Chapter Six
Kini had an expressive face. Smoke watched as surprise, understanding, then dismay rolled across it. She glanced at her tablet then stared at nothing, thinking. A little nod and a lift of her chin told him she’d made a decision.
He’d bet fifty bucks she was going to want to check in on the family members of each patient to see if they were showing any symptoms.
“I need my collection kit and my car.”
Yep, they were going for a drive. “Okay.” Smoke angled his head at Dr. Flett, who’d just come out of the exam room. “What about him?”
“He isn’t going to listen to anything I have to say.” Her tone was flat. “I’m just a nurse.”
“Dumb.”
“Yeah,” she said, her voice dry. “But no surprise there.” She moved off to talk to one of the nurses then returned. “We can go now.”
When she would have gone back out through the ER waiting room, he put a hand on her shoulder and nudged her in the opposite direction. “Back door.”
Surprise flitted over her, making her seem…brighter. “Excellent idea.”
“Do you compliment everyone?” he asked as they walked down the hall.
“Only when people deserve it.” She glanced at him. “Thanks.”
“For what?”
“Backing me up in there.”
He frowned at her. He hadn’t done much.
Though he hadn’t spoken out loud, she said, “You didn’t try to take over, and you didn’t say anything; you stood behind me and looked irritated. You were perfect.”
They reached the door and he opened it for her, raising one eyebrow as he looked at her. “Perfect, huh?”
“At looking threatening,” she qualified quickly, a blush spreading up her neck.
He leaned down to whisper in her ear as she went past him and through the doorway, “I aim to please.”
Her back went ramrod straight and she stomped ahead of him, muttering something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like, “Men.”
They rounded the building until they arrived at his bike. He got on, kicked the engine into life, and looked at her.
She’d crossed her arms over her chest and was scowling at him. “We need to talk.”
He lifted one shoulder to tell her to get to it.
She looked pointedly at the engine, so he killed it.
As soon as the rumble ended she said, “Stop with the innuendoes. It’s disrespectful to both of us.”
The blush on her face was red hot now. Did she think he was doing it to get a rise out of her? That he was just playing with her? If he told her what he wanted, to go back to the first time they met and do less talking and more kissing, she’d probably run like hell.
But she’d asked for honesty, so she’d get honesty.
“No disrespect intended,” he said. “I’ve been hard since I woke up with you draped over my chest.”
She rocked back on her heels like he’d hit her. “Is that a threat?”
See what honesty got him? Into shit, that’s where. “No.”
She narrowed her eyes. “A promise?”
Those eyes, along with pinched lips, told him she really meant threat again. “No.”
She stared at him, the frown on her face growing more and more pronounced. “Then what?”
Fuck it. “Yesterday morning, when I woke up with you half naked and plastered to me was the first time in two years I didn’t wake up with the urge to kill someone.” He watched her face as her blush dissipated.
“Oh.” A furrow etched its way between her eyebrows along with something suspiciously close to sympathy.
No thanks.
“I’m not looking for a pity fuck.”
That erased the awkwardness in about a second. “I wasn’t…” She groaned and rolled her eyes. “You’re such a guy.” She climbed onto the bike behind him. “Let’s go.”
He waited until she’d wrapped her arms around his waist before starting the engine and leaving the parking lot at a sedate, legal speed. He gave the gas a kick once they were on the street and she hung on to him harder, pressing her breasts into his back.
He knew she’d liked what he’d done and not done while she was negotiating with Flett. He’d let her do her thing while he did his, convincing the asshole he’d beat the crap out of him if he was disrespectful.
Then he’d become an asshole himself. Why? Because he wanted her attention, her mind picturing them on his bed completely naked? Why not just give her a stupid one liner? Hey baby, forget my bike, take me for a ride.
She’d knee him in the nuts, and he’d deserve it. He wasn’t that guy, so why was he acting like it? Was she right? Was he acting like an asshole because getting close to her meant facing all the shit he’d dragged home with him and all the shit waiting for him here?
They arrived back at his uncle’s shop, her car with its new tires ready and waiting.
Kini hopped off the back of the bike and took a step toward her car. Smoke put a hand on her arm.
He made eye contact and said, “I was an asshole.”
Both her eyebrows rose.
“Can’t promise I won’t be again, but…” He shrugged. He wasn’t going to swear to something he couldn’t deliver, but he’d try.
“Okay,” she said after a couple of seconds. “I’ll try not to be so bitchy.” She let out a sigh. “It’s been a pretty weird day.”
He nodded and she gave him that brilliant smile again before she turned and walked toward her car.
They were okay. She’d understood him and that was it. They were okay.
He couldn’t keep his eyes off the little wiggle that was part of her stride.
Something in Smoke’s stomach tightened into a sizzling ball of heat. Shit, all she had to do was walk ten feet, and he was hard and ready to go.
But a pretty little gal like her wasn’t going to be interested in a beat-up soldier with eight years of death, destruction, and desolation in his head.
He should leave her alone. Do his job, keep her safe, then walk away with a nice working with you wave.
That possibility had ended the moment he woke up with her sleeping on him. Her scent and the softness of her skin was in his blood and in his head so deep he wasn’t sure it would ever leave.
He’d never wanted a woman like he wanted Kini.
He was absolutely bad for her.
She was too good for him.
It would never work.
He was so fucked.
Christ, when had he become a mopey Marty? His teammates would have razzed him to death if they saw him right now.
Smoke got off his bike and joined Kini and Terry.
“—brand new, all four tires,” Terry said to her. He gave a nod to Smoke and kept talking. “You’re good to go.”
“Thank you. How much do I owe you?”
“Nothing. Smoke picked up your tab.”
She turned, her mouth open, but he managed to speak before her. “The CDC is picking up the tab.”
She closed her mouth, nodded, then stuck out her hand to Terry. “Thank you.”
They shook. “No problem, and good luck.” He turned away to work on another car.
“I’m going back to the hospital to get those blood samples,” she said to Smoke.
“After that?” he asked.
“I’d like to visit the homes of the patients, check on their family members, ask more health history questions.”
He thrust his thumb at his hog. “I’ll follow.”
The ER waiting room had doubled its occupancy since the first time they walked through it. The crowd actually made it harder for people to ID her as the nurse from the CDC, and they made it to the bullpen without incident.
When one of the nurses on duty informed them one of the patients with the suspected Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome had died in the time they’d been gone, Kini’s face settled into a combat stare.
He knew what went on inside a person’s head as they prepared to enter a live firefight—wrap all their emotions and stuff them into a concrete box in their head. All that was left was cold, calm calculation on what the next offensive in the battle was going to be.
That was all kinds of hot.
A body didn’t develop that mind-set overnight. It was a coping mechanism some people acquired after they saw too much shit.
What shit had she seen?
Without speaking to him, Kini went about collecting samples from the live patients, then he followed her down to the morgue. He watched her convince the pathologist to give her a swab from deep inside the deceased’s lungs and a blood sample.
They returned to the ER and Kini told Dr. Flett she was done and that she was going to check on the families of the patients.
He barely acknowledged her, his attention on the stack of charts in front of him.
When this was all over, Smoke was going to come back and have a conversation with the asshole about basic decency and politeness.
“Tell me this town has a FedEx office,” she said as they left again.
Smoke shook his head. “Sorry.”
“Any courier service besides the post office?”
“Nope.”
“What are the chances the staff at the local USPS will keep their mouths shut?”
“About as good as seeing a dinosaur walk down the street.”
“That sucks.”
“Could send it with a guy I know,” he said. “He could take it to Las Vegas now and put it on a plane to Atlanta.”
“Vegas? How far away is that?”
“About two hours door to door.”
“You trust this guy?”
“Yeah.”
She thought about that for a second. “Okay.”
Something was off. Her speech was clipped, and she held herself at rigid attention. He watched her out of the corner of his eye.
“How close is this friend of yours?” she asked. Too calm. Too composed. She’d put on a cloak to show the world that she was everything they expected and wanted. Underneath, her true self was fighting to get out.
“About a ten-minute drive.”
She swept her arm toward the road. “Lead on, Macduff.”
Invoking Shakespeare’s Macbeth was never a good sign. Things hadn’t turned out so well for Macduff or Macbeth.
Now wasn’t the time to find out what was going on inside her head. But soon.
Smoke got on his bike, and she dutifully followed him in her rental car. They drove through town until they reached the opposite side and what looked like the last row of houses before the desert took over.
He pulled into the driveway of home that looked like it should have been on the set of one of those 50s TV sitcoms where the world’s most perfect wife and mother held court in her kitchen wearing high heels and a string of pearls around her neck.
There was a truck in the driveway and a couple of later model jeeps parked out front.
Smoke got off his bike and waited for Kini to join him.
She looked at the Zen rock garden that was the focus of the front yard and the white picket fence surrounding it and the house. Then she looked at the rest of the houses on the street, none of which could hold a candle to this place.
“Your guy lives here?” She sounded incredulous.
“Yeah, he lives with his grandparents.”
“He’s old enough to drive, right?”
“He’s twenty-two, and I taught him to drive myself.” Smoke opened the door and went inside. “Hello,” he called out.
“Smoke, is that you?” his grandmother asked from deeper in the house.
“Yes, ma’am.”
The rapid pace of steps came from the left of the front door, then a gray-haired woman with skin the color of cream dressed in jeans and a western-style shirt came down the hall. “About time you showed up here, young man.”
“Sorry,” he said, folding her into his arms.
He’d never get tired of her hugs. They were powerful and lasted as long as they needed to.
She didn’t seem in a hurry to let go, and he was fine with that.
More footsteps came from the other direction, and his grandfather and cousin joined them by the door.
“Hey,” Tommy said, giving Smoke a back-thumping hug as soon as their grandmother let him go. “Been dull around here without you.”
“Grandson,” his grandfather said giving him a nod. “Good to have you home.”
There were more words in his grandfather’s eyes. Questions mostly, but also love, acceptance, and welcome.
Smoke soaked it all in. Maybe he should have come here first, but if he had, he wouldn’t have met Kini yesterday morning. That experience wasn’t something he’d ever give up.
He turned her and said, “Kini Kerek, these are my grandparents, Harold and Maggie Smoke.”