Page 20 of Sackett (Demented Souls #17)

S elena hated showing any weakness. She hated admitting he had a point wanting to look at her feet, so she didn’t.

Instead, she lifted her feet and put them where he asked.

Then she folded her hands together where they rested on her belly and closed her eyes so she wouldn’t have to watch him inspect her feet.

Why it hadn’t occurred to her to close her eyes when the other guy, the one they said had been some kind of medic, had been working on them, she didn’t know.

As soon as she thought that she did know.

She hadn’t felt safe enough to close her eyes and trust all the men around her.

How odd that she did feel safe enough when it was just Sackett.

Now that it had occurred to her, she thought back over the trip to the hotel.

How had she felt with the other guy, the one who’d been driving.

What had they said his name was? Loaner?

No. It started with an M. Like that guy from the fighter jet movie she saw with Estrella a couple of years ago. Maverick. That was it.

Had she felt safe with Maverick around? Now that she thought about it, she realized she hadn’t felt unsafe, but not as comfortable as she did around Sackett. She wondered why. What was it about Sackett that made her feel more at ease?

“Do I want to ask what you’re thinking about that’s got you frowning like that?

” The low rumble of Sackett’s voice sent heat pooling low in her belly.

She wouldn’t mind listening to him talk for another hour or two, at least. He had an amazing voice.

His fingers were gentle as he checked the bottoms of her feet.

She knew she should look at them herself and see how bad they were, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it, at least not yet.

Why would she be attracted to him, especially now? She had to admit he was attractive but after her day, she didn’t think she would be up to having lascivious thoughts. Especially about one of her rescuers. Or maybe that’s exactly why she was having them.

“Did you fall asleep on me?”

“No.” Selena opened her eyes and found him watching her. “I’m not sleeping, just thinking.”

“Do I ask what’s got you so upset or let it be?”

She was quiet a moment longer, then decided to see how he reacted. “I was wondering why I felt safe enough to sit here like this, my feet in your lap and close my eyes, but it didn’t even occur to me while the other guy looked at them.”

“I’d like to think it’s because you’re comfortable with me.

You know I won’t hurt you and that I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe.

” He tilted his head to one side as he watched her.

Then, after a moment, he turned his attention back to her feet.

“They’re in pretty good shape, all things considered, but I’d like to give them another coating of the spray bandage.

The layers are pretty thin individually, and an extra layer can only help it be a little more durable.

Especially on your feet where it will have to bend and flex as you walk.

You okay staying like this for a few minutes while it dries? ”

She thought about it for a moment. Did she want to stay like this? No. But if it would mean she’d have to worry about her feet less? She could do it. And it was only minimally uncomfortable, and that not even physically.

“Go ahead.”

She watched as he pulled the can Colt had given him from the pocket low on the leg of his pants, then let her mind drift while he used it.

She realized when she didn’t feel the stuff hit her skin that while her feet were sore, she hadn’t felt the sting she’d expected from them when she’d been in the shower.

Apparently, that stuff had enough of a barrier to keep the water out. She wondered if that was good or bad.

Not sure how long she needed to let that stuff dry, she sat like that for a moment, noticing that neither of them felt the need to speak, yet the silence was comfortable.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been with someone who didn’t feel the need to talk or say something, anything, to fill the quiet. It was nice.

She was considering whether to ask if it was okay to set her feet down when a sound rattled the door.

She didn’t think about it but had sat up and put her feet on the floor before she realized Sackett had stood and taken several steps toward the door.

He’d moved one hand to the small of his back and wrapped it around the handle of a pistol she hadn’t noticed there before. When had he put that there?

The black handle of the pistol sticking up over his waistband was almost invisible against the black of his T-shirt, unless you knew what to look for. Was that why she hadn’t noticed it?

The door clicked again, and they both watched as the knob turned. Selena froze, wondering who it could be and how they’d found her room. The door opened and Maverick stepped in juggling the room key, several insulated foam cups and two large bags filled to-go food containers.

Selena relaxed. She saw the tension drain from Sackett’s shoulders as he moved his hand away from the pistol at his back. Now that he wasn’t drawing attention to it, she could see why she hadn’t noticed it. How had he gotten that here if he’d flown and only brought that backpack?

“You need to warn me it’s you before you come in. You almost got hurt,” Sackett said before taking a deep breath and turning to check on her. “You okay? I didn’t hurt your feet when I dropped them, did I?”

She shook her head. “I hope that gun is legal.”

“It is. I’ve got a CCW permit, and Malice wouldn’t have brought an illegal weapon and let me keep it without warning me.”

But he wouldn’t mind having an illegal weapon?

She tilted her head and watched him, wondering what he would do with an illegal weapon.

Then she remembered that he’d gone into that commune?

Compound? What did you call a place like that?

He had rescued her, and that likely hadn’t been the most legal of operations.

At the very least it was trespassing. Did she really have room to fuss about where he got his weapons and what he did with them after she’d benefited from his willingness to do what needed to be done?

She didn’t know and she didn’t have the energy to figure it out tonight.

Maverick brought the food and cups to the oval coffee table that sat in front of the sofa where Sackett had been sitting.

He hooked a foot around one leg and dragged it toward her so she wouldn’t have to move then set his burden down and began parceling it out.

The scent of the food made her stomach complain that it hadn’t had anything more than coffee and water in over twenty-four hours.

“Here’s your tea, it was fresh.” Maverick handed her the only cup with a straw, the others had the flip back style lids more commonly seen with hot drinks.

“What’s that?” She motioned to the other two cups.

“Coffee.”

She blinked at him a moment, finding it hard to believe they wanted coffee at two a.m., but they were grown men and could make their own decisions. If she had coffee this late, she’d be up all night. What little there was left of it.