SERENITY: A Path Home (Beauty 0f Life Book 6)

by Laura Acton

  Nick witnessed Lexa hold hands with Dan. Damn! Did Sunday’s special assignment initiate something that shouldn’t be started? Nick briskly rubbed his face as doubts about what might develop between Lexa and Dan plagued him yet again. His intuition raged. Until now he had nothing to substantiate his thoughts, but right here on a call, Lexa held Dan’s hand.

  Jon observed Nick rubbing his face which was an indicator that Nick was unsettled. He walked closer and motioned for Nick to mute his headset as he did so himself. “Everything okay?”

  Not wanting to share his suspicions, after muting, Nick said, “Just this call.”

  Jon nodded. “Dan needs more training with negotiation. He disregarded Lexa’s advice and called attention to the girls. If the rifle had been loaded bad things could’ve happened.”

  Nick focused on Dan as he said, “Baby steps, Jon. I hated leaving him hanging. We must take it slow with him in that regard, much as we did with Loki. I have faith Dan will improve, but I want to limit his exposure to negotiation until he is ready.”

  Pinching his brow, Jon sighed, glad he had muted. He realized his comment had been unfair to Dan and was relieved Dan hadn’t overheard. That would’ve been disastrous for their burgeoning understanding of one another. “Sorry, I was out of line. Dan didn’t hesitate to step up when it fell to him, and he knows how to talk to soldiers. But for his sake, we need to increase Dan’s training. I can imagine the guilt he would carry if any of those girls had been harmed today.”

  Nick nodded. “He’s signed up for next month’s class. But you’re right. I’ll set up some training sessions with him and work on recognizing cues.” Nick couldn’t help grinning as another onion ring fell out of Loki’s vest. This call had the potential of ending horribly but instead ended on a humorous note.

  Massage and Bubble Bath

  18

  December 16

  TRF HQ – Dispatch Desk – 7:05 p.m.

  Lexa’s golden flecks danced with merriment as she waited for the guys to exit the locker room. Today was indeed a mostly uneventful day with no other calls. Which was fine by her. It gave her ample time to concoct her little revenge on Loki. While she worked on it, her mind had drifted to Dan.

  The last five shifts had resulted in minor injuries to him. His freezing pear tree incident had worried her, but he showed no sign of illness, for which she was grateful. Though, the shot to his chest did concern her. She knew what it felt like, they all did. It hurt for several days even when no ribs were cracked, but the pain subsided with proper rest and care. Neither of which Dan obtained in sufficient quantity over the past three days.

  Running after the subject at the cooking contest jarred Dan’s chest. Yesterday, catching the Collys and pulling Jon up had to strain his muscles. She witnessed the effect on all four of them, each one sore and avoiding upper body workout. And Loki’s tackle definitely didn’t help Dan’s healing.

  The fact he took the meds without complaint and his comment today, she knew he needed some pampering. But how to do it without pissing him off was the question of the afternoon. She came up with a plan she would attempt tonight. Hopefully, it wouldn’t backfire on her.

  As the men exited, she didn’t see Dan with them. When Nick approached the desk, Lexa asked, “Where’s Dan?”

  Nick studied Lexa’s face and searched for clues why she was asking about Dan. “He’s coming. Took a longer shower than normal.”

  Bram said, “I think he is still really sore from holding the net yesterday. I know I am.”

  Loki rolled his neck. “Same here. Looking forward to a long soak in the tub tonight before bed.”

  Ray chuckled and teased. “Bubble bath with your power ranger toys?”

  Everyone but Loki snickered.

  “Hey, that was an awesome TV show, and they’re cool action figures. And why not bubble baths? They’re fun,” Loki retorted.

  Dan ambled up to the group, enjoying seeing everyone laughing. He agreed with Loki that the rangers were cool, but he wouldn’t voice it out loud. Scott and Adam had given him a bunch of Power Rangers videos for his eighth Christmas. His smile grew as he recalled his crush on the pink ranger.

  He shifted his go bag on his shoulder and grimaced. Glad that the team hadn’t noticed him yet and didn’t see. Dan had taken longer to shower, hoping they would all be gone by the time he finished so he wouldn’t have to hide the fact he planned to take a cab home tonight.

  Glancing behind Bram, Lexa smiled at Dan, unaware that Nick’s eyes were scrutinizing her every action. “You’re here. Now I can tell everyone the fifth verse of the song.”

  Loki squinted his eyes. “I already sang the verse. Five Golden Ringers, for the girls we saved today.”

  “Nope. That may be your version, but not the official TRF one.” Lexa glanced at Tia.

  With a barely suppressed giggle, Tia handed out printouts to the entire team while Lexa sang in a beautiful voice, “On the fifth day of Christmas, Alpha Team gave to me, five onion rings.”

  Loki stared at the photo of him sitting against the shelf, covered in glittering gold sugar with two onion rings sitting on his head and another three on his vest. He busted out in a belly laugh. Then in a corny and terrible Chinese accent, he said, “Lexa, my grasshopper, you have succeeded in pranking the master. Time for you to leave.”

  Lexa beamed and joined the team as they laughed. On the way out of the building they all sang, “On the fifth day of Christmas, Alpha Team gave to me, five onion rings, four falling birds, three mother hens, two lovey-dovies, and a frozen sniper in a pear tree.”

  TRF HQ – Bike Rack – 7:20 p.m.

  Dan exited headquarters with the rest of the team and then feigned like he forgot something in his locker and went back inside. He started up a conversation with Trevor as he waited to ensure the team left.

  He was still in awe that Trevor McBride was the MP who found him behind the mess tent when he returned from a mission where the unit he was with deserted him. Trevor’s kindness that night helped him in more ways than Dan could count. They made plans to grab a beer together after the new year.

  Striding outside, Dan glanced at the bicycle rack. Deciding that for his plan to look real, he needed to move his mountain bike to a different spot. If he got here at four-thirty no one would be the wiser that he took a cab. He shrugged off his go bag as he bent down to unlock the chain.

  He froze as Lexa spoke loudly in a tone which demanded compliance. “Stop right there. I’m taking you home and to bed tonight, soldier.”

  Slowly Dan turned, shock evident on his face. “Um, did I hear you right?”

  Lexa realized her poor choice of words and quickly corrected in a softer voice, “You’re not riding your bicycle home, I’m driving you. We’ll stop for food on the way. You will eat, and then you’re going to sleep. You need rest to heal. If you don’t do as I tell you, then tomorrow I let Boss and Jon know you’re hurting. Your choice, an early night or light duty.”

  A lopsided grin played on Dan’s face. Spending time with Lexa would be a pleasant ending to the day. “Lead the way.” He picked up his bag before following Lexa to her Jeep.

  Nick watched the scene unfold from near the entrance and his heart sunk. He had returned to grab some paperwork and was just exiting when he overheard Lexa’s first loud words, but couldn’t catch the rest of the conversation. Dan’s initial surprise and then his grin and the fact he followed her to the Jeep caused Nick to sigh.

  Can I stop this before I lose one or both of them? Perhaps it is just normal sexual tension, and they will come to their senses after a one-night stand. With a heavy heart, Nick waited until Lexa’s Jeep pulled out of the parking lot before he dragged his feet to his car.

  Dan’s Apartment – 8:05 p.m.

  Unlocking his door, Dan realized this was the first time Lexa had come to his place in nearly a year. “Excuse the mess. I was running late this morning.”

  Lexa grinned. “I’m well aware of what a bachelor pad looks like. Won�
��t bother me a bit. We’ll just shove the empty beer cans to the side of the table before we eat.” She adjusted her grip on his go bag and the plastic bag of Chinese take-out.

  As Dan opened the door, her mind was on the scene downstairs when she grabbed his bag from the back of the Jeep and slung it over her shoulder. His face was incredulous, and she snickered. She quietly said ‘returning the favor from last February when I twisted my ankle, and you helped me. No big deal.’

  When he reached for the take-out she snagged it first, and he growled at her, which made her laugh and Dan growl more. Trudging up ten flights of stairs was no fun, but the elevator was on the fritz again Dan said. She only smiled, but secretly thought he should move to a better-serviced complex.

  Dan scanned his apartment as usual then went directly to the kitchen sink. The glass he had left there, unwashed, bugged him. He washed it as Lexa entered and set the food on his island.

  Lexa’s eyes widened as she took in Dan’s apartment. It had been ten months since she had last been here. The day in February she helped him home after he mixed up sleeping pills and aspirin. Since then he had acquired furniture in addition to the black swivel chair. The room now contained a couch, coffee table, desk and chair, and a TV.

  His place was nothing like she expected when he said to excuse the mess. What mess? His home is cleaner and more orderly than mine, and I pride myself on being organized even when renovating. Perhaps his bedroom is a shamble. One way for me to find out. “You want your go bag in your bedroom?”

  Dan dried the glass and put it away. “Yeah, sure. On my bed please.” Then he added, “You know, I could’ve carried that. I’m not an invalid.”

  Over her shoulder on the way to his bedroom, Lexa said, “Never said you were. Only helping a friend.” She emphasized friend because her mind was still all jumbled after the lovey-dovies day. Tonight is about taking care of Dan, not having sex with him.

  She walked into his room. Bed made, no clothes on the floor, a lamp and alarm clock neatly placed on the nightstand. No dust. No clutter. A soldier’s place Lexa decided. Spartan and tidy. As she set the bag down, she noted a small medicine vial on the bedside table. Curious she examined the label.

  “Find something you want?” Dan asked from the doorway, humor in his voice as he recalled the only other time Lexa had been in his room. She had snooped in his drawers and found her red thong from their first sexual encounter before they knew they were on the same team.

  Recognizing the words, Lexa chuckled as she turned holding the plastic vial. “Why didn’t you bring any of these? They look powerful.”

  “Jim slipped me a sleeping powder last night. He set my alarm, but I overslept and rushed out without them.”

  She noted the date on the bottle. “You got these the day after you were hit in the vest. And they’re prescribed by Dr. Fraser.” She tilted her head, curious.

  Dan moved forward, took the container from her, and opened it. He shook out two pills, recapped the vial, and tossed it on his bag. If he was going to trust her, now was the time to start. “I can’t hide from Jim. He sees through me. The first thing he did when I arrived at his place for dinner was check me over and call the doc for stronger painkillers. Ones I can take while working.

  “We picked them up on the way home. Last night Jim came over when I called him because I hurt. He showed up with a drugged burger from Jarmal’s. Didn’t realize it until after my shower.” Dan held up the pills. “I’ll be taking these with dinner so I can sleep tonight. Shall we go eat before it gets cold?”

  Lexa stared at Dan’s back as he turned and walked out. My God, he opened up to me. Dan is willingly taking pain meds and essentially told me he hurts so much he needs them to sleep.

  Dan took his medication then pulled out plates and utensils for dinner. As he served up fried rice and Szechwan chili chicken, he figured Lexa would want to portion out her food, given her remark at the Jamaican Parrot.

  After several seconds, Lexa followed Dan out to his common area. Unsure what to say, wanting to keep it low key, Lexa glanced around. That’s when her eyes landed on his Christmas tree and stayed. She’d passed over it on her first perusal of his place looking for a mess.

  Lexa’s jaw dropped when her eyes stopped on the tree topper. He made the lovey-dovies his star. Turning back to Dan she managed to sound nonchalant though her insides tumbled. “Interesting decorations.”

  Dan’s grin lit his eyes. “My first tree as an adult. Never had one in the military. I was always in the field. The popsicle ornaments are from Bram’s girls.” As Lexa filled her plate and they moved to the couch and sat down, Dan told her about last Christmas. He shared that Leslie, Emilie, and Allie made him the ornaments as presents. Dan also revealed how Bram made it seem like one of the gifts from them for the girls was from him on Christmas day.

  When he finished, Lexa was smiling. “So this year you went shopping for them.”

  “Yeah, and for Kent and Joey too. Hope Kent likes the basketball, and it’s funny that Ray teased Loki about Power Rangers because I got Joey a set of those action figures.”

  Swallowing the last of her sweet and sour chicken, an impish grin formed as Lexa said, “We’ll have to keep Loki from stealing them from Joey.”

  Dan laughed, feeling very relaxed with Lexa here. Her reaction when he opened up encouraged him. She didn’t treat him differently. Dan glanced at his tree. “So do you like the top of my tree?”

  “Well, it is certainly unique, I’ll say that. Are you planning on adding our golden boy Loki?” Lexa took Dan’s plate as she stood. “I’ll wash up. You stay there and relax. Fairs, fair, you washed my dishes last February.”

  Kicking his feet up on the portion of the couch Lexa vacated, Dan ogled Lexa’s backside as she walked to his kitchen area. “Yeah, I have the picture in my go bag. Just need to cut it out. If you want dessert, I still have some cookies from my mom.”

  “Nah, I’m good. Eaten too many lately. Jon will have a fit if everyone gains weight at next weigh in.” Lexa made short work of clean up and decided to set into motion the next part of her plan. She went to her purse and pulled out the lotion she always carried. Returning to the sofa, she peered down at Dan. “Isobel is in the house and ready to give you a much-needed body massage.”

  Dan’s jaw dropped open.

  Lexa reached out her hand. “Platonic night. A friend, helping out a friend. Nothing more.”

  Rising, Dan let Lexa lead him into the bedroom. After asking if he had extra towels and him retrieving a couple from the small linen closet, she turned on the shower and told him to take at least ten minutes while she set things up. Exiting the steamed up bathroom fifteen minutes later, he found his bed covers pulled back and towels across his sheets.

  “Come lie down on your back first, and I’ll massage your chest.” Lexa kicked off her shoes as Dan lay down with a towel wrapped around his waist.

  “I feel a little underdressed. Care to get more comfortable?” Dan gave her a lopsided grin.

  Lexa slipped off her shirt and jeans but left on her bra and panties. “Only so I don’t get lotion on them.” She had to remind herself that this was not a time for sex even though she lusted for him. Though, the horrible bruising still present on his chest was enough to put a dampener on her desires and channel her nurturing side.

  Dan drank his fill of Lexa’s body. She was so comfortable in her skin. He liked that about her. When she poured lotion into her hand, he quipped, “I’m not gonna smell like a flower am I?”

  With a teasing lilt, Lexa said, “Thought you liked the scent of jasmine.”

  “On you, yes. On me, only if it transfers from you.” Dan winked at her.

  “Well, you’re in luck then. The lotion is on my hands and will go onto your chest and arms.” She rubbed her palms together to warm the jasmine scented lotion. “I’ll be gentle with you,” she teased.

  Dan closed his eyes and focused on relaxing as her fingers began their soothing ministrations. His breat
hing slowed as pleasant thoughts flowed through his mind.

  A soft smile came to Lexa’s face as she continued to massage him even after he fell asleep. She worked the knots out of his arm, chest, shoulder, neck, and leg muscles. Lexa enjoyed having the time to peruse and learn his body at her leisure. When she finished, she lay down next to him and gazed at his face. Still enchanted with how young he appeared in sleep. Her hand went to his hair of its own volition and began to lightly stroke it.

  Ray’s Apartment – 9:30 p.m.

  Ray locked his vehicle after grabbing the four sacks of left-overs that Loki’s Ma sent home with him. He spent an enjoyable couple of hours with Loki and his ma after being invited to dinner. Mrs. Baldovino had insisted he take more food than he could eat in days when she spotted his wrapped hand.

  She didn’t want him to re-injure it by making food. He could never say no to the lovely lady so accepted the care package graciously. Perhaps tomorrow he would invite a lady friend over for dinner. Wait, he couldn’t. The team was going to the Pond for beers after shift. With the past few days, everyone except Boss and Lexa owed drinks if they applied the rule fairly.

  At the conclusion of his thought, Ray’s phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and answered, “Hey, Loki. I only left fifteen minutes ago. Miss me already?”

  Loki paced in his little home office. “I couldn’t talk in front of Ma tonight, but I gotta know what you think.”

  “What about?”

  “About Dan. I tackled him today. Did I injure him? Did you notice if he was moving different afterward? He took a longer than normal shower. I hope I didn’t cause him pain. If I hurt him, do you think he is mad at me?”

  Ray unlocked his apartment door and entered, switching on the light with his elbow and closing his door with a slight kick of his foot. “Whoa! Slow down, buddy. Do you want me to answer any of those or just listen?”