Chapter Ten
Hawkeye
When Cooper nudged Hawkeye with a cold, wet nose, Hawkeye came instantly awake.
Grabbing his phone, he threw his covers aside and swung off the bed.
There, with his bare feet on the short fibers of the hotel carpet, dressed in black boxer briefs, Hawkeye paused to get his bearings.
Zero-three-hundred hours.
Standing in the doorway between their room and Petra’s, Cooper held steady, his muscles tight with focus.
Hawkeye moved silently forward. Standing beside Cooper, he could make out Petra in her bathroom with only the nightlight shining.
Dressed for bed, wearing a pair of pink panties and a white T-shirt, Petra leaned over the sink, spitting into the water flowing from the faucet. One hand held her hair back, and the other clasped her toothbrush. She seemed steady on her feet, even pitched forward that way.
Yesterday’s meds must have given her cotton mouth.
A woman he dated a while back once told Hawkeye that the human wakes at three because of changes in the body’s temperature regulation. She said it was only in modern times that it was thought to be a problem. Farther back in history, folks called it ‘The Golden Hour’ and considered that the time for sex and contemplation.
Hawkeye could well imagine why that particular factoid dropped into his awareness at just that moment.
With his cock standing at attention, Hawkeye backed out of Petra’s view, climbed back in bed, and signaled for Cooper to lay down.
While a three a.m. temperature change might be the reason Petra was up and aware that she wanted to brush her teeth, Hawkeye was up because he’d spent the night with his search engine open, trying to figure out what Petra’s pupils might mean to her health picture.
Without landing on an answer, finally, Hawkeye had turned his computer off and laid down to catch some shut-eye. He needed to get at least a couple of hours sleep so he was ready for the training mission later that morning.
Even though Cooper woke him each day with pinpoint accuracy, that day, Hawkeye set his alarm a few minutes earlier than usual to give himself time to check on Petra before he started his morning routine.
Cooper always began his days with a quick jog to burn off some energy. It helped him to stay focused and on task all day.
If Petra needed him, though, Hawkeye could send Cooper out with Mojo since they ran at a similar pace.
Hawkeye must have fallen deeply asleep because he had that thought, and the next thing he knew, his phone alarm was vibrating under his pillow.
After pulling on his running clothes and lacing his sneakers, Hawkeye stole into Petra’s room.
He didn’t want to wake her, but he needed to know if she was lucid enough that she was safe to be left alone. When she spoke, her voice was husky with sleep but seemed back to normal. She responded to his questions without any red flags, so Hawkeye and Cooper hit the road in the quiet of pre-dawn.
Hawkeye loved this time of the day. He liked knowing that inside the houses he passed, families were snug in bed. He liked being alone with his thoughts as he lined up the day’s priorities and let the vibrations of his foot strikes loosen any stress or negativity. It was like a shower for his soul.
Today, all Hawkeye could think about was the miracle and the angst of meeting Petra.
On the plane, he thought he had one shot at getting to know her before their brief intersection was in his rearview. Hawkeye had planned to invite her to dinner to continue their conversation.
He couldn’t imagine what it was like to go to sleep just fine and wake up in a medical crisis like that. Life could, sure as hell, knock you off your feet with no warning at all.
His feelings for Petra absolutely knocked him sideways.
And the jog hadn’t eased his level of concern. Everything Hawkeye had read boded poorly for Petra getting a good outcome.
Today, though, there might be more answers at the eye doctor.
Cooper and Hawkeye slowed their pace for the last two blocks, catching their breath before they strode through the automatic doors at the front of the hotel. They were back just as the kitchen staff was setting up breakfast. Since he had Cooper with him, Hawkeye made two plates—one for him and one with his best guesses as to what Petra might eat—and balanced them in one hand as he went up to the seventh floor.
Cooper’s nose was on the ground as he tracked back to their door.
They slid into the room and set the breakfast plates on the table before moving closer to wake Petra.
Cooper went in first with his nose chuffing and doing his checks. Then, he jumped over the top of her and moved to his spot from last night, where he circled and plopped, giving Hawkeye the all-clear. Cooper thought Petra was safe.
“How are you feeling?” Hawkeye crouched by her bedside.
“Good.” She stretched her arms over her head, straining her muscles as she inhaled deeply, then released. “More like myself. Less medicated.”
Cooper lifted his foot to scratch behind his ear, shaking the whole bed.
“Hey buddy,” she reached out to pat his butt. “Did you have a good run?”
Cooper looped his tongue up to lick her hand before moving to the end of the bed to lie down where it was cooler.
As she turned back to him, Hawkeye reached out and caught Petra’s chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Smile for me?” And this time, she gave him a sweet smile that came naturally to her lips. “Beautiful.”
“I got up earlier to check my eye. There’s a little more iris and a bit of reactivity.”
He lifted his thumb and painted it over her lower lip to feel the petal softness. “Both good things.”
Petra leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss onto his lips. She tasted like honey and mint.
Lowering his knees to the carpeted floor, Hawkeye slid his fingers around the back of her head into her silken hair. He tipped her so his mouth could find hers, and he could kiss her long and slow.
He kissed her breathless.
And when they stopped, panting, they rested foreheads together.
His heart pounding in his chest, it occurred to Hawkeye that this might well be the last first kiss of his lifetime. It might be a kiss that launched an odyssey rather than a weekend adventure.
Petra tipped back again, her lips on his, opening her mouth to his tongue. She wrapped her hand around his bicep and tugged as she turned to lay flat on the bed.
His blood racing as he knelt in front of Petra, it took ultimate control for him to slow his movements, his breath, and the forward trajectory of the now.
He had sensations running through him that he’d never experienced before, and Hawkeye had to make absolutely damned sure he did nothing that could negatively affect Petra.
She looked confused that he had stopped, had not accepted her invitation to come onto the bed with her and lie between her thighs.
Heaven on Earth.
But in pulling back, Hawkeye could remember the truth of their situation.
“Beautiful, I’m worried about your safety.” Strands of her blond hair had caught in her eyelashes, and he brushed them aside, tucking them back behind her ear. “We don’t know what’s going on with you yet. You have to see the eye doctor this morning to see if he can figure it out. Changes in blood pressure…I think it’s a bad idea until you’ve gotten an all-clear.”
She offered up the sweetest pout.
“Yeah,” he sighed. A cold shower was in order. “Me too.” That pout might just be his kryptonite. “We have a few minutes. How would it be if I held you for a bit? I could honestly use some support right about now.”
“Why, what’s going on?” The pout fell away, and she lifted onto her elbow with concern.
That tickled a smile across his lips. “I got a crush on the lady sitting next to me on the plane, and then I think she’s stroking out.” He rested a hand on his chest. “It’s been a hell of a strain on my heart.”
“Crush?” She mouthed the word like it was a new word for her, and she was trying to give it meaning.
“Not crush, that’s too childish,” Hawkeye corrected. “I’m not sure I have the right word. The one I’m considering is that you’ve endeared yourself to me. ‘Endeared,’ is that too old-fashioned a word? I’m thinking about the moments that have gathered since I met you.”
“Like Grandma’s china cabinet with curios on the shelves. Fragile but interesting to consider?”
“Flowers in a bouquet might be closer to how I meant it.” Petra seemed to be okay with this conversation, with him declaring his feelings. At least she wasn’t giving him any back-off vibes.
She lifted a single brow. “I was asleep the whole time. What could have endeared me to you? At least I wasn’t drooling.”
He ducked his head to the side. “Not unduly, anyway.”
“What?” It was a shocked inhale.
“You and Cooper were both snoring and drooling. It seemed you were both at ease and getting what you needed, deeply asleep like that.” He reached out and rested his hand on her hip, sliding it down to her thigh. “I was completely charmed.”
Her eyes sprang wide. “I was snoring?” she whispered in horror.
“Afraid so.”
“And you didn’t wake me?” She lifted her pillow and wiggled up the bed until she was sitting against the headboard, pulling her knees up until her feet were flat on the sheet and crossing her arms over her chest.
Miffed, but more play-acting. This was Petra teasing him back.
“Like I said, you looked like you needed the sleep. You were out like a light. And I figured your reputation was safe enough. You were on a plane full of strangers, and you were snoring along with the dogs. I think—” Hawkeye pressed into the bed to move from the floor to the mattress, wrapping his hands around the back of Petra’s calves. “I think your falling asleep with Cooper in your lap was like a pack signal. All four Cerberus K9s curled into a comfortable fur balls and snoozed the whole way.”
“But your team knows I was snoring.”
“They were charmed, too, just not in the way I was.”
“ Endearingly .”
“If you broke that word down, it would mean you became dear to me. Which seems like a lot to say to someone at this point in our knowing each other.”
“It’s been a busy twenty-four hours. Though I’ve been asleep or drugged for most of it.” She leaned forward and kissed him. “I accept your word, ‘endearing.’ I like it. I’d like it more if you said it while we were snuggling.”
“That we can do.” As Hawkeye swung over the top of her to the other side of the bed, his gaze scanned for the clock to ensure they had enough time to get ready and head for the doctor’s.
Lying on top of the alarm clock, partially obscuring the digital read, was the pink eye mask that Petra had worn on the plane and a flash of beige.
Hawkeye reached over to snag it up.
Sure enough, caught on the edge between the elastic band and the satin cloth was a motion-sickness patch.
Hawkeye flipped around to show her what he’d discovered. “You were wearing that patch yesterday.”
“Yes, on the plane.” She canted her head, and Hawkeye could see she was putting this through her processors, trying to understand what he was driving at.
“When did you take the patch off your neck?”
She looked to the far-right-hand corner of the room and held her breath. When she turned back, it was with a shake of her head. “At some point?”
“But you didn’t wash your hands after you touched it.”
Petra turned her head toward the corner again, her gaze searching along the blank cream-colored wall. Finally, she pulled her focus back to him. “I put it on in the airport half an hour before the flight left, for efficacy. I used my hand sanitizer and a tissue to clean my hands. I didn’t wash my hands until I used the bathroom in the hospital. Although, I don’t specifically remember that. The nurse said seconds were precious and wouldn’t let me use the bathroom until after the machine. Since I wasn’t uncomfortable in the car on the way to the first hotel, and I didn’t pee on myself.” Her eyes flashed wide. “Did I pee on myself?”
“Negative.”
“Okay, good,” Petra scratched her fingers over her scalp. “Well, I must have used the restroom after the machines, and surely, from my years of muscle memory, I would have automatically washed my hands.”
“But the patch came off on the plane.” Hawkeye lifted the mask.
“It would have had to come off on the plane in order for the patch to be stuck to my eye mask. Yes.”
“And somewhere along the way, you rubbed your eye?”
“Probably.” She shook her head, not following his line of questioning.
“Assuredly.” Hawkeye corrected, feeling the thrill of the hunt, he thought he had found the rabbit and had it in his sights. “When Cooper woke you up, you rubbed your fingers under your mask, pulled it off, and stuck it in your pocket.”
“Why are you hammering this?”
“Because I was up last night searching all the reasons that someone could have blown out a single pupil that was non-responsive. And all the reasons are significant and dangerous. All require immediate medical attention. You told the doctor you don’t take any medications regularly.” He lifted the mask. “The travel patch, you didn’t mention that at the hospital.”
“It’s not an everyday med, and I guess I forgot I did that. Besides, if it had been in my system and that had been the reason for my alien pupil, it would have blown out both my eyes. Are you angry with me right now?”
“Not even a little.” He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, then sat up again. “With a motion sickness patch, the pupil wouldn’t have blown out because of a systemic reaction. The pupil reacts with direct contact with the medication. That’s why a travel patch can blow one eyeball and not both. Until I saw the patch, I had forgotten that I saw it yesterday. I remember thinking it was probably making you groggy.”
Petra reached for her eye mask. “The patch caused all this crazy?”
“I’m trained as a medic, not a medical doctor. But, it’s a new theory we can bring with us to the ophthalmologist today.”
“But in your research, it goes away eventually, right?” Petra asked, handing the mask back to Hawkeye. “Or will people be like that staffer at the Blue Fin and look at me for the rest of my life like I might spontaneously combust?”