Chapter 9
“You can stash your things in there,” Nick pointed to the second bedroom down the hallway from Sophie’s. “Best to rest up. Tomorrow will be a killer of a day.”
She was feeling tired, but her back and neck were sore. She rubbed her shoulders and let her head roll from side to side.
“Go set your things down, and then I’ll give you a neck rub, get you all ready for bed. I guarantee you won’t know what hit you.”
She did as she was instructed yet paused to lean against the doorway and study him on her way back. “You must be exhausted too, Nick. I think I’ll just slip into bed. Thanks for the offer, though.”
He was looking straight ahead, having left a spot on the couch for her to sit.
“Come here.” He beckoned again with his fingers.
“I’m okay. Really. You don’t have to do that.”
“Remember, I can make you fall asleep so fast you won’t know what hit you. Honest.” He walked around to where she was standing and grabbed her hand and led her to the couch before gently pushing her down to sit.
Nick sat right next to her. His hands tenderly found the top of her spine and he began to press. The pressure was so pleasurable, Devon thought she’d see stars. The rhythmic motion of his fingers rolled and cajoled the soft flesh between the ridges in her spine and neck. She felt herself leaning backward and to the left. Against him.
Devon awoke sometime after midnight with a start. At first, she loved the feel of the warm chest underneath her, and then she realized she was sleeping on top of Nick. His hands were wrapped around her back and waist and a light blanket had been pulled over their legs.
She arched up.
“Hey there,” he whispered. “Have a good sleep?”
She sat up as Nick adjusted his legs to allow her feet to hit the floor. He remained prone, one huge arm underneath his head. She could see his eyes twinkling in the moonlight, as well as the outline of his lips. The ocean she’d been hearing in her dream was his breathing.
“I guess you weren’t kidding about the shoulder rubs. Sorry I doubted you,” she said before she could stop herself.
“You were out in less than 5 minutes. And, just so you know, I didn’t try anything. I was a perfect gentleman.” She could see the Cheshire grin glowing back at her.
“How would I know?” she challenged.
“You wouldn’t. But I would. I don’t do that.”
Well, there was the end of that conversation.
“Dev,”
“Devon.”
“Back to that again? Okay, Devon, you have a big day tomorrow. Why don’t you run to the bedroom and finish your sleep on a real bed?”
“I should.” The harshness of her comment about her name got to her a bit and she felt herself soften. “I’m sorry I’m so disagreeable sometimes.”
“You are a handful, I’ll give you that.”
“I don’t mean to be difficult, but I want my boundaries respected.”
He was nodding in the moonlight. Perhaps he was staring at the ceiling.
“Sounds like someone with trust issues, or someone who has been hurt by someone. Were you hurt by someone, Devon?”
“No,” she said too quickly. There wouldn’t be any further discussion of her past.
“Go run along. I’ll get you up early and we’ll make Sophie a nice breakfast.”
She had an idea. Probably not very wise, but it was an idea. “Nick, if you promise to completely behave yourself, I mean no touchy and stuff, you can come in and sleep on the bed next to me.”
“I’m fine here,” he said.
“Well it can’t be very comfortable, and here I was pressing against you—“
“I didn’t mind that one bit.”
Of course. You walked right into that one, Devon.
“Besides,” he added, “this couch is way more comfortable than the cots and dirt floors I’ve had to sleep on. Almost a luxury.”
She shook her head. “How do you do all that?”
“All what?”
“All that stuff over there. The killing, the danger, all the fear. How do you sleep?”
“Very carefully. Many days we don’t. We catch it when we can, when someone is looking out for us.”
“So that’s how the Team buddy thing works, then.”
“Yup. We watch out for each other. We listen for signs of danger. We develop a sixth sense about it. If you don’t feel the danger before it comes, then it kills you. So you either feel it and react, or you’re dead.”
“I don’t understand how you can take it.”
“Well, you drive along the freeway, right? You see shops and buildings at the sides. You watch other drivers. You look for bad drivers. You look behind you and to the sides so you know where you are at all times. You see billboards, listen to things on the radio, watch the clock and you’re alert when you drive, right?”
“Right.”
“That’s how we do it. Except we’re trained to look for other kinds of danger, and deal with them without thinking.”
“But doesn’t it bother you?”
“What?”
“The killing, the stuff you’ve seen.”
“You see stuff every day on the news and read about stuff in the paper every day that’s even worse. Evil lives all over the world. We’re trained to contain only a part of it. We’re trained so we don’t have to think about it. We just act. And hope to God we got the message in time.”
“I’m not sure I could do that.”
Nick smoothed a hand over her shoulder and down her back in a neutral way without a sexual overtone. “And so that’s why I’m here. So you don’t have to do that. So you can go to the mall, drive cars, sell houses, go to the movies and have a life. We protect that way of life. And we love doing it. For you guys.”
Devon began to tear up. She was so sad that this man was going to lose the only family member he had left. And in spite of all his training, his strength, his can-do attitude, there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to prevent it.
“Offer’s still open.” She took his hand and held it between both of hers. “If you’ll behave, you can share the bed.”
“No can do, Devon.” His piercing look was unmistakable. At first the realization was frightening, and then it made her glow inside.
After Devon left, Nick knew he’d get restless sleep. He programmed himself to wake up at 05:00, to shower and be ready to wake her up in case she overslept.
Then he stared out the window at a nearly full moon just beginning to slip behind Bennett Peak. He wished he believed in God. Maybe it would be a good time to start thinking about that so that when Sophie passed, he might be able to somehow connect with her, God willing. Armando’s mom, Felicia Guzman, prayed to her God all the time and just about everything she’d prayed about came to pass. So maybe he could adopt hers.
He decided to try it.
Okay, Sir. If you’re there, please get things ready for Sophie. She’s a pistol and she swears too much, but she has a good heart. Protect her until I can come and relieve you, if that’s how it works.
He listened to see if God left him some sign and was disappointed to find nothing. But he felt better. Just a little. Then he prayed to Mama Guzman’s God to help his heart be strong for the coming days.
And to melt Devon’s.