Corpsman and the Nerd (7 page)

Will sailed through holding a package
of cups and KC left to follow her son. She had stocked up on drinks
and snacks, since she figured they all might get thirsty and
hungry. She found what remained and scooped them up, all the while
watching with love and despair as Ryan grabbed the plates and
scooted for the dining room.

Leaving him was going to be so hard.
But at least he would be in good hands.

But would she?

Chapter 7

After a raucous lunch, most everyone
left. That provided KC time to unpack her and Ryan’s things. She
decided to start with Ryan’s, since that might help him to
acclimate better. Not that he was exhibiting any doubts about their
move. She had sole dibs on that problem.

Frowning, KC entered the room Max
chose for Ryan and found both of them already there. They were
intent on putting Ryan’s bed together. Two male heads close
together as they bent over the frame, Max with a sturdy screwdriver
in hand.

Ryan watched the entire process
intently while he handed Max screws. KC felt that emotional lump
rise into her throat again, and swallowed, hoping she wasn’t
becoming a goober.

Males didn’t like emotion, and since
she lived with two of them now...

“
Hi, Mom,” Ryan exclaimed
and Max looked up. His blue eyes caught hers and she moistened her
lips with her tongue before smiling at the pair.

“
You two look busy.” Okay,
that was a little obvious and definitely lame.

But Ryan nodded his little face
solemn. “Max and me awe puttin’ my bed togethew,” he explained. As
though the procedure was brain surgery risky.

She laughed. “I see. I thought maybe
I’d unpack your things.” KC couldn’t resist ruffling his hair. She
really longed to grab him and hold him tight, but thought that
might embarrass him in front of Max. There were male standards
apparently that they all knew and understood.

“
That’s good, right, Ryan?
You’ll probably need clothes,” Max said and with his free hand,
ruffled Ryan’s hair too.

“
I will need clothes,” he
agreed and then turned wide eyes on her, “and my fiwe twuck and my
caws, and…” and he launched into an extended toy list.

“
I’ll unpack everything,
honey,” KC promised and got busy transferring his things from the
boxes into his dresser. Since she’d been doing this since he was a
week old, placing his clothing in his dresser and the closet went
fast.

Next, she unpacked his books and
placed them in the proper order on his bookshelves. Ryan came over
to investigate, but eventually wandered back to help Max place the
box spring and mattress on the bed frame. Not that she figured Max
particularly needed the help, but it seemed to please Ryan to
assist.

She was amazed by how patient Max was
with her son. “He’s had a lot of practice”, a voice reminded her
and she realized that while this was true, now he would have a kid
full time for an eight month minimum. He couldn’t give Ryan back
after a few days.

Biting her lip as she emptied the toy
boxes into Ryan’s bedroom toy chest, she thought about that. She
had ample faith Max didn’t mind in the least. Turning, she watched
the pair make Ryan’s bed, and decided that contrary to her negative
thinking, they were going to have a blast. With a little smile, she
wondered if she might have to kidnap her son to get him back when
she returned.

She hoped Ryan wouldn’t have too much
difficulty leaving Max. Sighing, she returned to the waiting boxes.
Max had already thought of that, because he planned for her to move
back in with them once she returned. And she could remain here
until she found a new home. This was a comfort.

Not that it surprised her. Max tended
to think of everything.

*****

Max watched KC linger over Ryan’s
unpacking and he saw her stroke a shirt there, or fluff a stuffed
animal here. Like she tried to memorize everything she touched. He
saw her run a hand over Ryan’s pillow and give his pants an extra
little pat. He suspected he saw tears in her eyes when she unpacked
some picture frames and gazed at them, her finger tracing the
images.

Eventually he and Ryan left the room
for a romp outside. When they returned, with Ryan tired enough to
take a nap, KC was in her own room.

After he watched Ryan fall asleep, Max
hovered in her open doorway. She hung clothes in the closet and he
noticed the slump of her shoulders in addition to the sheen in her
eyes. She sniffed and rubbed a hand over her face and his heart
dropped.

“
KC?” he whispered and she
stiffened before turning beseeching eyes on him.

“
I’m going to miss him so
much.” The ache in her voice clenched his heart. He opened his
arms. She dropped the garment and walked into them. He felt her
arms curl around his waist and wished she clung for another reason,
but he would take what he could get.

“
I know.”

“
I’m going to miss you too,”
she admitted and his heart swelled. That’s all he wanted. For her
to miss him, just a little. Maybe he also wanted her to realize she
didn’t have only lukewarm friendship feelings for him, either, but
he’d take whatever he could get. And lap it up like Spuds lapped up
all the petting and attention bestowed upon him.

“
I’m going to miss you too,
KC. I can’t even tell you how much.” He longed to tell her how he
felt, but ruining what they shared would devastate him beyond
repair.

“
I need you guys to have a
good time.”

He tugged her closer, needing to savor
these moments with her in his arms. “We will,” he promised, sure in
this one promise at least.

She nodded and her hair tickled his
chin. Max swallowed, wanting so much more. Having her in his arms
was ecstasy and agony. Soon she would be gone, across the ocean in
a foreign land, so far away from him he didn’t even want to
contemplate.

Lainy and Mitch hadn’t known each
other when they endured their separation. They hadn’t even met in
person until Mitch came home. But he and KC had been working
together for a year, and he’d been in love with her for easily that
long. And now he needed to be a man and let her leave for some God
forsaken desert where she might die.

Max cut his perilous thoughts off. He
would go insane if he kept this up, and he wasn’t about to let that
happen. He had the care of Ryan and Spuds and he had KC now, right
here in his home, and she’d be here for a little while.

A lot could happen in that short
amount of time. Or not.

Chapter 8

KC woke the next morning
feeling a bit disoriented. She glanced around the room, not
comprehending where she was. The bed was hers, but the
room...
Oh, right, Max’s house.

After the confusion passed, she
stretched and then tumbled out of bed. She had to wake Ryan and
dress him for church. Biting her lip, KC realized she had no idea
about Max’s morning schedule. Or any part of his schedule that
didn’t pertain to work. If he was sleeping, she didn’t want to wake
him. But sometimes Ryan was loud in the morning.

She cracked her door and crept into
the hall, making for Ryan’s room. She slipped inside and stared
down at her son’s face, relaxed in dreams that made him smile. She
watched one of those precious phantom smiles cross his lips now.
Love erupted and spread through her with the warmth of a heated
blanket on an icy night. Spuds jerked a leg, yawned and rolled
over. KC stared down at her precious family and knew an empty ache
she didn’t know how to assuage.

She felt movement behind her
and turned to see Max reel through the door. He wore a T-shirt and
a pair of cotton pajama bottoms, but neither were terribly wrinkled
so she assumed he hadn’t slept in them. Probably donned them
because she was in the house. Not wanting to delve into Max
Morrison’s nighttime attire, she smiled at him and blocked all sexy
thoughts from her mind.
Since they didn’t
have any business being there in the first place
, she reminded herself in a caustic internal voice.

He returned her smile and rubbed a
hand over early morning bristles. The rasping sound pierced
something in her lower abdomen. She halted that thought too. But he
stood in a shaft of light, and KC noticed that with his tussled
curls and that pre-shaved face with the sun beaming off him, Max
was rather attractive.

“
Morning,” he said with sexy
early morning huskiness. KC stopped her eyebrow from rising at that
thought. Where had the idea that Max was sexy come from? What was
going on with her traitorous brain?

“
Morning,” she returned,
trying to figure out her strange thoughts. These random,
destructive notions had to stop. This was
Max
.

“
Thought I’d come in and
watch the morning routine. I’m going to need to know
this.”

For some reason, his statement spoke
to something internally too. KC stared at him for a moment before
remembering she needed to reply.

“
Good idea,” she said, but
he waved a hand in front of her face and suddenly he was Max again.
A familiar, comfortable Max, and the moment passed.

She poked him but he avoided her and
she stuck her tongue out at him. He grinned at his brattiest and
against that stubble, it was devastating. In that moment he flipped
back to the unfamiliar, uncomfortable, sexy Max again. Groping to
recover her equilibrium, KC struggled to understand what was
happening, wondering if she had somehow stumbled into an alternate
universe.

While she fought to figure out what
was wrong with her, Max used her momentary lapse to poke her and
she laughed, more because she appreciated his noticing and using
her weakened defenses against her than because it was an
appropriate response.

“
Knock it off,” she mock
hissed.

“
You started it,” he
returned and grinned at her again.

That smug male look was very familiar,
but now she realized something else. Max didn’t have his glasses
on.

“
What happened to your
glasses?” Her voice held suspicion.

“
Huh?” he said and then
reached up to his face. “Oh, I mainly need them for eye strain. I
can see without them, except for driving.”

“
Gotcha.” She cocked a head
at him. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without your
glasses.”

“
Well, you’ve never lived
with me before, either,” he said enigmatically and then looked at
Ryan. “Should we wake him?”

“
Yeah, but remember, this
could get ugly,” she warned and they set about waking up her
son.

*****

They finally coaxed Ryan out of bed
and mostly dressed him. Max didn’t even seem daunted by the
experience. When she commented, he replied, “I’ve got millions of
nieces and nephews,” and she could accept that, since millions was
only slightly off.

“
What’s for breakfast?” Ryan
skipped down the stairs in front of them. KC bit her tongue when
she found herself wanting to tell him to be careful.

“
Good question,” Max said
and turned to her. “What’s for breakfast?” This in his most
beguiling expression. KC rolled her eyes.

“
Let’s see what’s in the
fridge before we decide, okay?”

“
Okay!” Ryan jumped the last
two steps. He raced into the kitchen the moment his little feet hit
the floor.

Max winced. “Be careful opening the
fridge, it’s full.”

Nodding, KC preceded him into the room
and then gingerly opened the fridge. She saw lots of eggs and two
gallons of milk, both of which had been opened. She recognized one
of them as having been hers, chose that one, and a carton of eggs.
There were two nearly full loaves of bread in the bread drawer so
she selected the honey wheat loaf.

“
Ryan, I have a job for
you,” she called after he let Spuds out the door.

“
Mom, shouldn’t I watch
Spuds?” he asked, looking a bit worried about Spuds out in
unfamiliar territory.

“
I can do that.” Max took
out an electric skillet. “I take it we’re having French
toast?”

“
Yes.” KC helped Ryan climb
onto the stool she kept in the kitchen for him.

“
What’s my job,
Mommy?”

She removed the other carton of eggs
and placed both on the counter. “See how both cartons have some
eggs but neither is full?”

He nodded and wiggled a bit on the
stool.

“
Okay, your job is to make
one of the cartons full of eggs. Can you do that?” She needed to
keep an eye on him. Ryan was fascinated by breaking
eggs.

“
Yeah.” He bobbed his head.
He started taking eggs out of one carton and placed them into the
other, and his tongue crept to the corner of his mouth as he
concentrated.

She turned to Max, who stood grinning
at them. KC tried for a quelling look, but couldn’t manage it, so
she raised an eyebrow. “You’ve got a job too. Besides watching the
mutt.”