A Soldier For Bella (Love Conquers Life #4)

by Alison Mello

  He looks over his shoulder. “Oh, my bad.” He puts the food down and ambles toward the sink.

  “This is Mr. Thompson from Veterans’ Affairs here to see how we’re doing.” The tone of his voice is clearly warning him.

  I stick out my hand. “Nice to meet you. Do you have any concerns?”

  “No.” He shrugs his shoulders. “Do you?”

  “Well, to be honest, I am concerned that you were just about to handle food without washing your hands. I am especially concerned since you smell like you just had a smoke break. However, let me be clear. It doesn’t matter what type of break you’ve had. You should be washing your hands prior to handling food for these good people.”

  “You are most definitely right. I’m sorry, sir. I won’t let it happen again.”

  “I should hope not.”

  I turn to Mr. Bentley. “Shall we step into your office?”

  We both walk to his office, and along the way I tell him that I have a bit of feedback for him. He ushers me into a seat across from his desk and closes the door behind us for some privacy. He looks nervous as takes his seat.

  “So Mr. Thompson, what are the recommendations you have for me today?” He looks genuinely concerned, but is he concerned about making this place better or saving his ass? Everything should be about the troops.

  “Well, I would like you to improve on the cleanliness of the building. I’ve noticed cobwebs in corners. There was a ton of dust around the kitchen area, and we just can’t have that. Not to mention you need to write Roger up for cooking without washing his hands.”

  “I will talk to him and explain the importance of washing his hands. You have my word on that.” He makes a note on his pad. “I will also talk to the janitorial staff about the cleanliness of the building and ensure they take care of it. We recently had someone quit so they are a bit short handed. I’m hoping to hire someone soon.”

  “Okay, how’s your nursing staff. Do you have enough?” I ask him.

  I will bring the bathing issue to Tobey. He may want to handle this along with any other complaints he’s received himself.

  “I believe I do. I can speak with the nurses to see how they’re feeling about it, but to be honest I’m not sure there’s any more room in the budget for another nurse.”

  “Fair enough. I’ll give you a few weeks to get things squared away, and I’ll stop back in to check on your progress. In the meantime if you need anything or you have any concerns, please feel free to reach out to me.”

  I hand him my card as I rise from the chair. I make my way out the door without looking back. I need to call Tobey.

  As soon as I pull out of the parking lot, I dial my boss.

  “Hey, Derek. How’d it go?”

  “The place is a fucking pigsty. I told him he needed to clean up the place. The layers of dust and cobwebs were not acceptable. But get this, I caught the chef touching food without washing his hands and called him out on it. Mr. Bentley is supposed to have a sit down with Roger, the chef, and with the janitorial staff.” I sigh. “My bigger concern is the fear I see in the patient’s faces. I can’t tell if it’s fear from the staff or what they’ve been through. I noticed a few of them had not been bathed in days. Some of the rooms smelled disgusting. When Bentley found me, he pretended to be pissed and ordered a nurse to bathe the soldier immediately.”

  “Hmm…how did you leave it with Bentley?”

  “Told him I’d be back in a few weeks to check on things.”

  “Good. Keep me in the loop.”

  He cuts the call, and I continue toward Briar House. Along the way I spot a coffee shop and pull into the drive thru for a coffee and something to eat. The nice thing with these inspections is I have no real timeline because they’re a surprise. However, I’d really like to get home to start my weekend.

  About twenty minutes later, I pull up to the Briar House. The outside of this place looks great. There are fresh flowers and shrubs in the front, making the building look warm and inviting. I park my car in a visitor lot, and as I stroll toward the front door I see the outside looks nice. I enter, and there’s an older woman sitting at the desk. She looks really sweet.

  “Good afternoon, sir. How may I help you?”

  I smile down at her and hand her my card. “I’m here for a surprise inspection. Is Ms. Porter available?”

  “Well, to be honest, she’s busy right now. She makes rounds at the end of lunch.”

  “Perfect. If you’d let her know that I’m in the building, I’d love to see her in action.”

  She smiles at me. “I will most certainly do that.”

  “Great. Also, please ask her to meet me in the kitchen.”

  She nods as I take off down the hall and check things out. I notice a small room that acts as a barber shop. I see one man getting a haircut while another is waiting patiently. This home is set up a bit different than Stuart House. Stuart is more of a psych house, while this one is more for physical disabilities.

  I turn the corner to find a physical therapy room. There are a few men working out on their own and other’s with help. I walk in and introduce myself to some of the physical therapists as well as the soldiers who are there.

  I ask one of the physical therapists, “Do you feel you have all the equipment you need?”

  “It’s always great to have more, but we make due just fine with what we have,” one of them says. I nod, making note of the equipment they do have in the room.

  The soldiers appear to be pretty well taken care of. Some grumpier than others depending on how they’re handling their injuries, but that’s to be expected. I ask a few of them if there’s anything the VA can do to help them, but most just shake their head. Some won’t even look at me. A lot of guys are very bitter when they come home injured. They won’t discuss it with their counselor, let alone a stranger, so I move on.

  As I walk out of the PT room, Ms. Porter greets me. “Hello, Mr. Thompson. Thank you so much for visiting us today.”

  “I like what I see so far. Can we check out the kitchen and dining area?”

  She looks at her watch. “Sure. They are probably cleaning up right now. Right this way.” She leads us toward the dining room. “This is our dining area. As you can see, cleanup is under way. We have a few patients who are giving us a hard time about eating, so we tend to leave them be as long as we can. Most of them are still new here, and they haven’t become adjusted yet.”

  “Is there anything we can do to help?”

  “No, thank you. It takes time, some longer than others. They’ll come around.”

  She ushers me toward the kitchen, where I see staff hard at work cleaning up. They’re putting leftover food away while others clean pans and dishes. Some are even preparing for the next meal. I smile proudly at how well this place is being run.

  “Can I see some of the room conditions?”

  “Sure. The rooms are down this way.”

  As we stroll down a hall, she points out a game room where they have different activities. When it’s empty, the soldiers can go in and play a game on their own.

  When we get to the end of the hall, she tells me that the rooms to right and left are for the residents and I’m welcome to walk about.

  I take a right and wander down the hall, peeking in some of the rooms. I notice some of the men are resting while others are watching TV. Some rooms don’t have TVs and I need to ask why that is. I assume it’s a budget thing.

  As I walk past the next room, a gentleman is walking out.

  “Are you new here?” he asks me.

  I smile. “No, sir. I’m Sergeant First Class Derek Thompson, retired. I’m from the VA office. I’m here checking on things to make sure you have what you need.”

  “Ah,” he says as he nods. “The place is pretty nice. They take good care of us. I’ll be leaving as soon as the repairs are finished on my home.”

  “Were you able to get assistance with that?”

  “Yes, the VA has been great.” He con
tinues telling me about some of the things we’ve done for him.

  “Thank you very much for your service,” I say to him as I shake his hand. “Here’s my card. If you get home and find you need anything, just let me know and I’ll see what I can do to take care of it.”

  “Thank you. At this point, I just want to get home to my wife and children. They visit, but it’s not the same.”

  “I understand,” I say with a nod as he walks away with a cane and a prosthetic leg.

  I decide that I’ve seen enough for today. When I get back to the nurses’ station, I ask about the TV situation. She tells me it’s definitely a money thing and that not only can they not afford enough TVs for each room, but the troops have to pay for the cable.

  I sigh and make a note on my padfolio to see what I can do about this. “Okay, I’ll see what I can do. I’m not promising anything, but maybe we can do something to get you more TVs and then we’ll figure out the cable part.”

  “Thank you, it’s a big deal for them to have a TV and I always feel bad when someone is sent to us and they can afford the cable but I don’t have a room with a TV in it.”

  I nod. “Thank you for your time. Please keep up the good work. You’re all doing a great job here.”

  “Thank you,” she says. Then she leaves to assist a patient who’s called for her help.

  When I approach the front door, I’m stopped by Ms. Porter.

  “How’d things go?” she asks me, genuinely concerned.

  “You’re doing a great job here. The only concern I have is trying to get the remainder of your rooms set up with TVs for the soldiers.”

  “Yes. Unfortunately we haven’t had the room in the budget to add more, but any opportunity to help the soldiers more would be a blessing.”

  “Well, let me see what I can do. How many rooms do you have without TVs in them?”

  “Fifteen,” she says with guilt in her voice. “Some of them are quite old and barely working, but at least they have one.”

  “Okay, I’ll be in touch but know you’re doing a great job. Our troops seem to be getting some great care at your facility.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Thompson. I take my job seriously. I’m here because I want to be. To me, this is a way of thanking them for all they’ve done for us.”

  “Well, you have a great day and I’ll be in touch.” We shake hands, and I walk out the door feeling pretty good about this place.

  This time I call Tobey before I’m even on the road.

  “Please don’t tell me they’re a mess too,” he says as his way of answering the phone.

  “No, they’re in great shape, but we need to get them fifteen TVs.”

  “What? How are we supposed to come up with fifteen TVs?”

  “I don’t know, but they’re short fifteen of them and our boys are getting TVs based on if they can afford cable service. We also have to see what we can do to provide the cable for free.”

  “Shit.” He gets silent for a moment. “Well, I guess you better talk to your new ‘King of Fundraising,’” he says, referring to Carter who’s due back from his honeymoon today.

  “He and Patty are coming over for dinner tomorrow night. I’ll mention it to him then. I really want to get these guys squared away.”

  “Good luck,” Tobey says as he cuts the call. I shake my head and drive home to meet up with Bella.

  I pull up to find Jordan standing at the front door. “How’s it going, Jordan?”

  “All has been quiet. We ran the errands Bella wanted to run, and I believe she’s now getting her clothes together for this evening.”

  I nod. “Thank you.” I open the door and shout, “Baby, I’m home.”

  She appears at the top of the stairs. “How was your day?”

  “I had one bad stop and one good stop, so I guess it could have been worse. How was your day?”

  She smiles. “My day was fine. Why don’t you come upstairs and shower? Then I’ll help you forget all about your day.”

  The look on her face makes me take the stairs two at a time. She giggles as she runs to our room, but I catch her, scoop her up, and carry her to our room. I toss her on the bed, and she bursts into another round of giggles.

  I climb over her and stare into her eyes. God, I’ve fallen for her, but I’m not sure I should tell her just yet. “You’re so beautiful. Please tell me you’re still considering making this permanent?”

  She sighs. “Can we not discuss this right now? We have a great night planned. I want to go out so we can enjoy ourselves.”

  I try not to appear crushed, but I’m struggling. I climb off of her. As I walk toward my master bathroom, I say, “I’m going to take a shower.”

  ***

  Bella

  Damn, this is not how I was planning to start our night. I watch him walk to the bathroom looking so heartbroken. Once he closes the door, I let go of the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. I need to fix this and now or our night is going to turn to shit quickly. I still haven’t managed to tell him about my ex and why I have trust issues and if I don’t do it soon, I’m going to lose him.

  I jump off the bed and walk into the bathroom to find him climbing into the shower. I steal a glimpse of his glorious ass as I strip to get in myself. When I step in, his back is to me, so I wrap my arms around him, pressing my chest to his back.

  “I’m sorry, Derek. I’m scared.”

  “So you’ve said. Then again, I’ve also heard the line we’ll talk about it but yet, I still don’t understand what you’re so afraid of.” He turns to me, sliding his hand across my cheek and into my hair. He looks deep into my eyes. “You don’t get it. I’m falling for you, and if you don’t feel the same…”

  “Shh, we’ll talk at dinner, I promise.” I rise up on my tippy toes and plant a kiss on his moist, soft lips. I feel the tension from his body slowly slip away as I lick his lips, asking for entry. He opens, and our tongues meet.

  He pulls away and I can tell he’s still thinking about what I said. “Derek, I didn’t mean for it to come out the way it did. I don’t want our night to be ruined. I meant to make you forget your day.” I kiss his chest. “Not. Make. It. Worse,” I say with a kiss between each word as I lower myself to his now erect cock. I love that I make him so hard for me.

  He looks down at me as I lick up the entire length of his long, thick cock. Taking his mushroom tip into my mouth, I suck on it and roll my tongue over it. I love hearing the moan that escapes him as I take his cock back into my mouth. Sucking him as deep as I can, I move my hand to his balls, rubbing and massaging them as I continue to suck him off.

  “Fuck, Bella, that feels amazing.” He moves his hips in rhythm with my mouth, pressing his cock in just a bit deeper. “Oh God, I’m going to come, Bella.”

  I hollow my cheeks and take him all the way to the back of my throat. Just as I do, his warm, salty cum explodes in my mouth. I swallow him down as I squeeze his ass, holding him to still so I can finish him off.

  He looks down at me as I lick the tip of his cock with a smile on my face. He picks me up off the floor, presses me to the wall of his shower, and slams his mouth onto mine. I know what he’s telling me in this one kiss, and I’d be lying if I said that it doesn’t scares the shit out of me. He massages my breast and then squeezes my nipple, causing me to moan into his mouth.

  He pulls away to look into my eyes. “I’m not giving up on us. I will show you that we’re not only good together, but I’ll get you to trust me. I will figure out how to prove to you that I won’t hurt you.”

  I’m fighting the tears that are starting to form in my eyes. I’m falling for him just as he has for me. I just don’t know how to tell him. I’m afraid, and deep down I’m hoping he forgets I promised to talk to him over dinner.

  He collects my loofah and body wash and washes down my body, making sure he doesn’t miss one inch of me. Afterward, I wash and condition my hair as he washes his body. Once we’re both done, he shuts the water off and we climb out s
o we can finish getting ready.

  With a towel around his waist, he goes through his routine of putting gel in his hair. I admire his muscles as he moves his hands through his hair.

  “Will you stop staring at me? I’m beginning to get self-conscious.” He grins, letting me know he’s teasing. I go to the bedroom to slip on my dress and heels, and then I’ll finish my hair and makeup once he’s done.

  A short time later we’re both downstairs and ready to go. Derek calls Jordan into the house and fills him in that we’re going to Marco’s for dinner and dancing. I like when he takes me there because they have a restaurant and then upstairs they have a dance floor where they hire a DJ on Friday and Saturday nights.

  Chapter 3

  Bella

  We arrive at Marco’s, and Derek pulls into a parking space. I’m praying he hasn’t noticed that I’ve been quiet and fidgeting the entire thirty minute ride here. I made a promise that I’m not sure I can keep at this point, and I feel like shit for it.

  He watches as Jordan pulls into the lot. We both climb out of the car as Jordan falls in behind us. He informs the hostess that we’re a party of two but we have security with us. He tells her our security needs a table of his own where he can keep an eye on us and get himself a bite to eat. She nods and tells us she’ll seat us as soon as possible. In the meantime I can’t stand still.

  He rubs his hand over my back. The contact sends a shiver through my body, causing me to shudder. He pulls me close to his side and kisses the top of my head. Just as I’m about to say something to him, the hostess shows us to our two tables.

  The hostess whose nametag reads Melinda says, “Your waitress Tina will be with you in a few minutes.”

  I smile and thank her, as does Derek. She walks away, leaving us to ourselves.

  “Bella, please relax. I don’t know what this guy did to you, but this has you a mess.”

  I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “I’ve never talked about this with anyone other than Sandra and Patty. Kelly knows a little. and I haven’t had to talk about what he did to me because since him, guys have only wanted me either for my body or because I’m a model. It gives them bragging rights.” I look down at the table.