Chapter 6
Midas stared at the boards inches from his head. He didn’t know how long Lexie had been asleep against him, but he figured it was several hours.
He couldn’t sleep. He was too hyper alert to the movements above them. People came and went from the back door inches from their hiding spot, and he kept his right hand on the rifle at his side.
He had no idea what his team was doing, but he figured they were hunkered down somewhere waiting for the sun to fall below the horizon, just as he was.
He had no concerns that they’d leave without him.
A SEAL never left a SEAL behind. Ever. They’d wait as long as it took for him to come out of hiding.
Midas also wondered what had happened back at the hospital. He hoped Dagmar had been able to be extracted without any complications.
As they had all day, his thoughts turned to the woman lying practically on top of him.
He’d been right when he’d thought this mission was unlike any other.
Not only was it the first in which he personally knew one of the hostages…
but he was feeling things for Lexie that he’d never felt for anyone he’d saved before.
He’d hated hearing about her difficult childhood.
How she could be so good, so kind, after being treated the way she had was beyond him.
But she was. The way Astur greeted her was proof that it wasn’t an exaggeration either.
She’d saved that woman’s life, and probably her kids’ lives too, taken them in without asking for anything in return. And Astur was clearly grateful.
He’d never met anyone as unselfish as Lexie. She worried about others before being concerned about herself.
A part of him wanted to shake her and tell her that she needed to look out for herself first, but he suspected that if he did, she’d just smile up at him, pat his hand, and tell him she’d be fine.
He’d never met a woman like her. And he ached to get to know her even better. He wanted to discover all her secrets. All her likes and dislikes. The favorite places she’d worked. Her hopes and dreams.
When she’d asked what came next, he’d laid it out as unemotionally as possible—but what he hadn’t told her was how much he wanted to keep in touch.
Nothing about his situation had changed. He’d have to go back to Hawaii and his job with the Navy would continue. He wasn’t a fan of long-distance relationships, but he ached to know what Lexie’s next steps were.
So while he hadn’t mentioned it earlier, he planned to stay involved in her life, if she was open to that.
He wanted to talk to her on the phone, to email, or even write a damn handwritten letter if he had to.
She’d definitely piqued his interest, and he wasn’t ready to just let her walk away as if they hadn’t spent some of the most intense hours of their lives together.
Lexie stirred against him, and Midas waited to see if she’d completely wake up this time or if she’d fall back asleep, as she’d done several times before.
Midas wasn’t the kind of person to enjoy sitting or lying around.
He’d always been a morning person, eager to get up and start his day.
He didn’t watch much TV and, if given the choice, would always rather go for a walk or run or swim, than hang around doing nothing.
But surprisingly, he was perfectly content to lie there and hold Lexie as she slept. Yes, he had no choice at the moment but to stay where he was, but he had a feeling sleeping in on a lazy Sunday with her back home would feel just as amazing.
That should’ve freaked him out. Instead it just made him sad…because he was fairly sure that would never happen. He just couldn’t see how to get from hiding out with Lexie in a hole under a Somali shop to having her in his arms in his comfortable bed on Oahu.
“Damn,” Lexie whispered huskily as she woke.
“What?” Midas asked in alarm, his mind already making preparations to get out of this hole and get her some help for whatever was wrong.
“I hoped it had all been a dream,” she said.
Midas relaxed a fraction. “If it’s any consolation, things have been quiet for a while now. In another hour or so, I think we can get out of here and go find my team.”
She nodded. “I didn’t mean to sleep so long.”
“You needed it.”
“Were you able to sleep at all?” she asked.
“I rested,” Midas told her. There was no way he was going to let down his guard enough to sleep. Not when that could mean Lexie being hurt or kidnapped again. She was his mission…but she was also much more than that. Things were personal for him now.
Lexie shifted against him again. There wasn’t enough room for her to maneuver much more than that.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Just stiff,” she replied.
Midas felt her flex her feet one at a time, which made him think about her lack of shoes once more. It bothered him on a visceral level that she was barefoot. He should’ve taken care of her better. The thought of her having to walk around Galkayo without shoes was repugnant.
“What?” Lexie asked.
Midas jerked in surprise. “What, what?” he asked.
“You got tense. What’s wrong?”
Midas wasn’t surprised she was as in tune with him as she was. Then again, they were lying together like lovers, so it was hard to hide any physical reaction. “I was just thinking about your lack of shoes,” he admitted. “I feel awful about it.”
“Why?” she asked. “It’s not like you had a chance to find any for me. And neither of us expected we’d have to crawl out the window like we did. Besides, being barefoot isn’t anything most of the locals haven’t experienced at one point in their lives.”
“True. But I’m responsible for you. I should’ve anticipated something going wrong. I was too lax.”
“You are not responsible for me,” Lexie retorted heatedly.
“I mean, okay, sure, in the eyes of the government, you’re responsible for getting me to the ship.
But I’m an adult, Midas. I’m perfectly able to make my own decisions about my life.
And I doubt you’ve got the psychic ability to know what everyone around us is going to do every second of the day.
I’m more than grateful to you and your team for freeing me and Dagmar, but that doesn’t mean I’m an empty-headed damsel in distress.
If I started screaming right now and brought all the bad guys running, would you be responsible for what happened to me next?
Or if I insisted I needed to stop and go shopping on our way out of here, would you be responsible for whatever happened as a result?
“Shit happens, Midas. We can either deal with it as it comes, or freak out and have a meltdown. I haven’t had the luxury of being able to have a meltdown in my life.
I’ve had to brush myself off and keep going.
And I’m not about to stop now. Unless you tell me you’re some sort of seer and know what’s going to happen in the future, you need to quit beating yourself up for things you can’t control. ”
God. She was magnificent.
She was level-headed and passionate and so far from being a spoiled diva, it wasn’t even funny.
He wasn’t offended by her outburst. Yes, her argument was a bit over the top, and he hadn’t thought his comment would set her off like it had.
But it certainly didn’t turn him off. He liked that she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind.
Midas had never given much thought to the kind of woman he wanted in the long term—but this was it. She was it. He wanted a strong and pragmatic partner, someone who could function when he was deployed.
He apparently didn’t respond fast enough for her, because she asked, “Are you pissed at me? I’m sorry.
Now that I’ve thought for two seconds about what you said, and I realize I kind of overreacted.
I can also admit I don’t know what I’d do if you weren’t here.
I’d have no clue what to do next…other than going back to the Food For All building, which I’m guessing wouldn’t be in my best interest right now.
I’m not saying I’m not scared, because I am.
But if I let my fears overwhelm me, things could get even worse. ”
“I’m not upset, and I agree. And I never saw you as a damsel in distress,” Midas said.
“From the moment I saw your name on the reports and realized that I knew you, this mission ceased to be like any other for me. I appreciate and admire how you’ve conducted yourself so far, Lex.
You’ve been amazing. I just… I don’t like the thought of you being in a disadvantaged position.
I could carry you if I needed to, though it would be harder for me to protect us both.
But you not having shoes means that you could get hurt, and I can’t do a damn thing about it.
That’s what bothers me about you being barefoot.
It makes you more vulnerable. That’s all. ”
He felt Lexie take a deep breath, then nod against him. “I’m sorry. I’m always cranky when I first wake up. You know what I miss most?”
“What?”
“Coffee. The good kind. The kind that’s way too sweet and doesn’t really even taste like coffee. The kind where you take a sip and your taste buds wake up and take notice. That first swallow, it’s like heaven.”
Midas chuckled. “I like it black.”
“Gross.”
His smile widened. Then he sobered. “What are your plans after we get you to safety?” he couldn’t help but ask.
He knew his way of changing subjects irritated people.
They were just talking about coffee, and suddenly he was turning the conversation in a more serious direction.
But now he was thinking about her sitting on his back deck, watching the sunrise, sipping a cup of way-too-sweet coffee and smiling about it.