Chapter Four

Present Day…

It didn’t matter what time zone it was. It didn’t matter if he’d had three, four, five or six hours of sleep. Four a.m. was an ungodly hour to have to have the alarm wake you. David grabbed his phone and shut it off, wishing the magical, earthquake proof device could make coffee appear.

He pushed out of bed, and the scent of the clean sheets brought his dreams rushing back to him. Four a.m. Would the medical team be asleep? Be at the hospital? Be coming back? Fuck if he knew. Everything was topsy turvy and had been since the fucking earthquake. It was now hour sixty since the earthquake.

He needed to get to the prison. The warden and his men had been woefully lacking in their ability to put together search parties. Hell, they didn’t even have protocols in place to handle a prison break!

His phone rang.

“David?”

He suppressed the sarcastic answer. “Yes, Carmen, it’s me. What are you doing up so early?”

“The boat arrived. Where are you?” she asked irritably.

Dammit, he’d forgotten. He’d been so focused on getting back to the prison, that he hadn’t remembered the shipment of large construction equipment that was scheduled to arrive that morning. The earthquake had damaged nearly all of the island’s equipment on various construction sites throughout the countryside.

“Ship. It’s a ship. I’m on my way. You aren’t at the dock, are you?” Hell, she’d called him yesterday afternoon when he’d been at the prison. Bernardo had put her in charge of coordinating communications between police, fire, and the governor’s office. She was perfect. Annoying, but perfect.

“No, I’m not at the dock. I don’t drive. They called me. I’m waiting for you in the lobby.” He sighed.

“I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“Make it five.” She hung up.

Despite the fact there were back-up generators in the hotel, David still avoided the elevators. He was close to the first floor when he heard Sarah. He stopped to listen.

“I will have you arrested if I ever see you touch another patient.”

“You bitch. You’re just a nurse.”

“You’re a drunk and a junkie. Look at yourself, you can barely stand. I saw you go into that supply closet, and then come out higher than a kite! I’m going to file every report imaginable. When I’m done with you, you won’t be able to dispense advice.”

He heard a thud. Fuck! He jumped down four steps and rounded the corner just in time to see the bastard roll on the ground, Sarah stood over him, fists clenched, and her chest heaving.

“You absolute dolt. What part of former Army did you not comprehend?” She nudged him with her toe and then looked up. “Oh lookie, it’s the police.”

Dumbass groaned.

“Get up,” Sarah growled.

He just moaned.

“I barely tapped him,” she said as she looked at David. “He’s high. I hauled him out of the clinic we were working at.” Despite her brave words, he could see shock was beginning to set in.

“Honey,” he started. But she put her hand out and shook her head. Instead, she pointed to the man lying on the floor of the stairwell.

David nodded, and she gave a weak smile of appreciation.

“What’s your name, asshole?” David demanded. The man just moaned again. David pulled him up and gave him a shake. “Name!”

“Arnie. Dr. Arnie Stanton,” he slurred. Sarah opened the door to the lobby, and David marched the doctor out. He saw Carmen who immediately summed up the situation. She had her phone out in an instant. After she had hung up, she came over to them.

“Carlos will be here in five minutes. I take it this idiot needs to be booked?” David revised his opinion of the older woman for the forty-third time. Once again, he adored Carmen.

“Are you okay, honey?” she asked Sarah.

“I’m fine,” came the clipped response.

“You talk to our chief, we’ll take care of the trash,” the older woman said in a soothing tone.

David looked in amazement as Carlos walked up.

“How did you get here so fast?”

“Carmen wanted a ride to the docks. She said you were taking too long.” Okay, now Carmen was annoying him again. David explained the situation about the doctor.

“Do you need me to make a statement?” Sarah asked Carlos.

“I’ll take it,” David said. “You can take the prisoner to our temporary holding cell, and then take Carmen to the docks.”

“Sounds good,” Carlos said as he turned to Sarah. “We’re going to have a man at the clinic by lunch. We don’t want you left undefended.”

“We have weapons locked up in our supply cabinet. We’re covered.”

“That’s not good enough, you need to be armed, Sarah,” David admonished. He watched her consider what he was saying and she finally nodded. David and Carlos exchanged a smile, then Carlos maneuvered the unsteady doctor out of the hotel, with Carmen following.

David turned to Sarah. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, but I need to get back to the clinic. Do you really need to take a statement from me?”

“Let’s sit down. They have food rations laid out over there, and I need to grab some before heading out.” David indicated the temporary area the hotel management had set up. “What's more, you look like you might fall down.”

She took a deep breath. “Sitting sounds good,” she admitted.

His hand hovered over her lower back for a moment, and then a spark flared when his palm touched the light cotton covering her skin. Her step hesitated, then she continued toward the dining room that was dimly lit with lanterns. David relaxed when Sarah let him hold out the chair for her.

“I’m going to get a plate of food. There’s bananas, oatmeal, and I think they might have some eggs. Can I get you anything?”

“No. I’m too upset to eat.”

“Sarah, when was the last time you ate?”

She blew out a breath. “Last night at dinner, before we left for the clinic.”

What the hell was she thinking? Why did she think she needed to return?

“I’ll be right back.” He went to the serving area, filled up two plates, and grabbed two bottles of water. She could eat what she wanted, and whatever she didn’t, he’d finish.

She was staring off into space when he returned. He put one of the plates in front of her and she frowned. “I can’t eat all of that.”

“I’ll eat what you don’t. I’m a growing boy.”

She started to play with her fork, the bruising on her knuckles was clear.

“Dammit, Sarah! You could have been really hurt. What were you thinking being alone with him?”

“I was trying to keep our dirty laundry private.”

Food forgotten, David replayed the sounds echoing off the walls of the stairwell. That man could have knocked her head into the iron railings or the cement floor before he’d ever had a chance to reach them. Dammit, he should never have stopped to eavesdrop, he should’ve immediately gone to her. David gently picked up her wounded hand and brushed his thumb over the bruise.

“He didn’t deserve that consideration. You were always too kind.”

“I wasn’t being kind; I was just trying to maintain our reputation. We suspected some things in Nigeria, but it was like he imploded in the last five days. Carys is going to be so pissed off. Or devastated. Probably both.” He felt the fine trembling under his fingers. He wanted to wrap her up in his arms, but she’d made it clear how she’d felt when she froze him out way back when. It was no longer his right, and it killed.

“I respected your request to not keep in touch, even though it was the last thing I wanted. Hell, you never even gave me an answer as to why. Will you tell me now?” Four years, five months and seventeen days later, he wanted to know that answer.

“That’s why I wanted to talk to you,” she said quietly. “How much time do you have right now?”

“Enough to eat. Enough to make sure you eat.”

She looked up at him through her lashes, her fingers tightening in his hand and sighed. “Me too, I have to get back to the clinic.”

“Bullshit,” he growled. “You’ve already been there for ten hours, and you intend to go back?”

“David, I’m used to twenty hour shifts. It’s not good out there. Right now the local doctor needed some time with his family. We promised to cover for him until tonight. I shouldn’t even be taking this time.” Her eyes pleaded with him to understand.

David knew exactly what she was talking about. Hell, it was the same reason he was running on fumes. “It’s a deal.”

She brightened.

He held up his other hand. “On the condition that you eat everything on your plate.” She rolled her eyes and he continued. “Once you’re done, I’ll drive you. We’ll have some time to talk that way. Deal?” He let go of her hand and gave her a fork.

“So you’re still pushy?” she asked.

“Yep.” He watched as she switched hands, and proceeded to eat with her left hand. Damn, she was right handed. She had to be hurting pretty badly.

They ate in silence. She was obviously hungry because he watched her finish everything on her plate.

Apparently, she’s not the only one hungry, Sloane.

God, she had the prettiest mouth. He didn’t taste anything he ate. He was too busy staring at every morsel passing her lips.

“David?”

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“I asked what brought you to Las Flores. It seemed odd that an Army MP would be here.”

“I got here the day of the earthquake. Two NCO’s were charged with assaulting a local police officer. There was also a rumor of drug possession. I came here to sort things out, and before I could talk to them, the quake hit.” He looked at her plate, and then his, they were wiped clean. “Do you want me to get more?”

“I couldn’t possibly eat another bite. What about you?”

“I really don’t have time. I’ll just grab a couple of biscuits and some fruit to take with me.”

She laughed.

“What?”

“I always loved your appetite. I’m glad to see it hasn’t changed.”

“Oh, it hasn’t changed,” he said softly as he pulled out her chair.

Then he cursed himself. Dammit man, she was just assaulted, the last thing she needed was some man coming onto her.

“Sarah, I’m sorry. Look, you need someone coming onto you right now like you need a hole in the head. I wasn’t thinking.”

She turned and put her hand on his shoulder and looked him dead in the eye. “You’re right David. If some unknown man made an overture right now, it would freak me out. But it’s you, so it’s okay. You’ve always made me feel protected.”

“Thank you for that.” He needed answers. It was still dark, and he took her arm as they went to the truck he was driving.

Once they were on the road, silence filled the truck.

“Sarah.”

“David.”

They both chuckled, as they said one another’s names in unison.

“You go first,” David said.

“I owe you an explanation. That’s why I wanted to talk.” A profound sense of relief roared through him.

“I couldn’t bear to talk to you back then. It would have been too much… Too little.”

Well, that cleared up nothing.

“I don’t understand.”

“Carys and I had been friends forever. She had been asking me to join her at Doctors Without Borders for years. After you left, I finally made the decision to do it.”

“That’s a huge step? You resigned your commission and uprooted yourself almost overnight. Then you never took my calls or answered my e-mails. Why? You scared the piss out of me, Woman. I had to pull in favors to find out what had happened.”

“I was fine.”

“Sarah, the woman I met, the woman I had in my arms, wouldn’t have pulled a disappearing act unless she was in distress. I needed to check up on you.”

He looked ahead. There was a spot. The truck bumped over ruts and rubble before he pulled to a stop.

David unbuckled his seatbelt, then hers, and scooched over so they were side by side on the bench seat.

“Can you tell me about it?”

“I don’t know why I thought smart and perceptive were attractive traits in a man.” She sighed.

“It was because of me, wasn’t it?”

“No,” she said at the same time that she nodded. She obviously didn’t know she had just admitted it was because of him.

“Ah, honey. I’m so sorry.”

“Why? You didn’t do anything.”

“I left,” he said quietly. He had left, just like Matt. He might not have died, but he was another man who had abandoned her.

“I was a big girl. You’d made no promises.” Her voice was so quiet, her chin trembled. His heart ached.

“I’m so sorry,” he said again. And he was. If he could kick his own ass, he would. “But why didn’t you take my calls?”

“Do you want me to be honest?” He remembered that question from that night. He answered it the same way.

“I’ll always want you to be honest.”

“I ended up wanting more than I should have. That was on me. We agreed it was just that night. I knew better. I couldn’t have kept it light and breezy, so I cut off all communication. It was for the best.” She looked down at her hands and mumbled, “I’m sorry.”

He pulled her into his arms. Considering the fact, he remembered the exact date, April seventeenth, his heart had been invested as deeply as hers had.

“I’m sorry, Honey,” he said as he cupped her cheek, relishing the feel of the soft silk of her hair caressing his knuckles. “I never meant to hurt you. But I’m not sorry for our time together, and I’m sure as hell not sorry for that night. You’ve haunted my dreams. I just feel like crap that I made you pull up roots and give up your career.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. I made the right decision. I’ve been so happy with DWB. Carys had been a dream to work with these last few years. I’m glad I did it.”

“You’ve accomplished some amazing things. I read that article where you worked with the Liberian government to set up clinics. I was so proud of you.”

She blushed, and pushed her face against his chest.

“So you checked up on me, huh.”

“Not as often as I should have. I should have chased after you. But after that last e-mail went unopened, I got the message.”

“I’m so sorry David. I didn’t want to start something that I knew we couldn’t finish. I was committed to DWB. You would have been too big of a temptation.”

“Was?”

“I’m getting tired. I’m considering coming home. I’ve had a couple of offers.”

“Home to Georgia?”

“At least to the United States.”

His heart started beating faster. His thumb traced the line of her jaw. She closed her eyes and nuzzled against it.

“So would you take my calls?”

“I’m in this truck with you, aren’t I?”

She was. Even though the light of dawn pinkened the sky, her wide gray eyes had turned dark.

“I know the timing couldn’t be worse. I don’t know if our schedules can possibly dovetail. But can we try to make time with one another while we’re here?” he asked.

“I’d like that. But I don’t know how we’re going to make that work.”

Stay in my room.

He didn’t say it. She must have heard him because her eyes went even darker, and her arms twined around his neck. “Do you still take kisses?”

“With you. Only with you.”

She was gorgeous. He cupped her face, relishing the softness of her skin beneath his palms. He bent forward, and as gently as possible he slid his lips against hers. She was a treasure that he wanted to tempt into following his lead. Gliding his tongue along her lower lip, she opened with a sigh. He felt her smile.

Who was taking who? Sarah’s tongue met his and seduced, beguiled, and heat soared. When had his hands moved? Who cared? God, her ass felt perfect. So round and lush, filling his palm like it had been made for him. He squeezed, and she moaned, pressing her breasts hard against his chest. His goddamn dick was going to burst out of his jeans.

Her nails bit into his nape, and she made mewling sounds. She moved and her leg hit his. He hissed in pain.

“David?”

“It’s nothing.”

Little nurse arched back from him. Reluctantly, he loosened his grip on her butt and stroked.

“Stop that, I can’t think,” she protested.

“Who asked you to?”

She pushed out of his arms so she was sitting alone on the bench seat beside him. “What’s wrong with your leg?”

“It’s bruised.”

“What happened?”

“Falling debris from the earthquake. I’m fine. It’s better than it was.”

“Let me look at it when we get to the clinic.”

“Honey, I don’t have time. It really is fine. I’ve been clearing debris for the last two days, and it hasn’t gotten worse.”

She gave him a considering look. “Okay. But when we’re alone together, I’m going to examine it.”

“When we’re alone together, there are other parts of my body I would prefer you examine.”

She laughed and hit his shoulder. “I like you, David Sloane.” She kissed his chin. “I think when I’m examining your cock, I can manage to examine your thigh as well.”

Pulling her into his arms, he kissed the tip of her nose. “As long as you realize which one takes priority.” He buckled them up and started the truck.