Devil’s in the Details (54 page)

I continued to stare at Alex in the bed. Huddled up in blankets with the moonlight casting stripes of light over her and accentuating my favorite curves on her.

I loved her more than I thought and had told Dani around the fourth shot, I loved Alex so much I would sacrifice my life for her if I had to. Dani commented that she could tell the minute I asked for her to find Alex the day after the metro station incident, that I was a goner. I tried to counter that it was the day Alex showed up at my office, but it was a moot point. I was in love with her and now had the overwhelming need to tell her as soon as I could.

Shoving away from the doorframe, I removed my jeans and threw them into the closet. I wanted to undress fully and sneak into the bed, but I didn't want to risk raising the arm on my bad side, nor did I want Alex to see the ugly black and purple bruise just yet.

I moved the blankets back and slipped into the bed as quietly as I could, I didn't want to disturb the sleeping brunette as she looked so adorable with messy hair and the flushed cheeks that came with sleeping hard.

Alex murmured, mashing her face deeper into the pillow. I smiled as I settled down into the fluffy pillow on my good side facing Alex, reaching up to brush the back of my hand over her cheek. The contact of my hand on her warm cheeks, popped Alex's eyes open a sliver. "Victoria..."

I grinned, "I see you found the spare key."

She tried to smile, but yawned half through it, "And your secret porn stash." She grabbed my hand, pulling it to kiss the palm, "I made dinner, but you were late." Alex closed her eyes, her fingers finding their place in mine. I could tell she was still half asleep and nowhere near coherent enough to have a lengthy conversation at this late hour.

I stared at the woman, absorbing every little detail of her face the moonlight offered up. "I know." I leaned forward, kissing her forehead, "I missed you."

Alex smiled, mumbling, "Miss you." She let out a heavy breath, moving her body to rest against mine and promptly fell back asleep in my arms.

I held her tightly, whispering against her forehead, "I love you."

I woke up excited, vaguely having a very real dream about Victoria coming home and sneaking into the bed, smothering me in her arms as I slept like a rock. Then finding the bed empty chased all of the excitement away. I was alone and there was no sign of Victoria.

Rolling over, I checked my phone to find nothing new from her. I yawned and hit her contact button, rubbing the sleep from my eyes as it rang twice before she answered, "Good morning."

My heart fluttered at the sound of her voice, turning my frown into a sheepish grin, "Where are you? I have been waiting in this bed all night like you suggested and now I feel like a squatter."

"Do you now? I did give you a spare key, so technically you're a welcomed squatter." Victoria's voice sounded worn down, as if she had just woken up.

"Are you still in Rhode Island?" I tried not to sound desperate, that I missed her, and I was failing miserably at it. I looked at her side of the bed, running my hand over her pillow. "When will you be home?"

"Did you water the tulips this morning like Dale told us we should in order for them to bloom?"

I rolled my eyes, "Victoria, you're evading the question. I won't be mad if you missed your flight or if you have to stay another day. I can continue on with my binge watching and eating cookies in your bed."

"You should probably go outside and water the tulips, and you better not be eating cookies in that bed. I hate sleeping on crumbs." Victoria wasn't giving me an inch, "Go outside and I will talk to you as you water the tulips."

I groaned, getting out of the bed and sliding my flip flops on, "Well I hate sleeping in any bed without you, Victoria." I ran down the stairs, towards the back patio doors, "I’m on my way out to water the stupid tulips, so will you tell me when you will be home?" I was getting angry and frustrated. This was shaping up to be our first fight.

Shoving the back patio door open, I squinted at the bright morning sunlight, huffing. "Where is the hose?"

"It's right next to you on the wall, right by your left hand." Victoria's voice crept up from behind me at the same moment her end of the phone call went dead.

I spun around to see Victoria sitting in a patio chair in a Navy shirt and long shorts baring my favorite parts of her legs, as they sat, propped up on a small wooden bench, holding a cup of coffee with both hands. She grinned at me, her eyes dropping to my lower half, "You should probably wear shorts or pants. Dale gets up pretty early and I would hate for you to give him a heart attack." She waved a hand over the lack of anything covering my dark blue bikini underwear. "Oh and I got home late last night, early this morning, found a sleeping brunette bear in my bed. She growled at me then wrapped me up in a bear hug before she passed out on my shoulder, drooling all over the pillows."

I felt my face turn a bright red but I didn't care, I grinned and rushed towards Victoria, grabbing her face and kissing her. My cheeks were on fire from embarrassment and the kiss, Victoria pushing back just as hard against my mouth. I sighed contently as I parted from her, "So it wasn't a dream."

Victoria ran a hand down my cheek, "It wasn't. You really did growl at me and I had no idea you were such a drooler."

I shook my head, kissing her once more, "Har Har." I then looked up in her eyes, seeing them bright and clear, but very tired. "Hi."

She grinned, "Hi." Victoria motioned to the kitchen, "Are you hungry? I was thinking eggs and bacon?"

I nodded, even though I had other things on my mind, I was starving. I stood up, reaching for Victoria's hand "I made pork chops last night, we can eat them with some eggs."

Victoria took my hand and tried to stand up, wincing and grabbing her right side when I yanked her up too quickly. I let go, the nurse in me kicking in, "Are you hurt?"

She squinted, clearly in visible pain, "I bruised some ribs. I tripped in the bulkhead of the training ship showing the new candidates around. I landed on my side in the porthole." She let out a slow breath, "I've done it a few times when I was in the Navy, I always forget to step up and over while I’m talking."

I frowned, reaching for the edge of her shirt and pulling it up to reveal an angry black and purple bruise. "Jesus Victoria." I ran my fingers over it, causing Victoria to flinch away. I glared at her, "Inside now and take off your shirt."

Victoria tried to smirk, "I was thinking we could do that after breakfast."

I gave her my best pissed off nurse look, "Inside and take off your shirt so I can look it over." I folded my arms, motioning for her to go in the house. "Why isn't it wrapped up?"

She walked slowly into the house, stopping at the island to remove her shirt. "They were, but I took it off when I woke up. I was having a hell of a time breathing with the bandage wrapped around me."

I helped her with taking off the shirt, not looking anywhere but the large bruise on her right side. "Jesus Victoria, it looks like a car hit you." I ran my hand over the angry skin, Victoria gasping when a finger brushed a very sore spot. Looking at her, "How did you do this again?"

She closed her eyes while I poked and prodded, making sure there were no breaks or fractures. "I fell in the ship, tripped and landed hard on the steel floor." She blew out a slow breath, "Can you not push on it? I had the base nurse do that and she didn't have the gentle hand you do."

I shook my head, walking to my bag where I kept some supplies out of habit, "I would feel better if you had x-rays." Picking up a large roll of ace bandage and a white bottle of extra strength ibuprofen, I walked back to the half-naked woman sitting still on the stool. Her head was down, playing with the shirt in her hands. I had a gut feeling the bruise on her side was not from a clumsy mishap of talking while walking. Even my nurse instinct shouted at me this was the kind of bruise that came from a strong impact, like a car hitting her or someone throwing the woman into a wall.

The old scar on her back was covered in blacks, purples and yellows, giving it a morbid mural effect done by an abstract painter. It forced a heavy sigh from me at the sight. Victoria was my world and I hated seeing her hurt, but there was nothing I could do if she kept blurring the truth.

"Alex, I will be fine. I just need to take it easy for a few days and rest." Victoria kept her back to me as she spoke. "I don't need to waste the time of doctors and nurses who have people who need real help."

I walked to stand right behind her, placing my hand on the bare space between her shoulders, feeling her react then relax from the warmth of my palm. "I know, but I hate seeing you in pain." I bent forward, unable to resist kissing her shoulder, "I really missed you."

Victoria leaned back, looking down at me as I propped my chin on her shoulder, "I really missed you and I had a few things planned for when I got home." She kissed the side of my head, "Then my clumsy ways ruined that."

I smiled softly, "Upside is I get to take care of you, keep you in bed all day if I need to." I backed away, trailing fingers down her skin. "Turn around and put your hands on the counter so I can wrap your side up." I pushed the white bottle towards her. "Take two of these, it should reduce the pain and swelling."

"Yes ma'am." Victoria croaked the words out, flinching when I held the one end of the bandage against her side. I could feel her heart race every time I had to brush against her when I ran the bandage around her body. I had not only missed her, but I missed her touch and after less than two days without having that intimate contact, it was driving me insane and now extremely frustrated.

"Victoria, I am not going to take advantage of an injured woman." I saw her give me a sad look, making me smile. "You need rest and low physical activity." I kissed her cheek finishing up, "And we both know that is not in our vocabulary when we are naked." Sliding my arms around her waist, I hugged her gently. "Maybe you will remember that the next time you are rambling and walking at the same time, Professor."

Victoria pressed her hands on top of mine as they rest on her stomach, "I need to take it easy, but my hands are very much unharmed." She bent her head back, finding my lips to kiss me deeply, whispering against them, "You might not take advantage of me, but I am going to do my best to take advantage of you any chance I get, Alex."

My knees buckled from the tone in her voice and the look in her eyes, I swallowed thickly. "Breakfast. We need to eat breakfast and you need to take the ibuprofen." I backed away from Victoria, if I stayed in her arms I would break the nurse’s oath of putting the care of a patient first. I let out a slow breath, reaching for her shirt and handing it over to the smirking blonde. I shook my head, blushing, "You are nothing but trouble."

I opened the fridge to remove the pork chops and eggs, trying so hard to focus on the task of feeding Victoria before I forced her to lie down and rest when all I wanted was to take her to bed and make love to her.

"Yes, but you love me." Victoria's voice had a slight questioning tone behind it, as if to ask if I really did love her for everything she was.

Setting the plate down on the counter, I looked up at Victoria, tugging on the shirt with some difficulty. "Victoria, I love you with everything I am and will be." I shrugged, "Even though you are a stubborn clumsy fool, I will always love you." I paused, deciding to continue, "No matter who you are or what you think you are, I love you."

Victoria smiled painfully, her eyes welling up to the point I knew I had hit a deep buried part of her that I was still desperate to dig out. There was a truth inside of her that was still waiting to be discovered. A truth Dani had hinted at the other day. I could see it now even through the paper thin excuses of falling in ships.

I stared at Victoria for a second, my gut wanting to pick now as the time that I dug deeper, but my heart saw the look in her eyes as she picked up the white bottle of pills, pretending to read the label said not now. Victoria needed me right now, not the inquisition I was so close to embarking on. Dani's comments about Victoria being an enigma even to her, told me it would take more time for Victoria to open up.

I smiled tightly, returning to pulling the saran wrap off the pork chops, maybe one day when Victoria finally returned the sentiment of love, I would pick at the remaining secrets. Until then I would continue to wait.