Page 54 of Nikolai
With his free hand he turned her face to his and studied her.So dirty and dust-streaked and so very beautiful.
“What?”Parker asked.
“You’re so beautiful,” Nick sighed.
She laughed.“You really did get a blow to the head.A big one.”Her expression changed.“I hope your friend Jacob Black didn’t forget to ask for a medic for you.”
“Honey, Jacob never forgets anything.Don’t worry about that.And I’m not that bad.”
She cocked her head.“You’re a Monty Python sketch all by yourself.You know the one where the medieval knight gets his limbs lopped off and he hops up and down on his torso insisting he’s fine?”
“Yeah.”Nick rolled his eyes.He knew the sketch, and it was funny/sick.“Not that bad.”
“Definitely that bad.You sustained a blow to the head, you probably have a massive headache—” she looked sternly at him until he reluctantly nodded his head, “—and you have a serious deep gash in your shoulder which needs cleaning out and stitching.And it’s stillbleeding.How is that not needing a medic?”
Nick stretched out his legs and put his arm around Parker.She sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder.The not-dinged shoulder.
“Would I win macho points if I said the shoulder is just a scratch?”
Parker huffed out a breath.“You most definitely would not.That’s not just a scratch.You could have died.I’m just glad you’re alive.For a moment there, I was…scared.”
Her voice wobbled for a moment, and Nick looked at her sharply.Her face was turned away and, though it hurt to move his left arm, he turned her face to him.Her eyes were wet.A tear escaped and moved down over that perfect skin.
She was crying.For him.Because she’d been worried about him.
Nobody worried about him, unless it was his teammates when he didn’t respond to a check-in.Which had only happened once and because his radio had taken a bullet.Otherwise everyone assumed he could take care of himself.Which he could.
Nobody had to worry about him, except…having Parker worry felt sort of nice, though he’d shoot himself rather than say it.She cared.Of all the women he’d dated and bedded, he couldn’t think of one who actually cared for him, as opposed to caring what he could do for them.
He was feeling a little shaky himself.They’d almost died.He’d realized in a flash that he was close to falling in love for the first time in his life.Was actually already there.
They’d stumbled across nukes.
It was a lot.
He needed to lighten things up.Nudged her with his shoulder.“Since we’re waiting, can we fool around a little?”
Parker gasped then looked at his face, saw he was joking.She hauled back a fist and swung it forward, stopping an inch from his chest.
“Glad you stopped,” he said, relieved.“There isn’t a place that doesn’t hurt.”
“Fooling around would have hurt.”
“Worth it,” he answered and she smiled.
“You know,” she said as she put her head on his unwounded shoulder, “this is really scary, but sort of exciting, you know what I mean?If we make it out alive, it will be a really good story.”
“Yup.You’ll have to censor out the nukes, though, you know.”
Parker sighed.“I imagined.The nukes give it extra special spice.But being buried during an earthquake in the remains of a Roman villa is still a great story.An exciting one.Maybe I missed my calling.Maybe I should have become a Navy SEAL.”
“Maybe.”Nick smiled at the thought.“But we get dirty a lot.Sometimes can’t shower for weeks.Don’t sleep in pretty flowered sheets and eat real crap.Sometimes have to go without sleep for days.Wear the same clothes for weeks.Sleep on rocks.”
She shuddered.“I thought it was all adrenaline-inducing antics and dashing adventures.Parachuting out of planes and stuff.”
He looked down at her.From this angle her face was super long eyelashes and sharp cheekbones.“Come to the dark side.We have cookies.”
They laughed.
