Blink of an Eye (5 page)

“No shit. So I have to choose between sitting on my ass for the next fourteen years or doing something out of the Air Force.” His voice was desolate and it broke Cassidy’s heart.

“What happened to your eye?” The mortifying words were out before she’d even thought about them. “Oh God, never mind. I can’t believe I asked.”

He was silent for a long moment. “No, it’s a valid question. Most everyone looks, but no one ever asks, except the shrinks. We were pulling out a forward air controller and came under mortar fire. Shit was flying everywhere. We got the eagle eye out and I caught a piece of shrapnel as we were loading him.”

His voice was almost disconnected as he related the mission.

At that moment, she wanted to see him, to hold him in her arms and soothe the pain away.

“Listen, do you want me to come over there, or do you want to head back here?” She purposefully gave him only two choices, which he deftly sidestepped.

“As much as my little head is screaming for that, I don’t think it’s a real good idea. This is nice, though. Easier. I don’t think I could look you in the eye and say the same things.”

Cassidy understood, sort of, but it didn’t allay her need. “If you’re sure.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. So…” He changed the subject one hundred and eighty degrees. “Tell me about your fiancé.”

Ouch. That hurt. But he’d been honest with her, so… “Brian was a manager at HUD. It was something he did as kind of a public service, since he’d inherited a bundle from his folks. Old oil money, you know. I was at home when it happened, watching the morning news.” Her voice cracked, as much as she tried to force it to remain steady. “They never found his body.”

“I’m sorry, Cass. If it helps, I’ve been there too.”

“It helps. It always has, especially after September eleventh. Terrorism is terrorism.” She got her heartbeat back under control. Talking about Brian always hurt, but, just like earlier, the pain was duller now, more of an ache than a sharp gouge.

“So, what are you wearing?”

Cassidy laughed at the playful note in his voice, thankful that he’d sensed it was time to move beyond the serious.

“Hmmm.” She looked down at the same clothes she’d been wearing when he’d left. “A black teddy.”

He groaned and the sound vibrated straight to her pussy. “You just had to put that picture in my head, didn’t you?”

“Afraid so.” Cassidy grinned wickedly. “So where do we go from here, Scott?”

“Phone sex?” His voice sounded hopeful and made her laugh.

“Not tonight.” She left it open-ended, because she’d never met a man who could wrench her from one emotion to the other with such effortless ease. It opened dangerous doors to her heart, but she couldn’t seem to stop responding to him.

“Say yes. Come out to dinner with me tomorrow night.”

“Yes.”

Chapter Seven

Cassidy waited inside her living room, unwilling to go outside and ruin the upswept hairstyle she’d spent so long on. The wind howled around the building, a replay of just two nights ago, but it looked like the rain was holding off…for now.

If she hadn’t been looking forward to this date so much, she would have scheduled it for another night, but all day long her mind had flashed back to last night’s conversation. It had been a soul-baring experience, and if he’d asked more, she would have told him without reservation.

If he’d asked, she would have told him she’d drowned her grief in a whirlwind of activity that had included becoming a reserve police officer and volunteer firefighter. She’d have told him how she still felt guilty about inheriting Brian’s money.

Yeah, she would have told him all of it, and it didn’t make any sense. While sex with Scott had been phenomenal, it shouldn’t have started her heart thumping at the thought of seeing him again. Shouldn’t have made her want to tell him things she’d never mentioned before.

The outer door opened right on time. Scott stopped dead in his tracks as he caught sight of her.

Oh, damn. She’d overdressed. He still wore his blues, short sleeves straining against the corded muscles of his biceps. The sky blue shade set off his complexion to perfection, making his unfettered eye that much more vivid.

“Jesus, Cassidy, you look amazing,” he breathed, his gaze raking her from head to toe in one scalding sweep. The little black dress and three-inch heels made her look good. Even knowing that hadn’t prepared her for seeing herself from his perspective. The fact he appreciated the change made her pulse thump unsteadily, sending a charge through her body, lighting her nerves on fire.

“Thanks,” she replied breathlessly, “but I probably need to change.” She gestured at him with a weak wave of her hand.

That brought him up short. “No, I came straight from the office because they just issued a tornado watch.” He dropped his eyes to his feet. “If anything happens, it’s probably headed this way, and I, um, I wanted to let you know.”

Cassidy was speechless. The commanding lover was gone, replaced by an endearing, and, dare she say it, shy young man, who’d thought of her safety first. The dichotomy floored her, and cracked her heart wide open in a way nothing else could have. She stood there, frozen, for a long moment, not sure what to say or do.

Erica’s pell-mell entrance through the café’s front door broke her moment of indecision. The waitress breathed rapidly, her eyes startled and wide. “A tornado just hit the outskirts of the city.”

Cassidy laid a calming hand on her arm. “How many customers do we have?”

“Only a few.”

“If, and, I repeat,
if
the siren sounds, get them back here. Keep them in the living room, it’s the safest. Right now you need to stay calm, all right?”

Erica took a deep breath. “Okay. Wait. What about you?”

Cassidy turned to Scott, who had already stripped down to his T-shirt, draping his dress blue overshirt across the easy chair. She quirked an eyebrow at him.

“Blues burn too easy…polyester. Stay here. I’m going to head into the city and see if they need medical assistance.” His demeanour had changed completely from his earlier shyness. Now he was in his element.

“Let me get some sneakers on. I’ll drive.”

“No…”

“To hell with that, Scott. With all the shit in the air, we’ll need two good eyes on the road.” He flinched in response to her statement. “I’m sorry, but you know I’m right.”

“Doesn’t mean I’m supposed to like it,” he muttered at her departing back.

She scooped her sneakers off the floor and pushed her nylon-clad feet into them, realising she looked ridiculous in her going-out-to-dinner clothes and fancy hairdo, but not really giving a damn. Something urged her to do this, to be there with Scott. She’d never ignored that Aries part of herself, and wasn’t about to begin now.

When she re-emerged into the living room, he was waiting impatiently for her, and Erica was nowhere to be seen.

She followed Scott out of the door wordlessly, immediately buffeted by the strong gusts of wind. Ozone tainted the air along with the distinct smell of rain. Oh yeah, this was going to be a humdinger all right.

He led her to a four-by-four SUV, unlocking it with the remote, still not saying a word.

She’d probably hurt his feelings, and part of her bemoaned the fact that she had, even as she reassured herself it was the right thing to do. Scott might have been trained for combat, but the loss of his eye was too new for him to take this on alone. Without a doubt, he would be the most qualified person in the state to attend to any injuries, given his PJ training. She’d seen what a tornado could do first-hand. The carnage was as close to a battlefield as you could possibly get without shots firing overhead.

She climbed into the cab as he dived into the cargo area.

“Go. I need to get some of my supplies ready, just in case.”

She should have known he’d be equipped, even if it wasn’t his life anymore.

They peeled out of the parking lot, heading south as everyone except storm chasers and emergency vehicles headed north. With no traffic, it only took ten minutes to reach the outskirts of Oklahoma City, and, following the excited voices of the radio newscasters, less than five minutes to find the devastated area.

Trees were uprooted and power lines down, sparking intermittently as surges shot through them.

She navigated the mess with care, avoiding upended trampolines, yard junk and the occasional roof until Scott hollered at her to stop.

He was out of the truck in a flash, shrugging into an enormous olive drab backpack as he ran. Cassidy threw the vehicle into park and jumped out, following him.

A young girl was crouched on the stoop of a devastated house, crying as she cradled an obviously broken arm. Scott spoke a few soft words to her, and ran a hand down her hair before shooting a glance at Cassidy. His eye conveyed what he was asking of her without words.

She nodded and went to the girl.

What she chose to ignore was his parting command of, “Stay out here.” As soon as she’d taken care of the child, she’d be in the house in a flash.

“Come on, sweetie. Scott’s going to find your family. Why don’t you come sit in the truck?”

The child snuffled and allowed herself to be led to the safety of the SUV.

“What’s your name? Corina? All right, Corina, just keep holding your arm this way, okay? I’m going to see if I can help him out. I’ll be right back, I promise.”

At the girl’s tremulous nod, Cassidy left the vehicle at a run, just as a black and white Oklahoma Highway Patrol car and fire truck wound their way down the road.

“Ma’am, stop.” The loudspeaker on the cruiser blared at her.

She hollered right back. “People trapped inside. Little girl in the truck, looks like a broken arm.”

“Ma’am… Holy shit, Cassidy, is that you?” The cop dropped his mic and stuck his head out of the window. It was her brother Jay.

“Get help, Jay. Someone’s inside looking for survivors.”

By now he’d heaved his muscled bulk out of the car and was half running towards her. “Hell with that. I’m going in, you stay here.”

As always, she ignored the brute and kept jogging towards the damaged building.

Jay caught up to her. “God damn it, Cass, you can’t go in there.”

“Shut up, Jay.”

“You haven’t been a volunteer firefighter for years, Cass. Let the professionals handle it.” They’d reached the stoop and there was no way in hell she was going to let her big brother bully her.

“You don’t forget things like this, okay? And Scott is a professional.”

“Bullshit. And who the hell is Scott?”

Then they were over the threshold and into the murky light of the bungalow’s living room and Cassidy didn’t need to answer his question.

Scott was working on freeing an elderly man trapped beneath a heavy wood beam, purple latex gloves contrasting starkly against the pale musculature of his arms. A woman, presumably the man’s wife, sat propped up against the wall, one hand holding her bleeding head, the other gripping her husband’s hand.

“I told you to stay outside. It’s dangerous in here, Cass,” Scott growled, casting a worried glance her way before returning his attention to his patient.

“Forget that.” Cassidy looked for Scott’s bag and found it lying next to him, top opened. She scooted to his side, snagging a field dressing kit. Apparently the military didn’t work too differently from rural fire departments.

Jay took one look at the scene and strode forward, gripping the massive beam, his attention ping-ponging between the two of them for a brief moment before his expression hardened.

“Careful there, hoss. Just enough for me to slide him out.” Scott’s voice sounded authoritative now and cool as a cucumber.

Cassidy went to the woman’s side and removed her hand from the head wound, pressing the dressing against it to staunch the bleeding, trying to make herself as small as possible so she wouldn’t get in the way.

Jay heaved and shifted the beam enough for Scott to slide a portable C-spine collar on the man before inching him out. He went to work, checking the man’s extremities, his pulse, his reactions. All the while, the old man clutched his wife’s hand fiercely.

“Officer, look for something, anything we can put him on to stabilise him.”

Jay disappeared down the hall. Seconds later Cassidy heard the squeal of nails and the crack of wood coming from that direction. He returned, carrying the top of the family dining room table. The two men didn’t even break a sweat as they slid the improvised backboard under their patient.

The house shifted and groaned around them, sounding eerily like a woman’s moan. Cassidy’s heart leapt into her throat and her breath stilled as the staircase to the second floor imploded, sending plaster, dust and fragments of wood flying through the air.

Cassidy ducked, shielding the woman with her body, feeling the shrapnel pepper her back as her heart went from zero to sixty in one second flat. And in that frozen moment in time, all she could think of was Scott’s safety, of the absolute joy she’d discovered in his arms. She didn’t care if she was robbing the cradle, or if Brian’s memory was dimming with every passing second. If she made it through this, she was going to latch onto Scott Carnes and never let him go. It didn’t matter if she was a one-nighter for him… She’d take what she could get.

A scream sliced into her thoughts. She realised it was the woman beneath her.

“Shhh, we’ll be all right,” she soothed, not sure she was even right.

“Ma’am,” Scott’s voice cut through the din, command vibrating through his tone. “Please calm down. I need you to let go of your husband’s hand so we can get him out of here, all right? Cassidy, do you think you can shoulder my bag?”

She stood and assessed the scene. Scott and Jay knelt beside the old man, cool as only cops and rescue workers can be, covered in chalky white dust and debris, their eyes and mouths outlined starkly. Her heartbeat slowed down and she pulled the woman up, disentangling her panicky grasp from her husband. Cassidy twined her fingers through the woman’s freed ones, looped the heavy backpack over her arm and led her patient out of the door ahead of the men.