Chapter 5 #3
Lexie didn’t know what to say to that. She shifted in Midas’s arms and winced when a bead of sweat rolled down her temple. The scrubs she had on felt damp from the heat and sweat, and the shower she’d taken recently felt as if it was forever ago.
“You okay?” Midas asked.
“Just hot. But that’s better than shot or re-kidnapped,” she said quickly.
“Always looking on the bright side of things,” Midas said lightly.
“It doesn’t help to be negative all the time,” she told him. “All that does is make the situation seem worse.”
“True.”
“I mean, there could be bugs in this hole,” she said, then felt Midas shiver under her.
“I hate bugs,” he said.
Lexie couldn’t help but laugh. “The big bad SEAL hates bugs?” she asked.
“Yup. I’ll take snakes and alligators, and even bats over bugs.”
“Bugs in general don’t bother me,” Lexie admitted. “They’re actually kind of fascinating. But I can’t stand cockroaches. Those things give me the creeps.”
“How’re your feet?” Midas asked after a minute or two.
Lexie let out a sigh.
“What?”
“You change subjects faster than anyone I’ve ever met. One second we’re talking about bugs, then you’re asking about my feet.”
“I’ll give you a little insight into my mind,” he said.
“We were talking about bugs, which got me to thinking about the sand flea bites you have from the desert. Which led me to thinking about the hospital and how happy you looked after your shower. And then I started thinking about how much I liked your hair. It seems to have a mind of its own. Then I recalled how happy you were to have the scrubs to put on, when a lot of people would be upset they didn’t have their own clothes.
Which made me remember how smooth your skin was when I put in the IV, and finally, your skin made me think about your feet without shoes as we escaped from the hospital.
I can’t sit up and examine them myself right now because, well, neither of us can move even an inch in this coffin-like space, so I decided to at least ask how your feet felt. ”
“Um…wow. Okay. That actually made sense. They’re okay.
I haven’t worn shoes in a long time. I mean, I had flip-flops, but they were cheap and hurt my feet.
So I went without them most of the time.
My soles are tough, and honestly, I was more concerned about getting away from the people who were willing to set off explosives in a freaking hospital than about my feet. ”
“Right. I’ll look at them when we get out of here.”
“When we get out of here, we’ll probably need to get to your team. There won’t be time to have a sit-down and put a bandage on my booboos,” she told him.
“So you admit that you’re hurt? Where? What hurts? Maybe we can wiggle around to—”
“I’m fine, Midas, seriously. And we can’t wiggle anywhere.”
He sighed. After a moment, he said, “You called me Midas.”
Getting used to his abrupt change of topics, and secretly finding it cute as hell, Lexie just went with it. “It’s what your friends all call you. Do you not like it?”
“Elodie calls Mustang by his name, Scott.”
Lexie wasn’t sure what his point was. “Would you rather I call you Pierce?” she asked.
He shrugged. “I want you to call me what you want to call me. I have to admit it would be weird to hear my real name, though. I know it doesn’t faze Mustang to hear his name, but the only people who call me Pierce are my parents and brother and sister.”
“I know teachers all called you Pierce, but it’s hard for me to think of you that way. I guess it’s because I’ve seen you in SEAL mode. And a SEAL named Pierce just doesn’t seem to fit.”
He chuckled. “Your first name isn’t Lexie, but that’s what you go by,” he said. “There a reason?”
“My mom chose the name Elizabeth. When she left, my dad decided he hated that name and told me in no uncertain terms that he was going to call me Lexie, and that I should get used to that name instead. I was too young to really understand or care. And when I did get old enough to understand… I agreed with him. So I kept Lexie.”
“It’s a pretty name. Unique.”
Shit. This man was killing her. She knew she was probably reading more into the situation than she should, but they’d definitely been through some intense moments in the last half a day, which made her feel even closer to him than she might’ve otherwise. “So what happens next?” she asked.
“We wait,” he said immediately.
“No, I mean, after we get out of here and meet up with your team and leave Galkayo?”
He shook his head. “There’s that positivity you have going on again,” he muttered.
“What? You’d rather me lie here and believe someone will find us, kill you, and drag me off into the desert again to ask for a ransom they’ll probably never get, so eventually they’ll get tired of having to feed me and bring me water and they’ll either sell me off to someone else to use and abuse or just kill me outright, leaving my body in the desert to be picked off by flesh-eating birds and sand fleas? ”
“Good God, woman. No! Shit.”
“I tend to be positive, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be negative,” she told him.
“Obviously. So, right, when we get out of this hole, meet back up with my team, and get the hell out of here, we’ll do what we’d planned all along.
Fly to the Navy ship. You’ll get some food, be looked over by another doctor, then arrangements will be made to get you back to the States.
Food For All will be contacted, and I’m assuming they’ll be thrilled that you’re all right, and they’ll arrange for you to go back to the States to recover from your ordeal. You have a home base?”
Lexie sighed. At no point in Midas’s description of what was ahead of them did he mention keeping in touch.
She kind of expected that. She was a job for him.
But it still stung a bit. “Not really. I mean, I guess Oregon is as much a home base as anywhere. When I got my first overseas assignment, I didn’t have much in the way of furniture.
I left most of my stuff—you know, extra clothes, books, knickknacks, things like that—at my dad’s house.
The landlord basically got rid of everything after he died.
I never really missed any of the stuff I left with my dad though.
I’ve collected some things over the years, but Food For All packs up and moves my belongings when I switch locations, kind of like the military does when service members go to a different post.”
Midas nodded. “Makes sense.”
When he didn’t say anything else, Lexie closed her eyes. She didn’t know what she’d expected him to say. That he wanted her to move to Hawaii? That was ridiculous.
“Do you think it would be all right for me to close my eyes for a while?” she asked, doing her best to keep any emotion from leaking into her voice.
“Sure. It’s probably a good idea. I don’t know how long we’ll be down here.
It’s probably smart for us to lay low until the sun goes down.
Then we can head out under the cover of darkness.
You going to be okay without something to eat for that long?
I’m kicking myself for not making sure you got something in the hospital. ”
“I’m fine.” And she was. Because of her time in the desert, she was used to going long stretches without food. And the water she drank and the fluids she’d gotten before having to escape the hospital would be enough to keep her going until nightfall.
“Then go ahead and sleep,” Midas said.
“I’m not too heavy against you? I could probably move off you a bit,” she offered, kind of hoping he’d agree. She desperately needed space from this man. He’d gotten under her skin, and she had an awful feeling it was going to break her heart when he left her on the Navy ship.
“Too heavy? Not a chance, Lex. Stay. I like having you here.”
Shit. No one had ever made her feel as safe and special as he did. Could a thirty-three-year-old woman have a crush?
Yes, she decided. Definitely.
Without another word, Lexie closed her eyes.
The man under her smelled like sweat and gun oil and leather, but for some reason, it didn’t bother her.
Probably because she knew she was also sweaty and not so fresh at the moment.
But she much preferred Midas’s scent than that of someone who wore too much cologne and smelled like processed perfumes.
“Midas?” she whispered.
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for coming to get me.”
She could’ve sworn she felt him kiss the top of her head, but figured it was just wishful thinking.
“Thank you for being the strong and positive woman you are. This really would’ve sucked if you did nothing but bitch and complain about the accommodations.”
Lexie smiled, though she was having a hard time staying positive all of a sudden.
She’d feel better when she woke up. When she was tired, negative thoughts seemed to sneak into her brain a little easier. By nightfall, she’d have a better handle on her emotions.
Also, sleeping would give her a respite from falling any harder for the man under her.
The last thing she felt before she succumbed to the lure of exhaustion was Midas’s fingers lightly stroking her arm.