Recker (Skin Walkers Book 17)

by Susan Bliler

  Damn. Little Alex was turning out to be more trouble than he could handle.

  Chapter 12

  Alex snagged a sleeve of crackers from the cupboard and took her glass of water to the couch. She’d just shoved a cracker into her mouth when there was a knock at her door. Chewing quickly, she slapped absently at her chest to remove any crumbs as she hurried for the door, secretly hoping it was Recker. They hadn’t spoken or seen each other since their kiss last night, and honestly, she’d been equally eager and nervous to see him again.

  Creaking her door open, she found Recker on the other side with several grocery bags in his hands.

  “Special delivery.”

  He pushed the door open and brushed her aside as he walked in and headed for her tiny kitchen.

  “Uhh… What’s this?”

  “Food.”

  “I can see that, but why?”

  “We didn’t get to any of our interview questions last night, so I figured we could talk over dinner.” He stopped mid-unpacking of grocery bags and glanced over his shoulder at her. “You didn’t eat already, did you?”

  She shrugged, “Just a cracker.”

  “All day?” he frowned hard eyeing her up and down and making her feel self-conscious in her jeans and baggy sweater. “You need to eat more than once a day, Alex.”

  She knew that she just couldn’t afford that. She sidled into the kitchen and tiptoed to peek into one of the grocery bags. “What are we having?”

  “Teppanyaki,” Recker muttered, pulling ingredients from the bags. “I’ll grill the loin. You do the rice.” He stopped in his task to eye her quizzically. “You do like Teppanyaki?”

  Alex nodded with a grin. “Never made it though.” She grabbed a saucepan from her cabinet. “You’ll have to walk me through it.” Her belly fluttered when Recker flashed her a satisfied grin.

  “That I can do.”

  He walked her through the steps of her fried rice and grilled his steak all the while. Alex had to admit it was really fun and a little intimate. When she’d been cooking the eggs, he’d placed his large hand over hers on the spatula and showed her how he’d wanted them scrambled. His touch made her feel funny, and she’d had to force herself to not lean back into his large frame.

  The meal prep was easy. When everything was ready, they settled at the table to a meal of onion soup, fried rice, steamed vegetables, and the most delicate, flavorful, grilled steak she’d ever had in her life.

  “This is the best food ever,” she murmured around a bite.

  He nodded and chewed appreciatively.

  They ate in silence a while longer, and Alex was surprised when she scraped the last of her fried rice off the plate and into her mouth before setting her fork down and groaning. “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.”

  Recker just grinned like he was proud and she shrugged and took a swig from the glass bottle of chilled Coke he’d bought for her. He’d offered her one of his bottles of beer, but she was more of a soda drinker.

  Recker shoved his plate aside and leaned back in his chair, taking his beer with him. “So.”

  She wiped her lips with her napkin and sat back in her chair too. “So.”

  Leaning forward, Recker rested his arms on the table. “Tell me about your family, Alex.”

  Her shoulders slumped. “I’d rather not. This has been so nice and…”

  “And what,” he prodded.

  “I don’t want to ruin it talking about sad shit.”

  “So your family story is a sad one.”

  “You already knew that, Recker Rhodes.” Standing, she took her Coke with her to the counter where she started cleaning up.

  “You know,” his voice was right behind her. “You’re gonna have to give me some answers some time.”

  “Just not today, okay?” She turned to face him.

  “Alex, what if I told you everything was in your file?”

  “Lie.” She gave him her back again and started filling up the sink with water. “If you knew everything, you wouldn’t be hounding me all the time.”

  “Hounding?” he sounded mock offended. “I do not hound.”

  Alex giggled. “I disagree.”

  He grabbed her hips and spun her around before pressing into her. The sink at her back kept her from retreating, and all the air left her when Recker grabbed the counter on either side of her, caging her in.

  “I mean it, Alexandra.”

  Oooh, Alexandra. He must be serious.

  “I’ll give you tonight, but soon, you’re gonna have to spill. Understand?”

  It was hard to concentrate with him all pressed up against her, and it took a minute for Alex to retort. “Fine. I-I just don’t understand what my family has to do with my ability to do a job. You haven’t once asked me about my qualifications for the position I put in for.”

  “I read all that. I know you were top of your class. I know you’d be working in your field now if this town wasn’t so damn small and stuck in time. I don’t need to know your qualifications, Alex. I need to know your character. I need to know where you come from, what you believe in. I need to know if you’d be a good fit or not.”

  She was having difficulty concentrating now though because all she could think about was how good her body fit with his. “Recker,” she breathed his name. When he simply kept looking at her, she realized she didn’t have anything to say.

  Recker lowered his head a fraction, and Alex’s eyes dipped to his mouth. She wondered if he was going to kiss her again, and she realized she wanted him to.

  His head lowered further.

  Alex licked her lips and waited, and just when Recker’s breath fanned across her lips, he pulled back abruptly.

  “Shit.” He stepped back and buried a hand in his hair. “Alex. I gotta go.”

  Why was he always doing that? It was like he was always getting scared and running off.

  “Sure,” she mumbled turning back to the sink of dishes as she tried to slow her breathing. “Thanks…thanks for dinner.” She heard the door open but didn’t turn around. Not even when Recker offered a soft, “Good night.”

  ***

  In his truck, Recker pounded his palm against the steering wheel before banging the back of his head on the headrest. He felt like a fucking coward. Every time something was about to happen between him and Alex he ran. He knew it was because he was afraid of her eventual rejection, but she didn’t know that and having her think he was weak or a chicken shit was doing terrible things to his insides. There was no way Alex wasn’t thinking those things about him either because even he realized how bipolar he was acting. One second he was plunging his tongue down her throat and the next he was running from her soft eyes and fluttering heart. And, her heart had been fluttering. His keen sense of hearing heard it hammering in her chest almost as frantically as his own had been beating. The things that woman did to him. He shook his head and started his truck before he did some stupid shit like rushing back up to her apartment and giving her that kiss she’d been so eager for.

  Fuck! Tomorrow, I’ll get it right, he promised himself. Tomorrow, he’d get that damn second interview out of the way and no matter what Alex said or how perfectly she answered, he’d go back to StoneCrow and tell Amanda and Jenny and whoever else needed to hear it that Alex Hayworth wasn’t a good fit for StoneCrow. The woman was dangerous and this, whatever it was that was happening between them, had to end.

  Chapter 13

  When Alex woke, her throat felt like she was trying to swallow razor blades.

  “Ooooh”, she groaned and sat up. Even that slight noise hurt like a mother. She was freezing even in her typical sleep attire of sweats, thermal socks, and thick sweatshirt. The four blankets piled on top didn’t help either.

  Ffffffuck! It was official. She was sick. Glancing at the clock on the wall, she saw that it was just past eleven. She was usually up by nine on her days off. Groaning, she jerked the covers over her head and huddled deeper not wanting to get up but
knowing she needed to hit the CVS for something to make her feel better. Honestly, she doubted she’d be able to muster up the energy to get her ass out of bed at this point.

  Two hours later, Alex was standing in line at the CVS hugging the biggest bottle of generic Nyquil she could find to her chest. When it was her turn to be checked out, Alex glanced down at the clerk’s hands. They were covered in tattoos that looked like sad stories, all faded and tired looking, much like the woman herself.

  Without looking up, the clerk checked her out and muttered, “Here’s your change, hon.” She held out Alex’s change, and when Alex snagged it, she felt compelled to warn the woman.

  “Sanitize.”

  When the clerk looked at her, Alex jerked her chin toward the bottle of hand sanitizer beside the register. “Better safe than sorry.” Just muttering those few words sent fire ripping down her raw throat. Still, Alex managed to wince out a grin.

  When the woman smiled appreciatively at Alex, it changed her appearance entirely. Gone were the dour lines around her mouth and a warm glint actually filled her eyes.

  “Thanks, hon.” The clerk pumped three squirts of the sanitizer into her hands. “Can’t afford to be getting sick.”

  Too afraid to speak, Alex nodded. The last thing she wanted was to get anyone else sick.

  The woman stared at Alex, and for a moment it felt like they were just two downtrodden, hard-working, kindred spirits. The clerk chucked her chin at Alex by way of salutation and Alex threw her a little wave before taking her drugs and hustling home.

  ***

  Three hours later, Alex was ripped from her Nyquil coma by a loud pounding on her door.

  “Alex!”

  She recognized Recker’s voice but felt too groggy to get up and stumble to the door. Hell, her throat hurt so badly now that she winced when she swallowed knowing she couldn’t even call out if she wanted to.

  Letting her head slump back on the bed, Alex closed her eyes and heaved a wheezy sigh as she snuggled deeper into her covers. Oh well. He’ll go away.

  But he didn’t. Recker kept right on pounding on her door until she was forced to crack one eye open to scowl at where the offending noise was emanating from. For two whole seconds, she considered getting up and answering the door. She shot that idea down quickly though because A, she felt too shitty to move and B, she knew she looked like hell warmed over.

  “I can hear you breathing in there,” Recker growled on the other side of the door.

  She rolled her eyes and turned to face the wall.

  “I’m coming in in two seconds if you don’t answer me.”

  She shook her head slightly, satisfied that he wouldn’t dare break her doorknob a second time.

  Recker quieted only a moment before there was the sound of grinding metal.

  Ghaaa! Alex jerked the covers up over her head hoping he’d think she was asleep and just go.

  “Alex?”

  When she stayed huddled in her cocoon, Recker demanded, “Alex! Are you alright?”

  Fffffuck! Yanking the covers down, she shoved her hair out of her face and frowned over her shoulder at him. She wanted to yell at him, to tell him to go away, but her throat hurt too badly, so she just kept right on scowling at him.

  “Alex! What’s wrong?”

  She pointed at her throat, and when Recker shook his head, she pointed at the bottle of Nyquil on the floor beside her cot.

  “Sick? You’re sick?”

  Asshole almost sounded relieved. Without acknowledgment, Alex slumped back onto her bed.

  “What can I do?” He asked from behind her. “I don’t know what to do for this. We don’t get sick,” he mumbled the latter as if he were talking to himself.

  Swallowing hard, Alex had to grip her throat at the pain the action caused.

  “Shit!” Recker knelt beside the cot. “You’re really sick!”

  “Go,” Alex croaked.

  “What?” Recker’s brows shot up. “I’m not going. I’m not leaving you like this!”

  She wanted to rage that she was just sick and it’d pass, but she didn’t have the energy or the will.

  “I’m contacting Jenny.”

  Alex only knew who Jenny was because Stoney worked as Jenny’s nurse. It was fine with her if he wanted to get professional advice, but she doubted Jenny would give him any direction beyond fluids and rest.

  The room was quiet though. Alex rolled over to see if Recker had left to make a phone call, but he was standing quietly in the middle of her apartment staring unseeingly at the wall. She knew what this was. Stoney had told her about the Walkers’ ability to speak to each other telepathically.

  Recker blinked and then looked at her. “Do you have a fever?”

  She shrugged because who the hell knew. She didn’t own a thermometer, and with the arctic temperature in the room and the furnace beneath all her blankets, there was no way to know. All she knew was that she was freezing. She was always freezing, but that didn’t explain the sheen of sweat that clung to her skin.

  Frowning hard, Recker stomped to her and lifted a palm to her forehead. “Any vomiting or diarrhea?”

  Alex jerked away from his hand and glared up at him.

  “What? We’re all adults! Jenny needs to know!”

  Alex let her expression soften a little before she shook her head.

  “Coughing, runny nose?”

  Alex pointed at her nose.

  “Runny nose?”

  She nodded.

  He zoned out staring at the wall again before blinking then turning to look at her. “Have you taken anything?”

  Alex pointed down at the bottle of Nyquil on the floor.

  “Anything else?”

  She shook her head, not wanting to wrench her poor throat with the bloated details of how she’d been taking Zicam swabs for the previous four days.

  “Have you eaten?”

  And of course, even ill, her body could still rally up enough blood for a hard blush.

  “Alex?”

  She shook her head and knew she was in trouble when Recker’s lips thinned into a grim line.

  “Is that because you haven’t been hungry or because you don’t have any food in this damn place.”

  She just shrugged.

  “Goddamn it, Alex!” He stomped to her fridge and jerked it open. “There’s nothing in here!” He jerked a cupboard open. “Or in here!” He slammed the cupboard and opened another before slamming it too. “And it’s fucking freezing in here.”

  Alex, who’d been watching him nose around her apartment, let her body fall back onto the bed before lifting a hand and resting the back of her hand on her forehead. She felt like grit, and she didn’t need Recker pointing out how poor she was on top of it. With a sigh, she lowered her hand and pointed at the door.

  “No! Hell no, I ain’t leaving. What I am gonna do is go downstairs and have a talk with your landlord. A talk I should have had with that prick the first day I stepped into this godforsaken icebox!”

  That had Alex jerking up in bed. The movement was too quick though and had her groaning as her head swam and stars exploded in her sight.

  “Shhhit!” Recker hissed. “Okay, okay,” he placated holding out his hands. “I won’t. I won’t! Just…lay back down.”

  She didn’t need the invitation though. Her body flopped bonelessly onto the bed. She ached to tell Recker to get the hell out so she could sleep. But he was pacing now and nodding. It almost looked like he was listening to someone on the phone, but there was no phone.

  Alex tracked him with her eyes until they began to droop. When he finally stopped and turned to face her, she was well on her way back to her Nyquil coma.

  “Alex? I’m taking you out of here.”

  She shook her head as best she could and wondered if she managed even the slightest of movement at all.

  “Tough shit, little one, it’s happening.”

  He disappeared out the front door though and alone in her apartment, Alex wondered i
f she’d hallucinated the whole thing.

  Recker was back a few minutes later. Wrapping her in blankets, he lifted her off her cot and carried her from her apartment.

  Chapter 14

  Recker couldn’t help but inwardly admonish himself. He’d shown up at Alex’s full of resolve. Today was supposed to be the day he cut her from Amanda’s list of employee candidates. He’d even stalled inside his truck for twenty minutes giving himself a pep talk. He wouldn’t break, he wouldn’t even bend. Iron-clad was what he’d been calling his decision.

  Now, he had Alex wrapped in several blankets and cuddled in his arms as he hustled her down her apartment stairs and out to his truck that he’d already started. He’d rushed out and blasted the heat on high so that when Alex got in, it’d be nice and toasty for her.

  Made of fucking iron¸ he mocked.

  Truth be told, he was worried. Skin Walkers didn’t suffer illness, so seeing Alex like this was worrisome. Jenny had said she should be fine with rest, food, and liquids, but fuck that! Honestly, did humans really just endure the type of agony he’d found Alex in? Seemed foolish.

  Once he got Alex settled into the passenger seat of his car, he drove as fast as he cautiously could to the hotel he’d been staying at. The place was nice because…well, he was kind of a hotel snob. And why not be? Living at StoneCrow meant he paid no rent or mortgage and was provided meals. The only thing he had to spend his salary on was gasoline and clothes, which meant—like most Walker Sentries—he had a nice little nest egg stashed away.

  At the front of the hotel, Recker balked a moment when the valet stepped off the curb and circled around to the driver’s side door. His mind raced through a half dozen lies about Alex before the valet opened the door and had Recker settling for near-truth.

  “Oh!” the valet exclaimed when Recker stepped out and he saw Alex slumped over in the passenger seat. “Sorry, Sir. Didn’t see your companion.” He stepped back like he was going to go around and open the door, but Recker stopped him.

  “I got it. My girlfriend’s not feeling well. I’ll get her.” Hooo, something about calling Alex that had chills blasting up Recker’s spine and all the fine hairs on his body standing on end.