in celluloid. She didn’t think the general would want to hear that.
    The general didn’t seem to need her to say anything. “You will be missed. We can’t just have you disappear. It would cause all kinds of trouble.”
    Yuh think? Mia almost rolled her eyes. Yeah, there would be trouble if she didn’t show back up in her life. Her apartment manager would miss getting the rent. He always got kind of pissy about little things like that. “I can see how it might, sir.”
    “I don’t want an international incident.”
    “Of course not, sir.” Mia snorted to herself. Like that was going to happen. The movie plot didn’t exactly revolve around her, now did it? Aiden wasn’t exactly a lead character, while she was just a few forgettable minutes on screen. Mia sighed over that unpalatable truth. She took another sip of coffee. It tasted