Chapter Six

Dace Langdon didn’t come across as someone who cared a lot about strangers, but in the space of a few hours he proved her wrong twice. A few minutes after they arrived in the lounge, the nurse received a call for an emergency several decks below. Since Dace was with her, and emergency medical training was part of the job requirement for a security guard as well as police detective, Sage told the nurse to answer the call and leave things in the lounge to them.

The patient, Zack Freidman, whose anxious wife knelt next to him, slipped while trying out a new dance move, and hit his head on the floor.

One look at the situation and Dace retrieved a blanket to cover him up. Where he conjured it from, she had no clue, but Sage was pretty sure the thankful look she gave him showed her surprise as well, because he scowled at her. “What?”

Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to the patient, annoyed Dace had distracted her from her job so quickly. “Hello Mr. Freidman, I’m Dr. Brady and this is Mr. Langdon, an off-duty security guard I roped into helping us. He’s my muscle if I decide we can move you off the dance floor without a stretcher. Can you tell me if anything hurts?”

“My head and I think I twisted my right arm trying to catch myself. I feel like I’m going to black out when I try to get up.”

In case he had a spinal injury, she wasn’t going to move him until she knew more, and Dace did what he could to expedite things. He made sure the crowd which had gathered around them, moved far enough away so there was plenty of room for them to work. He also had her emergency medical bag ready for her. She took what she needed from it to take Mr. Friedman’s vitals and compared them to the nurse’s results, then checked his pupils to make sure they were reacting properly. Who knew Mr. Tough-Guy-Detective would make such a good nurse? She mentally shook her head at herself, annoyed that Dace was a distraction whether he was her patient or her nurse.

“Do you remember hitting your head?”

“Yes. It hurt like hell when I hit the floor, but now my arm hurts so bad…” His voice petered off.

After examining his head and arm, she took his vitals again and Dace handed her what she needed before she had to ask. Calm, efficient, and keeping the patient that way while she worked. She couldn’t decide if she liked the connection they had or not, because she didn’t need something else drawing her to him. Personal issues aside, though, having him there was the best decision she’d made all day. She bit back a sigh of relief when she finished her assessment “Mr. Langdon, it’s safe to move Mr. Freidman off the dance floor. Let’s get him out of the way so the passengers can continue to enjoy their evening.”

She gave Dace an apologetic smile, figuring he hadn’t expected to be doing something like that at the end of his workday. Her heart skipped a beat when rather than looking annoyed, he smiled and winked at her before he moved closer to the man so he could help him up and off the floor. She assisted him, trying to do the bulk of the work because the last thing she wanted was to be the cause of Dace doing his own injury more harm.

He disappeared as soon as the medical assistance she’d called for arrived to transport Mr. Freidman to the clinic where she could give him a more thorough examination as well as bandage his arm. She should be glad Dace had left her to it. She did not need to be feeling so bereft after he was gone. He was starting to take over her thoughts far too much lately. She shouldn’t be dwelling on the way his arm felt around her shoulders. Or the way his lips tasted. Or the way her skin tingled when he looked at her. Or how in sync they’d been helping Mr. Freidman.

It was over an hour before she was able to return to her cabin, the patient’s arm bandaged, and a list of care instructions given to his wife so he could spend the night in the comfort of his cabin rather than in the ship’s infirmary. So for the second time that evening she threw herself down on the couch, only this time she was in some comfortable clothes, thank goodness. Now she was so tired she didn’t have the energy to get something to eat.

She was glad she had a good reason to miss the formal dinner with the passengers. Not that she minded getting to know some of them in a relaxed environment. Normally she enjoyed it, and a friendly staff was the order of the day on a cruise. She just wasn’t up for socializing after the bomb Dace had dropped. She needed time to regroup, and now that she wasn’t distracted by medical things, her thoughts went right back to drug smuggling and Eric.

She couldn’t reconcile the Eric she knew with one who’d be involved in illegal activities, never mind the fact he could’ve been in deep enough to get killed. Generally, she was very good at reading people. It helped tremendously as an ER doctor when time was of the essence. Maybe she was worse off than she realized when she quit and had latched onto the doctor like a drowning man grabs a life preserver. He’d definitely been her savior.

She groaned when a knock sounded on her door, for two reasons. It meant she had to get off the couch, and worse, it was most likely Dace. God how she wanted that man. And in the last hour away from him, even though she’d been dealing with a medical emergency, her desire hadn’t cooled one bit.

****

He was greeted with a scowl when she opened the door to him, but it soon disappeared when she saw the tray in his hands. He had no use for the thrill that zipped through him when the scowl disappeared. Especially since he knew it wasn’t him she was happy to see, it was the food.

Without a word she opened the door all the way, beckoned him in, then turned around and headed back into the living area of her cabin without making sure he followed. Which was okay with him. She’d changed out of her uniform and was wearing some sweat pants cut off at the knees which clung enticingly to her hips, and a tight fitting t-shirt which left little doubt she wore nothing underneath it.

He went from enjoying the view to stifling a desire to drop the tray, grab her from behind and haul her into the bedroom. The speed with which she turned him on was irritating, since making love to her wasn’t an option, and he scowled at himself.

She indicated he should put the tray on the coffee table. “Hey, you don’t need to glower at me like that. I didn’t ask you to come by.”

“I know. Sorry. It’s not you, so ignore my mood.” Well, it was her, but not in the way she was most likely thinking. “I brought you something to eat since you missed dinner. You seemed pretty wiped out, and I didn’t think you’d want to go anywhere else tonight.”

She made a sweeping gesture down the front of her with her hand “You got that right. As you can probably tell by my outfit.”

It took everything he had to keep his eyes on her face. Knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt she wasn’t wearing a bra was not a good thing.

“I can’t help but wonder, though, if there’s an ulterior motive to your coming by?” She sat down and pulled the tray of food in front of her, then waved her arm to indicate he should sit too. “We’re not allowed to take food to our rooms, you know.”

“I know. I have connections.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Whatever. I have connections too. And perks for being a senior officer, so we’re off the hook either way.”

He ignored his desire to plant himself next to her, close enough they could touch, and took the chair instead.

“And yes, I have an ulterior motive. More than one actually, but that one’s off limits so let’s focus on the other.” His voice petered away as he watched her lick her lips to snag some food that hadn’t made it all the way into her mouth. It turned him into one giant throbbing ache. He jumped up and went to look out the porthole in an effort to distract himself and collect his thoughts. Not that he could see much other than his reflection since it was dark outside.

“Dace, you’re freaking me out a little. Why are you here?”

He clasped his hands behind his back, but didn’t turn around. He wasn’t quite ready. Or he was more than ready, depending on how you looked at it. “I’ve got a plan of action, the first thing being, as soon as you’ve eaten we need to go back to the dispensary and count how many pills are in that bottle. I’d like you to keep tabs on it, see if the bottle stays in the same place, monitor it so we know, if Dr. Roberts didn’t put it there, whether or not the person who did is using the pills for themselves, or smuggling them to make a quick buck. It could also tell us if anyone else uses it to fill a prescription. Which is probably information you would need in an emergency.”

“I am a little nervous about having the bottle in there where someone could accidentally end up with hydrocodone and have a bad reaction. I’m trying to figure out a way to keep that from happening without making whomever put it there suspicious. That is, if it wasn’t Dr. Roberts who did it. The best I can come up with is making sure it isn’t easily accessible and checking regularly to see if it stays where it’s supposed to.”

“That may be all you can do for the time being. It’s only a five day cruise and there’s just a few days left until we’re back in New Orleans where it can be taken care of without causing problems for the passengers. It can give us a chance to figure out who put it there too. For now, without more information about what’s going on, keeping a tight watch on it should be enough.” He unclasped his hands and turned around. Digging in the pocket of his jeans, he pulled out his prescription bottle. “Here’s the pills you gave me.”

“Wait a minute. Last I saw they were on my coffee table.”

“Yeah, well I didn’t think it was a good idea to leave them there so I put them back in my pocket. Now I want you to put them back in the bottle you took them from. I only had one of them. Would you be able to replace that one so the count in the ibuprofen bottle is the same as before you took them out?”

She pulled the fork slowly out of her mouth, set it down, grabbed a napkin and looked at him as she wiped her mouth. “That will be tricky. Though it’s not as strict here as it was when I worked in the ER, the drugs are logged and monitored to prevent theft. I don’t need that kind of trouble. If I take a hydrocodone out of the proper bottle, my numbers will be off. Which may or may not go noticed. Either way, it would make me pretty edgy.”

He nodded, set the bottle on the table, and sat back down in his chair.

She slapped a hand to her forehead. “My god, Dace, you sure mess with my head.” She bit her lip and looked away for a moment. “I’m sorry I didn’t think of this before. Are you going to need some actual ibuprofen? How are you doing with the pain?

“Some scrip ibuprofen would be greatly appreciated. The over-the-counter ones I brought with me are about gone since I’ve been taking a higher dosage. If it helps with the count, you can replace the pills you gave me with what I was supposed to have minus one, then take that one and put it in the imposter bottle. Hopefully the culprit won’t realize it isn’t hydrocodone if he decides to count his pills. I’ll be short a pill, but it shouldn’t be a big deal since you can write me another scrip if I need it, can’t you?”

“Sure.”

“Is it going to look suspicious if you go to the hospital again tonight?”

She shrugged a shoulder. “I’ll think of an excuse if I need to, but I’m on call until midnight, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Were you thinking of coming with me?”

“Yes. I don’t want you by yourself. If someone on board was working with Dr. Roberts, or if the smuggler wasn’t working with him, and they killed him because he discovered what they were doing, they might get suspicious about what you’re doing there, and turn on you.”

She rolled her eyes. “You worry too much. I don’t need a babysitter. I’m the Chief Medical Officer, my being there isn’t a big deal. Even when I’m not in my uniform. Which I will not be putting on until tomorrow unless I absolutely have to.”

“I’m coming with you. End of story. I’m not having your death on my conscience as well. I can be your excuse for being there if you like. If we run into anyone, you can say you have to change the dressing on my arm because it’s bled through.”

“All right.”

He narrowed his eyes, a little suspicious about how easily she gave in. She set down her silverware on the now empty plate and stood up. As she walked around the end of the table, he stood up as well. Catching him by surprise, she lifted the sleeve of his shirt to expose the bandage. “Which is apparently true. Between lifting me earlier and helping Mr. Freidman, the wound’s started bleeding again. I should’ve known better than to let you use it like that.” She exhaled wearily. “Let’s go take care of business.”

She headed to the door and he couldn’t help but admire her figure as he followed her out. He made sure it was locked because as far as he was concerned, it didn’t hurt to be too careful. There were worse things.

It didn’t take long to do what they needed to at the clinic, and the first thing he did when she gave him his prescription was take one. He’d hoped the faint nausea since he woke up from his bout with the hydrocodone was left over from his reaction to it, but by the time they returned to her cabin he wasn’t able to deny it any longer. He was seasick. And taking that pill on an empty stomach was a huge mistake. How many other ways was he going to come up with to humiliate himself in front of this woman?

His initial plan was to leave her at her door, make sure she was locked in and return to his cabin to wallow in his misery. Nothing in his life had been going according to plan lately, and spending two days with his head in a toilet had not been anything near what he’d planned on with this job. “I need to use your bathroom. Do you mind?”

She looked at him suspiciously, which he didn’t blame her for. Asking to use her bathroom when his wasn’t all that far away, did sound like a lame excuse to get into her room. Worse than that though, was the narrowing of her eyes when she figured out what his problem was. She stepped out of his way to let him enter first.

“Hope you make it.”

He did. Barely. Then ended up staying there longer than he liked. If she’d asked him, he would’ve told her to leave him alone, but she didn’t ask. She was just there handing him a wash cloth to wipe his mouth, placing a cool cloth on his forehead when he took a moment to breathe, asking if he was done or if he was going to go another round. He liked having her hand holding the cloth to his head and the other one soothing his back. Who knew?

And when it did finally come to an end, she had a cold glass of water for him to rinse his mouth. After taking care of business, he joined her in the living room where he found her sitting in the armchair. Grateful for that, he stretched out face-down on the couch. Which wasn’t really long enough for him, but was better than sitting. He just wanted to be prone for a while. He closed his eyes which seemed to help.

“It can take a while to get used to being at sea. Would you like me to get you something for it?”

He groaned. “No. It was the painkiller on an empty stomach that sent me over the edge. Let’s see if it goes away in a bit.”

“Your call.” There was a long silence before she continued. “You can lie in my bed for a bit if you’d like. You can’t be comfortable where you are.”

He stifled another groan at the thought of moving. The rolling of the ship was more than enough at the moment. “I’m good. As soon as my stomach’s settled, I have a plan for tomorrow we need to discuss, then I’ll head back to my cabin.”

He wasn’t sure how long he laid there. He tried to distract himself from the motion of the boat and the throbbing in his arm by thinking of other things. Dwelling on that explosive kiss with the doctor helped but thinking about her had other parts of him aching, which didn’t really help his overall situation. Not with her sitting a few feet away and more than willing to alleviate that particular ache. An epically bad way to cope for both of them. He didn’t want to think about the mess which landed him in this job; he’d gone over that particular scenario in his head too many times. He could beat himself up all day long for his obsession with taking down that loser, and how said obsession resulted in innocent people getting hurt and killed. All it got him so far was this lousy job. Now he was face to face with a situation which put another innocent person at risk. Nope. Not thinking about that either because it had him wanting to puke again. Best just turn off the brain, and zone out for a bit.

****

She tried several times not to look at the yummy piece of masculinity sprawled across her couch, but after several attempts to distract herself, including cleaning the bathroom, she gave up. The poor man was in bad shape, the fact he’d zoned out on her couch for over an hour proved that. His arm had to hurt like nobody’s business, and he had yet to be able to take something strong enough to get a handle on the pain. Which proved he had a high threshold and was probably what made him so good at his job. She bet he was rather perturbed at looking vulnerable in her presence. Which left her admiring how he dealt with that as well. He didn’t turn all macho on her or try to prove himself superior in order to compensate. Not a chauvinistic bone in his body. Which she liked. Probably too much.

She had no problem with letting him rest on her couch; at this point she wanted nothing more than to collapse on her bed. It was past midnight, she was no longer on call, and she’d reached her limit. So, although his spending the night with her would likely complicate things, she stood, intending to head for her room.

The movement was all it took. His eyes flew open. “How long have I been lying here?”

“Over an hour. Feeling any better?”

He rolled over slowly and sat up. “Enough to make it to my cabin. I’m on duty early tomorrow and need some sleep. As do you, I’m sure.”

She sat back down. “You said something about a plan?”

“Ah, yes.”

He swiped a hand down his face then pushed his hair off his forehead. She looked longingly at that hair, wishing it was her fingers running through it, and almost didn’t catch what he said when he continued speaking. “We dock in Cozumel in the morning.”

“Yes. I probably won’t be seeing as many patients tomorrow so I’ll have a chance to come up with the list of people who have access to the dispensary.”

He nodded. “Because of the drugs we found, the captain is doing what he can to learn the alibis of everyone on the medical staff without appearing to be fishing. I’ll get that info from him tomorrow. After I cross-check it with your list, hopefully I’ll come up with a list of viable suspects for my boss. I’d like you to keep an eye on everyone you work with in the clinic while you’re on duty. See if anyone acts differently or out of character, anything suspicious. Even if it seems odd for no apparent reason. I need to know who it is, and what it is.”

She blew out a frustrated breath. “I hate the idea of looking at all my colleagues like that. I’d much rather not know.”

He gave her a sympathetic look. “I know. I’m really sorry you got caught in the middle of this.” He ran a hand through his hair again and muttered, “You have no idea how much.” He shook his head. “However, it is what it is. My job tomorrow is to keep an eye on the passengers getting on and off the ship. I specifically requested this assignment so I can get a good look at everyone. Any crew members who seem suspicious, for any reason, I’ll probably send in for a drug test. I’ll also be taking a close look at the passengers. Mexico is the perfect place to pick up cheap narcotics without a prescription, in addition to illegal drugs. Odds are someone’s going to try and get away with smuggling. Either for themselves or to make a quick buck. Were you planning on going ashore?”

“Not this stop, but I’ve been thinking about spending my afternoon off ashore when we’re in Belize. It helps to get away from everything for a few hours, even if I don’t have the amount of time I’d like to spend there.”

“I’ve got time off then, too. We should spend it together. Being away from the ship is a good time to compare notes without worrying about being overheard. Plus, it will help solidify our relationship in the crew’s minds.” He stood and looked at her inquiringly before making his way around the coffee table to stop by her chair. As he towered over her, she felt at a disadvantage. She stood as well, though she had no use for the thrill of his proximity, it was an improvement over sitting.

“Are you asking me?”

“I’m not your boss. You decide what you want to do. However, the captain did say you were supposed to cooperate with me.”

She rolled her eyes. “Okay, that leaves me no choice then. Let’s tentatively plan on it. As a doctor, my life isn’t my own while I’m at sea. Barring any emergencies, it should be fine.”

“I’ve never been to Belize. It’ll be nice to be with someone who knows the place.”

That familiar pinging sensation bounced through her gut. “This is starting to sound like a date.”

“Does it help to say it’s my favorite part of this assignment so far?”

He ran his forefinger along her bottom lip, and she was shocked how that little bit of contact could make her knees go weak. Before she had a chance to recover from it, his mouth captured hers. The fleeting thought that he stole some of her toothpaste ran through her head before it was obliterated by the fireworks set off by a tongue that followed the path of his finger before entering her mouth.

She grabbed at his waist and held on, since his hands on either side of her head definitely weren’t enough to keep her from collapsing at his feet. Then she whimpered in protest when he lifted his head and growled, “We are in so much trouble, Sage. You want me to ignore this thing between us, then I better not see you without a bra again. Pretending to be old friends is going to be hard enough.”

He dropped his hands before stepping back. She collapsed into her chair, and he was gone before she could unscramble her brain enough to respond.

“I wasn’t planning on having company. I planned to go to bed.”