Chapter 4
FOUR
By the time Kay pulled into her driveway she was exhausted.
Again.
The driveway was wide enough to fit two cars, something that she hadn't really thought about until she pulled in beside Gibson's truck. Seeing the name painted on the side, she smiled and managed to peel herself off of the driver’s seat of her car.
Her intent had been to take him out to dinner and thank him, but at the moment, all she wanted to do was go inside and plant her face in bed and fall asleep.
If she got that far.
Sometimes when she got home, she made it to the couch and fell asleep there. It's why she had a cell charger on the table beside it.
But she wasn't going to be alone today.
With an in-drawn breath she put a happy smile on her face and pushed the door of her Tahoe open. She could fake energy for a little while. Right?
The kitchen door of her house opened, and Gibson was there. He was tall enough to fill the doorway, and his shoulders were broad enough that she couldn't really see past him into the kitchen.
For just a moment she took in the sight of him and tried to commit it to memory.
Having a home, a real home instead of just a house, was a dream of hers, but the years she'd spent in medical school had changed her dreams. She wanted to be a good doctor. A doctor her patients could count on.
And the doctors she worked with had solidified her beliefs that she wasn't likely to have a family in her future.
Doctor Webb's son was working as a firefighter on truck forty-two along with Gibson, but Russell and his dad had a difficult relationship.
Callen and Russell's mother were divorced, and it had been a rough divorce.
Lots of court hearings that the staff had heard about, but Kay didn't hear any stories about the divorce.
She didn't want to hear all of the gory details.
She'd learned all she wanted to know by the cold freeze between father and son.
She didn't want to be married with children and have the whole world fall in on her.
It was impossible to think about having a child and then only spend part of her time with them.
That, and she couldn't imagine what it would be like to have her child hear nasty things from the other parent.
How did she fear all of this?
Well, YouTube's algorithm seemed to like to torture her with videos from family courts.
She'd clicked on the 'DO NOT RECOMMEND' link every time she could, but the videos kept coming.
It was like the world was trying to tell her that having a family wasn't for her.
She hadn't come this far in life just to derail everything she'd planned.
Everything she'd worked for.
"Hey," Gibson waved at her, "you should come inside so I can show you how the paint looks."
Yes.
She should.
Kay turned to look at her reflection in the side view mirror to make sure that her smile was still in place. "Okay. Show me."
She entered the house, looking around as if she was expecting everything to have changed on her. "I forgot to tell you where the temperature controls are."
"That's okay." He closed the door behind her and locked it. "I'm used to working in all kinds of temperatures. Anything is cooler than the heavy heat of bunker gear."
She nodded and waited for him to cross the room and lead her into her own bedroom. "I feel really bad that you were here doing all the work."
Gibson turned his head to look at her over his shoulder. "I'm used to being a one-man crew most of the time. It doesn't bother me."
He stopped and gestured down the hall. "You want to go first?"
She looked at him and saw the happy smile on his face. He looked proud of himself, and she liked seeing the look on his face. "I want to see what has you smiling like that."
He lifted a hand to his face and touched his cheek. "I didn't think... I don't know what I thought, but yes, I'm happy. I think you picked a hell of a color for your room."
His smile and the tone of his voice fed her with energy that she hadn't had a moment before.
"Okay," she nodded at Gibson, "here I go."
She moved along down the hall and felt a little hitch in her step.
No, it wasn't like she'd tripped or caught her toe, she was almost skipping.
"I think this anticipation is half of the fun." She reached for the doorknob and gave it a twist.
A moment later she was stumbling into her bedroom and staring at the walls.
It was a complete change from the primer white walls that she'd been living with. The wall across from the foot of her bed was indeed the Arsenic green that she'd picked out, but the color wasn't sickly or poisonous. Instead it looked cool and relaxing.
The other walls looked as if they were memories of the accent wall. They were the same blue-green color but something less vibrant. "The other walls look like... a kind of sage green."
"That's what I thought when I was painting it." Gibson was standing at her side, his gaze moving around the room as well. "I think this color really gives the room a good feel, Kay. Good job picking the color."
She leaned into him, bumping her shoulder against his arm. "You helped with that, remember?"
He gave her a smile as he swayed back in her direction and bumping her back. "I just gave you some suggestions."
"It's true. Maybe I might have ended up with the Drunk Tank Pink, and that would be tragic."
"There's always that salmon color-"
She turned to clap her hand over his mouth, but he was too tall, and they both ended up chuckling.
As her laughter faded away, she yawned.
And even though she turned away trying to hide the gesture, Gibson saw it.
"I know that feeling," he told her.
"You do more physical stuff than I do in a shift. I feel silly yawning as if you wouldn't kick my butt in physical challenges."
"Hey," his eyes narrowed slightly at that, "don't say those things. You've got skills I can't even begin to imagine, but that's what makes things interesting, right?"
"Right." She nodded in reply, but she could feel her energy waning again. "I wanted to take you out to dinner to say thanks," she lifted the back of her hand to her mouth to try and hide another yawn, "but I don't think I have the energy to go out."
"Then, why don't we order in." He gestured back over his shoulder toward the main part of the house. "I saw a pile of takeout menus on the counter by your coffee machine. I could order in and then I'll go after I know you've had something to eat."
She yawned again and mumbled an apology. "I'm so sorry."
"Nothing to be sorry for, Kay. I bet you had a hell of a day at the ER. You don't even have to talk to me while we wait for the food and eat it."
"I know you're trying to make sure that I eat. And I think that's sweet, but I'm not..." What did she want to say? What should she say? "I'm not really great company when I'm tired."
"Hey." He reached out and touched her arm and, in her head, she remembered the day when Hank had been injured at a fire, and she'd reached out to Gibson in an almost identical gesture.
"This doesn't have to be a thing. Please, just let me make sure you don't fall asleep without a few bites of something pseudo-healthy in your stomach."
What else could she say?
"Okay." She smiled, almost giddy with the idea that he wanted to stay.
It wasn't a forever, we're in each other's life thing, but it was nice.
Nicer than anything else she'd experienced since she'd moved to Center City.
Gibson put his hand on her lower back and urged her toward her dresser. "Go ahead and take a shower or a bath and when you're done, the food should be here."
Feeling the warmth of his hand against her lower back was almost as good as her favorite blanket. She wanted to curl into his side and fall asleep, his arms around her.
"Does that sound, okay?"
She managed a smile. "Sure, but there's no way I'm taking a bath now."
Kay had the feeling he was looking at her as if he wasn't sure where she was going with that comment.
"If I climb into a big warm tub right now, I'm pretty sure you'll have to bring my food to me in the bathroom, I'd never want to leave."
He took a step away and grinned at her. "I wouldn't mind playing butler. You could even add some bubble bath so I wouldn't be tempted to take a peek."
She rolled her eyes at his words. "I'll stick with the shower to keep the hot water use down," she shrugged. "The water heater's a little old so the hot water isn't all that much."
She saw him react to her words by not reacting.
As if he was making a mental note in the brain behind that gorgeous face.
A face that she thought about all too much.
"You can order whatever you want," she stepped back, "all of the To Go places I have the menus for? They have my card on file. The password they'll ask for? It's PARADISE."
With that, she turned and headed for the bathroom.
"Kay?"
She turned back to look at Gibson. "Hmm?"
"You don't need to grab clothes?"
She saw the color rise in his cheeks, and she knew that her cheeks were warm, too.
Gesturing behind her, she managed to explain. “I put my sleep stuff in the bathroom. On days like this I can barely get myself into the shower. Remembering clothes? Not high on my list. So I leave sets of clothing in the bathroom, so I don't scandalize the neighborhood walking around naked.”
And with that ridiculously embarrassing comment, she went straight to the bathroom to bury herself in hot water.
When Kay emerged from the bathroom fifteen minutes later, he was left stunned down to his core.
Her face and chest were flushed, her hair curling around her face and along her neck.
The thin t-shirt and shorts she wore showed him more of her body than he’d ever seen.
The outfit she wore was mint green with white patterns and where it was wet from the ends of her hair around her shoulders and the upper part of her chest the fabric stuck to her skin.
She lifted her towel and moved it over her hair again, likely trying to stop it from soaking the rest of her top.
“I called Smokey’s and asked them to send over double of your normal order.”