The Officer Breaks the Rules (6 page)

She stared at the clock, calculated how long it would take her to grab a shower and
get dressed, and reached for her cell phone on the nightstand.

“Hey, Veronica. It’s Madison.”

“Hello,” Veronica’s smooth, cultured voice answered. “How are you?”

Madison smiled. Veronica always sounded so proper at first, like she’d been raised
by nuns in a convent. Luckily she loosened up as conversations went on. “I’m free
for the day and I don’t want to spend it alone. Wanna grab some lunch?”

“Yes!” Veronica squealed, then coughed. “I’m sorry. Yeah. That would be wonderful.”

“Cool. I’ll pick you up in forty-five minutes, okay?”

Veronica agreed and they hung up. Madison trudged out of bed—the payment for making
the phone call—and snatched a towel from the cupboard before turning the water on
ultra hot.

An hour later, she sat with Veronica in a local bistro, ordering a diet soda and watching
as her friend ordered a smoothie with glee.

“It’s just crushed ice and fruit stuff,” Madison commented as Veronica handed her
menu back to the server.

“But they’re delicious.” Veronica closed her eyes as if already savoring the flavors.
“I can’t believe I missed out on these for so long.”

“Neither can I,” Madison murmured. “Ready to spill your beans yet?”

Her friend’s eyes snapped open like window shades pulled too hard. “What beans?”

Madison laughed. “Your backstory. Everyone’s got one. Yours is pretty unknown. You
know, where you grew up, what you did before you got here, your parents, siblings.”

“Only child,” Veronica said, eyes growing distant, as if she lost where she was in
the conversation. “I’m an only child. No brothers or sisters.”

Madison watched her friend for a moment, then sat back in her chair. “Normally I’d
joke and say you could have mine, but even when my brother’s a pain in the ass, I
still love him. I take it you wished you had one or two?”

“Oh, I would have loved a dozen siblings. But that just wasn’t in the cards.” Veronica
graced their server with a sunny smile as he set the smoothie in a parfait glass in
front of her. “Thank you so much. This looks great.”

Madison nodded as her own soda was placed in front. She toyed with the straw, waiting
for Veronica to go on, elaborate more. But she didn’t. “So it was just you and your
folks?”

“Yes, just us three.”

Awkward silence.

Madison tried again. “Where did you grow up?”

“We moved around quite a lot. This really is very good. Would you like a sip?” Veronica
held the glass out in offering, eyes silently pleading for the conversation to end.

“I’m good, thanks.”
And
that
brings
us
to
the
end
of
the
fishing
expedition. For the day, anyway.
“I can relate to the moving part. Thanks to Dad being in the Marines, we moved around
a ton. Every few years, a new base. Or a new country.”

“Were you lonely?”

“Nah. I mean, I had Tim no matter where we were. And as much as I give him crap about
being annoying—mostly because he is—he’s a good brother too. When we moved to an area
where there weren’t many kids, he didn’t ditch me. He let me hang out with him and
his friends, even though they were older and I’m sure I slowed them down.” Madison
smiled at the memory of a young Tim lecturing her all the way to the park about not
being a dork or a dweeb or embarrassing him. And then kicking the ass of another boy
who dared call her a dork himself. Name-calling was a right and privilege reserved
for siblings.

“And your father, is he the reason you decided to join the military?”

“Ha!” Madison laughed, then laughed harder and doubled over, clutching her stomach,
letting the chuckles roll out unchecked.

Veronica quickly grabbed her soda and moved it to the side. “Are you okay? Because
if you are, people are staring.”

“Oh my… Oh my God. Ha. Whew.” Madison wiped her eyes and straightened. “Sorry. That
just hit me as so funny. Somewhere across America, wherever my parents are on their
road trip of a lifetime, my dad just got a huge pain in his side and he doesn’t know
why. No, he wasn’t the reason. For Tim, I’m sure the legacy played a big part. But
he had his own desires, and the military was a good fit for him, with or without Dad’s
experience.”

She traced a fingertip over the glass sweating on the table, drawing a pattern in
the drops of water. “I wanted to be a nurse, for sure. I went to college. Did my thing.
Knew I would walk away with student loans and hated that thought. So I figured, hey,
why not do Navy ROTC? Get a few years of experience and then get out, take my degree,
and live where I wanted to as a civilian.”

“I’m sorry, I am a little confused.” Veronica held up her hands in question. “Why
not the Marines? Why Navy?”

Madison smiled. “Ah, there’s the wrench, isn’t it? The Marine Corps doesn’t have medical
personnel. All medical staff are Navy.”

Veronica looked confused again, which Madison couldn’t blame her. “I don’t understand.
Why?”

“Long story short, the Marines are a department of the Navy.” Madison lowered her
voice and leaned in, grabbing her drink back as she did. “But don’t say that to a
Marine. It’s true, but they’ll hate hearing it.” And she gave her friend a wink.

Veronica nodded, but Madison could tell she was still confused.

“Anyway, despite his bluster and grief he gives me over being in the Navy, Dad’s still
proud. He knows I’m doing what I love, and that matters most with my parents.”

A shadow crossed over Veronica’s face, but her tone of voice didn’t change when she
asked, “And you’ll be getting out soon, right?”

“Nope. That’s the thing. I thought it would be a good way to get some experience and
have college paid for. But now that I’m in, I love it.” She shrugged. What could a
girl do? “I love the Navy. I have no plans to leave.”

“And the thought of seeing action doesn’t frighten you?”

Madison thought about that for a moment, then waited while their server placed lunch
in front of them. She cut into her quesadilla, watched steam rise out, and put her
knife down to let it cool. “I think I’d be a fool to say that the thought of action
doesn’t worry me. Not being afraid doesn’t make you brave. Having no fear makes you
foolish, in my book, if there’s a real threat. But it’s accepting and recognizing
the fear and doing something to work around it.” She picked up one of the tortilla
wedges and pointed it at Veronica. “That’s bravery. So says my father, anyway.”

Veronica sighed and stabbed a piece of chicken in her salad. “You make it sound so…
easy. Dwayne just made it sound like a big game. Though, now that I think about it,
that was probably his way of coping.”

“Dwayne?” Madison’s eyes shot over to her. “When did you meet him? Wasn’t he already
deployed when you got here?”

“He was.” She was staring at her salad, but Madison would have sworn the other woman
blushed a little. Though it was hard to tell, since she was so shy, what the rising
color was in response to. “He and I actually crossed paths over Skype the other day.
I finished up with my aunt and uncle, and he called in to see if Tim or Skye were
home. I was the only one there, so he got me instead.”

Madison nodded. “And you guys talked?”

“Just a little. I know I wasn’t who he’d hoped to reach so I didn’t want to take up
much of his time.”

Madison laughed at that. “I’m sure he wasn’t at all displeased with having someone—anyone—to
talk to. You probably made his day. Dwayne’s a social creature.”

“I could tell.” Veronica went back to her salad.

Madison dug in to her quesadilla. After polishing off a wedge, she asked, “Are you
ready to move this weekend?”

Veronica’s eyes lit up like a plugged-in Christmas tree. “Oh, yes! All my things are
in boxes. I mean, it’s not much. But the furniture is in Tim and Skye’s garage and
it’s all ready to be assembled. I’m so glad Jeremy could help.”

Madison set down her Diet Coke, glad she hadn’t taken a sip yet. Otherwise, she would
have choked and made an ass out of herself. “Why is Jeremy coming over to help?” That
wasn’t in the plans. She had no clue yet what to do with him. Too soon!

Veronica shrugged. “Tim was called into the field for the week, so he asked if Jeremy
would mind terribly coming over to set up the furniture. Tim said he knew I was looking
forward to the move, and he didn’t want to hold things up.” She smiled so widely,
Madison did her best to fight off the massive bad mood that threatened to take over
lunch.

It was important to her friend, and so she would be happy for her. She could manage
that much. It wouldn’t kill her to figure out a plan of action in a few days. Just
like nursing, you tackled one issue at a time.

“This really is a lovely smoothie.” Veronica sighed. “Are you sure you don’t want
a sip?”

“Does it have any rum?” Madison asked, eyeing it hopefully.

Veronica laughed, as if that was the best joke she’d ever heard. “Of course not!”

“Now that’s too damn bad.”

Matthew bent over to grab extra supplies from the lower cabinet, his scrubs lifting
up his back to reveal a few inches of tan skin. Madison slapped a hand over his back
with a loud snap that had him straightening and jumping a few feet.

“What the… ah. Madison. Shoulda known it was you,” he said with a grin as he reached
out to pinch her arm.

Madison ducked away just in time. “You need to keep your clothes on. Or wear something
under that scrub shirt.”

“Aw, look. If you can’t resist me and my sexy body…” Matthew wiggled his eyebrows
at her in a comical way and flexed one of his rather impressive biceps at her. “I
know this is just a temptation too sweet for the ladies.”

“Uh-huh.” She slammed the top cabinet shut and reached in a drawer for packs of empty
syringes. “Too bad you aren’t out for the ladies.”

“Well.” He winked at her and pushed the cart they were loading with supplies to refill
after their shift closer. “The guys don’t mind it either.”

She laughed, glad he was starting to feel more comfortable mentioning it, even in
jest. Though he was a civilian, not a military member, and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was
a thing of the past, Matthew had always been of the mind to keep it all to himself.
He felt as if his job depended on him being closeted rather than out. Madison was
one of the few people he let know.

She could understand the hesitation on his part, though she didn’t agree with how
strict he felt he needed to be. But it was his choice, not hers, who he shared the
info with. So she kept it to herself.

“So, how is road rash man?”

“Hmm?” She counted the gauze pad packets. “We’re a few short on these. Remind me to
make a note on inventory.”

“Sure. And don’t stall. The hottie from the other day. The motorcycle Marine with
the bad case of ass-meets-asphalt? Jeremy something. I thought you two knew each other.”

“Oh, he’s fine, just… wait.” She spun slowly on her heels to stare at Matthew’s back.
“How did you know we knew each other?”

He glanced over her shoulder, his sarcastic face obvious even in the low light of
the supply closet. “Come on, Mad. You walked out of that exam room like your scrubs
were on fire. Plus, you’ve mentioned his name like a billion times since we first
met. Hard not to remember. I knew something was up.”

“I have not mentioned him a billion times.” She paused a moment, hand hovering over
a pile of freshly laundered gowns, mind rewinding over the past year. “Have I?”

“Uh-huh. You have,” Matthew answered cheerfully. “It was always in passing, always
a simple
Jeremy
this
or
Jeremy
said
that
. I doubt anyone else would have noticed. But as your official not-so-stereotypical
gay best friend, it’s my duty to tell you that you were a tad obsessive about it.
In a cute way,” he hurried to add before she clocked him one.

Madison huffed. “See if I ever listen to you obsess over your latest crush again.”
But though her voice jested, her mind whirled. She mentioned Jeremy, subconsciously,
more often than she could remember. Damn. It was worse than she thought.

“So what are you doing about it?”

“Doing?”

Matthew checked the door, made sure it was closed, then hopped up on the counter.
“Yeah, hi. Hot guy, single, and you’re semi-obsessed. So what’s the plan?”

“Not obsessed,” she murmured, mostly out of habit to deny, deny, deny. “But there’s
a plan.”

“Yes. I knew it. That’s my girl. Spill.”

The door swung open, shining light on the dim room like a floodlight in a police raid.
Nurse Henley, one of the supervising floor nurses, poked her head in, lips pursing
in disapproval.

“You two shouldn’t be in here with the door closed for so long. People are gonna talk,”
she said.

“Talk?” Madison asked innocently, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing.
“What do you mean?”

Nurse Henley gave her the beady eye, then Matthew, who slowly slithered down to the
floor from the countertop and began recounting the sterile cup packs. “No hanky-panky
in the supply closet. You wanna do something dirty, you take it home.” With that short—and
completely unnecessary—lecture complete, she let the door swing shut behind her.

Madison and Matthew waited to the count of ten by silent agreement, then burst out
laughing.

“That never gets old,” she said, wiping her eyes. “Do you think everyone in this place
just assumes we’re secretly humping in every dark corner?”

Matthew straightened from holding his gut with laughter. “You know, if I had to choose
a beard, you’d be my number one pick.”

“Aw, that’s sweet.” She gave him the finger and started counting all over, having
lost her place.

“Well, tell me. Wouldn’t you use me?”

Madison didn’t look up from her counting. “For what?”

“A beard.”

“I’m straight.”

“Not the point. It’s hypothetical.”

Madison sighed and stretched her neck, realizing she lost count again. “Fine. In theory
if I needed a beard for something…” She trailed off as her mind drifted into plan-making
mode.

“For something,” Matthew prompted.

“Shh,” she shushed him, staring blankly at the wall next to the door.

A minute passed, then two. And then she smiled, a large smile. “You know… I might
need a beard after all.”

One of Matthew’s brows rose. “Going girl on us, are we?”

She snorted. “Not even close. No offense.”

“None taken. I don’t wanna go girl either.”

“Ha. Clever. But no. I might borrow you and your… muscles. Just for a little bit,
if you’re not opposed.”

He shrugged a shoulder. “What for?”

Madison headed for the door, cart trailing behind her. “Are you free on Saturday?
I’ve got a friend who needs help putting together some furniture.”

***

Skye bound in to Madison’s apartment, arms full of bags. “I’m sorry I’m so late!”

Madison just laughed. As usual, her sister-in-law was moving to her own schedule of
life. “It’s fine. Jeremy just got here a few minutes ago. Veronica’s in the bedroom
with him, helping him figure out where the best place for all the furniture is before
they start building. Which I think takes some of the fun out of it, but they didn’t
ask me.”

“Oh. Good.” Skye let the bags drop to the floor where she stood. “I was running a
few minutes behind from my shift at work, but then I realized I hadn’t gotten her
anything as a housewarming gift.”

“The house is already warm. I’ve lived here for months,” Madison pointed out as she
started to dig through the bags.

“You have, but she hasn’t. I thought just a token or two would be a good sign of support,
now that she has her own place—so to speak.”

“Thoughtful, anyway.” That was Skye. Always looking out for others.

“Is Veronica okay back there with Jeremy?”

Madison glanced up at Skye, confused about the worried tone in her friend’s voice.
“I assume so, since she was the one who suggested he help her figure out the placement
before he set the stuff up. Why?”

Skye waved it off, as if she hadn’t just asked a strange question. “No reason. I just
thought since they hadn’t been around each other as often, she might be nervous.”
When Madison cocked a brow at her, she added, “Because she’s so shy.”

“Hmm.” Madison moved some of the bags to the couch to clear the path for when they
brought over boxes later. “I don’t know if she’s shy so much as just unsure. I think
sometimes I don’t give her enough credit. She’s soft-spoken, but she’s no pushover.”

Skye thought it over for a moment. “You’re right. I need to stop playing mother hen.
She’s a big girl.”

Veronica walked in at that moment. “Do you want to come see the placement, Madison?
I told Jeremy to wait until you gave the okay to set it all up.”

Madison blew out a breath and shoved a strand of hair behind her ear. “Sweetie, we’ve
been over this. It’s your apartment too now. So you don’t need me to give you the
okay before you go ahead and pick where your furniture goes in your own bedroom.”

Veronica’s eyes went a little dreamy. Madison imagined some women might look that
way when they were thinking of their wedding day, or staring at their newborn baby.
For Veronica, all it took was a room of her own. Very strange. And a little sad, though
Madison struggled not to think of it that way.

“Well, I’d like your input anyway, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure. Why the hell not?” She dusted off her hands on her jeans and headed back to
the bedroom where Jeremy was surrounded by posts and metal framing and little bags
of screws. The furniture, a nice oak color, was laying in pieces on top of the cardboard
boxes they were packed in. And teeny tiny little white flecks that flaked off of the
Styrofoam padding for the furniture were currently littering the carpet. Damn. She’d
have to get the vacuum out later. She hated vacuuming.

No, she wouldn’t. This was Veronica’s room now. She smiled slowly, positively gleeful
that she was now responsible for cleaning much less square footage.

“Wow, looks like the IKEA fairy landed.”

Jeremy huffed out a laugh. “Yeah. She’s got a lot of stuff. I wasn’t sure it’d all
fit, actually.”

“Oh.” Veronica’s face fell. “Do you think it won’t? Well, if it’s not—”

“I was kidding.” Jeremy gave Veronica a gentle smile. “Of course it’ll all fit. Remember?
We just measured it. You picked great spots.”

Veronica melted a little at that. Not in the
hot
guy
complimented
me, I’m so into him
sort of way, but more like,
I
don’t hear compliments far enough in my life
sort of way. Madison felt that same wave of sadness curl up her throat, but she battled
it back down. There was a positive side to this… Jeremy’s soft treatment and understanding.

“Thanks. You’ve been working so hard at this. I’ll get you a bottle of water. You
want a bottle of water, right? How about something to eat, like a granola bar? Or
a bowl of cereal? I can’t cook well, but I could make you an omelet.”

Madison watched from another angle as Jeremy reached behind him nonchalantly and rolled
the almost-full bottle of water sitting behind him under a piece of paper. “You know,
a bottle of water would be fantastic. I’d appreciate that.”

Eager to help, Veronica scooted out of the way, calling, “Be right back!” over her
shoulder.

Madison smiled a little to herself.

Jeremy cocked his head to the side. “What’s so amusing?”

She held up three fingers and ticked them down one by one. “Cue the blowup in three…
two… one…”

“
Bottled
water?
What in the world does she have bottled water in here for?” Skye’s voice was clear
as day all the way from the kitchen as she huffed and started lecturing Veronica on
the evils of plastic.

Jeremy gave her a grin. “Looks like you’re busted.”

“It happens. I forgot she was coming over or I would have put out the filter pitcher.
I’ll get the lecture later, for which I will appear duly chastised. And then we both
walk away knowing I’ll end up doing what I want to anyway and we’ll be repeating the
process in another month. At least I recycle.” She grinned when Jeremy chuckled, then
toed a bag of screws to the side. “This looks like the world’s most annoying craft
project. Need any help?”

“Yeah, if you don’t mind.” Jeremy patted the carpet by him and she sat down, legs
crossed beneath her. “Veronica’s a sweetheart, but she’s really not much help with
this. Too nervous, her hands shake. Not that it’s rocket science, but a second pair
of hands to hold stuff steady is always welcome. Plus, my arms are getting tired.
One piece of furniture is one thing. But an entire bedroom set, damn.”

“No problem. Steady hands, aye.”

He laughed and bumped her shoulder with his, then went back to reading the instructions.

She resisted the urge to glance over his shoulder, using the guise of checking the
directions for a chance to press her body against his. Not in her plan. Not today.

Jeremy’s voice cut through her mental scheming. He held the instructions out, turning
them one way and another, as if not sure he was even looking at them right side up.
“Okay, grab post A and slide it around so it’s ready for screw three and the spring
thing to connect it to post F.”

Madison stared at the available pieces of wood and metal. “That wasn’t English.”

“It was IKEA English. Which is recognized in at least twenty states.” Jeremy reached
over her lap and grabbed a mini wrenchlike object, his arm brushing against her breasts
as he pulled back.

Madison’s nipples hardened automatically, as they usually did when he touched her.
Jeremy, on the other hand, didn’t even seem to realize they’d touched, let alone where.
He had eyes for IKEA only.

The furniture floozy.

There was a knock at the door, and Madison was reminded of her master plan. Or, well,
at least the next step of the ever-evolving master plan. Though, now that Matthew
was there, she almost regretted having started it. No going back now, though.

She heard Skye’s confused greeting, then Matthew’s more lively hello.

Jeremy cocked his head to one side. “Who’s that?”

“Oh, I invited another friend over. Wasn’t sure how involved this process might get.
Thought the help might be welcome,” she said, like it was no big deal.

In theory, it wasn’t.

In practice, it was a big deal. A big fucking deal.

Suddenly, she second-guessed her choice of involving Matthew in the plan. He’d agreed
to be a willing participant, so it wasn’t as if she tricked him into coming. But still…

As Matthew’s obviously male voice grew louder, following Skye down the hallway toward
the bedroom, Jeremy’s eyes shifted a little. “Friend, huh?”

“Yup. Guy I work with at the hospital. He’s great; you’ll like him.” All true. She
was positive that Matthew and Jeremy would be great friends, if they met under the
right circumstances.