Out of Uniform

by Catherine Mann

  Dee tucked her hands in her pockets. She should have held her temper in check. Perhaps she should have concocted a story to tide him over until he’d driven her into Tacoma. But she couldn’t ignore the sense of urgency to discover if she had a child out there who needed her.

  Not that she could have convinced him, anyway. He’d looked like a six-foot-four-inch immovable wall, with his jaw set and eyes so cold. He didn’t appear any more approachable now, towering behind the registration desk sorting through the crowd of exhausted travelers. Casting the periodic brooding stare her way. Like now.

  Dee studied the bus driver, deciding on the best approach for bumming a ride. The guy was somewhere in his early fifties perhaps, with sandy-gray hair. His patience with the older lady boded well.

  Time to start begging. “Do you need some help?”

  The driver glanced up. “Oh, hi. Just keep catching the door there, would ya?”

  “Sure.” Dee pressed her back against the frosted glass.

  The driver’s eyes flickered over Dee with appreciation as he guided the woman inside. “Thanks. Only another thirty-five more people to go.”

  Dee gave him the obligatory laugh. He offered a light chuckle in return.

  Jacob glanced over from the registration desk and frowned.

  Tough. She refused to be moved by his proprietary scowl. He’d had his shot at playing Sir Galahad, and he’d blown it.

  Although could she really blame him? Would she have believed someone who told her the same story? She honestly didn’t know.

  Dee tucked her coat tighter around herself and turned to the driver. “Can you spare a minute to talk?” A smile picked up the corners of his mouth. She needed to squelch those ideas fast. “I could use a ride into town.”

  His eyes crinkled with the rest of his smile. “Stranded, huh? Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve run into that with this remote route. Let me get these folks unloaded first, then we’ll see what we can work out.”

  “Thank you.” There went the rest of her money. But she no longer had time to wait for a more cost-effective alternative. She had to get into Tacoma, fast, and Jacob had decided to turn stubborn.

  Okay, she’d turned irritable. But his suspicions had hurt, a lot.

  Her mind wandered to the moment he’d held her hand, his touch surprisingly gentle for such a large man. Her body had stirred with an odd mix of hope, security and a dangerous yearning she didn’t dare explore.

  Then he’d asked for her real name.

  Hitching a ride on the tour bus offered her best choice. She didn’t have the energy or brain power to spare on complications, and Jacob Stone grew more complicated with each falling snowflake.

  Dee stifled the well of exhaustion and moved to assist the remaining thirty-five disembarking seniors.

  An hour later, Dee trudged through the parking lot to her room. After the last of the guests had checked in, she’d pigeonholed the bus driver to cement their plans.

  Jacob had darted pensive scowls their way, frowns she’d ignored. If only her jittery stomach could have been as easily controlled.

  Talking with the driver, she hadn’t dared discuss her amnesia this time, merely saying her boyfriend had ditched her in the motel and she needed a ride into town to file a police report against the abusive jerk. She hated lying, but the cover story sounded good for getting her where she needed to go.

  The driver had agreed to her offer of twenty dollars since he would be driving a few blocks out of his way. By midafternoon tomorrow, she would be at the station.

  Tugging her key free from her coat pocket, she counted along the doors until she came to her room number.

  And the dark shadow lounging outside.

  A six-foot-four-inch shadow.

  “Convince me.” Jacob’s gravelly bass mingled with the wind whistling through the eaves.

  “What?”

  “Convince me you’re telling the truth.”

  Like she could convince this rock of anything. Dee stuffed her key in the lock. “I’d rather go ice swimming.”

  “Very mature.”

  She twisted her doorknob. “Good night.”

  “Quit running away.” He angled toward her, his shoulders blocking the meager parking lot lights as well as the force of the wind. “I’m trying to help you. You have to admit the amnesia thing’s pretty far-fetched.”

  Did he have to be so persuasive and big and sexy? The heat of him seeped into her while the wind whipped around his body.

  She flattened her back against the door. “I can’t change the truth to suit your idea of believable scenarios.”

  “What about—” Shivering, he hunched his shoulders deeper into his jacket. “Do we have to talk out here? Wind chill’s gotta be ten below.”

  Being alone with him in a room with beds didn’t seem wise. Neither did freezing to death. If he’d planned to hurt her, he could have done so any number of times throughout their day alone together.

  Bottom line, she wanted him to believe her.

  Dee twisted the knob, backing the door open. “Come on in.”

  Following her, Jacob ducked inside. Her room wasn’t small, but Jacob filled it all the same.

  She draped her coat on the edge of the first bed, turned up the heat, considered what to say and why it was so important that he believe her this time. Jacob lounged against the wall until she sat at the small table, then lowered himself into the chair across from her, silently.

  Words churned inside her, but she stifled them. Better to let him set the tone.

  Jacob stretched his legs in front of him. “What did the Tacoma police have to say when you called them?”

  “How did you know I—Oh, the three dollars.” She’d forgotten about that part of her tirade. Apparently her mouth ran away from her in the midst of a good rant, another element of her personality to file away with the good and bad she’d deciphered so far.

  “Well?”

  “They said I need to come in. I described myself, and they did concede there weren’t any obvious missing persons’ reports to match me. They’ll run my prints and do a more thorough search when I get there.”

  “You’re willing to let them fingerprint you and run your picture.”

  “Absolutely.” Dee leaned forward, sensing she might finally be making headway. “Jacob, I don’t have a tidy explanation for you. I woke up in this room, alone and scared out of my mind. I had to look at the telephone book to find out where I was. There wasn’t even a purse or wallet with identification. Just a little money and this.” She scooped her hand into the neck of her sweater, pulling free the necklace. “The closest I could even come to a name is a tarnished D. For the last time, I swear to you I don’t know who I am.”

  A piercing stare later, he asked, “Why didn’t you say something this morning? Why scrub bathroom floors all day?”

  “Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? You’re pretty darned intimidating, and I’m pretty darned vulnerable.”

  The first hint of a smile eased through his perpetual scowl. “Okay, I can buy that. But what changed your mind? I didn’t magically shrink.”

  She resisted the urge to rub her stomach. The police would have to know about the possibility of a child since it might help, but she wasn’t ready to share something so private. She settled for part of the truth. “Watching you with Emily and Madison made you seem more approachable.”

  He crossed his feet at the ankles and studied his boots until Dee thought she might spring across the table and shake him.

  Jacob glanced to Dee, the furrows smoothing from his brow. “So you have amnesia.”

  A sigh racked through her. He believed her. He didn’t look happy about it, but she could live with that. No matter what she’d done before, he didn’t think she was a liar. “Yes. I do,” she whispered, her mind screaming, And I’m so scared. Help me, please.

  Jacob watched the fear flood her face. Any second, he expected her eyes to fill with tears.

  They nev
er did. Every line of her body cried out her grief all the same.

  He set his caged instincts free. His gut told him to trust her and not let old defensiveness rule him. Simply accept her story. If his instincts were wrong, he would only be out a ride into town.

  If his instincts were right, this woman needed him, badly. A woman who balked at asking for a pair a shoes, needed him.

  Something primal stirred within him, latched on and wouldn’t let go. Caveman in action? Maybe. Who was he to fight nature? Especially when it came in such an appealing package. “Let’s go back to our original plan then. I’ll run you into town tomorrow.”

  “Thank you.” She twisted the necklace around her fingers until they turned bloodless. “What about the motel? Who’ll take care of the desk?”

  “My regular cleaning lady should be back tomorrow. She can handle checkouts and then carry the cordless for incoming calls while she cleans. We’ll leave early so we have plenty of daylight if the weather turns rogue again. You need to be looked over by a doctor before we head to the station—”

  “Hold on! I just want a ride, not a cavalry charge.”

  “What do you know about your medical history?”

  She winced.

  “What if you’re a diabetic?” he pressed. “Or have some other condition? Head injuries can cause all sorts of problems. You need to have a doctor check you over. I have an old squadron pal stationed here. He’s married to a flight surgeon.”

  She sagged in her seat. “Good point. But do you have to be so pushy?”

  A grin tugged through, easing the knot in his stomach. “Military bluntness.”

  He wouldn’t have to help her long. She must have family or a boss wondering over her unexplained absence. Or a husband.

  Jacob shied away from that thought like the plague.

  His gaze snapped to her hand. She wasn’t sporting a wedding band or a cheater mark on the pale, slim finger. Small consolation since he knew that wasn’t proof positive. Meanwhile, he needed to keep her safe until the police could match her with a missing persons’ report.

  He could control his attraction. He had to. She needed him, whether she wanted to admit it or not.

  Which meant keeping constant watch over her.

  If she had some illness lurking, he couldn’t let her sleep in her hotel room by herself. Even a simple head trauma necessitated being monitored through the night—by him. Jacob wasn’t sure what would be more difficult, convincing Dee that he should stay with her, or resisting the urges that coursed through him while he shared her room for the night.

  One fact shone through without question. She wasn’t sleeping alone.

  “Sleeping with me at the apartment will be more convenient than your room.” Jacob crossed his feet at the ankles.

  “What?” Dee’s hands clenched in the loose folds of her oversize sweatpants.

  She did bristle easily. He linked his fingers over his stomach. “Or we can stay in your room if you prefer, but I’d rather be closer to the registration desk and Emily.”

  “You can’t sleep here.”

  “Thank God you realized that. These beds aren’t long enough for me.” He stood and waited. The dazed look hadn’t melted from her face yet. “Are you ready? How long does it take to gather up your spare sweats?”

  “No time at all, because I’m not gathering anything.” Dee held up her hand. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for all you’ve done. But even if I weren’t ready to fall flat on my face, I wouldn’t pay you back by sleeping with you.”

  Sleep with Dee. Now there was an enticing image. This probably wasn’t a good time to think about the fact that he’d been six months without sex since breaking off his last relationship. “As appealing as that sounds, it’s not what I’m suggesting.”

  “It’s not?”

  Did she sound disappointed or was it only his over-active libido leading him into wishful territory? “Given your droopy eyes, you would probably crash before the first kiss, anyway, and wound my ego forever.”

  A grin tugged at her full pink lips, which in turn tugged at his self-control. Damn it all, she wasn’t even his type. He usually went for the more chatty, flamboyant sorts who filled the conversation, which left him free to stay quiet.

  This woman had listener written all over her.

  Tucking her into bed, alone, was the smarter move. “I’m talking wake-ups every two hours in case you have a concussion. It’s easier if we stay in the same place, rather than me tromping through the parking lot in fifty below wind chill to wake you up to count my fingers.”

  Strawberry-red crawled up her face. “You must think I’m a paranoid granny.”

  “I think you’re alone and don’t know who to trust.” Hell no, she wasn’t paranoid. He wanted nothing more than to rip the bedspread off one of those mattresses and tangle his body with hers. But a rivaling need churned inside him, a need to protect her, find out who had handled this woman so carelessly.

  He tipped her chin with his knuckle. “I promise, I’m not going to jump you while you’re passed out.”

  Did she know that she kept moving ever so slightly against his touch while she stared into his eyes? Just when he considered extending his reach and cupping her face in his palm, she nodded, leaning back. “Thank you. Again.”

  “Okay, then.” Restless, Jacob stood and paced around the room, snagged her coat, turned the heat down. He yanked the door open. “Let’s get moving.”

  Frigid air blasted them. The wind nearly lifted Dee off her feet like Mary Poppins. Jacob allowed himself to drape an arm around her shoulders as they charged across the parking lot, sleet and snow stinging his skin.

  Lord, she felt good against him.

  Inside the lobby, Dee dipped from under his arm without meeting his gaze. “I’ll just get some extra sheets,” she mumbled as she all but sprinted for the supply closet.

  Jacob shut off the coffeemaker and followed slowly. He found Dee tucking the beddings along the sofa cushions. He braced a shoulder against the archway leading from the hall to the living area. “Thanks. But I can take care of that myself. I’m going to catch up on some paperwork out front, then I’ll probably end up falling asleep in the recliner.”

  She didn’t stop.

  “What do you think you’re doing?”

  Dee sank to the edge of the couch and slid off her shoes. “Going to bed?”

  “Right. Bed.” He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder toward the loft. “In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s over there.”

  Her jaw set. “Your bed is over there. My bed is here.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  Her tennis shoes thumped to the floor. “I knew you would be this way. Don’t you get tired of being so predictable? Stop with the male strutting ritual. A recliner isn’t a bed. If your feet hang off the edge of the motel room beds, you really can’t expect to fold yourself onto this sofa. I’m almost half your size. The couch is fine for me.”

  The woman would argue with a rock.

  “Dee, I’m going to be up most of the night anyway. You might as well be comfortable.”

  “I won’t be able to sleep if you’re on the sofa or in a chair.”

  Jacob almost laughed. Her eyelids were millimeters away from sliding closed. She’d be asleep sitting up if he kept talking.

  He shifted his weight to one leg. Why not let her think she’d won? He could move her after she zonked out, probably less than sixty seconds from now. “Okay. Have it your way. Enjoy the couch.”

  “Thanks. I will.” She lined her shoes with precision beside the sofa. After a self-conscious glance over her shoulder, she whipped the sweater over her head, unveiling the T-shirt beneath.

  Carefully she folded the sweater into an exact square and put it on top of her pile of meager possessions. Seeing her take such care with cast-off clothing, Jacob wanted to buy out Macy’s.

  Dee slid beneath the sheets, tugging the blankets up to her chin. He watched her eyelids flicker. Just sixty seco
nds and temptation would be deeply asleep.

  Jacob shoved away from the archway and flipped off the light switch, leaving only the fluorescent bulb over the stove on. Moonbeams filtered in through the skylight over his bed.

  Sixty seconds suddenly seemed like a hell of a long time.

  Burrowing deeper under the blankets, Dee flattened her spine against the sofa back. “Hopefully by tomorrow I’ll be sleeping in my own bed. Or maybe I’ll be curled up in some bay window, watching the snow and drinking hot cocoa. I think I like hot chocolate with whipped cream. It sounds good, anyway.” She sighed, a heavy sound full of resignation. “Someone’s got to notice I’m missing soon. A person can’t simply disappear without somebody noticing.”

  “Sure,” he lied. He’d seen enough cruelty in the world to know otherwise.

  “My family must be so worried.” Her words slurred together.

  “Of course.” Lord, he hoped so.

  “We’ll call the station again in the morning before we set out for the hospital.” Her breathing grew slower, deeper with each word.

  “First thing. Bet you’ll be glad to see the last of that cleaning bucket.”

  She seemed to have drifted off, so he eased forward a step. Dee burrowed her head into the pillow, and he hesitated.

  “What did he look like?” she whispered.

  “Pardon?”

  “The man who left me here. What did he look like?”

  Jacob called to mind the face of the man who’d signed the register, a scumbag he very much wanted to deck. “About five foot ten. Medium build. Midthirties with blond hair.” He struggled to remember more about a guy he’d seen for all of about five minutes. “His clothes looked expensive, good quality Gore-Tex as if he knew what he needed for this kind of weather. And no wedding ring.”

  Now that he thought about it, he remembered glancing at the guy’s finger since he’d checked in as a Mr. and Mrs. “I wish I could give you more.”

  Especially since it was her only hope for a link to her old life. Even if the link sucked, big-time.