“Did Raya give you any trouble?” Hannah asked.
“No, she never gives me trouble. She has been talking about how the two of you are going to get married and how happy she’ll be once you’re all a family.”
A terrorized look crossed Hannah’s face. “She has such a vivid imagination.”
“Well, I need to go. My show is going to be on the television in about ten minutes. That gives me enough time to whip up a snack and get settled.” She walked to the door, pulled it open and turned. “Have a pleasant stay Mr. Campbell.”
“I will. Thank you.”
He heard Hannah release a heavy sigh when the door closed. “Nice lady,” he said trying to lighten the moment.
“She’s very nice and the only person in the building who knows sign. Unfortunately she’s also the building gossip. Don’t be surprised if by tomorrow night wedding gifts start showing up.”
“Oh come on, it can’t be that bad.”
Hannah hustled Raya into the kitchen and settled her into a chair. “Oh yes it is,” she said grabbing the milk carton from the fridge. “A few weeks ago Betsy down the hall had a fight with her boyfriend.” She poured a glass of milk and placed it front of a grinning Raya. “Mrs. Romig heard it and had the whole building thinking the man beat poor Betsy to a pulp.” As she spoke she pulled a plate from the cupboard, returned to the refrigerator and gathered a slice of cheese and some grapes, placed them on the plate and shoved it in front of Raya.
“Well let me tell you Betsy was so upset she marched down to Mrs. Romig’s apartment and gave her a piece of her mind—actually told her to start minding her own business. And then Betsy picked up a vase and tossed the flowers and the water in Mrs. Romig’s face. It was ugly.”
Boomer looked over at Raya who was happily munching on grapes. “I’ve never minded what people think.”
“Generally I don’t either. In fact I’ve always danced to my own song and if others don’t like it too damn bad,” she said leaning against the counter and crossing her arms. “But it isn’t about just me anymore.”
“I’ll do my best not to give the gossipmongers anything to work with.”
Hannah made a waving motion with her hand. “You don’t need to worry about it. Frankly I don’t care what they say. It’s none of their business.”
Raya popped the last grape in her mouth and smiled at both of them. Boomer felt his newly found butterflies take flight in his stomach again. “All finished, Sunshine?”he asked.
She nodded her head and then carried her plate to the sink.
“I think Ben has something for you, honey. Why don’t you go into the living room and we’ll be there in a minute,” Hannah signed to her daughter.
Raya hobbled to the next room, flopped on the couch and sat, waiting patiently.
“I’m serious, Ben. I don’t want you worrying about the building gossip.” A sinister smile creased her lips. “It might be fun having everyone thinking I have a hot man in my bed for a change.”
Boomer’s groin tightened and his pulse quickened. He reached out, placed the palm of his hand on her cheek and ran the pad of his thumb across her plump bottom lip. When he felt her warm breath brush past his finger his heart flipped in his chest. “I guarantee it would be fun and much, much more,” he told her in a husky voice.
When her breath shuddered he dropped his hand and turned, leaving her stunned and confused. As he made his way into the living room to Raya he wondered if he would be able to take it slowly. It took everything he had not to pull her into him and kiss her until she surrendered.
Raya was smiling and bouncing on the floral print couch. He went to the bags he had brought in and grabbed the one that contained his gifts. Hannah had made her way into the room and sat next to her daughter. He tried not to notice her flushed cheeks or the pulse in her neck beating rapidly. He tried but he couldn’t. Their gazes locked for only a second but what he saw in her eyes gave him hope for more. He shook himself mentally and turned his attention back to Raya.
“Close your eyes,” he signed to her. “No peeking.”
Raya giggled, pressed her hands to her eyes and bounced even more. Hannah gave a throaty laugh that went straight to his groin. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes until her could bring himself back under control and then pulled the monkey from the bag and placed it in front of her. He tapped her on the shoulder and laughed to himself when she squealed with delight over the soft, fuzzy, silly animal. She hugged it tightly for a few seconds and then leaned forward and hugged Boomer.
“Thank you,” she signed with clumsy hands. “Thank you, I’m going to name it Benny.”
“That’s a very good name,” Hannah told her.
“I like it,” Boomer signed back to her. He pulled out the puzzle box and handed it to her. “Your mom helped me pick this out. I hope you like it.”
Raya’s eyes grew wide, her mouth formed a perfect o as she looked it over thoroughly.
“Do you think you can do it?” He asked.
“I don’t know. I’ll try,” she replied.
“I have one more thing for you.”
“What?” Hannah asked surprised.
Boomer pulled out the shiny plastic badge and hooked it to Raya’s sweater. “This is for being such a good teammate yesterday and helping us get inside the building and helping with the kids.”
Raya lifted the badge and read it. Her chest visibly swelled and a tear ran down her cheek. Hannah covered her mouth and blinked back her own tears.
“Do you mean it?” Raya asked.
Boomer sat down on the couch next to her and then pulled her into his lap, adjusting her so she could read what he told her. “Sometimes we are faced with situations that test us. How we handle those situations is what makes us who we are. Yesterday you were faced with a life-threatening ordeal and you stepped up to it. You could have run when Sam freed you but you didn’t. You returned and made sure the little blind boy was taken care of and then you stayed and helped us get upstairs. Things might not have turned out so well if it weren’t for you. To me you are a hero.”
“Then why don’t I feel like a hero?” she asked.
“Because heroes are people who do things because it’s right, not because it makes them feel good or brings attention to them. And you, Raya,” he said tweaking her little nose, “are the ultimate hero.”
She sat and thought for second and then looked up at him. “Thank you for the pin but I think you and your friends are the heroes. You didn’t know us but you came to help us.” She jumped off his lap, picked up the puzzle box and her new stuffed monkey and hurried off to her room.
“I guess I didn’t make it clear enough,” Boomer muttered.
“You made it clear and she understands,” Hannah said softly. “Why do you do what you do? Why do you risk your life for people you don’t know?”
Boomer leaned back into the couch. “I can’t really give you an answer to that. It’s just what I do.”
“What does your family think about it? I mean, your brother can’t be comfortable with you risking your life for people you don’t know.”
“We’ve talked about it. If he had his way I’d be sitting in a nice, swanky office in a three-piece suit everyday with a phone glued to my ear. But that isn’t who I am. I’d wither in an environment like that. He knows that and he accepts it.”
“It must have scared him to death when he heard you were injured.”
“Oh it did, he gave me all kinds of hell when he got to the hospital. But ya know I worry about him too. You of all people should understand how it is to worry over someone you love who’s deaf. We,” he said pointing between the two of them, “take for granted the sounds we hear everyday. Sirens that let us know something is wrong. Car horns warning us they’re coming. The sound of something breaking under our feet or whatever. He could be injured or killed just getting to work everyday because he can’t hear what’s coming. When we were kids I followed him everywhere making sure nothing happened to hi
m. Then one day he stopped me as he was walking out the door and told me if he was meant to be taken by God then there wasn’t a damn thing I was going to be able to do to stop it. He didn’t want to live his life with a permanent babysitter, he simply wanted to live.”
“I guess I can understand that. But what you do is so different. You put your life in harm’s way intentionally.”
“Only if it means saving another life. See, Hannah, I don’t go out half-witted and do my job. I have years of special training. In fact I train every day. I’m learning something new all the time. When I go on a mission I take every precaution and never risk my life or the lives of my teammates. If something can’t be done then we don’t do it. Yesterday was one of those flukes. We didn’t know there was another bomb much less that it was on a timer. If we did, things would have been a whole lot different. I think you misunderstand what it is I do.”
“So you’re saying anyone could do what you do?” she asked a bit sarcastically.
“Anyone who has the kind of training I have. That’s the only difference, I’m trained. That’s what it’s all about.”
Hannah sighed. “I guess you’re right. You couldn’t walk into an office and run a company without some sort of training to do it. Just like the CEO of a company couldn’t disarm a bomb.”
“Exactly,” he said slapping her thigh with his hand. “I think you’ve got it.”
“Why thank you, Mr. Campbell, and to think I got it all on my own,” she said in a breathy, ditzy voice.
Boomer pointed at her and said. “That voice doesn’t suit you and you couldn’t pull off a flaky act if your life depended on it.”
“So how do the women in your life deal with your job?”
“Is that some sneaky way of finding out about my love life?”
“Maybe.”
“Don’t really have one.”
“Oh come on you expect me to believe that? Guys like you have women falling all over them.”
“Sorry to disappoint you but women don’t fall all over me.” He reached up and rubbed his tender lip from the mission a few nights ago. “They hit me but never fall on me. I haven’t been on a date in about a year and that one wasn’t anything to really remember.”
“You’re serious aren’t you?”
“Yep, let’s just say I had a bad experience and I found trusting a hard thing to do.”
“I hear ya. Been there done that,” she told him.
“Raya’s father?” he asked hoping she wouldn’t shut him down for asking.
“Yeah Raya’s father. He led me to believe he was something he wasn’t. The real him was someone I couldn’t live with or raise my daughter around, so I left.”
“Good for you.” Good for me was what he was really thinking.
“Yeah well that’s in the past. I’m looking forward from now on.”
A heavy yawn overtook Boomer. Suddenly he was tired and weak. “I’m sorry, Hannah. It isn’t the company, I promise.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t crash earlier. You stretch out on the couch and get some rest. I have some things to do.”
“Sure I won’t be in the way?”
“I’m sure. If you need anything just call.”
Boomer settled on the couch, nestled his head into the soft pillow and drifted off to sleep. When he woke the aroma of thick, juicy pot roast and mashed potatoes filled the room. His mouth watered with every breath he took.
“Look who’s awake. I bet you could use something to eat about now?” Hannah said leaning against the kitchen door.
“You’d win that bet,” he said rubbing his sleep encrusted eyes.
“Make yourself comfortable at the table. I’ll go get Raya.”
“What time is it?”
“It’s seven-fifteen,” she said with a grin.
“I was asleep for four hours?”
“Your body still needs to replenish its blood supply. It needs rest to do that and some protein. I’ll change your bandages after dinner too. Now go on and get yourself to the table.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He couldn’t stop thinking how cozy and comfortable it was having a home cooked meal with Hannah and Raya. The conversation was relaxed and enjoyable and the atmosphere somehow familiar. It reminded him of when he was a child having dinner with his mother, father and brother.
“Hannah, you’re a great cook,” he said after swallowing his final bite.
“Thank you but I think you were so hungry you would have enjoyed cardboard.”
“Give me more credit than that. I know food,” he said rubbing his stomach. “What do you think Raya, is your mom a great cook?”
“I like her spaghetti best,” Raya signed. “She makes her own sauce.”
“Is that so? Do you think she’d make some for me?”
“If you’re a good boy I’ll make it tomorrow night,” Hannah said pointing her fork at him with a glint in her eye.
The thought of him being good to her tonight crossed his mind. He stopped himself from voicing it, afraid he would damage the good vibes flowing between them.
“I’ve got an idea. How about Raya and I clear the table and wash the dishes while you kick back and relax for a while,” he signed as well as spoke.
“That isn’t necessary, Ben. You’re a guest in our home. Besides you’re the one who needs to relax.”
“I feel pretty good right now and I need to keep busy.”
While they discussed who would clean up the kitchen Raya stood from the table and began clearing. They finally reached an agreement and all worked together. Boomer washed dishes, Raya dried and Hannah put them away. In no time at all they were finished.
“Okay, big guy, let’s go change those bandages,” Hannah said slapping him with the dish towel.
“If you don’t mind I’d rather wait until Raya is down for the night. I don’t want her to see it.”
Hannah tipped her head to the side, her laughing eyes softened to an almost adoring gaze. “Okay. I should have thought of that myself.”
Boomer shrugged. “What time does she go to bed?”
“Eight. Well, by the time I get her down and settled, more like eight-thirty.”
“Would it be okay if I played with her before she goes to bed?”
“Yeah,” she replied in a hushed, breathy voice, “that would be fine.”
“I promise I won’t keep her up late.” His voice echoed hers as they stood face to face holding each other’s gaze.
“Okay.”
God he wanted to pull her toward him and feel her pressed tightly against his body. His arm and hand twitched to do just that so he slipped them behind his back and clasped his hands together.
“Okay,” he repeated and then left her.
Hannah watched him walk away from her and released the breath that she’d been holding. From the second he sat in her car earlier today she’d been fighting the strong urge swirling throughout her body to throw herself at him and beg him to take her. She hadn’t wanted a man this badly since she was in her early twenties. What the hell was wrong with her?
Men like him weren’t real. They didn’t think about her kid before she did nor did they talk freely about themselves without throwing in a bunch of garbage about how great they were and how lucky the world was to have them in it. This guy did the hero thing daily and didn’t want recognition for it. At the same time he taught her daughter what a true hero was. God, he was too good to be true yet there he was in her apartment.
Why did she feel so damn comfortable around him? Why was her body screaming for his? This was just too freaky for her. Maybe she should tell him what she needed and then watch him walk out the door. That would be the sane thing to do. Once she explained how much trouble she was in he would do the right thing like it seemed he always did and then leave. She and Raya could go back to their quiet life and he could go on saving the world from itself.
So why did the thought of him not being around or even hating her make her stomach twist and
bunch like she’d been punched? It didn’t matter that she needed him for one thing and one thing only. To hell with her own personal needs, this was about Raya’s safety.
She ran her fingers through her hair, scrubbed her face with her hands and began planning what she would say to him. It would be easy, she’d just lay it all out in front of him, beg him to help her and that would be that. No more schoolgirl, giddy feelings from her, no sir.
Hannah stiffened her spine, fisted her hands and walked with purpose into the living room. As she stormed in she noticed they weren’t there. Okay, he was back in Raya’s room with her, no problem, she thought to herself and headed down the narrow hallway.
As she approached the door she could hear Raya giggling. Instead of barging in she peeked around the door and lost her breath. Boomer was sitting on the floor with Raya curled up to his side. He looked like a giant, cuddly, stuffed animal protecting her only child. One of his large, muscular arms was surrounding Raya’s little body while the other propped himself up. Her new puzzle lay scattered on her desk, only a few pieces connected and the stuffed monkey lay off to the side.
They were looking at a book, one of Raya’s favorites, one that she herself had read at least a thousand times in her daughter’s short life. Except Raya was reading to him. Her small hands flew through the air, making large gestures to emphasize the important parts of the book. When she struggled with a word Boomer jumped in and helped. He didn’t just tell her what the word was he helped her work it out with her hands. The smiles and laughter from them hit Hannah like a train.
Her knees weakened, her palms began to sweat and a fluttery feeling overtook her insides. That wasn’t the worst part. No, the icing on the cake was the yearning ache growing between her legs. She moaned silently to herself. This wasn’t fair.
They made such a wonderful picture. Who knew that something as simple as reading a book could have such an impact on her? Why couldn’t he just ignore Raya like every other man did?
She stood at the door watching and most importantly trying to push away the feelings he was creating inside her. Ten minutes of internal warfare and she almost had herself under control. Then it all washed away as if a tidal wave crashed over her.
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