Shelter for Adeline (20 page)

He came over to her and, without a word, took her hand and helped her to her feet, giving the women a chin lift but not wasting any time. He led her to the car and got her settled into the front seat. Then he opened the back door to let Coco jump in.

Turning and waving at the men still on the baseball field, and getting “Laters” and “See yas” in return, he climbed into the driver’s seat.

Crash knew he should probably stop and say thank you to the women for looking after Adeline while he got the car, and for not making her seizure a spectacle, but all he wanted to do was get Adeline back to his house and comfortable. They’d understand though, so he put it out of his mind.

Adeline fell asleep on the way back to his house even though it was only a fifteen minute drive. Crash pulled into his parking space and reached out a hand to smooth back the hair from Adeline’s face. God, she really was beautiful.

He got out silently and went around to the other side of the car. He let Coco out of the backseat and opened Adeline’s door. She’d awakened with the sound of the back door shutting and moved to undo her seat belt.

“I got it, beautiful.”

He reached in and helped Adeline stand, then picked her up. It was the first time he’d carried her, and Crash knew he’d be doing it a lot more. She snuggled into his embrace trustingly, as if she had no doubt she was safe in his arms.

He had to put her down to unlock his front door, but as soon as the door was open, he picked her up again and went straight up the stairs to his bedroom. He gently put her down and kissed her forehead. “I’ll be right back.”

He got some water and brought it back to her. While she sipped, he took off her shoes and laid them on the floor next to the bed. Adeline smiled up at him, eyes heavy.

“Thank you for taking care of me.”

“Always, beautiful. Now nap. I’ll wake you up in about an hour and we’ll eat something, okay?”

“Okay.” She snuggled down into his bed and Crash pulled the comforter up and over her, smiling as she hugged it to her chest. Making a mental note to always keep his house on the chilly side so she could snuggle, he patted the bed, inviting Coco to jump up next to his mistress.

He kissed Adeline once more on the side of her head, but she was already out, breathing deep in the throes of a healing sleep.

Pausing at the doorway, Crash looked back at the woman in his bed. He loved her so much, and vowed to do whatever he needed to do to make her happy, healthy, and safe.

She needed that surgery. It was obvious to him with the number of seizures she’d been having, and he knew it was to her too. They needed to talk about that, and her job, and their future. But it could all wait until she was rested.

Crash closed the door behind him and headed down to the kitchen. She’d be hungry when she woke up. He needed to get on that.

* * *

“
F
eel better
?” Crash asked later that evening. He’d gotten Adeline up and helped her settle on the couch. Then he’d brought in dinner: cheese and beef enchiladas covered in more gooey melted cheese. It was his go-to meal when he was hungry, but didn’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.

As they ate, Adeline said, “I have no idea why Coco alerted you today instead of me. It’s weird. I’m not sure I like it.”

Crash considered his words carefully, then said, “I think maybe he recognizes me as a part of his pack. I know we haven’t spent a ton of time together, but the time we have spent has always been with him too. He’s a smart dog, beautiful.”

“I know,” Adeline said, waving her fork around as she spoke. “But he’s never done that with my sister. Or her husband, or even my parents. And he’s alerted when I’ve been around them, and I’ve had plenty of seizures with them near me.”

“Again, I don’t know for sure. I’m not an expert on this,” Crash told her calmly, “but this was the first time you guys stayed all night here. He has his own bed here. I fed him. I took him out to do his business. I took him out this morning. And don’t get weirded out, but he saw us sleeping together in the same bed. I think he somehow realizes that I’m with you. And since you’re his alpha, I, in turn, am too. When he realized you were going to have a seizure, it was just as easy to come to me as it was to you.”

“Hmmmm.” The sound was neither agreement nor disagreement, but it was obvious by her furrowed brow and the concerned look she was giving her dog that she wasn’t exactly happy about his actions.

“He knew, intuitively, that I’d protect you. That I’d let you know.”

“I guess.”

It was gonna kill him to say it, but he needed to. “Do you want to call a trainer, maybe where he got his certification, and see what they think?”

Adeline put down her fork and leaned on her elbow, which was propped on her knee. “No. I don’t think so. I guess it doesn’t matter if he alerts to you or me when we’re together, as long as you immediately let me know. If he stops alerting to me when you aren’t around, then I’ll get concerned.”

“Adeline,” Crash said sternly, his voice deep and commanding, “look at me.”

He waited until her wide, surprised eyes met his before continuing.

“I don’t think the fact that Coco alerted to me today means he won’t alert to you in the future. He loves you. He adores you. But if it becomes an issue, we’ll deal with it. Consult with a trainer or something. Okay?

She nodded immediately, which made him feel better.

“And so you know, if we’re together and Coco alerts to me instead of you again, there is nothing that I could be doing that would be more important than getting to you to let you know. Nothing. I don’t care what it is. I’ll always drop it and go to you.”

“Thank you,” Adeline said, nodding as she did.

“You done eating?”

“I am.”

Crash didn’t bother taking the dishes to the sink. He took her into his arms, leaned into the corner of the couch, and settled in. “Wanna watch some TV for a while?” At her nod, he turned it on and felt her relax into him as they watched a show on veterinarians.

When the show was over, not wanting to kill the mellow mood but knowing they needed to talk, he said softly, “It took you a while to recover from that today.”

She sighed and tightened her arms around his waist. “Yeah.”

“I’m thinking that isn’t good.”

Adeline merely shook her head.

Crash waited her out.

Finally, she took a deep breath and looked up at him. “I’ll call my doctor soon. I don’t like how tired I’ve been feeling when I come out of the seizures. It didn’t used to be that way. I’d have one then could bounce right back.”

When she didn’t say anything else, Crash murmured, “Let me know when your appointment is, and I’ll go with you.”

“I’m not sure—”

“I know we’ve moved fast,” Crash interrupted, knowing exactly what she was going to say, “but being with you like this feels more right than any other relationship I’ve ever had. I’d like to say that by this time next year we’ll be married, though I have no idea what the future will bring. But I will say that if we
are
married by this time next year, I’d be the fucking happiest man on the planet to be sitting here with you just like this, seeing my ring on your finger, and knowing every time I woke up and every time I went to sleep, you’d be there next to me. I’m just telling you that so you know I’m serious about you, Adeline. Really serious. So if you don’t feel well, or if you have a doctor’s appointment where you might discuss something as important as maybe scheduling a time to have your brain operated on…I’d like to be there to support you, to help you understand any medical terms you might not understand, and so we can comfort each other when it’s over.”

Crash knew he was talking too fast, and was even more aware that Adeline had stiffened in his embrace, but he wanted to clear the air and make sure she knew exactly where he was coming from and what he was feeling. He shifted until he was lying on the cushions, his head on the armrest, and Adeline was lying over him. Hip to hip, belly to belly, and her tits pressing against his chest.

“I realize you’re an adult and that you’ve been taking care of yourself for a long time. But I’m here now. Let me carry some of the burden you’ve struggled with. Let me be the one who holds your hand as you schedule the surgery that can make your life easier. Let
me
be the one who stands by your side and will hold you when you cry, celebrate with you when good things happen, and will shelter you when shit rolls your way.”

He saw the tears in her eyes, and hoped like hell they were the good kind. Raising a hand to tenderly brush them away with his thumb, Crash pressed his lips against hers in a tender, closed-mouth kiss.

“How’d I get lucky enough to find you?” Adeline asked, blinking fast, trying to keep any more tears from falling, and failing. “Seriously. I want to know. Because I’ve been looking a long time. I’d almost given up hope. But then, there you were. Standing next to my table at that restaurant, holding out your hand. I had no idea you were the man I’d searched for so desperately. None. I’m scared, Dean. So scared that this isn’t real. That if I let you in, let you stand next to me, and in front of me, that you’ll eventually decide I’m not enough. That you want someone without medical issues. I…I can’t let you in and have you step away when I’ve already come to rely on you being there.”

Crash felt his own eyes well up with tears and didn’t even try to hide them from Adeline. His voice cracked with emotion as he said simply, “You’re enough, beautiful. I swear to Christ, you’re enough.”

Adeline nodded once, sucked both lips in, licked them, then said simply, “I’ll let you know when my appointment is.”

“Thank you,” Crash whispered, then put his hand on the back of her head and tugged her down. She nestled into him, laying her head on his shoulder, and bringing her hand up to rest on his chest next to her face.

They were quiet for a long moment before Crash took a deep breath and cleared his throat. “Now that we’ve settled that…tell me about the phone interviews you have next week. The sooner you get away from your asshole boss, the happier we’ll both be.”

Adeline lifted her head far enough to kiss his jaw, then laid it back down.

They spent the rest of the evening discussing her upcoming interviews. Then, after she reassured him for the tenth time that she felt fine, Crash took her upstairs and showed her the difference between making love and fucking.

An hour later, when Adeline was sound asleep in his arms and Coco was snoring in his bed on the floor against the wall, Crash plotted on how soon was too soon to convince Adeline to move in with him. He couldn’t imagine not falling asleep with her weight against him, her naked body soft and warm against his own. Couldn’t imagine not waking up to her smiling face and easygoing nature.

* * *

W
hy wouldn’t
she say yes?

It was food.

She needed to say yes.

He couldn’t move on if she didn’t.

The man twitched and grabbed his head. No, the other one wasn’t allowed to come back yet. He had to think. Had to figure this out.

Besides, the other one was mean. He still yelled. It needed to stop.

She’s mine.

She smiled at me.

She wants me but is playing hard-to-get.

Soon. When we’re alone she’ll say yes and we can move forward.

The man lay down on the bed and felt the other one taking over. It was okay. His time with her was coming. The other one wanted to be in charge, but soon he’d know who was really in control.

“
H
ave
you heard anything about your interview?”

Adeline sighed and shook her head. “No, Dean. And I’ll tell you the second I do. Promise.” She knew he was on edge. A lot had happened since the softball game.

She’d had the two phone interviews, and gotten called back for an in-person meeting for one of them. That had taken place four days ago. She’d tried to explain to Dean that it could be weeks before a decision was made, it all depended on the organization’s processes and who was interviewing, but he wanted her away from Douglas Hill, and it was killing him every day she wasn’t.

Douglas had gotten more unstable. One second he’d be yelling at everyone, telling them they were worthless and that he was going to fire them all, and the next he was smiling and acting as if he hadn’t just lost his shit.

He hadn’t stopped asking her out, using the pretense that they needed to talk about work, but at least he hadn’t given her any problems when she turned him down. But…there were times when Adeline thought he was following her. Every time she left the office, she’d see him.

When she used the restroom, he’d be drinking from the water fountain across the hall. When she went to lunch, Douglas just happened to be leaving his office at the same time. In the evening, when she was being escorted to her car, she’d see him sitting in his own vehicle. Sometimes he waved at her, other times he didn’t. Adeline hadn’t ever seen him driving behind her when she left, but the feeling of being watched was always there.

She’d told Dean most of what was going on, but some things, she hadn’t bothered. She couldn’t prove he was purposely following her around. And being a weirdo wasn’t exactly a punishable offense.

“You’re still going to the conference, aren’t you?” Dean asked warily, pacing in agitation in front of her.

As she considered what to tell Dean about her boss, she began to think about their relationship. Somehow Adeline had sorta moved in with Dean. It had just kind of happened. When he was on shift, she went back to her place, but every night he’d been off work, he’d asked her to stay with him. It didn’t matter if it was a weekend or a work night for her, he wanted her with him.

And since she wanted the same thing, it wasn’t a hard sacrifice to make. So now she had both professional work clothes and lay-around-the-house clothes at his house, in his drawers and closet. Her shampoo and conditioner were in his shower, and she had a permanent toothbrush and tube of toothpaste sitting alongside his on the bathroom counter.

The first few times she’d carried an overnight bag, and he’d suggested, completely reasonably, that it would be easier if she just “brought some shit over” and kept it there. So she had.

Now she and Coco spent as much time at his place as they did at hers. And she liked it. A lot. Living with Dean had made them even closer. He’d realized that she was an early-bird. Usually rising, even on the weekends, before seven. Sometimes before six. And Adeline continued to find little things that bugged her, but at the same time they made him less “perfect,” which weirdly made her like him even more.

Dean hated doing dishes. Would let them sit around—on the table, on the counter, in the sink—until he absolutely had to wash them because there were no more plates, bowls, or silverware clean. He said that because they always did the dishes immediately at the station, it was a relief not to feel the pressure to do that at home.

He also tended to wear a lot of clothes. Adeline could wear the same thing all weekend and be totally fine, it wasn’t like she was getting them dirty, but somehow Dean came home from the station after every shift with a full bag of dirty clothes. Even if he only worked three days, he’d have four pairs of jeans, two pairs of cargo pants, eight T-shirts, and around eight pairs of socks and underwear that needed to be cleaned. She realized that if he had a call and got dirty or sweaty, he’d need to change clothes, but he brought as many clothes home to be washed when he was extremely busy at work as he did when he admitted they’d only had a medical call or two.

Ultimately, however, it didn’t matter. All the good stuff about Dean way overrode the small annoyances about his clothes and the dishes.

The other thing that had happened was that Adeline had made an appointment with her doctor and Dean had gone with her.

The doctor hadn’t been pleased to hear that her seizures were increasing in frequency, and about how it was taking longer and longer for her to come back to herself when they were over.

After much discussion—between Adeline and her doctor, her doctor and Dean, Dean and Adeline, and Adeline with her sister and parents—the agreement to have the surgery had been made.

It was hard trying to come up with the best time for the surgery to be scheduled. If she had it immediately, and if she did get the job with a new company, she’d have to take time off before she even really got started, which wasn’t the way she wanted to begin her employment with a new boss and coworkers. But on the other hand, if the surgery was successful, then she’d most likely have to take less time off and there would hopefully be fewer seizures to work around, both of which were good things for her and for whatever company chose to hire her.

She was thinking to schedule it a month or two after the marketing conference. Adeline hadn’t told Douglas that she needed to take time off for the surgery yet, but was planning on doing so as soon as she had a firm date. Her boss knew she had a medical issue, of course he did, having Coco in the office was a clear indicator, but he hadn’t ever asked what her issue was, and she hadn’t volunteered that information. She was protected under federal laws and didn’t have to disclose the nature of her disability to anyone other than human resources when she filed the appropriate paperwork.

The last crazy thing that had happened was that Beth and Adeline had grown close. Beth had called after the softball game to check on her and they’d ended up talking for close to an hour. Beth was happy that there was another girlfriend to a firefighter and they spent a lot of time chatting, both electronically and on the phone, when their boyfriends were on shift.

She and Dean had dinner with Adeline’s parents a few times, and Matt and Alicia had come over for dinner at Dean’s condo one night as well.

Basically, all was well in Adeline’s life. Except for the upcoming surgery, increased seizures, and the little fact that Dean was not happy about the conference she was scheduled to attend with her asshole boss. He’d planned to go with her, but his shift at the fire station got switched and he wasn’t able to get off for the entire length of the conference.

“Yes, I’m going to the conference,” Adeline told Dean. She elaborated, telling him things he already knew, but apparently wanted confirmation on. “I leave Sunday morning and I’ll be back next Wednesday night.”

“I really wish you weren’t driving up there with him,” Dean said, every muscle in his body tight with his displeasure.

Adeline sighed. “I know. Me too. I have zero desire to spend five hours in a car with him.”

“He still hitting on you?”

He was. She tried to downplay it so Dean wouldn’t lose his shit. “Not really.”

“Which means he is. Fuck.” He came around to where Adeline was sitting and crouched down next to her chair. “If I arranged for alternate transportation for you to get up to Dallas, would you take it?”

Adeline eyed her boyfriend. They’d talked about this in the past. She wasn’t comfortable driving herself, her seizures had become too unpredictable for that, even with Coco’s alerts, and the stress of driving would most likely ensure that she wouldn’t make the entire trip without one.

Douglas was driving up to Dallas, and had indicated he expected her to go with him, but neither Adeline nor Dean wanted her to have a seizure when she was with him. She’d be vulnerable during and after, and Adeline really didn’t want her boss seeing her like that anyway.

But Dallas was five hours away. If someone drove her, it would be a ten-hour round-trip for them. Not exactly something you could really ask someone to do and not feel like an asshole about. Alicia and Matt were out of town and Adeline didn’t want to ask her parents.

Dean was working until Monday at noon, and he planned on coming up after he got off shift, so he wasn’t available to drive her up either.

“What kind of arrangements?” Adeline asked. “We’ve been over this for the most part already.”

“If I arranged for alternate transportation for you to get up there, would you take it?” Dean repeated firmly.

“Yes, Dean. Of course I would,” Adeline told him in exasperation. “You know I have no desire to be stuck in a car with Douglas for five hours.”

“Then I’ll arrange it.”

Adeline smiled then and scooted her chair back. Dean was still crouched next to her, but she held out her hand to him when she stood. She had no idea what Dean would do about the transportation issue, but if he said he’d take care of it, he would. The relief she felt was immense. “Now that that’s settled…want to take a bath with me?”

Dean smiled, huge. “Is that even a question?”

“Well, I’ve been drooling over that fantastic tub ever since the moment I saw it.” The bathtub was huge. Seriously massive. It looked like it could easily hold four people. There were jets all around it and a large window next to it. The window would’ve been weird, but it faced west. There was some sort of forest or nature preserve behind his place because there were no buildings, only trees.

The condo wasn’t too impressive other than the master bathroom. The people who lived there before him must’ve been total bathroom snobs, because while the kitchen was nice, the bathroom was
nice
.

Dean had said he only owned a condo rather than a house because at the time he’d bought it, he didn’t want to deal with the upkeep needed when owning a house. The management company mowed the grass and dealt with the fire ants.

He was a typical guy when it came to his place. Before Adeline had practically moved in, the living area consisted of a large television mounted on the wall with a complicated-looking stereo system and cable box hooked up to it. A sliding glass door led out to a small fenced yard area, which was perfect for Coco to do his business. There was a dark couch, a recliner, and a low coffee table. A small half bath and the functional, but not overly impressive, kitchen completed the downstairs area. It was pretty bare bones and efficient.

Upstairs there were two guestrooms, a guest bath, and the master bedroom. The master had Dean’s king-size bed—no headboard—a dresser, a bedside table, and another large TV. All in all, it was perfectly bland. Until the bathroom.

Besides the amazing tub, there was a long counter with two sinks. There were large mirrors over each sink with plenty of space between them for stuff. Tile floor, alcove with a toilet, and a separate shower with two showerheads rounded it out.

Over time, Dean had begun to pick up small things to brighten up his condo when they shopped together. The first time they’d been out running errands together, he’d stopped at Bed Bath & Beyond, saying he had to pick something up.

He’d asked her opinion on comforters and sheets and even towels, and had bought every single item that Adeline had said looked nice.

It didn’t stop there. Over the weeks he’d acquired, both from shopping and from Adeline bringing them over from her house, brightly colored pillows, throw blankets, area rugs, picture frames—which Adeline helped him fill with pictures of his sister, parents, and of the two of them—and even a couple pictures for the walls.

His place now looked lived in, comfortable…and perhaps most importantly to Adeline, homey.

“I’ll take care of Coco,” Dean told her, lust clear in his eyes as they roamed up and down her body. “You go start the bath.”

“I kinda wanted to try that new bath bomb I got the other day…but it smells a bit girly,” Adeline warned him.

“Don’t care,” was Dean’s response.

“But you have to work tomorrow. You might work out and start sweating and then the guys’ll make fun of you for smelling like oranges.”

Dean leaned in and lifted Adeline’s chin. He kissed her hard, deep, and way too quickly before lifting his head. “I could smell like roses and I still wouldn’t give a shit. Wanna know why?”

“Why?” Adeline asked, breathlessly.

“Because it means I got that way by sharing a bath with my girlfriend. And to share a bath, we both had to be naked. And when we’re naked, good things happen. And every single one of my friends knows exactly what it means when I come into the station smelling like girly orange, and they might not say it, but they’re equally jealous as hell and happy as fuck for me. So yeah, bomb the hell out of the water, beautiful. Bring it.”

Adeline beamed from ear to ear. God, she loved this man.

She froze.
Wait, what?

“What was that thought?” Dean asked, his brow furrowing.

“Uh…I just…” Adeline looked anywhere but at Dean. Did she want to do this now?

If not, when?

Dean looked over at Coco who was sleeping in his fluffy bed in front of the TV. On his back, legs splayed, totally unconcerned and not at all giving any indication that he was about to alert.

“I was thinking about how much I loved that you didn’t care that the guys at the station knew you’d spent the night with me, and how much I liked the thought of you smelling like me, then I thought about how much I just love you.” Adeline blurted it out, breathing fast and still not looking Dean in the eye. She did. She loved him. Totally loved him. And figured he should know.

“Change of plans. We’ll both let Coco out, then we’ll go up together to start the bath.”

Adeline blinked up at Dean. Well, okay. That wasn’t quite the response she’d hoped for. “Uh…all right.”

He leaned in, wrapping one of his large arms around her waist and plastering her to his chest, then palming the side of her face with his hand tenderly. “If you think for one second I’m gonna let the love of my life walk up the stairs away from me after she tells me she loves me for the first time, you’re out of your mind. I want you right here. In my arms. Next to me. I can’t bear to let you out of my sight for even the couple of minutes it’ll take for Coco to take care of business and to get back upstairs.”