Protecting Alabama (SEAL of Protection Book 2) (3 page)

She felt badly for just a moment, but then decided it was better he be pissed at her than be burned. Ignoring Adelaide’s shrieks of outrage at her actions, Alabama thrust the jacket she’d pilfered off the floor at Christopher.

“To protect your back.” She watched as Christopher didn’t even quibble or say anything about the way she’d drenched him and shrugged on the jacket. It was a tight fit, and not only because he was now wet. He was obviously much broader and muscular than the man who’d discarded the jacket. Christopher simply nodded at her then slicked back his now dripping hair. He turned back to Adelaide.

Having grown tired of her tirade, Christopher grasped Adelaide’s upper arm tightly and simply demanded in that no nonsense voice of his, “Move.”

Seeing he was serious, and finally deciding moving was the better course of action than just kneeling against a wall inside a burning room, Adelaide finally stopped her bitching and meekly nodded. Christopher dropped his hand from Adelaide’s arm and gestured for Alabama to lead the way. Alabama did without any hesitation. She could feel Christopher right at her side. He hadn’t just allowed Alabama to take the lead, he was right there next to her, as they moved across the room to the exit, but not letting her get out of his reach. His shoulder would every now and then brush against her butt, he was that close.

The room was scary now. It was loud. Really loud. And it was dark. Alabama knew the air in the room was almost depleted. All thoughts of how hot Christopher looked without a shirt on and how nice he’d been to her were now gone from her head. Alabama was concentrating solely on getting out of the building which was burning down with them still inside it.

Alabama was coughing nonstop and could feel Christopher jerking against her, coughing as well. As they crawled, Alabama’s hand touched a piece of cloth on the ground. Without thinking she snatched it up and kept going. She reached back briefly and pressed it to Christopher’s arm. He grabbed it and she hoped he was using it as a filter to breathe through, as she intended it to be. Alabama might not be thinking about how good-looking the man was, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t stopped worrying about him. Christopher needed to cover his face so he wouldn’t inhale any more smoke then he already had. She didn’t even think about herself. Alabama only wanted to protect Christopher.

As Alabama and Christopher crawled, they came across a few other people seemingly lost in the confusion and Alabama grabbed on to them and urged them to crawl along with them. By the time the group made it to the hallway and then to the door, they were a group of about ten people, all in one long line. Alabama stopped and pushed on the door. She panicked for just a second when it didn’t budge, but Christopher came up beside her and put his strength to it alongside hers. Their combined weight made it spring open. Fresh air swept into her face and Alabama took a deep breath.

The fresh air felt great, but the influx of oxygen into the hallway and toward the burning room just seemed to piss the fire off. Black smoke rolled out the door and the motley crew which had crawled across the fiery hell didn’t waste any time getting out. One by one, they crawled through the door, got to their feet, and ran away from the burning building as fast as they could.

Alabama sat next to the door and helped everyone get out. She steadied them as they crawled out the door and tried to stand up. She couldn’t stop coughing, but then again, neither could anyone else. Deep hacking coughs echoed in the air around them. If the fire hadn’t been raging around them, all she would’ve heard was people coughing. As it was, she barely heard herself, nevertheless everyone else. She saw Christopher hesitate before he left, but Adelaide latched on to his arm, pulled him away and he disappeared out into the clean air.

Looking inside one more time after the last person in their group crawled out, Alabama didn’t see anyone else. The fire was licking the ceiling and it was hot. Hotter than anything she’d ever experienced before. If anyone else was still inside, she didn’t think there was any way they’d survive.

Alabama hadn’t had time to think before, but what she’d just done scared the hell out of her and she started shaking. It was okay. She was okay. She’d gotten Christopher out. She’d gotten others out. Thank God, she knew about this exit.

Finally stumbling away from the door, Alabama looked around at the total chaos that was around her. There were fire trucks pulling up at the curb and people sitting and standing around the building in shock. She saw some news trucks driving in as well. This would be a huge story, she knew.

Alabama continued to cough, but ignored it as she frantically looked around. Finally seeing Christopher with Adelaide made her tense muscles relax a fraction. He was here. He was safe. Why that meant so much to her, she couldn’t say. Hell, she didn’t even know the man. There was just something about how Christopher talked with her as if he was interested and how he’d treated Adelaide that struck a chord within Alabama.

Something deep inside her that had hoped and prayed for someone to take her side, to protect her from Mama, sat up and took notice of Christopher. He was the kind of man she wanted. He was the kind of man that would look after his woman. Christopher would never let anyone hurt her. She knew firsthand that kind of man didn’t come along every day. Even though he wasn’t hers, she knew the world was a better place because he was in it.

She watched as Adelaide buried her face against Christopher’s throat and wailed. Nastily, Alabama thought if Adelaide had the energy and ability to cry that hard and not cough up a lung, Adelaide was in better shape than most of the people sitting around her, including Christopher. Adelaide should’ve been more interested in how Christopher was than losing her shit.

Alabama watched as Christopher tried to comfort the woman in his arms while attempting to catch his own breath at the same time.

Alabama noticed two EMTs making their way through the people sitting haphazardly around on the grass trying to ascertain who needed help first. Everyone was coughing, but for the most part most people seemed to be all right. When one of the men made his way over to her she quietly and succinctly spoke her concerns to him, while brushing off his questions about her own well-being.

Finally understanding what she wanted, she watched as the EMT left and walked over to Christopher. Seeing he was going to be treated sooner rather than later, Alabama turned her attention toward getting out of there and back to her small apartment. It was a piece of crap, but it was home, and she desperately wanted to go home.

Alabama would figure out what was going on with her job later. The cleaning crew would be the last thing the Wolfe’s would be concerned about right now. She’d wait a bit before contacting them to see what her next steps needed to be. She
needed
that job, but she didn’t want to be selfish when others were hurt and everyone would be concerned about their jobs and livelihoods.

Alabama didn’t look back toward the man she wished was hers. She simply walked away from the chaotic scene. There was no use wishing for something that would never happen. It was what it was. She’d learned her lesson a long time ago. Alabama had to be satisfied with their brief encounter and that Christopher was being cared for.

Abe looked up at the EMT that came toward them. Thank god, the EMT could take over caring for Adelaide and he could get the hell out of there. Abe wanted to find Alabama and thank her. He was surprised when the guy spoke to him specifically and didn’t even look at the semi-hysterical woman trying to bury herself in his arms.

“Sir? I’ve been told you were burned? I’d like to take a look and make sure it’s just superficial.”

“Burned?” Abe was confused. Who said he was burned? Was he hurt and just didn’t realize it?

“Turn around, sir, let’s get this coat off and see how bad it is.”

Abe coughed and let go of Adelaide who was cutting off the circulation in his arm. She resisted, but the EMT firmly instructed her to let go so he could check his back. The coat burned a bit as it slid off his back, but Abe showed no outward sign of discomfort. As far as pain went, it was low, especially compared to some of the injuries he’d received on his missions.

“Okay, it doesn’t look too bad, sir,” the EMT said briskly. “It looks like some of the embers landed on your back while you were getting out of there. I’m assuming you didn’t have this jacket on the entire time? It’s a good thing you put your coat back on, that’s for sure. You would’ve been burned a lot worse if you hadn’t. Look at the back of this.”

Abe looked at the jacket the man held out and was amazed. He hadn’t felt anything hitting his back while he’d been against the wall with Adelaide, adrenaline he supposed. But if Alabama hadn’t had the presence of mind to douse him with water and to give him that coat…Alabama! Where was she? All of a sudden he desperately wanted to find her, to make sure she was all right, to thank her, hell…for all sorts of reasons he didn’t understand.

Abe looked around and didn’t see her anywhere. Did she get out?

“Who did you say told you to check me out?” Abe knew the man hadn’t said, but it had to have been Alabama, no one else would have known he’d been burned. He needed to make sure.

“The lady over there…” The EMT pointed where he’d last seen Alabama and she wasn’t there. “Well, she
was
over there. She was wearing jeans and wasn’t very tall.”

Abe nodded, a little irritated at his less-than-flattering description of the woman he found fascinating and gorgeous. “I know who it was. Thanks, man.”

Abe didn’t notice the snarl on Adelaide’s face as he confirmed Alabama’s presence.

“You know she’s a janitor right?” Adelaide said malevolently, making herself known for the first time since the EMT had joined them. “She’s weird and cleans toilets for a living.”

“
You
know she just saved your life right?” Abe said without missing a beat. “Hell, she saved a
lot
of lives today, including mine. I don’t care if she’s an escaped felon or the queen of fucking England.”

Adelaide just turned her head away and coughed dramatically.

“Come on, let’s go and clean off your back, then you’ll be good to go,” the EMT said uncomfortably, not liking being in the middle of their disagreement.

Abe wanted nothing more than to leave Adelaide sitting on the ground, but he couldn’t. It wouldn’t be right, no matter how upset he was over the whole situation. He helped her up and put his arm around her waist and assisted her to the back of one of the ambulances that was lined up at the curb.

Feeling Adelaide’s thin waist did nothing for Abe anymore. He couldn’t even believe he used to think she was sexy. When he’d first seen her at
Aces
in her little black dress he’d been infatuated. She’d seemed like the perfect woman. Now he knew better. She was mean, and mean trumped looks every day of the week.

Knowing this wasn’t really the place; he couldn’t, and wouldn’t, wait any longer.

“Adelaide, this isn’t how I wanted to do this, but it’s time we moved on. We had a good time together, but I don’t see us going anywhere.”

“You’re dumping me?” Adelaide shrieked not even coughing. Obviously Abe’s shirt had adequately protected her while they were in the fiery hell. “What the hell? I thought you were this great protector, this great Alpha male. But when I’m at my lowest and hurt you’re telling me we’re over? Are you dumping me for the
janitor
?”

When he didn’t say anything but only stared at her with derision, she sneered, “You prick. You’ll regret this.”

“I already do.” Abe walked away shaking his head. He’d never understand women. Never. Walking away, he was already making plans in his head on how to find Alabama. She didn’t know it yet, but she’d be seeing him again very soon. He’d contact Tex if he had to. Tex could find anyone. Tex used to be on a SEAL team, but after losing his leg on a mission he’d moved to Virginia and started his own independent private investigator business.

Tex was still close to all of the team and he’d helped locate Caroline when she’d been kidnapped by terrorists earlier that year. Tex would help him find Alabama, and then Abe could get to work seriously getting to know her.

Abe hadn’t been this excited to get to know a woman in a long time; too long. He couldn’t wait. Alabama wouldn’t know what hit her. She’d be his.

Alabama coughed and watched the news the next night sadly. The anchorman was covering the fire. Apparently one of the cords to a crock pot on the buffet table shorted out and caught the cheap paper tablecloth on fire. Alabama couldn’t help the mean thought that at least her veggies didn’t burn the place down; it was someone’s fancy catered food they’d brought.

By the time someone noticed, the small flame had spread and the curtains were already on fire. Luckily no one was killed, but there were still about a dozen people in the hospital. They were being treated for smoke inhalation and burns. Too many people were trapped trying to shove out the door. The news people had interviewed a few bystanders standing around. Most had said how scared they were and how they thought they were going to die.

Alabama recognized one couple who she’d pointed towards the hall and the door. They’d talked about how the room was dark and scary and even mentioned how someone had pointed them toward the side door so they could get out. They had no idea who it was though. The person interviewing them seemed interested at first, but then someone was wheeled by on a gurney, and apparently that was more interesting than the unhurt bystanders.

A part of Alabama was glad. She had no interest in being interviewed or pointed out. Anyone would have done what she’d done. At least she thought they would. She hated being in the spotlight. But another part of her was a little hurt. If someone had saved
her
life, she sure as hell would’ve made sure she noticed who it was and at the very least thanked them. Oh well.

Alabama’s lungs still hurt, but she honestly couldn’t complain, she was here and alive,
and
she’d helped many others get out. She hadn’t bothered to go to the hospital. Once she saw Christopher was being seen for the burns on his back, she’d just left. Cleaning offices for a living didn’t give her a lot of extra money, and Alabama figured a trip to the hospital and paying a co-pay for a doctor to tell her she was fine wasn’t a good way to spend her hard-earned money.

She snuggled down into the blanket on her couch. The little apartment was all Alabama could afford on her salary. She was saving up her money for a down payment for a house of her own. She didn’t know what house, or where, but she’d do whatever she could to have her very own space. Growing up the way she did made her crave a place of her very own. Her own safe place. Even though she’d made the apartment as cozy as she could, Alabama would never feel safe until she had her own house and her own space.

Her foster homes had never felt safe. Alabama always had to be careful of the other foster kids and even sometimes the parents. Lord knew she never felt safe with her mama. Her current apartment was perfect for now; it was small and cheap and allowed her to save money each month.

Alabama was proud of the amount of money she’d been able to save so far. She was sure some people wouldn’t think it was a lot, but it was a huge deal to her. She scrimped and saved and tried to shop at second-hand stores to save even more. Even this tiny apartment was a conscious effort to be frugal.

Her landlord was a slimy bastard named Bob. Alabama didn’t even know what his last name was. He’d only introduced himself as “Bob” before he listed the rules of his place when she’d first inquired about renting. No pets. No parties. No Subleasing. No smoking. Rent was due on the first every month. No extensions. One month deposit up front. The apartment was partially furnished, but Alabama had bought her own small bed. No way was she sleeping where someone else had done who-knew-what. She’d had to do that throughout her childhood. Alabama swore to herself once she’d graduated from high school and set out on her own that she’d never sleep on a used mattress again. So far, she’d managed it.

The one room apartment Bob advertised was really a misnomer, as the only “room” in the place was the bathroom, but that was okay with her. Alabama lived alone and didn’t really need any more space.

Just as she was nodding off to sleep, there was a knock at the door. Alabama bolted upright. What the hell? No one came to her apartment. She didn’t have any friends. No one ever just dropped in. Was it one of her neighbors? She’d seen the old lady who lived on the same floor as her. They’d smiled at one another, but hadn’t really spoken to each other. That had to be who was at her door.

She looked down at herself. She was wearing sweats and a large T-shirt. She shrugged. It wasn’t as if she needed to impress anyone. It was either her neighbor or someone who was knocking on the wrong door anyway.

Alabama went to the door and cracked it open an inch. Of course Bob hadn’t spent the extra money to install doors with peepholes in them. Cheapskate.             

The absolute last person she expected to see standing outside her door was Christopher. She suddenly realized she didn’t even know his last name. She just stood there like an idiot staring at him through the crack in the door. What the hell was he doing here?

“Hey, Alabama. I wanted to stop by and make sure you were all right.”

After staring at him for a few moments, Alabama shook herself. At the rise of his eyebrows, she bravely ignored her self-imposed no talking rule and couldn’t help but ask, “How did you find me?”

She was amazed to see a rosy hue rise up his face. Holy hell, was he blushing? She’d never in a million years have thought a man like him would blush.

“Yeah, well, I figured since your name was pretty unusual you wouldn’t be too hard to find…and I was right. Did you know you’re the only person in Riverton named Alabama? I was all ready to ask the Wolfe’s about someone who worked for them named ‘Alabama’ when my buddy called back about two point three seconds after I sent him your name and city. You’re apparently really easy to find, probably too easy, we need to talk about that… Anyway, he found you and here I am.”

Alabama could only stare at him in disbelief. Christopher actually tracked her down? Had one of his buddies track her down? Why? If he wanted to thank her he could’ve just called and left a message with the Wolfe’s or something. Alabama had so many things she wanted to ask, but her brain wasn’t cooperating.

“Yeah, so anyway, I did want to come by and thank you and see if you wanted to have a cup of coffee with me sometime.”

When she didn’t say anything in reply Christopher continued as if she’d agreed with him. “Okay, great. So how about I pick you up tomorrow around eleven? We’ll go to that little coffee shop downtown and we’ll chat.” He chuckled at himself in amusement. “Well, maybe I’ll chat and you’ll listen.” He got serious and leaned in. His voice was pitched low and demanding.

“I want to sit down with you and thank you properly for saving my life, and saving countless others as well. I don’t know you, but I want to
know
you. You probably don’t want any thanks, but you’re getting it anyway, at least from me. Will you be here tomorrow when I come to pick you up?”

Alabama nodded immediately. When Christopher lowered his voice like that she couldn’t
not
agree with anything he said. He was right, she wasn’t comfortable with being the center of attention and she didn’t want any thanks really. Alabama was just happy
he
was here and in one piece. She had a lot of things she had to do, the first of which was to contact the Wolfe’s and figure out what she was going to do about her job, but she also wanted to sit down and have a cup of coffee with this man. Alabama just wanted to feel normal for once.

Abe straightened up and held out his hand. “We never really introduced ourselves did we? At least our full names. I’m Christopher Powers. I already told you my friends and teammates call me Abe.” He waited, hoping Alabama would follow his lead.

Alabama looked down to the hand being held out to her. Christopher had well groomed nails and his hand looked strong. How could a hand look strong? She shook her head as if to clear it of her foggy thoughts. She opened the door a bit more and finally tentatively reached her hand to his. “Alabama Smith.”

Abe caught her hand and shook it as she intended, but he then brought it up to his lips and gently kissed the back of it. “I’m honored to make your acquaintance.” Abe couldn’t believe how great her hand felt. Her
hand
for God’s sake. Her nails weren’t painted and he could feel the rough spots on it, obviously from the cleaning she did. But it was soft and felt so dainty enclosed in his. He never wanted to let her go. He wanted to pull her close to him and wrap his arms around her back. He resisted the urge, barely.

Alabama chuckled out loud before she could stifle it. She wasn’t sure why she was laughing. She figured she was laughing at the situation—at the fact that there was a gorgeous man standing on her doorstep kissing her hand. That sort of thing just didn’t happen to her.

“I’ll see you in the morning, Alabama Smith. Sleep well.”

Alabama watched as Christopher backed away from her door. He kept eye contact with her for as long as he could. Finally he turned around and headed down the hallway. Right before he went out of sight he looked back and winked at her. Alabama closed the door in a daze. Oh crap. Did she just agree to a date with the best looking man she’d ever met? What the hell had she done?

Abe couldn’t sleep. He’d risked a lot tracking Alabama down. He usually wasn’t so aggressive. Hell, who was he kidding? He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had to chase a woman. It was pathetic that asking a woman out for coffee was aggressive for him. He’d gotten way too used to women throwing themselves at him. No wonder he was bored with women. He’d gotten complacent. He’d gotten lazy.

Caroline had scolded him for just that earlier that week. She’d hated Adelaide and wasn’t afraid of letting him know.

Alabama was different. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but somehow he knew it. It wasn’t just that she was a bit shy, or that he’d had to track her down. She certainly wasn’t a chatterbox, and he found he liked it. In fact he didn’t think she’d said more than her name the entire time he’d been at her door. But that lack of nervous talking was calming. He didn’t have to pretend to be interested in inane conversation.

Growing up as the only male in a family full of women made solitude hard to come by. He’d never associate “calming” with women, at least he hadn’t before Alabama.

He loved his sisters to death, but they sure could talk. Their family dinners were always full of stories and laughter. He’d had a great childhood. He loved his family. His sisters drove him crazy, but he wouldn’t change anything about them. Susie was the youngest at twenty five. Alicia was the middle child and was twenty eight. Abe was thirty four. Abe figured the six years of age difference between him and Alicia made him the way he was today. He felt it was his responsibility to protect her. He’d spent most of his school years looking out for her and fighting her battles when he could. He’d honed his protective Alpha instincts from an early age and hadn’t looked back.

He didn’t begrudge his sisters or mom anything. Abe loved being the man in the family. He’d never really known his father. Even though Susie was nine years younger than him, his dad hadn’t been around much. There was a reason, but it wasn’t one he liked to think about.

His dad would be around for a while, then he’d be gone for a month or more. When he’d come back his mom hadn’t seemed to care. Abe wasn’t even really sure what he’d done for a living. A part of him felt bad about that.

All he knew was when he was eleven his mom took him aside and told him his dad had passed away. He tried not to think about what his dad had done to his mom…and him. He knew his father’s actions were why he was the way he was today and Abe figured some psychologist would have a field day analyzing him and his protective personality. They’d link it back to his dad, and try to get him to talk about it, but he was who he was and he wasn’t going to change.

Abe had always looked after his family. Family was the most important thing in his life and he’d protect them to the end of his days. Nothing was more important than his sisters and mom. Abe once brought a woman home for a family dinner and at the end of the night knew the relationship was over. His date had been rude and hadn’t veiled her contempt at his mom’s homeliness. He knew he turned sappy when he was around his sisters and mom, but he loved them more than anything and he’d be damned if anyone would feel it was all right to belittle that. He’d dumped her on the way home and wouldn’t listen to her attempts at explaining her words had come out wrong.

He hoped like hell Alabama would get along with his family. It was way too early to be thinking anywhere along those lines, but Abe couldn’t help it. He knew he’d bring her around to meet them before too long. He hated it was a test of sorts, but he was getting old enough now to want what he wanted and the hell with anyone who thought he was inflexible.

Abe was ready to have someone of his own, especially after seeing Caroline and Matthew and how happy they were. He hadn’t even thought about Adelaide being his. He’d known he was biding his time with her. Adelaide was good in bed and had been enough for him. Other than her being catty and pretentious, he hadn’t even known what it was that really bothered him about her or any other relationship he’d been in.

It struck Abe in the middle of that inferno with flames licking at the walls and the air in the room running out—what it was that made Alabama different from any other woman he’d ever dated. Abe’s entire life he’d taken care of others. He didn’t begrudge anyone that, it was the way he was. It was second nature for him to open doors, buckle a woman’s seatbelt, pull out chairs, and basically be courteous and helpful. Abe’s job with the SEALs only reinforced that protectiveness. He was always the one rushing in to save someone else. He performed best on missions where they’d been sent in to save someone’s life or rescue them. It was his job, his duty, and he did it well.