Slade gestured to the tray table, and Kyra nodded for him to set their food there. He put the bag and drink tray down and pulled out the burgers and fries. “Chocolate or vanilla shake?”
“Vanilla please,” Kyra said. “Thank you. And you really do need to give me your address. I’ll send you money.”
“You don’t need to worry about it. Just get better. The least I can do is buy you dinner.”
“Thank you,” Kyra said with a smile.
She unwrapped her burger and took a bite. She groaned and sank back against the bed. The sheet she’d clutched so tightly before slid down, exposing her neck.
Slade got lost for a second, staring at her skin. It wasn’t erotic in the slightest, but it had him thinking of all the ways he wanted to make her feel good. He let his mind wander to where that little bit of skin could lead and how it would taste.
“Aren’t you hungry?” she asked, nodding to the burger clutched in his hand.
Slade nodded and shoved it into his mouth. He was starving, but the burger only satisfied one part of his hunger.
They ate in silence, both of them devouring their burgers before turning to the fries and milkshakes. Kyra dipped her fries into her milkshake and Slade made a face.
“You’ve never tried it?” Kyra asked.
“Uh, no. Because it’s gross.”
She shook her head. “You haven’t lived until you’ve tried fries dipped in a milkshake.”
“Oh, really?”
She laughed. “Absolutely. Better than sex.”
Slade’s brows shot up, and Kyra’s cheeks turned bright red. So did that patch of skin at her throat. Slade wanted to see how far that red went, but first, he had to try her better-than-sex fries dipped in milkshake.
He chose a fry and pulled the plastic top off his milkshake. He dunked the fry in and swirled it around like she had done. Then he put it in his mouth.
Kyra watched with an expectant grin.
Slade shrugged. “I don’t think it’s better than sex, but it’s not bad.”
“Well, when you’re not having any sex, you take what you can get,” Kyra said. She immediately clamped her hand over her mouth, and the red that was fading on her neck deepened.
Slade chuckled. “Well, that’s a fair argument.”
Kyra pulled her hand away and nodded but didn’t say anything else. They ate their fries and milkshakes, then Slade threw their trash in the bin near the door.
“Do you need to call your roommate? Or anyone else?”
Kyra looked at her phone and nodded. “I should. Sorry. I feel so rude.”
Slade shook his head. “It’s not rude. You have people in your life and I’m invading your space. I can step out.”
“No, you’re fine,” Kyra said. “This will be quick.”
Kyra felt awkward with Slade hovering, but he made her feel safe. She had gotten so used to being alone and taking care of herself that when fear kicked in, she didn’t think about having someone to lean on. But Slade was there. He was big and strong enough that maybe she could lean on him, just a little bit.
She decided to call Autumn first and let her know she would bring her the rent money the next day.
“Hey, Autumn,” Kyra said when her roommate answered.
“Where are you? I told you I needed the rent money today.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. I was at the bank when it was robbed. I’m in the hospital,” Kyra said.
“Oh. Um, sorry. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I think so, but they wanted to keep me for observation. Is it okay if I bring you the rent money tomorrow?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry, Kyra. I’ll tell the landlord, too. He knows I usually pay him a little early. Do you need anything?”
Kyra shook her head, surprised Autumn was being even a little bit nice. “No, I’m fine. Thank you, though. I’ll be home tomorrow.”
“Okay. Have a good night.”
“Thanks. You, too.”
Kyra hung up the phone and looked at it for a minute. “That was weird,” she said.
“What was weird?”
“She’s not usually that nice to me. I figured she’d get mad.”
“Maybe she’s not as bad as you thought. How long have you been friends?”
Kyra shook her head. “We’re not friends. We met through a mutual friend online. She was willing to have a roommate, and I needed a place to live. It was always meant to be temporary, but we’ve lived together for almost three years. I’m hoping to move out soon. Which brings me to my next call.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to leave?” Slade asked.
Kyra shrugged. “It’s up to you. If you have calls you need to make or something you need to do, you don’t have to stay here.”
“There’s nowhere else I need to be.”
Kyra nodded, feeling a little like he actually wanted to be there with her. She couldn’t imagine why, but it didn’t matter. After the night was over, she was sure she’d never see him again.
She dialed the number she’d used to connect with the guy she was supposed to interview with and listened to his voicemail say he wasn’t available until it beeped.
“Hi, this is Kyra Cordes. I was supposed to come in for an interview this afternoon, but I was held up unexpectedly and unable to let you know I couldn’t be there. I don’t know if you’re still conducting interviews or willing to speak to me, but if so, I’m still very much interested in the position. If not, I completely understand. Thank you for the opportunity.”
Kyra hung up and sighed.
“Why didn’t you tell them what happened?” Slade asked.
Kyra huffed a laugh. “I think that’s the adult version of the dog ate my homework. I mean, really? They’re not going to believe I was in a bank robbery.”
“They might. What kind of job was it?”
“It’s an admin job. I don’t know much about the company, but it sounded interesting.”
“Is that what you do? Admin type work?” Slade asked, his brows pulling together.
“I’ve been an administrative assistant for the last three years. I’ve done office manager work and stuff like that. It’s regular hours and decent enough money. It lets me have a life outside of work. Although, I don’t really do anything so I don’t really know why it matters.”
Slade opened his mouth to say something, but there was a knock on the door. He turned and nodded to the police officer standing in Kyra’s doorway. She sat up straighter in bed and pulled the sheet up again, wishing she could have kept her own clothes on. They wanted to make sure the neurotoxin wasn’t on them and insisted she take everything off. Nothing like meeting a man and immediately removing all your clothes.
Too bad it wasn’t for a much more exciting reason.
“We’d like to ask both of you a few questions,” the officer said.
Slade extended his hand and introduced himself. The officer clearly knew who he was. “Nice to meet you, sir.”
The officer was young and cute, but when his partner walked in, it was clear who was in charge.
“Slade, good to see you,” the second officer said.
“You, too, Captain. It’s not often we get you out of your office.”
“Yeah, yeah. When something like this happens, I have no choice. I figured we should talk since you were there.”
Slade nodded. “I was, but I didn’t see much. I could describe the one guy to you, but I didn’t see any of the others. I… it knocked me on my ass and I was facing the wrong way.”
“Yeah, I heard. It was some powerful shit, that’s for sure. Why don’t you and I head out into the hallway and these two can chat in here?”
Slade nodded, then turned to Kyra. She smiled at him. He walked over and bent down. He kissed her forehead and whispered, “Are you okay with that?”
She nodded, his lips moving against her skin.
“Okay,” he said. He squeezed her hand and walked out with the captain.
The young cop stood at the foot of Kyra’s bed. “Ms. Cordes, can you please tell me what happened at the bank?”
Kyra smiled and told him the whole story, a story she was sure he’d heard from every other person in the bank.
“Would you be willing to sit with a sketch artist to describe the man you saw?”
Kyra shrugged. “I can, or I can just draw him for you if you’ll give me something to draw with.”
“Um, I’m not sure…”
“Here, I’ll draw it right here. He had dark hair with some red in it and light blue eyes. They reminded me of ice. They were unusual. He was wearing a dark sweatshirt and jeans. Nothing descriptive. Clean and nice, though. Like they were expensive.” Kyra drew as she spoke to the officer, knowing he was recording what she said.
When she finished, she turned her sketch around. “That’s him.”
“I thought you said you needed to come back with an artist,” Slade said, walking back into the room with the captain.
“We do. What the heck, Montgomery?”
The young cop shook his head and pointed at Kyra. “She did it.”
“Is that him?” the captain asked Slade.
“I thought he had scars on his face, like from chicken pox or something.”
Kyra shook her head. “I saw him when I was still in line. When he was talking to you, it almost looked like he’d put something on to disguise himself. This was what he looked like before everyone else started looking at him.”
“Well, that should help us narrow things down. The privacy glasses they wore blocked out most of their facial features from the cameras, and the other people didn’t get as good of a look at him. Thank you, Ms. Cordes.”
“Happy to help, sir. I figured if I could draw him it would be better than trying to explain what he looks like.”
“And you did a damn fine job. Hell, we might need to hire you.”
Kyra chuckled. “In another lifetime I wanted to be a police officer.”
“What stopped you?”
Kyra smiled sadly. “A lot of things.”
Slade talked to the officers for a few more minutes while Kyra tried not to let her imagination run wild. It wouldn’t do her any good to think about the things that would be different in her life if she’d made other choices. Or had a different family. She was happy with her life, and she wasn’t going to bitch about it. She was going to spend her night in the hospital and enjoy the company of an attractive man, and then move on and pretend everything was okay.
She’d gotten really good at that. No reason to stop now.
Slade settled in the chair next to Kyra and tried to figure out what to say to her. He rarely had trouble speaking to a woman, but that was when he was trying to get her naked. The one in front of him… well, he wouldn’t mind getting her naked, but she was in the hospital, and he wasn’t that big of an asshole.
The only thing Slade could think to ask was about her art. “Where did you learn to draw like that?”
Kyra shrugged. “I’ve always enjoyed it.”
“Did you go to art school?”
She snorted. “Um, no. That wasn’t an option.”
“Why not?”
“Because you can’t make any money being an artist.”
He got the feeling the words weren’t hers, so he let it go. “You’re truly talented.”
“Thanks. Um, do you want to watch something on TV?”
She was changing the subject. Good to know. She didn’t like to talk about her talents as an artist. “Sure,” Slade said, if for no other reason than she might relax.
Kyra tried to hand him the remote, but it was attached to the bed and didn’t go far. When she saw how close he needed to get to control the TV, panic filled her gaze before desire slid in.
Slade leaned back in his seat and said, “You pick. I’ll watch anything.”
She nodded, slumping back against the bed in relief, and flipped through the limited selection of channels. When she settled on a cooking competition, Slade grinned.
“I love these. You have to pick a favorite. Who do you think is going to win?”
She scoffed. “First, I need to watch the show for longer than five seconds.”
He chuckled and nodded. “Fair enough. I think it’s going to be the woman.”
“Why?” Kyra asked, her voice ruffled and annoyed. “Because she’s fat?”
Slade glanced at her and saw the death glare she was giving him. “She’s not fat, and her weight has nothing to do with my opinion. I think she’s going to win because her chopping skills are the best and she’s not running around. She has a plan. She’s organized and settled. She’s just cooking, not competing. She’s doing something she loves.”
Kyra opened her mouth, then snapped it shut. She stared at the TV for a long minute before she said, “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to be sorry. I imagine there are people who would think that way. And you don’t know me very well. I think we should share a few things about ourselves. I’ll start. I have a dog named Howler who barks so loudly I need earplugs sometimes. I’m a former SEAL. And I live alone with my crazy dog.”
Kyra narrowed her eyes at him. “That told me absolutely nothing about you.”
Slade chuckled and tried not to let his shock show. Most women didn’t care anything about who he really was. They didn’t want to know what made him tick or what made him happy. They wanted to know how quickly he could make them come, and if he knew how to use what was in his pants.
“If that’s all you want to share,” Kyra continued, “then I’ll say I live in an apartment with a roommate. I work as an administrative assistant, and I’m from California.”
Slade grinned. “Where in California?”
“Southern California.”
“Near San Diego? I spent some time there.”
Kyra rolled her eyes. “Are you back to telling me you were a SEAL, because I know. You’re supposed to share something real, not something surface.”
Slade grinned and shook his head. “Fine, you want real? I don’t know what to say to you.”
Kyra snorted. “Anything. Your favorite color, your favorite food, if you sleep on one side of the bed or in the middle…”
Slade lifted his gaze, and it collided with Kyra’s at her last statement. Heat filled the space between them with a healthy dose of desire.
Slade leaned forward, unable to stop himself.
Kyra grabbed the remote and jerked back. “Look,” she said, cranking up the volume, “the woman won.”
Slade was more than a little disappointed Kyra pulled away from him, but he tried not to take it too personally. She didn’t know him, and she didn’t seem like the type of woman he usually met. She was solid, stable, and had commitment written all over her. Slade usually kept far away from women like her, but he couldn’t seem to resist this one.
He settled back in his chair and watched the show with her. And the next one. A nurse came in around eleven to check Kyra’s vitals and draw more blood, then turned off the lights and closed the door on her way out.
Kyra’s eyes started drooping in the darkened room. Slade’s back was already hurting from the chair he was in, but he wasn’t going to complain. He stretched out the best he could and let the sound of the TV and the subtle scent of Kyra lull him to sleep.
The rapid beat of gunfire woke Slade. He looked around and couldn’t remember where he was. Everything was dark, and the smells… he thought he was going to be sick. He tried to move, but he couldn’t. The drugs. He remembered the drugs they gave him, so he could see everything but not do anything.
More gunshots pierced through the air outside. Someone raced toward him. The door stopped them, but not for long. The wood splintered before it slammed open.
“They’re not going to get you back alive,” the man said in broken English. He lifted his gun and pointed it at Slade’s head.
Slade wanted to duck or run or fight, but he couldn’t do any of it. All he could do was lie there and watch death come and steal him away. He thought of his parents finding out he was gone, learning whatever lies the military would tell them because they couldn’t know the truth. His sister would be crushed. She made him promise he would come home. Megan would never forgive him.
There was another woman, but he couldn’t think of who she was. Someone Slade knew mattered, but her name was just outside his reach.
Then there was more gunfire. Slade’s gaze slid to the door where someone else walked in. Help. Someone to save him. He was going to be rescued.
The person lifted their gun at Slade, and all hope drained from him. He screamed. If nothing else, his team would find his body and be able to take him home. A closed casket was better than an empty one.
“Wake up!” Slade heard from behind him. He still couldn’t turn.
“Slade, wake up. Justin!”
That did the trick. No one in the military called him Justin. Even when he was in deep shit, they called him by his rank and last name. He was never Justin.
But that voice called him Justin. And told him to wake up.
He jerked back and pried his eyes open. The room was still dark, but there was enough light to see he was in the hospital. Was this part of his dream?
“Justin?”
That voice again. He looked around until he found it. “Kyra,” he sighed.
She nodded, but her eyes said she was terrified.
“Did I hurt you?”
She hesitated and shook her head.
“I did. I’m sorry. Are you okay?”
She hesitated again and nodded. Slade let his gaze slide over her, looking for injuries she didn’t have the night before.
“I’m sorry,” Slade said, feeling like the lowest scum of the earth. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her.
“I’m okay,” she said softly. “You just scared me.”
“Did I touch you? Did I hurt you?”
She shook her head. “No. You were restless, then you started hitting the bed. And you were yelling.”
Slade sighed and pushed his chair back, giving her space. He stood and walked to the foot of the bed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know it would happen. I haven’t had a nightmare in a while.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“No,” Slade said, then walked out of the room.
