Naught or Nice

by Vi Keeland, Penelope Ward, Susan Stoker, Marie Force, Jodi Ellen Malpas, Corinne Michaels, Emma Chase

  He continued, his voice amazingly steady. “Eventually, the police and SWAT got everything under control and searched the prison cell by cell to secure it, and found me. I’m told I was in there for three hours. It felt like days. I’ve had issues with small spaces ever since.”

  Sienna pulled back and looked into Chris’s dark blue eyes. He had blond hair that was beginning to turn gray at the temples. He had wrinkle lines around his eyes and mouth, meaning he probably laughed a lot. His nose was crooked, it had obviously been broken in the past, possibly even in the riot he’d talked about. He still held on to her wrist, as if she were a lifeline, and she supposed she was.

  “I’m not leaving you until you’re out of here,” she vowed.

  “I’m okay,” he said immediately, but Sienna could tell he wasn’t.

  “Of course you are,” she agreed. “Tell me about Tony,” she demanded.

  He hesitated, then one side of his mouth quirked upward. “You’re trying to distract me,” he accused.

  “Yup,” she admitted without prevarication. “So…Tony?”

  She watched Chris force himself to change gears and think about his son rather than his predicament. As he talked about how proud he was of Tony and what he did in the Army, she silently assessed him.

  His heart rate was a little elevated, but that was normal under the circumstances. His skin had good color and he wasn’t cold, which was good. He was talking without issue, so he probably didn’t have a collapsed lung. The cut on the side of his head was sluggishly bleeding, but nothing that she was too concerned about. Head wounds typically bled a lot, and if nothing else, the bleeding would help clean it out. He’d need stitches, but those were simple enough to put in. His arms were moving just fine and he had a good grip on her wrist. She couldn’t assess his legs from her position and because the steering wheel was in her way, which concerned her somewhat.

  “You’re not listening to anything I’m saying, are you?” Chris asked after a pause.

  Sienna’s eyes flew up to his guiltily. “Of course I am.”

  He chuckled—and she could only stare at him in shock. When he smiled, his entire face lit up. She loved the sound rumbling up from his chest as well.

  Ashamed of herself for feeling even the smallest iota of attraction for the man when he was literally trapped by the tons of steel around them, she tried to control herself.

  “How old was I when I found out I was going to be a father?” Chris quizzed.

  Sienna grinned cockily at him. “Twenty-one. You liked Tony’s mom, but weren’t sure you wanted to spend the rest of your life with her. But you married her anyway and then your son was born.”

  “Okay,” he agreed disgruntledly. “I guess you were listening.”

  “I’m a woman,” Sienna said smugly. “We can do more than one thing at a time. How do your legs feel?”

  “My feet are tingly,” he answered immediately. Then asked, “Is that bad?”

  “I won’t lie. It’s not great, but it’s not terrible either. The fact that you can feel them is awesome.”

  “But I’m stuck.”

  Not wanting him to get fixated back on that and possibly make his claustrophobia flare again, she said, “I met Randy when I was thirteen and he was seventeen. I didn’t know it wasn’t appropriate then, and even if I did, I wouldn’t’ve cared. I loved him and thought he loved me too. Turns out, he loved having sex…it didn’t matter who he had it with. When I was eighteen, I moved in with him. We thought we were so grown up. When I turned up pregnant, he decided that maybe he didn’t want to be an adult after all.”

  “He dumped you? That asshole,” Chris growled. “Miranda and I weren’t the best husband and wife, but we always worked together when it came to Tony.”

  Sienna didn’t want to admit how good it made her feel to hear him get pissed off on her behalf. “Yeah, he dumped me. But don’t feel sorry for me or my daughter. I moved back in with my parents and they helped me raise Sarah. They encouraged me to go to our local community college. I had plans to be a nurse, but from the first ridealong I did on an ambulance, I was hooked. I loved how the paramedics swooped in to do what they could to keep the person alive until he or she reached the hospital. It was a huge adrenaline rush. I got my EMT license first, then went on to get certified as a paramedic. I haven’t looked back since.”

  “From where I’m sitting, you’re good at what you do,” Chris said with a small smile.

  Sienna returned the grin, but didn’t respond verbally. She couldn’t believe she was having as powerful feelings as she was toward this man. It was crazy. But she couldn’t deny that she wouldn’t mind getting to know him better once they went back to Tennessee.

  “Thanks,” she said after a moment.

  They sat there in the cocoon of the wrecked car, staring intently at each other, and Sienna wondered what Chris was thinking.

  She opened her mouth to ask, when someone yelled from right outside, startling them both. Tightening her grip on Chris’s head, she said, “The cavalry has arrived.”

  “As far as I’m concerned, it was already here,” Chris told her, admiration and something she couldn’t read shining in his eyes.

  As crazy as it seemed, Chris was almost disappointed that his time with Sienna was interrupted. Twenty minutes ago, he would’ve done anything to get out of the car, but somehow, Sienna had been able to do something that no therapist had been able to…she’d brought him out of a panic attack simply by touching him and talking to him. She’d redirected his thoughts, which he recognized as a tactic others had tried. In the past, he couldn’t stop thinking about being buried alive or suffocating in that damn solitary confinement cell, but even though he was still immobile and still stuck in the damn car, he couldn’t think about anything other than her.

  She’d begun to sweat and her hair was sticking to her forehead and the sides of her neck. She had to be uncomfortable, hunched over, holding his head and neck still. But her entire attention was focused on him, not on her own comfort, or lack thereof.

  And he hadn’t missed the way her eyes lit up when she’d talked about her daughter. He hadn’t missed the way her thumb caressed his neck to try to soothe him. She was professional, as any paramedic would be, but there was definitely something between them. Something more than a public servant helping a citizen in distress.

  After the firefighters arrived, things began to happen very quickly. They used their tools to peel back the hood of the car and to separate the body of the vehicle from the engine. Sienna kept him calm and explained what was going on every moment, so he wouldn’t get freaked out. The sound of the machines was loud and when they couldn’t talk, she kept eye contact with him and constantly brushed her thumb back and forth on his neck, letting him know she was right there.

  The second the steering wheel was removed and the pressure was removed from his thighs, he breathed a sigh of relief. His toes were still tingling, but he was no longer trapped.

  It wasn’t until Sienna’s hands around his head were replaced with a C-collar that he panicked.

  Refusing to let go of her wrist, he said urgently, “Don’t go.”

  “I’m right here,” she soothed. “But I need to get out the way so the paramedics can get you out of here.”

  The second he had to let go of her wrist, all the other things Chris should be worrying about came crashing back to him. For the several minutes it took for them to carefully lift him out of the car and get him settled on a gurney, he did his best to keep his panic at bay. Once the firefighters began to wheel him toward an ambulance, he couldn’t resist the temptation to talk to his rescuer again. He tried to turn his head to look for Sienna, but the collar around his neck prevented it. “Sienna?” he called out.

  “I’m right here, don’t panic,” she said.

  He felt her hand on his shoulder as the firefighters and paramedics kept moving him toward the ambulance. “Will you find Tony? Tell him what happened? I don’t know when I’ll be able to get out
of the hospital. I might miss him, and I don’t want him to think I just didn’t show up.”

  “Of course I will,” she said. Sienna’s face appeared above his, and he felt her slip her hand into his own. He clutched at her and couldn’t believe how right it felt to have her hand in his.

  “There’s a group of men who stopped to help direct traffic and who called the police. They were also the ones who chased down the jerk who hit you and decided to run. While you were being extracted, I talked to one of them briefly, and he said he’d do what he could to help make sure your son knows where you are and what happened.”

  Chris glanced over to where Sienna was gesturing, and frowned. A group of six men were standing there. They were all younger than he was and extremely fit.

  Irrationally, he didn’t like the thought of Sienna spending time with them…and possibly having them catch her eye before he had the chance.

  He looked back up at her. “Go out with me,” he blurted.

  She blinked in surprise. “What?”

  “On a date. When I get out of the hospital, or if that’s too soon, when we get back to Tennessee. We both live in Nashville. I want to take you out. Maybe for New Year’s.” He held his breath, waiting for her answer.

  “I was dreading this trip,” she told him quietly, staying out of the way of the paramedics. “I love my daughter, but I’m not really all that comfortable on the military base. I don’t know all the rules and stuff and I’m paranoid I’m going to make some huge faux pas. I hate doing things like this by myself. It’s awkward, and seeing all the other couples waiting for their kids makes me feel like a failure for not being in a relationship myself. But now I understand why I had to come. It was to meet you.”

  “We need to load him up, ma’am,” one of the paramedics said. “We’ll be going to Darnall Army Medical Center. It’s the closest hospital. He was very lucky that he wasn’t hurt more than he was.”

  Sienna nodded and went to take a step back. Chris tightened his hold on her hand. “Wait!”

  The paramedic looked put out, but he didn’t insist on getting him loaded right that second.

  “You didn’t answer my question,” Chris told Sienna.

  Then she smiled at him, the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen, and said, “Yes. I’d love to go out with you.”

  “Best Christmas ever,” Chris said, and squeezed her hand, wishing he could bring it up to his lips and kiss it. The straps on the gurney kept him imbobile, but for once he wasn’t thinking about the fact that he was claustrophobic, he was thinking about where he should take Sienna on their date. The last thing he saw before the doors of the ambulance closed was her beautiful smile.

  The Angel

  “I can’t believe you know Tony’s dad,” Sarah said later that evening as they were on the way to the hospital to see Chris. The Army personnel at the scene of the accident had done just as they’d promised, and had escorted her onto the post. Sienna learned they were in some sort of platoon together, and she got the sense that they didn’t want to talk about it, but if she had to guess, she’d say they were Special Forces. They just seemed to have that vibe about them.

  She’d also noticed the rings on all their fingers.

  She’d seen the jealous look Chris had given them and had wanted to reassure him that she wasn’t attracted to the men at all, but she also hadn’t wanted to embarrass him. When she saw Chris again, she could tell him the men all seemed to be married…happily so, if their discussions about their wives were any indication.

  She’d followed the men’s vehicles through the gates and to a building in the middle of the busy Army post. They’d escorted her inside and introduced her to the commander of her daughter’s unit. He knew who Tony was, as apparently he was an excellent soldier and had made a positive impression on many of the officers in the unit. He’d had both Tony and her daughter escorted to his office.

  Sienna had been overjoyed at seeing her daughter again. FaceTime and emails just weren’t the same as seeing your flesh and blood in person. Sienna was happy to see for herself that her daughter was safe and sound. Then she’d welcomed Tony home and told the young man everything that had happened to his dad and what she knew about his medical condition.

  Now they were all in Sienna’s rental car on the way across the Army post to the medical center.

  “It’s crazy that you both live in Nashville,” Tony said. He was a very polite young man who Sienna had liked from the start. He was about the same age as Sarah, but apparently they didn’t really know each other. Even though they’d been deployed together, Tony was infantry and Sarah was a cook, so they didn’t run in the same circles while overseas.

  “I know, right?” Sienna said. “I thought he was kidding at first. What are the odds that we met down here in Texas, both from Nashville, and with kids in the same unit?”

  “It’s pretty odd. Maybe it’s your Christmas miracle,” Tony joked.

  “That’s exactly what I said!” Sienna laughed.

  Then Tony sobered and asked, “You’re sure he’s okay?”

  Sienna nodded and tried to reassure the young man. “I’m sure. He hit his head on the driver’s side window, but I think that’s the extent of his injuries. He was very lucky.”

  “I don’t understand why he was driving such a small vehicle,” Tony mused. “He never rents anything smaller than a full-size car or SUV.”

  Sienna shrugged. “I don’t know, I’m sure he’ll tell you when we get to the hospital, but from what I understand, that car saved his life. The side curtain air bags really cushioned him. It could’ve been a lot worse.”

  “Thank you for being there for him,” Tony told her.

  Sienna pulled into a parking spot at the medical center and turned to Tony. “From the little I know of your dad, I have a feeling he would’ve been just fine even if I wasn’t there. He really wasn’t hurt all that badly.”

  “But you said he was trapped,” Tony insisted.

  Sarah was watching the conversation with interest.

  “He was,” Sienna confirmed.

  “He’s claustrophobic. He doesn’t like to admit it, but from what he’s told me over the last few months while I was deployed, it’s getting worse, not better.”

  “I’m not sure anyone would want to admit something about themselves that could be seen as a weakness,” Sienna said. “As a soldier, I’m sure you’ve seen others who were wounded and who are struggling to deal with the things they’ve done and seen while deployed. This is no different. Just because your father is having a hard time coming to terms with the riot at the prison doesn’t mean he isn’t strong or brave. The fact that the first thing he told me was he’s claustrophobic makes me respect him more, not less. It’s not manly or tough to hide what you’re feeling. Remember that.”

  Tony stared at her for a beat, then his lips twitched. “Yes, ma’am.”

  Sienna shook her head. “Sorry. As someone who has seen my share of therapists because of what I’ve seen and done, I tend to be passionate about the subject. Come on, let’s go inside and see if we can’t find your dad. I know he’s probably anxious to see you.”

  The three headed inside the hospital and were directed to Chris’s floor. They went down a long hall and Tony pushed open the door to a room, but Sienna paused before following him inside.

  Sarah turned just inside the room and asked, “Mom? Are you coming?”

  For a split second, Sienna wondered what she was doing. She and Sarah should be headed to the nearest Chinese restaurant, as was their Christmas Eve custom. She should’ve dropped Tony off and been on her way.

  Why was she excited to see Chris again? It wasn’t as if they were actually dating. They were strangers. She’d been first on the scene of an accident more times than she could count.

  Why was Chris King so different?

  Before she had time to grab Sarah and make an escape, she heard Chris’s happy shout of greeting upon seeing his son. And that was that. Hearing his low, rumbly
voice made her feet automatically move forward, as if they had a mind of their own.

  Closing the door behind her, Sienna smiled at the scene in front of her. Tony sat on the side of the bed and was embracing his father. Man and son had no problem showing affection for one another. Sienna liked that. The genuine emotion coming from both men was easy to see and feel in the room.

  When they were done greeting each other, Chris’s eyes met Sienna’s. “Hey,” he said with a broad smile. “You came back.”

  “So I did,” Sienna said, knowing she was blushing once more, but not able to control it. She felt as if she were fifteen again every time she was around him. She wouldn’t have blushed, but the look in his eyes told her that he was just as interested in her as she was in him.

  She managed to sit down and have a normal conversation with the others in the room, but Sienna was more than aware of the way Chris kept sneaking looks at her, just as she did at him. The tension between them was so thick, she couldn’t believe Sarah and Tony didn’t comment on it.

  After the tenth time being reassured his dad really was all right and the doctor was only keeping him overnight as a precaution because of a slight concussion, Tony finally stood up. “If you’re really all right, dad, I’m going to head out. Some of the single guys from the unit are getting together for an impromptu Christmas/welcome-home party.” Tony turned to Sarah. “Wanna come?”

  Sarah looked at her mom. “Oh, well…we were going to find a Chinese restaurant and have dinner…”

  Sienna shook her head at her daughter. “It’s fine. Go on. Have fun. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Sienna’s eyes flicked to Chris, and when she saw that he was staring at her with a look so intense, she immediately flushed. “I’m sure,” she said absently, holding eye contact with Chris.

  Their connection was severed when Tony leaned over to hug his dad once more. Sienna stood to hug her daughter. Once their children were gone, Sienna immediately felt awkward.