Gauge, p.7
Gauge, page 7
The back door opened, and Shelby walked in. “I’ll let them know. Bye.” She ended the call and smiled at them. “Everyone will be here first thing in the morning.”
Anna smiled.
Viola slumped against the counter, feeling relieved.
“Including Bear,” Shelby said with a gleam in her eye, which didn’t make any sense to Viola.
“Um, right, because he’ll be staying the night.”
“Actually…” Shelby said, dragging out the word.
“Oh, jeez, what did you do?” Anna asked.
Why did Viola’s heart begin to race?
“Nothing, really. I just told him we were visiting Viola, and she was pretty well settled. There was no reason to move around tonight.”
Anna groaned, but Viola’s thundering pulse actually felt soothing in a way. She wasn’t going to question why. Logically, if she stayed, everyone else could stay in their own beds. No reason to displace others.
“It’s okay. I don’t mind staying with him,” she said before she realized the words were on her tongue.
Shelby clapped again.
Viola narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know why you’re so excited.”
“Me, neither, but I am. If no past sparks ignite, then at least you’ll know it wasn’t for lack of opportunity.”
“Are you insane? The man’s been shot. Nothing is going to happen. Nothing.”
“Well, then, it looks like you have nothing to worry about.” Shelby shrugged. “He’s just an assignment. What could possibly happen on one of those?”
Viola glared at her friend. Anna laughed behind a cough. Both of these women had gotten close to their loves while on assignment. The difference was she and Gauge had a past. One of happiness and then of heartache. That last part wasn’t something she could just pretend didn’t exist.
She didn’t want to.
“If you guys are done ragging on me, I’m gonna take a quick shower before I start on the homemade cinnamon rolls. Make sure he doesn’t get out of bed if he wakes up.”
“Will do,” Anna said.
Viola tiptoed down the hall and peeked into Gauge’s room. He was still sleeping, so she pulled his door closed before getting some clothes from her room and slipping into the bathroom. She wanted to get through with her shower and fix Gauge’s dinner before he woke up. Hopefully, he wouldn’t question why she was staying another night. It was an odd situation between the two of them, but at least he slept most of the time, safe from contemplating the what-ifs in life.
As Viola turned on the water and stepped under the hot spray, she understood she wasn’t as lucky. Once she’d known Gauge was going to survive, she’d thought of nothing else but the young man she’d briefly held in her heart and what could’ve been had things played out differently.
Why are you so nice to me?
How could she answer him when she was scared of the truth herself? She let the hot water sluice over her skin, coating her in comfort. She needed to put an end to her wayward thoughts where Gauge was concerned. She’d asked him to do just that. The least she could do was the same she’d asked of him.
If today was any indication, it was going to be much easier said than done.
Chapter Eight
Gauge awoke slowly. The dream he’d just woken from hadn’t involved guns or guys. There was one blonde woman who starred in it. His chest hurt like a sonofabitch, but he still wasn’t surprised he’d woken up with a raging hard-on after the images he’d had of Viola’s lithe body drifting through his mind. He took in his surroundings. Darkness greeted him. It had to be the middle of the night. Bear should be sound asleep.
Pushing the covers down didn’t hurt him as much as he’d feared. Maybe most of his body was getting back to normal. One part definitely was. If he didn’t move too much, he might be able to take care of himself without angering his wound. He slipped his hand into his boxer briefs and wrapped it around his throbbing cock. He had to bite his lip to keep from groaning at the pleasure just that touch did to him. He started with a light touch, making sure nothing would hurt too much, and when he was satisfied with how that felt, he tightened his grip, keeping his agonizingly slow pace. Fuck, his body was already tightening. This wasn’t going to take long. He quickened his pace, thinking of how damn incredible Viola had tasted when he’d licked her, at how she’d tried to scrambled back from his tongue when her orgasm had gotten close because, in her innocence, she hadn’t known what was happening. He remembered distinctly, her grabbing his head as she’d gasped and rode out her pleasure and him pushing into her untried muscles as she’d moaned with both pleasure and pain. All random memories of her.
My virginal Viola.
Getting lost in the sensations, Gauge’s lifted off the bed. He groaned at the stab in his chest, but he didn’t care. He was past the point of no return. He heard rustling and only had a brief moment to hope Bear didn’t choose that moment to check up on him because the guy would get a hell of a lot more than he’d bargained for.
“You okay?” a voice drifted to him from the darkened doorway.
Fuck, it was Viola. The woman he’d been fantasizing about. He should let go of his dick, but he couldn’t, he was right there already. “Don’t turn on the lights,” he gritted out.
“You’re panting. Let me help you.”
Oh, she already was. He bit his lip as hard as he could and came in a quiet plea of mercy. He wasn’t sure how long it lasted. Probably only seconds, but the high was the sweetest one he’d had in years.
Since the night he’d taken her virginity.
He let out a breath as he fell boneless back to the bed.
“You haven’t had any pain pills since dinner. Let me get you some.”
He rolled to the side and groaned as he got out of bed. He needed to get to the bathroom and wipe away the evidence of exactly why he’d been out of breath before her nose told her exactly what he’d been doing. He reached blindly into the dresser for clean underwear as he stumbled into the hall.
“Be careful,” she said, turning on the hall light just as he shut the door to the bathroom.
“I will,” he called out.
Gauge leaned against the counter, staring at his peaked skin, but feeling too relieved he hadn’t been caught with his dick in his hand to care. He splashed some water on his face before he cleaned up. He wanted to take a dang shower, but a washcloth and some soap would have to do for now. His blood finally began to slow as the adrenaline spike from moments ago eased. He ran the cloth all over his body, the cold water causing gooseflesh to rise in its wake. The distraction helped cool his ardor even more. After donning the boxers and taking a few measured breaths, he finally exited the safety of the bathroom.
“I put some fresh water on the nightstand with your pills.”
He grunted as he got back into bed. “Not taking those things anymore.” Although as he said it, his chest ached, but the pain wasn’t unbearable. He hated not being alert, even if he didn’t have the strength to do much else. He needed his wits about him at the very least.
“It hasn’t even been a week. The doctor said it’d at least be a couple of weeks before things started to get better.”
“Don’t care. I need to be able to work. Can’t have those pills screwing with my head.”
“If you were still with the bureau, you wouldn’t even be cleared—”
“I’m not,” he said quickly. “My team lives by our own rules, and I’m not gonna sleep all day while they’re trying to get this solved without me.”
She laughed mirthlessly. “Jeez, you’ve somehow gotten even more stubborn.”
Why did it feel like she was taking this personally? “Viola—”
“Save it.” She walked over to the nightstand, picked up the two pills she’d set out, and handed them to him. “Take your medicine. It’s not even two o’clock in the morning. They’ll wear off before the sun rises. We’ll start fresh with a new battle after dawn.”
The light from the hallway illuminated her determined face. Either from the exhaustion of his body healing or from the orgasm he’d just experienced, his energy quickly waned. He tossed back the pills and took a large gulp of water.
“Now, was that so hard?” she asked sarcastically.
He would’ve chuckled if her sass had been directed at anybody else but him. “That was it. I’m not taking any more, and I’m going to the garage tomorrow.” She needed to know he was serious about working. He couldn’t risk anybody else getting hurt.
“That’s cute that you think that.” Her eyes blazed.
“I’m not asking,” he said, leaning back against the pillow and closing his eyes. “The meds will be out of my system in the morning. I’ll drive myself. Not like it’s that far anyway.” Mayflower was a tiny town. Hell, he could walk to the shop if he absolutely had to.
“Just go to sleep,” she muttered, her voice growing distant.
He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came. The creak of the door being pulled closed told him she’d left, but he didn’t hear it shut completely. Within seconds he drifted off, but then a loud crash had him jerking awake.
Blinking, he took in his surroundings. Sunlight filtered in through the gaps of his blinds, and his clock mocked him with the proof he’d been out cold for over six hours. “You okay?” he yelled as he got out of bed. Lord, he hoped Viola wasn’t hurt because rushing to her side might make him rethink his no-more-pain-pills stance.
“Doin’ better than this coffee mug,” Blade called back before his footsteps announced his approach.
Gauge smirked at his teammate when he appeared in the doorway. “Better not’ve been my favorite one.”
Blade leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. “Never really knew you to get attached to anything,” he said lower and looked over his shoulder, making it clear he wasn’t talking about the dish he’d just broken. Gauge wasn’t touching that topic. He’d only had moments of lucidity since his houseguest had arrived in town. Viola was just more one reason why he needed a clear head.
“Where is she?” Gauge asked instead.
“Getting dressed.” He wagged his brows.
Jealousy, hot and fierce raged in his gut before he could tamp it down.
“Don’t…” What? Everyone knew Blade was a flirt and jokester. Just as everyone knew he was madly in love with his fiancée. Even though he wasn’t a lady’s man anymore, the guy still never let an opportunity to poke at his friends pass him by.
Blade cocked an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t dream of it, brother.”
“I know.” Gauge groaned before standing up.
“Need help?” Blade asked all serious as he walked toward him.
“Nah, I got it.” He took a few tentative steps before stopping at his dresser. “What’re you doing here? Besides, irritating me, I mean.” He pulled out some clean gym shorts and a cotton shirt.
“The gang is meeting here today. The consensus was you’d try to do something stupid like drive yourself to the garage to work.”
Gauge stopped at the doorway and looked at him. “Got too much stuff to do to be sittin’ around my house all day.”
Blade shrugged. “It’s the weekend. Heather scheduled some deep cleaning thing and kicked everyone out.”
“Because we all know you’re hardheaded and wouldn’t keep your butt in bed,” Anna called out from down the hall.
Blade’s eyes lit with amusement and affection. “Be nice, baby.”
Gauge grunted. “I’m going to take a shower.”
“Um, not sure if that’s a good idea,” Blade said, blocking his path.
“If you get any closer to me and take a whiff, you’d be on my side about this.”
Blade chuckled. “Probably right, but you’re not supposed to get those bandages wet. If Viola comes out and sees I already screwed up, she might kick us all out of the house before we even get any work done.”
“This is my house,” Gauge said, stepping around him and going into the bathroom.
“True, but your woman is bossy, and mine will take her side, which means I’ll have no choice but to back them up. Yes, I’m whipped like that. No, I got no shame about it.”
“She ain’t my woman.” She hadn’t been in too many years, no matter how much he’d wished differently. When he looked up, Blade’s brow was furrowed. “What?”
“Just that the words you say don’t match the actions you do. Same is true for her.”
He didn’t know what to make of that, and now wasn’t the time to try. “Whatever, man.” He pointed to the shower. “I’ll be quick. I promise.”
“Jeez, I hope you don’t use that line on the ladies.” Blade winked. Before Gauge could comment, Blade continued, “I’m going to stand right outside this door. Holler if you need anything, but I swear to God if you make me wash your dick, I’ll shank you in your sleep.”
“Noted.” Gauge closed the door and turned on the water. As it warmed, he undressed as gently as he could. Most of his body didn’t feel too awful. The soreness he’d felt yesterday was almost gone, but the ache in his chest was a sharp reminder that he wasn’t anywhere near healed.
He grabbed the removable shower head and sat on the edge of the tub. He was going to make a ridiculous mess showering this way, but at least he’d be able to control where the water hit his body, keeping his bandages as dry as possible. After washing as efficiently as he could, he turned down the pressure, dipped his head, and doused his hair. He kept it short because it was curly, but the course texture repelled water. After shampooing and rinsing, he felt much better.
With fresh clothes and clean teeth, he almost felt human again.
“Your woman wants you to take these,” Blade said, holding out a bottle of pills when Gauge opened the door.
Steam billowed around him as he stepped around his irritating friend and back into his room. “Not gonna happen.” He contemplated putting on socks and sneakers but slipped on his slides instead.
“She said you’d argue.”
“She’s right. I’ll take something over-the-counter.”
Gauge snatched the bottle from Blade as he walked past him, heading out of the bedroom. He stopped beside the linen closet where he kept regular medications. Voices drifted toward him as he grabbed a bottle of ibuprofen. It sounded as if the whole crew was packed in his small living room.
As soon as he entered the room, he saw Viola. God, she was even more beautiful than he’d remembered.
“There he is,” Brody said, and Gauge tore his gaze away from the woman who never failed to distract him.
“’Bout fucking time,” Roc muttered.
“Dude,” Axle said, frowning at Roc, but Roc flipped him off, obviously not caring about the quick reprimand.
“You look better,” Hunter said, propping his hands on his hips. The stance seemed casual, but the haunted look in his teammate’s eyes belied the effect he was going for. Gauge had unloaded on his team the details of the shooting just before the medication had pulled him under. Now that he had a clear head, he could see his teammate was shouldering the blame for the shooting.
This wasn’t a conversation they could put off.
“Don’t you look at me like that,” Gauge said, pointing at Hunter. “This shit isn’t your fault.”
Hunter shrugged a lone shoulder. “He was after me.”
“Wrong. He was after us. We all know the risks of this job. Plenty of people are gunning for us, man. He just got lucky.”
“And this former alphabet-boy likes playing hero,” Blade said, clapping Gauge’s shoulder before walking to Anna’s side.
Roc snorted. “Ain’t that the fucking truth.”
“All right, let’s get to work,” Bear announced. “You,” he said, pointing at Hunter. “Knock it off. We’ve already been over this.” Then, Bear pointed to the recliner as he looked at Gauge. “You. Sit. Axle set up a workstation that he’ll roll over to you as soon as you get comfortable.”
“Can I at least get some coffee first?” Gauge mumbled.
“I got it,” Viola said, easing by him, her apple-scented lotion trailing after her. He’d forgotten how much he loved the way that froufrou stuff smelled on her skin. He hadn’t been able to eat cobbler for a year after they’d broken up. He did his best not to stare at her exposed legs the tiny shorts showcased, but damn, it was hard.
“Right, absolutely not your woman,” Blade said just loud enough for the guys in the room to hear.
Gauge blinked as someone snickered, realizing a little too late he’d been staring after Viola like a lovesick fool. He narrowed his eyes at his annoying friend and dropped onto his comfy chair.
“Here ya go,” Axle said, wheeling the mobile desk to Gauge. The tabletop swung over his lap so we could easily recline if he wanted and still be able to conduct his network searches. “Think I got all the cords right. I’m a damn sniper not a computer geek.”
“Well, if we find the guy who did this, you can shoot him for me,” Gauge said. As a former FBI agent, he was good with his weapon, but Axle was the best. Gauge had no problem leaving that job in their newest teammate’s capable hands.
Axle’s eyes hardened. “Done.”
Gauge booted up his machine, the whir a soothing balm to his nerdy side. Everybody on the team had their strengths, and his was technology. After graduating from the Academy, he’d gotten even more involved with cyber issues, honing his skills. At first, he’d done it as a way to keep his nose down, working in solitude, but he’d soon discovered he was not only good at it, but he enjoyed it. Very little came close to the satisfaction of finding clues hidden in binary numbers. When Viola walked in, carrying his coffee and a plate of something, he quickly amended that thought.
There was something—someone—who gave him more satisfaction than anything else in this world.
“Oh, what is that?” Hunter asked, practically drooling.
“Homemade cinnamon rolls. Just took the first batch out of the—hey!” Viola steadied the cup to keep it from spilling as the horde of guys made a mad dash for the kitchen. She looked over her shoulder and yelled, “Don’t mess up that kitchen.” She huffed as she put his delectable treat and coffee on his makeshift desk. “I’m making you some eggs, but you need to eat so you can take your medicine.”
