Page 11 of Finding Lexie
“No. I’ve seen more than my fair share of grotesque things.”
“Like?” Midas asked, wanting to keep her talking. He wasn’t sure how difficult it would be to get the IV started. If she was too dehydrated, it might be tough to find a vein.
“Kids with wounds that had maggots in them. Babies with bellies so distended from starvation it looked as if they’d just swallowed a cantaloupe. Women who’d been beaten by their husband so badly, their eyes swelled shut. Men whose feet were so blistered they were covered in blood and pus…and yet they still put on ill-fitting shoes and walked ten miles to try to find work so they could get money for their family.”
Her words were unemotional and flat, but Midas had a feeling that was a protective mechanism.
Thankfully, the needle slid into place in her arm without difficulty and, after he’d hooked up the saline and hung it on a pole by the bed, he sat on the edge by her hip.
Lexie looked down at her arm, up at the bag of saline, then into his eyes. “Wow, that was impressive.”
“Told you I knew how to put in an IV,” he said a little smugly.
“So you did.”
“Still so calm,” he said, shaking his head.
Lexie shrugged, and Midas put a hand beside her opposite hip and leaned a bit closer. She didn’t take her gaze from his.
“I can’t figure you out,” he said quietly. “I have so many questions. And I also can’t help but want to know all your secrets, and figure out what’s going on behind those beautiful hazel eyes of yours.”
Chapter Three
Lexie blinked as she stared up at Midas. He really didn’t want to know what she was thinking right about how. He’d probably be appalled. Or at the very least, shocked to know that she was wondering if his lips tasted as good as they looked.
It was incredibly inappropriate. But Lexie had just made it through three nightmarish months as a hostage. She was allowed to have a few improper thoughts.
Pierce Cagle had always been good-looking. Tall, broad shoulders, slender, funny, great smile, and a good personality to match. When she’d met him in high school, it was so obvious he was out of her league. She was the new kid who’d faded into the woodwork. He was Midas, the golden child of the pool and their entire school. She’d never heard anyone say anything bad about him. He’d even still been friendly with his few ex-girlfriends.
When she’d been assigned to work with him on an English project, she’d been scared to death. But in the end, those couple of weeks had been enough for her to develop an intense crush. Of course, she hadn’t done anything about it, and he wouldn’t have given her a second glance. But even after they’d graduated, and she’d taken her first assignment with Food For All, she’d thought about him now and then. Wondered where he was and what he’d done with his life.
Then, out of the blue, he was back.
It was an odd thing, to have a man you used to know and crush on show up to rescue you…and to find out he was still just as amazing as you’d thought he was a decade and a half ago.
And he wanted to know her secrets? She had none.
She couldn’t help but glance down at his left hand, which was resting on his thigh. No ring. But then again, that didn’t mean much, as she supposed even if he was married, he wouldn’t wear a ring while on a mission.
“What?” he asked.
Damn. He was too observant. She remembered that about him too.
“Nothing.”
“Lex…what?” he insisted, leaning even closer.
“I just was wondering if you were married.”
He looked surprised at the question. “No. I’m not.”
“Oh.” Lexie wasn’t sure what else to say. The man leaning over her had definitely changed physically since high school. He was more muscular. Not as lean. It was hard to tell exactly, while he was wearing his uniform and all that gear strapped to his chest, but it looked like he still had the same broad shoulders he’d had back in the day, though his thighs and butt had filled out.
And yes, she’d noticed. How could she not? She wasn’t dead, and Midas was a hell of a good-looking man.
When he chuckled, her gaze whipped back up to his.
Shit, had she been staring at his legs? Or worse, between his legs?
