She rolled down the window and inhaled the early morning crispness. It was her favorite time of day, when she’d worked her shift and was on her way home. She had enough seniority to transfer to day shift, but midnight shift suited her personality better. She’d always been a night owl, and night shift on SAPD was action packed. Yes, there were a lot of incidents, which meant a lot of reports, but it felt like she helped more people, too.
She slowed her truck as she pulled into the drive to her house. There was a package at the end of the drive, and she shook her head. Freaking Fed Ex. Why couldn’t they bring it down the drive? She’d told them over and over again that the dogs wouldn’t bother them. She’d even left it on the customer portal in the special directions area.
Parking on the drive beside the house, she went in through the back gate, then up the deck steps to the French doors. The house was silent, and this was the quietest way to enter. No need to wake Keegan or her mother.
Max, their German Shepherd wandered out from the living room and nosed her hand. She stroked his head for a moment, glad he hadn’t barked and woken everyone up. She pulled the door open again and let him outside. He would go find the other dogs and say hello.
Once she closed the door and reset the alarm, she headed upstairs. First thing, shower. She could feel the dried blood on her knees where she’d gone down on the floor beside the victim. Rex. The poor guy had seemed shell-shocked. Maybe he hadn’t been out of the Army long. His info said he was thirty-two but hadn’t said anything about his military service.
Reaching in, she cranked the shower to almost scalding, letting it warm up, then headed to her closet to strip. Her weapon went into the safe, and she hung her duty belt on the heavy hook inside the door. Then she stripped off the rest of her clothes, tossing them aside. She would change her brass in the morning. She was so tired.
The shower rejuvenated her a little, but only enough to plug in her phone before she crawled into bed. Her head hit the pillow, and a vision of bright Caribbean blue eyes haunted her.
CHAPTER THREE
“Would you give it a rest, already,” Rex laughed, but there was an edge to the laughter. They were badgering him again. Yes, he knew they were doing it for his own good, but he didn’t feel like dealing with it right now.
Bree crossed her arms as she leaned against the nurse’s station counter. “You’ve been alone as long as I’ve known you. Are you sure you’re not gay?”
Rex sighed, planting his hands on his hips. If he’d gotten a nickel every time someone asked or intimated he was gay, he would be a rich man. Male nurses were few. He understood that, but he still tired of the question. Bree had only been on the floor about six months, and he’d headed off her flirtations several times. She was one of those women, though, that didn’t understand a man telling her no. So, she looked for other reasons why.
Rex didn’t have the heart to tell her she was a shallow bitch, though he thought it most days he worked with her. Bree was a beautiful woman on the outside. On the inside she was petty and insecure, and she was rude to the patients. More than one had complained to him, and he’d suggested they contact the hospital’s customer service line.
It was obvious she’d been talked to. About two months ago, she’d come in and done her job very quietly. Felicity Hill, their supervisor, had told him that Bree had had a disciplinary hearing, and that she needed to amend her attitude. Bree had obviously been humbled. Now, though, her bitchiness was creeping back, and it was going to drive Rex nuts. He was going to say something mean and end up in his own disciplinary panel.
“He’s not gay. He just doesn’t want to deal with your immature bullshit,” Genevieve Frank said, and Rex could have kissed her. Gen had been an RN for going on twenty years. She’d seen and done almost everything, and he would take bets on her rescuing a patient more than most of the doctors that currently worked at Santa Rosa East Hospital.
Gen had been his friend for years, ever since he’d joined the staff four years ago, and he appreciated her bluntness. She reminded him of Olivia, his lieutenant from the Army. Bree did not appreciate that bluntness, though. Her mouth fell open in outrage, and she stared at Gen, as if waiting for her to take back the words.
Gen merely shrugged. “Tough love, dear. You’d be a good nurse if you weren’t such a bitch.”
Bree’s mouth snapped shut, and she turned and stalked off.
“Oh, Gen,” Pam murmured, glancing up from her own charts. “You don’t have to be so harsh about it.”
Gen shrugged, her dark eyes steady. “She knows she’s a bitch. Everyone does. And she gets away with it, at the cost of the patients. It pisses me off.”
Yeah, it pissed him off, too.
“I wish she’d learn how to deal with patients from you,” she told Rex, planting a hand on her hip. “It was why I wanted her to shadow you this week. Sorry if she made your job more difficult.”
Rex sighed, appreciating what she’d wanted. He loved working with patients and helping them through difficult periods in their lives. It fulfilled his own life, making sure others had the best care possible. He had one of the highest satisfaction rates in the hospital, and he was proud of that fact.
“Anyway…” Gen said expansively, and Rex cringed. He hoped they would have forgotten the original topic. “I’m setting you up on a date. It’s been three weeks since the shooting, and you’ve been in a funk. You need to break out of it. I have a fantastic friend I want you to meet. Just dinner and a drink, maybe. No long-term commitments. Believe me, she’s as reluctant as you are.”
Rex sighed, knowing he was going to give in at some point. Gen had his best interests at heart, and that was the only reason he was even considering this. “Is she an airhead?”
“Absolutely not,” Gen said, nudging her glasses up her nose. “She’s a divorced single mother, and I love her to pieces. She lives down the road from me, and we ride together sometimes. She’s crazy smart and I think she will challenge you.”
He gave her a flat look, but Gen only grinned. “Come on. You’re a great guy, Rex, and I want you to be happy. And I want her to be happy. I can envision you two together. Really. Her ex was an asshole, and he hurt her, so she’s a little gun-shy, but I think you would complement her well.”
Rex could tell by the determination in her eyes that she wasn’t going to let him go without some agreement. “Fine. Give her my number. Tell her I’m free this Friday night.”
Gen grinned, reaching for her phone. “That will be perfect! I know for a fact she’s off Fridays.”
Rex scowled, feeling like he’d just been pushed off a cliff.
In her defense, Gen had been trying to set him up with this woman for the better part of six months, but he’d resisted. Not for any specific reason. He just… didn’t really want to take care of anyone. It was hard enough taking care of himself. Everything in him went to his patients.
The shooting last month had kind of shaken him, though. Yes, he’d been skimmed, but just a few millimeters right or left and he could have been blinded, if not killed. It had made him reevaluate a few things. It had also worsened his anxiety. He’d been fine before the shooting. Now he was on edge and cringing at loud noises. It was like the robbery had awoken his PTSD. For years he’d had it under control. Now it was at the forefront of his mind. And the more he worried about it the worse his anxiety was. It was a vicious cycle.