Somebody's Chelsi: Book 5 The Wakefield Romance Series Read online

  I’m lost in my thoughts when I snap out of it and realize she’s staring back at me, her light green eyes running over my face till they meet mine. She gives me a funny face and stands from her chair, running her hand of her bottom to fix her dress.

  “You ready to head on out and take me home, ol’ man?” she asks, bumping my knee with her small clutch. I just shake my head at her with a smile on my lips, standing up right behind Bobby, whom is still surrounded by happy conversation.

  “You don’t wanna stay and meet the babies?” I nod towards the scrub clad father and she looks at me like I have three heads. Bobby even whips around and gives me that infamous Timmons grin.

  “Have you been out in la-la land, LT?” He says and our group of friends chuckles. “Ellie can’t have any visitors till she’s settled and the babies are in the nursery getting checked over.”

  “Gotcha, gotcha,” I mumble and reach my hand out for a shake from my former Team member. “But I gotta get goin’.” A slight, sad ‘aww’ goes through the group and Chelsi steps right up, putting her arm through mine and setting me on fire in an instant.

  “I have to work in the mornin’ and he’s my ride home so we’re both heading out.” Everyone nods in response to her and we spend the next five minutes saying our goodbyes with numerous hugs and some not-so-silent innuendoes from my friends about getting busy with her.

  Not soon enough we are headed for the main entrance/exit of the hospital and Chelsi’s arm is still wound through mine, our steps matched as the automatic doors slide shut behind us in the muggy July night. “So your friends are funny…not.” She laughs to herself as she hops in my old Jeep. I’ve taken the doors and roof canvas off so it’s open in this heat, plus I like seeing her hair blow around in the wind.

  I slide on my aviators and watch her out of the corner of my eye as she looks at her reflection in the visor mirror. She pulls a handful of Bobby pins out and curls start to shape her face, but before I really get to enjoy the beauty of her, she pulls her hair back in loose ponytail then slips on her sunglasses, then her seatbelt, looking over to me as I start up the Jeep.

  “Yeah, they are a real hoot!” I shout over the loud engine and even though she has shades on I can see her roll her eyes. Putting it in gear I pull around through the parking lot and out onto the street, heading for Waverly.

  “Just take me to your place first,” she says at the stop light, brushing the hair from her face. “You have to feed Daisy, don’t you?”

  Thinking about my old, St. Bernard makes me smile. She always lops up to the door when I get home, no matter how long I’m gone. When I have a deployment or last minute notice mission, I hate leaving her at the kennel, even though they are very nice at the place I take her to. I know she will be taken care of, but I can’t help but wonder if she thinks I’m leaving her for good. And who really knows if I am besides God.

  “Yeah,” I finally agree when I notice her looking at me when I peer for cross traffic at a stop sign. “We’ll stop at my place real quick, then I’ll take you home so you can get your beauty sleep. Sound good, girly?”

  I grin and waggle my eyebrows at her as the wind whips in around us in the open cab of my vehicle. She always gives me a hard time when I call her ‘girl’, so that’s why she had tagged along with everyone when they call me ‘old man’ but it works with us since she’s almost ten years my junior.

  “Yeah, sounds good…ol’man.” She laughs and it reverberates through the Jeep, cutting the wind and landing in my heart, setting the glowing ambers of desire I’ve had burning for her ablaze, and I suddenly have to adjust myself so she doesn’t see what it does to me. This woman, she’s got some sort of spell on me.

  CHAPTER ONE:

  Chelsi

  July 5, 2014

  Waking up for my alarm today was especially difficult. Not because I’m extremely tired from all of the events of yesterday, but because I was having the most in-depth dream I can ever remember having. When I woke up I was sweating and could still feel the phantom fingertips tracing along my thigh. Plus what makes it such an unusual dream, is that it wasn’t about my deceased husband.

  It was about Austin.

  Sure, I’ve had dreams about him before, what single woman who has ever had the chance to talk to the man wouldn’t? But this was way more than a dream. Even now, as I’m standing here monotonously folding clothing, I can still feel his five o’clock shadow burning a path across my chest, his lips going from one breast to the next, then they trail down my stomach ever so slowly.

  “Chelsi.” My manager’s tone breaks my re-living it and I snap my head to him, my breathing noticeably faster in the aftermath of my thoughts. “This section looks amazing. Keep up the good work.” He gives me a curt smile and walks off.

  “Yeah…thanks.” I mumble to myself, running my hands down my khaki clad thighs to try and stay the tingling trail that his fingers left again in my musing. I pick up the last shirt, fold it and place it on top of the pile and take a step back, seeing that the section I had mindlessly been working in the last hour does look pretty good and I head off for the break room. I need to get this dream out of my head because the way it’s going I’ll need to buy some new undies and possibly pants before the day is over. Maybe a coffee will snap me out of this haze so I can function somewhat normally.

  I had worked with Ellie and Rhea at Victoria’s Secret up until about a month ago, then I moved to a major department store in the same mall, Reef’s. It’s a bigger store with more customers and the shift supervisor position paid a few more dollars an hour, so here I am, folding shirts and helping with angry customers when I’m needed. The really nice thing about this company, they do value their associates, and as I push open the door to the break room I can feel a little calmer in the relaxed atmosphere.

  A couple of the stockroom guys are watching a rerun of a UFC fight as I mill around and make my coffee. Waiting in front of the pot as it brews, the dripping coffee flashes me back to one early morning I had met Austin at his house to go fishing. He had ignored his alarm and I had to wake him up, the smile growing on my lips now remembering the way he looked answering the door in his boxers. Thinking he was going to get dressed I made myself at home in his kitchen, starting the coffee brewing and bacon sizzling.

  I had been in my own little world, listening to the radio and making some French toast when his arms surrounded me, scaring the living daylights out of me. Before I could really think I swung backwards with the spatula, landing a blow to his left cheek. Austin stumbled back into one of the chairs, rubbing his cheek, and Daisy bounced around us, almost knocking me over thinking that we were messing around like usual. After apologizing profusely, although laced with laughs, we settled down for our coffee and breakfast.

  I can’t stop myself from laughing at the memory, filling my cup and turning to see the two stockroom guys staring at me. “Laughing at myself gets me through my day, boys.” They agree and go back to their television show as I sit at one of the other tables, taking out my cell.

  Looking at my cell the only messages I have are from Ellie, and I open them eagerly to see copious amounts of pictures she has sent me of her and the twins in their hospital room. They are absolutely adorable, just like their mother and father. But looking over their adorable faces and Ellie’s happy smile makes me yearn for something that I lost.

  The chance to be the mother of Tom’s children. I’ve always wanted kids. Ever since I held my baby cousin when I was ten I’ve dreamt of meeting mister right and having a family, but that opportunity slipped through my fingers all because of cancer. A deep, long sigh slips out and I catch the guys looking at me again, then getting up and leaving me alone in the breakroom. Guess they’ve had enough of crazy me.

  Scrolling through my messages, it’s weird that I haven’t gotten one from Austin yet today. He usually sends me a message just saying good morning or asking me how my day is going, but nothing. ‘Still asleep, old man?’ is what I send him, laughing to myself
knowing he’ll grumble and mumble under his breath like he does when I call him that, but deep down I think he likes it. Just like the way he enjoys calling me ‘girl’.

  Never once has he referred to me as woman, sweetie, or baby. Just girl, and I kind of like it even if I do give him a little attitude. I haven’t missed the weird looks strangers give us when we’re in public and we refer to each other with our nicknames. It’s like they think he’s my older brother or something, his rough exterior making him seem older than he really is, but his kind of job can do that to someone real quick.

  I can’t even start to imagine the things he’s seen or been through that have caused the crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes. Or the stress and strife he’s had to endure that made all those gray hairs pop up on his head, mixing with his darker dirty blonde ones. I have however, been witness to his few and far between night terrors. The last time it was a night we had been out with every one and he crashed on my couch. It was about 4 am and I was shocked awake by his yelling and I had lain there, staring at the ceiling trying to figure out if it was just my dream or real since it was silent again. I got up and creeped out into my small living room and had found Austin sitting on the couch, his head in his hands breathing heavily and sweating profusely.

  “Oh my g… Are you okay?” I remember saying to him as sat right beside him, the heat from his body hovering around and making me uneasy as well. I’ll never forget the ashamed and sad look in his blue eyes as they peered at me, his hands rubbing over his face and through his short hair when he takes a deep breath. Even now, just thinking of how sexy he looked shirtless and in boxers makes me squirm, but he was hurting and I had just thrown my arms around him and hugged him, as any good friend would have. So we sat there, embracing, not saying anything just breathing one another in and in that time I felt him relax little by little, to the point when he said, “You can stop squeezing me so hard, girl.”

  It’s funny how much this man makes me smile just thinking of him and we’re not even really involved. Wait… that makes me think.

  Involved. For two adult people who spend an awful lot of time together, we are a curious situation. We are involved in a friendship, but should there be more to it with the way he makes me feel? Sometimes it’s like he makes me forget my past, he makes me forget for a short time the hurt in my heart and all I know if the happiness and fun he brings into my life. And sure, like I said before there have been simple pecks here and there, an innocent hand holding when I’m balling my eyes out on my couch on a bad day; but really, nothing more complex.

  Does he want something more complex?

  “Chels!” a coworkers sharp tone breaks me from my staring at a wall musing and I swivel in her direction. “There is an angry customer out here and Dan is out on lunch.” I nod to her that I’ll be there in a second and take a long sip from my cup. Checking my phone to see no reply from Austin, I set my cup on my shared desk, hoping it’ll still be warm when I return shortly but knowing that it’s never a short issue, and head out to deal with that angry customer.

  ~~~~

  Austin

  Somewhere in South America

  I hate the jungle. I’ll take the desert over the jungle any day.

  The bugs and the humidity are getting to me as I lay here on the ground with my binoculars to my eyes. Observing and calculating are a large part of being successful on our missions. One wrong move and people die.

  “LT, I think that’s our guy.” Euclid chimes in my ear. “Red baseball cap. White shirt. Torn Jeans. Six o’clock from your position.” I zoom in on the man and yes, I think Elliot is right.

  “Lenny? Black? Do you have eyes on the towers?” My Team is spread out efficiently around this small encampment of drug runners who have made their way onto our radar by killing a few FBI agents and then claiming responsibility for setting off a car bomb at the border with Texas and Mexico.

  “My tower is clear, the guard just stepped down.”

  “I have one occupant. Armed. Machine gun and pistol.” Black’s deep, scratchy voice rumbles over the comm. “But I think he’s texting. He hasn’t put his phone down in a good five minutes.” With that I know he’s probably over there mumbling to himself about the fall of society at the hands of technology. The man doesn’t own a cell phone and never will. He lives like a Walton but looks like Grizzly Adams.

  “Everyone prepared for takedown?” Our mission is to capture, but I’m certain they won’t go easily. No one ever does. Everyone checks in and I look to my left to see Ruiz, Ghillie suit and all, laying prone on the ground with his sniper rifle at the ready to cover our asses. He gives me the go ahead hand signal. “Move in.”

  My heart starts to race as I make my way through the greenery that hides me for now, my eyes trained on the handful of men milling around this camp but I spot a green mass moving in step with me about one hundred yards to my right. In seconds we’re in the clearing, Woods and Lenny are at my sides.

  “Manos arriba! Manos arriba!” We yell at the men and their shocked expressions turn to anger and they scatter into different doors of the building, one opening fire on us, the force of Ruiz’s .50 caliber knocking him on his ass and we just keep plowing on.

  “Black. Benson. Williams. Three occupants in the long building. Is the backside clear?” I’m leaning up against the smaller unoccupied building with Woods and Lenny behind me, yelling and frantic movement inside their holdout going on in front of us.

  “Yup we’re all good. Two taken down. We’re coming up on the right now.”

  “No change out here, LT.” Ruiz checks in. “Good to go.”

  I don’t even need to motion to Lenny and Woods, they’re in step with me to meet the others at the edge of the occupied building. Black comes to my side, always my right hand man these days and we’re in the dark building, our flashlights on the end of our guns lighting our way. Two gunshots ring out as we get to the third room and I kick open the door to find two of the men lying dead and the third with the pistol to his head.

  “Put the gun down and come with us!” I yell, all of our weapons trained on him. He’s surrounded, backed up against the wall with nowhere to go. He’s still got the gun pressed against his temple as he steps to the side slowly, revealing an open laptop on the small table behind him.

  It’s on and there is a man staring back at us on the screen. “Who are you?” I shout, hearing the man’s laugh filter through the speakers.

  “He’s your worst nightmare.” Our target finally speaks, his hand shaking and I know he’s about to pull the trigger so I make the decision for him and lower my aim, putting one bullet right in his knee and dropping him. Black and Williams collect him, stripping him of his weapons and dragging him outside. Benson and Lenny are tossing the room looking for any usable information as I step up to the computer, then man looking at me the entire time.

  “Who are you?” I say again. I see that the man is in a room similar to this one; barely lit and dirty so he must be in a bunker.

  “Mi empeño was right gringo. I’m your worst nightmare.”

  “Is that right, asshole?” I can’t help but laugh. I just love it when pricks that are hiding behind a computer screen try to be macho.

  “I’ll see you around, gringo.” He snickers and I slam the laptop shut, flipping it over and removing the battery to shut it down immediately.

  “What was that a-hole sayin’, LT?” Lenny takes the laptop from me and we all turn to exit the building, finding Black and Williams tending to the yelling and cursing mark.

  “Nothing important.” I check to see if everyone is ready to head out to the extraction point and Ruiz comes from the trees to join us. I don’t have time to worry about what that guy’s problem or connection to this operation is, I need to get my Team with our prisoner safely from this encampment.

  “Head out.” I signal them forward and we weave our way back into the trees, our coordinates for the extraction point snaking us through the jungle. We’re still on alert, our
weapons still at the ready, because you never know when trouble can pop out of the thick green growth. All I really want to do is get out of this disgusting climate.

  I can think of a hundred places I’d rather be. Number one is back in Virginia sitting next to a beautiful strawberry blonde woman. I know she’s probably wondering where her generic everyday text message from me is, but I know she’ll understand. She just gets me in the way that she knows my work is my life and I love that about her. So my time with her will come again soon, but as for right now I have a job to do.

  CHAPTER TWO:

  Chelsi

  August 10, 2014

  It’s been a couple of weeks since the last time Austin has been home and I can’t help but miss him more and more every day, even though most of the time I don’t want to admit it. Like when I’m with all my friends just hanging out and they start ragging on me about him. I do my best to brush it off and make some jokes, but truth is, when he’s away there is kind of a chunk of me missing.

  This time around it’s been a tad bit better because I’ve taken his dog Daisy in. She’s a great dog, obedient and smart, plus very lovable and playful. My apartment has a big yard so when I’m getting down about Austin being gone, I take her out and throw a tennis ball or her favorite squeaky football for fetch. She is a big dog, though, and she takes up most of my bed at night when we are asleep, but I’ve gotten used to it.

  Right now she’s hanging her head out my passenger side window as we make our way to Rhea and Chad’s house for a Sunday barbeque. The macaroni salad I made is safely tucked in the trunk, because I learned last week that a St. Bernard’s paw can annihilate a Tupperware bowl in two seconds flat. I had to stop at the store and buy my supplies and re-make my fruit salad when I got to Ellie and Bobby’s house.