Officer out of Uniform (Lock and Key Book 2) (15 page)

Henry was seriously fucked-up in the head. That much was clear. He had to tear his eyes from the floor to look at Sasha, and what he saw cut through him like a knife, sinking deep between his ribs. One of her big brown eyes stared up at him, while the other was hidden beneath the bag of ice.

“I’m sorry.” He said it again, but didn’t explain any further. Fuck, how could he?

He’d drifted off with the taste of her pussy on his tongue, dreaming of what they’d done. He’d been the happiest he could remember ever being, but when that realization had set in, so had another one.

It had been a darker one, a deeply unhappy thought: he was afraid of losing her. Scared shitless, now that he had her. The itching feeling between his shoulder blades had hit him with such force that it’d felt like a hoard of locusts erupting from his skin.

Despite it all, he’d fallen asleep, exhausted by fucking her hard, twice, and lulled into complacence by her presence and the things they’d promised each other.

Look what it’d gotten him: dreams of the desert and death, a night terror that’d robbed him of the rest and peace that should’ve come with sleep. And look what he’d done. He could hardly bring himself to look Sasha in the eye.

Stress meant bad dreams and apparently, bad dreams meant flailing around in bed like an idiot and giving people black eyes. He hadn’t known, because there’d been so few times he’d shared a bed with anyone over the past five years, let alone during such trying circumstances.

Still, there was no excuse for what he’d done. He was more than sorry; he hated himself for it. Hated that he’d hurt a woman, especially Sasha, even if it had been an accident. Especially after the night they’d just had, the way she’d trusted him.

“Henry, you don’t have to keep apologizing.” She reached for him again and the brush of her fingertips sent a wave of shame rolling through him. It was so strong, it actually hurt. Suddenly, he could feel each and every scar on his back burning, mocking him. He jerked away.

Feeling like the world’s sorriest piece of shit, he looked at her standing alone with her sandwich bag full of ice. He thought her eyes looked wet and so he looked away, not wanting to know. “Go back to bed and get some rest. I won’t let myself be in there with you, no matter how much you argue.”

She opened her mouth to argue anyway.

“Go. I want to be alone anyway.”

She walked away, silent as a ghost as her bare feet touched the linoleum.

Alone, he started a pot of coffee and turned on his police scanner. The itching feeling between his shoulder blades was still there, and he couldn’t ignore it. There was still one thing he could do right for Sasha: he could protect her from everyone else, even if he couldn’t protect her from himself.

* * * * *

“What happened to you?” Kerry stopped dead in her tracks, her blue skirt swinging around her knees as she stood in the Wisteria Plantation House’s foyer. She was head of the small housekeeping team and spent her work days inside the historic mansion while Sasha worked elsewhere on the grounds, in the carriage house that’d been converted into a restaurant.

Still, it was their morning routine to meet up in the lobby fifteen minutes before the start of their shifts and talk.

Sasha had considered skipping it this morning, not wanting to flaunt her black eye, but knew Kerry would’ve just come over to the restaurant looking for her.

“I lost a fight with a bed stand.” Sasha donned her most self-depreciating grin. “Pretty ugly, huh?”

The bruise was a half moon smudge of purple at the outer corner of her eye. It wasn’t actually that bad as far as black eyes went, but Henry had made a big deal out of it, apologizing about a million times.

Kerry frowned. “
Henry’s
bed stand?”

Sasha glanced around to confirm that no guests were in sight. They weren’t, and so she nodded. “How did you know?”

“Because
you
don’t have a bed stand in your room. Besides, I knew when I saw you together at the beach last week that things would be escalating quickly.”

Well, that was one way to put it. “Good point. And yeah, it was his bed stand. Guess it’s a good thing I don’t have one of my own at home.”

Kerry frowned, her dark brows plunging low over even darker eyes.

“Sasha…” She lowered her voice and stepped forward, standing close and practically whispering. “I know this might sound a little offensive, so don’t get upset with me for asking. I have to, because you’re my friend. Did Henry do this to you?”

Sasha took a step backwards, planting a hand on her hip. “Do you really think he’d do something like that?”

She felt a little guilty, but not much. There was no way she wanted to tell anyone, even her best friend, that he’d elbowed her accidentally in his sleep.

Henry was already so furious at himself over it that she didn’t want to make it worse for him by telling their friends. Besides, he absolutely
hadn’t
hit her on purpose, which was really what Kerry was asking.

“No, I wouldn’t think he’d do something like that. But obvious signs of abuse are often overlooked or written off as something else because people don’t want to believe bad things about people they think they know.”

“Well, thanks for asking, I guess. But Henry would never hurt me. And you know me – I’m not afraid to stand up for myself. If a guy ever raised a hand against me, I’d hit right back.” Probably with one of her sturdiest frying pans.

Kerry flashed her a small smile. “I hope so.”

“Morning.” A familiar voice carried across the lobby, causing Sasha and Kerry both to turn.

Alicia stood in the house’s main doorway, looking both polished and suited for a Carolina summer day in khaki slacks, kitten heels and a purple shell top. She was smiling as she strode toward them, her purse tucked under her arm.

When she got close she stopped abruptly, nearly tripping.

“What happened to
you
?” She raised her brows at Sasha.

“I’ve taken a leaf out of your book,” Sasha said, mentally cataloguing the number of times she’d seen Alicia trip over nothing at all. “I tangled with a bed stand and lost.”

“You fell out of bed?”

“Not
her
bed,” Kerry said. “Henry’s.”

Alicia didn’t exactly look shocked. “Well, I can’t say I’m surprised. About you and Henry, I mean. I
am
surprised about your eye. For the record, even I don’t fall out of bed.” She grinned.

“Well, there’s a first time for everything,” Sasha said, waving her hand. “Anyway, don’t you two want to know how things are going with me and Henry?” She waggled her eyebrows up and down, eager to change the subject.

“I just assumed they were going well,” Kerry said. “You walked in here with a black eye and a big grin on your face. Things have got to be good if you’re smiling right now – I know you have to be hurting.”

She was a little sore, although she wasn’t about to admit that. “Well, you assumed correctly. Alicia, you’ll know exactly what I mean when I say I’ve finally joined you in cucumber country.”

Alicia just blushed, and Kerry huffed. “Cucumber country – do I even want to know?”

“No, you don’t,” Alicia assured her. “Trust me, it’s everything she makes it sound like.”

Sasha couldn’t help laughing. Sometimes, her two best friends needed a little coaxing to let their hair down and have a good time. When she managed to shock them, the looks on their faces were priceless.

“So is this something serious?” Alicia asked, her face back to its usual color again. “Between you and Henry, I mean.”

Sasha’s chest felt suddenly two sizes too small for her heart, and her laughter dried up on the tip of her tongue. As much as she loved to joke around, ‘serious’ was a great way to describe how she felt about Henry. “I think so. I really like him.”

That was the understatement of the century, but she didn’t want to spend all of the precious few minutes they had before work blabbing about herself. “What about you, Alicia – how are the wedding plans going?”

Alicia’s face lit up like she’d just stepped into a beam of sunlight. “I confirmed the booking here with Faye yesterday. First weekend in October.”

“Wow, that’s great. So should Kerry and I be trying on bridesmaid dresses yet?”

“Actually, I’ve got a couple styles in mind, but I wanted you two to help me make the final decision. Maybe we could get together sometime this weekend?”

Sasha and Kerry both agreed.

“You should both come over to my place for lunch Saturday,” she suggested. “We could hit the beach afterward.

“Whatever we do though, I have a feeling Liam is going to want to tag along. He’s been sticking by my side like a secret service agent ever since the warden’s murder. I actually feel bad for him – I don’t think he’s had REM sleep since it happened.”

“What about you?” Kerry asked. “You must be worried too. After what happened…”

Kerry’s gaze drifted conspicuously to Alicia’s neck, where a long pink line stood out brightly against her otherwise creamy skin.

The scar made Sasha wince inwardly every time she saw it, though she was careful not to be obvious about it.

Alicia turned up her palms and shrugged. “I’ll admit it’s unnerving to know someone so violent is out there again, probably Randy Levinson… But Liam and I are being as safe as we can. What else can we do?”

Now that she looked closely, Sasha saw that Alicia looked tense. Knowing her friend was worried – and for good reason – put a dent in her heart. After visiting her mother and commemorating another year gone by since her father’s death, she was still feeling the overwhelming urge to be close to the people she cared about, to make memories she could cherish.

“Definitely let’s hit the beach after lunch at your place on Saturday,” she said. “We’ll invite Henry and Grey too, and I’ll make a picnic lunch for everyone. It’ll give us all a chance to relax and get our minds off what happened to the warden. Plus, I’m sure we’ll be safe together at a busy public beach.”

Alicia smiled. “That sounds good. I’m sure I can talk Liam into it. What about you, Kerry?”

“I’m up for it.” Kerry nodded, her dark ponytail bobbing. “Uh-oh. Look what time it is.”

They all glanced at the clock hanging above the large cherry wood desk Faye so often worked at. The start of the work day was just minutes away.

Alicia sighed. “Well, I’d better get down to the basement. I’ve got to dig around for a portable trellis Faye swears is down there. A bride wants one for her ceremony and I need to see if it’ll work.”

Sasha felt her eyes go wide, and she immediately met Kerry’s gaze. The other woman wore a similar expression of surprise, though she quickly looked away.

“The basement?” Sasha asked. “You’re really going down there?”

“Yes. Why?” Alicia wrinkled her nose. “It’s not mildewy or something, is it?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

Kerry was very carefully not meeting Sasha’s eyes.

Fine, if she wouldn’t say it, Sasha would. “It’s just that the basement is supposed to be the most haunted part of the house. No one likes going down there unless they absolutely have to.”