Page 5 of Under Fire

“Did Doc Anderson give you anything for pain?”

“The nurse is supposed to give me something.”

“I’ll be on watch in the hall until midnight,” Trent said to Matt. “Let me know if you need anything.”

“You don’t have to stay. I’ve got this.” He wasn’t leaving her to someone else’s protection, not even his teammates.

Trent raised an eyebrow. “I’m staying. Not like it’s a hardship. I’ll have the chance to see Grace for a few minutes on her break. Simon will take the next shift. You focus on Delilah. We’ll handle security.” He left the room, taking a chair with him.

“You should go home, Matt. You must be exhausted.”

He shook his head. “I’ll leave the hospital when you do.”

“But, Matt . . .”

He pressed his fingers to her lips to stop her words. Her lips were as soft as silk and he longed to press his mouth to hers. “You’re important to me, Delilah. I’m not leaving you here.” Matt lifted his fingers and trailed the tips over her cheek.

A light tap on the door and Trent stuck his head in the room. “Nurse is here.”

Matt dropped his hand and nodded. The nurse moved past Trent and pulled up short.

“Matt, what are you doing here?”

He wrapped his hand around Delilah’s. “Good to see you again, Cheyenne. It’s been a while.”

A hard smile formed on Cheyenne’s mouth. “Looks like you’ve been busy.” She turned her attention to Delilah. “Ms. Frost, I’m Cheyenne, your night nurse. Dr. Anderson prescribed a mild pain medicine to help with the headache.”

Seeing the ginger ale on the rolling table, she handed Delilah the small paper cup with the pain pill and held the soft drink for her to sip. “Sleep when the meds kick in. It’s the best thing for you right now.” She inclined her head toward Matt. “Don’t let this one talk your ear off.”

Matt’s cheeks burned with a bite of temper. “I’m not a chatterbox.” Unlike the pretty nurse.

“Oh, that’s right. You don’t talk at all about what’s important.” She turned her attention back to Delilah who watched the interchange with a stunned expression on her face. “If you need anything, press the call button.” Without acknowledging Matt, she turned and sailed from the room.

“I guess you two know each other.”

“We went on two dates. I thought we parted ways as friends.” He dragged his attention away from the empty doorway to Delilah. She watched him with unasked questions in her eyes. If he had any chance with Delilah, he’d have to explain the obvious hostility from Cheyenne.

“You know I work for the bodyguard training school outside of town. My teammates and I are also sent on missions by Fortress Security as well. The operations are classified. Cheyenne didn’t like the secrecy. What little information I gave her she spread all over town by the next morning. I can’t risk my life or the lives of my teammates by dating a woman who can’t be trusted.”

“Your work is dangerous?”

“It can be. We train long and hard to be prepared for anything.” A wry smile curved his lips. “Trent doesn’t cut us any slack.” Would the added information scare her away? Man, he hoped not.

“What kind of missions are you involved in?”

“We run the gamut of simple bodyguard duty all the way to hostage rescue operations.” He grabbed a chair and moved it to the side of her bed. “Bravo is one of the best teams I’ve ever worked with. We cover each other’s backs and don’t take unnecessary chances.”

“How long have you done this kind of work?”

“Since I joined the Army at 18. They trained me as a medic. When I mustered out, Fortress hired me and added to my training.”

“Have you considered being a doctor?”

Matt stilled. Would Delilah be able to handle his job? “I thought about it, but I’m not ready to stop going on missions with my teammates. We don’t take as many since our boss assigned us permanently to PSI. Once Bravo stops taking active missions, I’ll talk to my boss about going to med school and serving as a Fortress physician.”

“You’ve been gone a lot in the past few weeks.”

“Josh Cahill’s team is on leave because of the birth of Alex and Ivy Morgan’s daughter and the imminent birth of Josh and Del’s baby. Once they’re back on mission rotation, Bravo will deploy once or twice a month.”

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