Chapter Sixteen #2
“He’s sending Napoleon and Nash to act as backup. They won’t be with us, but they’ll be dressed as homeless blokes and stayin’ in the camp nearby if anythin’ should happen.”
Wes nodded slowly. “It appears that I’ll be well and truly protected if everyone is there, Patsy.” He paused to cup my cheek. “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head. “Nothin’,” I said…then sobered when he dropped his hand. When he kept staring, I sighed. “Okay, the truth of it is, I hated askin’ ya because ya don’t deserve it.”
“Don’t deserve…what?”
“Ya shouldn’t have to go back to that.” I reached out and took his hand, turning it palm up as I brought it to my lips.
I lingered there, closing my eyes and inhaling the scent of my own bodywash as I pressed my lips to his skin.
When I finally lifted my face, I sat back.
“I don’t want ya to feel homeless anymore. ”
An expression of sadness darkened his features. “But I am, sweetheart. At least until I’ve had this job long enough to save enough money to get my own place again.”
I shook my head. “Ya don’t need to do that.”
Wes frowned. “What’re you talking about?”
I glanced around my lounge before looking back at him. I swallowed hard. “I mean I’d like ya to stay…not just until ya have money for yer own place, but for good, Wes.”
His eyes went comically wide. “You mean you want me to move in here with you, Patsy?”
I nodded. “Or we can get another place if ya want. I’ve always wanted somethin’ with a back garden.
Nash has a house now and his garden looks more like a jungle than anythin’ else.
” The more I thought about it, the more excited I felt.
His quick smile gave me the courage to go on.
“I have savin’s, and a pension from the military that I haven’t touched. We could buy a house.”
He cocked his head to the side as he studied my face. “You’ve really thought about this? You hardly know me,” he finally said.
I took both of his hands in mine as I smiled back. “My arse would argue that point.”
Wes stared at me for a second or two before throwing his head back and letting out a deep, belly laugh.
When he’d recovered, he pulled me into his arms, hugging me tightly as he whispered into my ear, “You’re a little bit insane, Irishman, and if you keep being amazing, you’re going to make me fall in love with you, you know. ”
I nodded. “Yeah, I do.” Little did he know, I was well on my way to falling in love with him too. I looked at my watch and then leaned in for a lingering kiss. “We’d better get goin’. They’re waitin’ for me to let ’em know yer answer.”
He nodded. “Okay, sweetheart. Go call your boss while I start packing up.”
I called Candy to let him know the operation was a go while Wes went into the bedroom and started pulling out old clothes.
I walked in there a couple of minutes later and rifled through my drawers to find things I didn’t wear often, and then only when I went to the gym for a workout.
No one cared whether your shirts had stains or your pants had holes.
I tried some of them on for Wes as he eyed my attire critically.
He walked around me, checking front and back, finally standing in front of me with his hands on his hips.
After a minute or so, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I held my arms out to the sides. “What? Say somethin’. These are the shittiest clothes I own.”
He nodded sagely then started laughing. “Take them off.”
“Why?”
He wiggled his fingers between us. “Take them off and give them to me.”
I frowned at him, but the curiosity was too strong to ignore so I did as he asked, stripping and handing him the T-shirt and old sweatpants.
“Thank you. Now put on some clothes. We’re going outside for a minute.”
I frowned but didn’t argue. I pulled on a clean pair of sweats and a long-sleeved Henley, then followed him outside.
He walked over to a puddle of grubby water that had accumulated in the common area and squatted.
I watched him as he rubbed first the T-shirt and then the sweatpants in the mud.
When he’d finished, he handed me the clothes.
They were disgusting, caked with muck and sludge.
“That’s better. When they dry, you’ll look grimy as hell.
No one’s gonna believe you aren’t homeless when they get a look at those clothes. ”
I saw what he meant. I glanced up at him, then grinned. “Thanks. Now, if I could just work out a way to smell bad.”
Wes wrapped an arm around my waist and smiled down at me.
“Yeah…that’s totally impossible.” I grinned when he shrugged his shoulders.
“Look at it this way, at least you’ll look the part.
” He glanced at his own clothes and shoes, then sighed.
“At least I don’t have to worry about looking like I belong there. ”
I stepped up to him and pulled him into my arms, lifting my face to his. He lowered his face and kissed me deeply, paying no mind to my elderly next-door neighbor who’d just walked out of her apartment. I sensed her watching us as I took a step away from him. “Oh, hello to ya, Mrs. Burton.”
“Hello, Patsy.” She smiled at me. “You might want to take that inside, boys.”
I glanced at Wes who had turned a bright shade of pink. I grinned at him. “Wes, this is Mrs. Burton. She knows all the gossip around here. Mrs. Burton, this is my boyfriend, Wes.”
“Nice to meet you,” Wes said, moving closer to my side.
“Nice to meet you too, Wes, and thank you for giving me more gossip. It’s been quite boring around here today.”
I laughed. “Glad we could help, Mrs. Burton.”
“See you later, Patsy.”
We walked back inside the apartment, and I laid my muddy clothes out on my balcony to dry in the hot, afternoon sun.
Thirty minutes later, we’d packed up the things we needed, going as light as possible since we were supposed to look homeless.
When we each had a pack, we headed out in the Beetle for the office.
Once there, I introduced Wes to everyone on my team, but also Dr. Reeves and Lincoln Snow. While Wes sat with Snow and the doctor to hear the profile, I waited just outside the conference room, watching his reaction through the window.
“Everything okay, Patsy?”
I looked up to see Candy coming over. “Hey, boss, grand, yeah. Everything’s good as gold. I just worry about him.”
“Your friend, Wes?”
I smirked at him. “Ya can say boyfriend, even though personally, I hate the word. I like partner better.”
“Um hm.” He paused, looking through the glass and then back at me. “I hate to ask but do you think you might have jumped into this too fast?”
I stared at him for a few seconds until his meaning finally registered. “A partner?”
He nodded slowly. “You just met him, Patsy.”
I pivoted to fully face him. “Let me be askin’ ya a question, Cap.”
“Go on.”
“Have ya ever seen me interested in anyone before?”
He frowned, seeming to contemplate the question for a long time. “No, I’ve never known of you to date anyone.”
“And have ya known me for a decade or more, Candy?”
“Yes.”
“Yer right. I’ve never dated anyone. I’ve taken a hell of a lot of blokes home to bed, but ya know the truth of it, I’ve never actually cared about any of ‘em. Wes is the first man I’ve given a shit about.
Before meetin’ him, the only thing I ever cared about was how fast I could get ‘em in and then out of my bed.”
Candy smiled…genuinely smiled, then surprised me when he put a long arm around my shoulders and squeezed before dropping his arm and stepping back. “I’m happy for you, Pats. Honestly, I was pretty worried about you.”
“Me? Why? When?”
“After this last shooting, Dr. Daughtry signed off on you jumping back into the field, but she did it reluctantly, due to the way you portrayed the takedown of those two bank robbers.”
“What the feck? What’d she say?” I was pissed off that she’d reported anything about a conversation which was supposed to be private.
“She didn’t disclose anything about your session, but when she gave me the signoff, she did say she was concerned that you were being too casual about the shootings, and that I should keep an eye on you when you’re out in the field for a while.”
I nodded. “To be fair, maybe I was a wee bit casual about it, but I think we all are to some degree. No one has seen what we have, Candy. She’s never walked in our shoes.
She’s never seen combat. We’ve all experienced some horrible shit and quite frankly, takin’ down two crazed men hell bent on killin’ my best mate, won’t be makin’ me cry in my pint.
It doesn’t mean I’m desensitized to it. It’s part of the job.
Ya know this.” I stared at him critically.
“Are ya afraid I’ll put meself in danger by tryin’ to protect Wes when we’re out there? Is that it?”
“It crossed my mind.” He looked away and sighed, putting his hands on his hips before turning back to me. “I hate to ask this, but I’m going to. When was the last time you spoke to Greg?”
“My sponsor?” Guilt washed over me when he nodded. It had been shortly after the robbery where I’d first met Wes. “It’s been a while.”
Candy reached out and put a hand on my shoulder. “Well, I suggest you talk to him right now. Open up about everything including shooting those robbery suspects. I want you clear headed before you go into this Op with Wes.”
“Grand.” I glanced at Wes—who seemed to be riveted on what Dr. Reeves was saying—before glancing back at Candy. “I’ll call him now. If Wes finishes with the doc before I’m back—”
“I’ll tell him you had a call to make, Patsy.”
“Thanks, boss.” I turned and started to walk away but he stopped me with his next words.
“And Patsy?” I turned around. “I’m really glad you’ve found happiness.” He smiled at me, and I returned the smile with one of my own.
“I appreciate that, Candy…more than ya know.”