Reviving Dade

by Becca Jameson

  “You’ve never had a guest,” he pointed out as he entered the smaller room.

  “True. I also have no idea what that mattress is like. The sheets are clean, but beyond that, I guess I’ll find out.”

  “You won’t. I can manage a queen-sized bed. You’re not giving up your room.” He opened some of the drawers on the dresser and closed them. “Besides, Ryan put things in here for me. It would be ridiculous to switch.”

  “Okay. But I offered. If it’s not comfortable, let me know. We can order another mattress or—”

  He interrupted her. “It’ll be fine. You’re not replacing the mattress in a bedroom no one uses for a man who’s dying.” He walked past her, through the front room, and back out the front door.

  Well, shit.

  Chapter 5

  Dade had wandered around the perimeter of the cabin for almost half an hour before he headed back toward the front door. He needed to get a grip on himself before he said things he couldn’t take back. He lifted his face to the clear sky and inhaled the clean air. Too bad he wasn’t going to be on this earth very long to enjoy it. The weight of that realization sank in deeper. So was the fact that he was being an asshole about it.

  It wasn’t Blair’s fault he was dying. The woman was doing everything in her power to be kind and helpful. She had given up every second of free time she normally had to bring his sorry ass to her private getaway. He needed to be grateful and stop being a dick.

  In another life, he would have found her attractive. She was petite but fierce. Strong in body and soul. She didn’t wear much makeup or other girly things, but she didn’t need it. If she let her hair down, literally, so that it fell over her shoulders, she would be more feminine than nearly everyone he’d seen since he woke up.

  He couldn’t decide if she hid her curvy body and gorgeous hair from the world on purpose, or if she didn’t know she possessed such charms.

  Exhaustion was tugging at him. He hadn’t walked that far or even stood that long in the two weeks he’d been reanimated. Mostly because he’d been out of sorts even before Ryan dropped his bombshell.

  He didn’t have family to contact, and his closest friends were still preserved in cryostats. He would have loved to have had the chance to reacquaint with Tushar and Trish, but he understood why they hadn’t been at the bunker too. Their safety was important.

  The few friends Dade had maintained from childhood would be ten years older than him now with completely different lives. Families even. He feared it would depress him to make contact with any of them, which was fine since Temple had impressed upon him the need to remain completely silent.

  Maybe Blair was right. Maybe he needed to stop acting like an ass and enjoy his remaining days. So far he’d treated her rather unkindly, but she didn’t seem like the sort of person who would punish him for his behavior forever.

  Did he want to open up to her and start a friendship, though? He wasn’t really in the mood for forging new relationships. They took effort and time to cultivate. He didn’t have the energy for the former or the remaining days for the latter.

  A loud noise caught his attention as he reached the house, and he turned to the left to round the cabin, adrenaline pumping. It didn’t take long to find the source of the racket.

  Blair stood in the small clearing behind the cabin, her back to him, a hatchet in the air. She was chopping wood.

  He grabbed the side of the house and watched as she swung again, splitting the log down the center before reaching down to drop the axe and pick up the pieces.

  When she turned around, she startled. “Hey. I was worried about you.” She continued toward the back of the cabin and dropped the pieces in her hand on a tall pile.

  He felt like an even larger ass. “I was wandering the perimeter. Let me help you.” He stepped closer, unable to fathom in his wildest dreams how he was going to help her in his current state of weakness, but there wasn’t a chance in hell he was going to watch a woman chop wood to keep him warm. He didn’t even recognize himself.

  She smiled. “I got it. Go on inside and warm up. It’s getting colder out here.”

  He glanced at the tall pile by the back door. “You don’t think we have enough wood?”

  “We have plenty, but it’s supposed to start snowing in a few hours, and you never know how deep it might get or how long it might last. If I don’t have anything else to do, I always take advantage of breaks in the weather during the winter to make sure I’m prepared.”

  As she turned back around to pick up the hatchet and another log, he lurched forward, grabbing her wrist.

  She flinched, her gaze meeting his, inches separating them. Her face was flushed. From the cold or his proximity? Her eyes were wide. “What?”

  “Drop the axe and go inside before you so totally emasculate me to the point that I won’t be able to look in a mirror.”

  Her breath hitched. She licked her lips. Her cheeks turned a darker pink. “That’s not my intention, Dade.”

  “I know,” he whispered. “But it’s your result.” He’d never been this close to her. He could smell her shampoo and the body soap she used combined with her own personal scent. He was surprised to catch a whiff of something floral or fruity. He wouldn’t have expected that.

  “It’s just wood, Dade. I’ve been chopping my own wood for four years without help.” Her voice was thready, raw, pitched lower than usual. Dare he think sexy?

  Shaking that thought from his head, he continued. “I get that, but please humor me. I’ll make you a deal. You put that hatchet away for today. There’s obviously enough wood already chopped for weeks of bad weather. And your cabin has heat too. In exchange, I promise to get stronger so I can take over the task.”

  He had no idea why he was proposing such a thing. Moments ago he had considered climbing into that queen-sized bed with not a single care in the world for how old the mattress was and sleeping until he died. Why the hell had he just agreed to work out and get healthy?

  Because he hadn’t been raised to sit around lounging while a woman did all the hard work. That’s why.

  “Okay. Deal.” Her soft voice reached inside him and tugged. Her smile melted another chunk of his frozen soul. Ironic, since the only part of him that had not actually been “frozen” for the last ten years should have been his soul.

  When she lifted her other hand to cup his face, her fingers melted another piece. He really needed to walk away before his mind wandered into forbidden territory.

  Until this moment, he hadn’t put a single second of thought into his primal needs since waking up two weeks ago. Suddenly, parts of him that had lain dormant for ten years came to life. Probably because Blair was the only woman around for miles and miles. Probably because he’d gone through a long dry spell even before his preservation. Probably because she wasn’t hard on the eyes and she smelled so good.

  He dropped her wrist and stepped back, breaking contact. Without another word, he spun around and headed into the cabin and straight through to the guest bedroom. His heart was racing, and he could still feel the tips of her fingers on his cheek as he shut the door and then flopped down on the bed.

  Deep breaths. This was not good.

  This was so, so not good.

  Not surprisingly, Dade fell asleep. When he woke up, it was to the smell of food. Not just food, but he was almost certain the scent was hamburgers. His stomach growled. He hadn’t had lunch, and a glance at the window told him it was dark out and snowing heavily.

  He shoved himself to sitting, hating how his body betrayed him with its refusal to operate at 100 percent. If nothing else, he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life unable to complete the simplest of tasks. He wanted his body back. The one that could climb mountains.

  As he pushed to his feet, he turned around and stared at the bed. Yep, the mattress was too soft. He’d been too tired to notice when he came into the room, and he’d flopped onto his back and fallen asleep quickly. But now that he was more alert, he ha
d to smirk. Maybe I should have taken her up on the offer to switch rooms. His back ached from sinking too low.

  The moment he stepped into the great room, his suspicion was confirmed. Definitely burgers.

  Blair lifted her gaze and smiled. “Hey, I hope I didn’t wake you. I was trying to be quiet, but you have to be starving. Did you sleep well?”

  “Like a rock.”

  “Is the mattress okay?”

  “It’s fine,” he lied. He set his hands on the heavy country table in the center of the room to brace himself. He’d moved too fast. He was dizzy. “You cook too?”

  She chuckled, the sweetest little sound that made his spine tingle. “No. I’m a terrible cook. I’m much better at chopping wood.” Her blue eyes danced with laughter when she looked at him. “I might have pulled a bait and switch luring you to my cabin.” She winced intentionally. “After a few meals, you’ll probably want to hunt squirrel or something instead. I’m much better with a frozen dinner than a knife and cutting board.”

  He lowered onto the closest chair. “It’s your lucky day, then. My grandparents raised me, and my grandmother thought any proper husband should know how to cook, so she taught me everything. I can even make biscuits from scratch without a recipe. If my brain is able to pull it up after hibernating, that is.”

  Her eyes widened. “Blessed angels. When are you going to make those biscuits? My mouth is watering.”

  He laughed. Laughed? What was this woman doing to him?

  When she turned back around to face the stove, he watched her every move. She had changed into some sort of skintight black workout pants and a well-worn navy-blue sweatshirt with the neck and the sleeves cut so that it hung off her shoulders. On second thought, he decided the shirt was probably purchased to look like that. If he wasn’t mistaken, she had on a black sports bra, one strap of which was visible on her shoulder.

  His gaze didn’t linger there, however, because her ass was so prominently featured in those damn pants that no man would be able to avoid staring. There was no way she had anything on underneath them either.

  Jesus. He jerked his gaze to his hands on the table when she turned around. “You like cheese on your maybe-raw, maybe-burnt burger?”

  “Yes.” She could do anything she wanted to those burgers as long as she wore that outfit to cook in.

  What the hell was he thinking? This woman was not here for him to ogle. And she certainly hadn’t brought him to her home so he could fuck her. Was he even capable of sex? The fact that he had to adjust his jeans under the table spoke volumes. Plus, surely Ryan would have mentioned something if the other three had awakened without all parts working. After all, his parents were off in Montana reconnecting.

  She set several items on the other side of the table. It was a high-top that he surmised had to function as a work surface also because there wasn’t enough other counter space, and the thick wooden table was in the center of the room.

  In fact, the chair that belonged in that particular spot at the table had been removed and leaned against the far wall as if she had placed it there years ago and never bothered to put it back. Why would she need it if she lived here alone?

  He watched her intently as she sliced a tomato and prepared lettuce. “I wasn’t sure if I should warn you about my cooking skills, or lack thereof. You’re super lucky I can even make burgers. I have about three staples. Other than that, I’m helpless.”

  “So we were going to eat three meals, and then you were going to drop the bomb?” he teased.

  “More or less, but then I chickened out.”

  “Have you ever been married?” he asked without thinking. What a dumb question.

  She shook her head and grinned. “You were wondering if I might bother telling anyone I couldn’t cook before the ceremony, weren’t you?”

  He shrugged.

  “I’m not that sadistic. I wouldn’t want to harm anyone. But for the average kidnap victim I bring back to the cabin, I guess I don’t have to list my culinary credentials.”

  “Kidnap victim, huh?”

  “I get the feeling that’s how you see yourself.” She set the plate of fixings in the middle of the table and turned around to the stove again. Two seconds later, she flipped off the burner and brought the pan to the table to set it on the potholder in the middle.

  After grabbing a bag of buns and some sodas, she had everything tossed on the table and took a seat at an angle next to him. When she slid a plate in front of him, he set his hand on hers, forcing her to meet his gaze. “Sorry I’ve been such a dick. It’s not your fault I’m in this mess. I shouldn’t take it out on you. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the facts.”

  She put her other hand on top of his, trapping his fingers. “It’s okay. We don’t even know each other. You were thrust into a situation without your say so. I get it. We’ll figure things out. One day at a time.”

  When she released his hand, he felt the loss of her warmth. Her braid fell over one shoulder again. It was cute. It made her look younger than thirty-five.

  Dade went to work doctoring his burger and then took a tentative bite. It was delicious. “Mmm. Perfect,” he murmured around the first mouthful. After he swallowed he said, “You lie.”

  She chuckled, swallowing her own first bite. “I got lucky this time. Trust me.”

  He did trust her. For one thing, if Ryan, Emily, and Temple trusted her, then he would never doubt her. That didn’t mean he liked this arrangement any better than he had five minutes ago, but at least she was a likeable person and not hard on the eyes.

  “Tell me about your grandparents,” she began after a few more bites. “Where were your parents?”

  “They died when I was young. I don’t remember them. Freak accident. They owned a jewelry store in a strip mall. The store below them caught fire. They were trapped and died of smoke inhalation.”

  “Oh, God. I’m so sorry.”

  He shrugged. “Like I said, I was too young to remember.”

  “So your grandparents raised you?”

  “Yep.” He swallowed another bite of burger and wiped his lips. “My grandmother died when I was fifteen. My grandfather was heartbroken. It was difficult. There wasn’t money for me to go to college, so I entered the army to pay for my degree, and then got assigned to Project DEEP. The rest you know.”

  He was surprised by his ability to open up to her. He rarely would have shared these kinds of details with anyone before he got sick ten years ago, the first time. Emily wasn’t wrong when she described him. He had been a kidder back then. Always cracking jokes. Making people laugh. A psychiatrist would probably say it helped him bury the pain of losing so many people. He was intelligent enough to figure that out.

  “I thought Ryan said you had no living relatives. When did your grandfather pass?”

  “Three years ago.” He looked away. That part was the most painful. It would have helped if he could have awoken to find at least that one connection still existed for him.

  “I’m sorry. That must have been hard to find out.”

  “Yes.” He took a breath, sat up straighter, and shook off the melancholy. “Enough about me. Tell me about you. I have visions of four brothers who roughhoused with you for your entire childhood so that you became tough and domineering.”

  She laughed, pushing her plate away. “Hate to disappoint you, but not even close. I only had one sister. No brothers at all.”

  “Had?”

  “Yeah, she died when I was sixteen. But my parents are still living. They live in Florida now, enjoying retired life.”

  He didn’t miss the way she glossed over her sister’s death and moved on. It seemed prudent to let that subject go. “What made you enter the army?”

  “Same as you. There wasn’t enough money, so I joined right out of high school. But I found the military suited me, so I stayed ten years.”

  He leaned back in his chair and watched her intently as she spoke. She was leaving some parts out intentionally. T
hat much he was sure of. Why did she leave the army after ten years of service? It was none of his business. He was her guest. Digging around in her personal life was not appropriate. So, he changed the subject. “Tell me where you keep weapons around here so I’ll know in an emergency.” It seemed far-fetched that anyone could find the cabin, especially after he had walked the periphery. They were well and truly off the beaten path.

  “Right.” She stood, grabbing their plates. “I’ll clean this up and then show you my hiding places.”

  He stood next to her, taking the plates from her hand. “I’ll clean up. You cooked.”

  She cocked her head to one side and released the plates. “Not going to turn that down. The only thing worse than cooking is cleaning.”

  He glanced around. “The place is immaculate. You obviously clean it often.”

  “I didn’t say I don’t clean. I just said I didn’t like it. You’ll find I’m a bit quirky. A little anal, some people say. I don’t fit the mold of your average woman. I beat to my own drum.” After dropping that completely cryptic information, she left him standing there holding the plates.

  He watched her ass again as she headed for her bedroom, assuming she went to get something. In her absence, he loaded everything in the dishwasher and started the machine. When he turned around, he found her returning. She held out a Glock. “You can have this one, as long as you promise you won’t shoot me or yourself.”

  He started to chuckle, but stopped himself. She was dead serious. As he took it from her hands, he met her gaze. “I would never do either. I promise I’m not that unstable. Not right now anyway. I’ll admit I’m furious at what life has dealt me, but I’m not at a point where I would kill myself.”

  She nodded. “If you find yourself changing your mind, you better fucking tell me, because I swear to God, Dade, I will hunt your ass down and kill you a third time if you commit suicide on my watch.”