Page 32 of Salute, To Bravery
I frowned. “I’m not uncomfortable. What are you talking about?” My nervous chuckle didn’t convince even myself.
Ian ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m not some sort of deranged serial killer. Dottie.” He met my eyes again.
“Then what did you mean when you said you’d killed for a lot less?”
Ian sighed before rubbing his hand across his face. “I never explained what I did in the Army. Infantry are basically the boots on the ground. We do the dirty work, and engage the enemy. We kill the enemy.” He met my eyes again. “I didn’t like it, I don’t ever want to do that particular part again. I’m not a psychopath. It was us or them and I sure as hell wasn’t going to let it be us.” He turned back to his laptop and whatever website he was digging through.
I was silent for a moment, not sure what to say to that. I had never imagined a man like Ian having a job like that. I furrowed my eyebrows again. “Wait, you went from that to being a nurse?”
Ian laughed. “Yep.”
“How did you get from that to nursing?” I raised an eyebrow, but he didn’t look at me.
“I decided I was done taking lives and wanted to save them instead.” He took a drink from his bottle of water, still keeping his eyes on his screen.
I just nodded and returned to my contemplating.
It was only a few short minutes later when Ian shut his laptop and slid out from his seat. “Okay, let’s get going.”
I tilted my head. “Going? Where are we going?”
“You didn’t plan on sitting in this RV all month did you?” Ian raised an eyebrow at me.
“Uh, I hadn’t made a ton of plans to be honest. Especially after my friends bailed.”
Ian grinned. “Grab your purse, I have a surprise for you, and I think you’ll love it.”
I didn’t hesitate and was so glad that the mood seemed to have lightened.
Chapter Five.
The car ride wasn’t very long. Ian had insisted on bringing his jeep, which turned out was a very good idea. But his insistence on taking the doors off to drive around seemed like a very unwise decision.
“You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?” I gripped the seat with both hands.
Ian was grinning so hard I felt his cheeks might burst. “You’re perfectly safe, relax.”
We finally arrived at a parking lot in what I felt was in the middle of nowhere. “What’s this?”
Ian pointed to the sign that read “Fantastic Caverns.”
“Caverns? Like a cave?”
Ian nodded with a grin on his face.
“You took me to a nasty, bat-infested cave? There’s no telling what kind of diseases are in there.” I crossed my arms. “What made you think this was a good idea?”
Ian laughed, only making me more annoyed. “How many times do I have to tell you to trust me before you’ll actually do it?”
I only scrunched up my face in response.
He shook his head. “Come on.”
I hesitantly followed him through the front lobby where he paid the woman behind the counter. Shortly after, he was ushering me into a weird train of cars with no tops. “Another deathtrap?”
Ian rolled his eyes. “It goes like 2 miles an hour, you’ll be fine as long as you don’t get out of it until they tell you to.”
I felt my eyes widen. “As long as I don’t get out of it? Is something going to eat me?”
