Page 26 of Finding Lexie
“I rested,” Midas told her. There was no way he was going to let down his guard enough to sleep. Not when that could mean Lexie being hurt or kidnapped again. She was his mission…but she was also much more than that. Things were personal for him now.
Lexie shifted against him again. There wasn’t enough room for her to maneuver much more than that.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Just stiff,” she replied.
Midas felt her flex her feet one at a time, which made him think about her lack of shoes once more. It bothered him on a visceral level that she was barefoot. He should’ve taken care of her better. The thought of her having to walk around Galkayo without shoes was repugnant.
“What?” Lexie asked.
Midas jerked in surprise. “What, what?” he asked.
“You got tense. What’s wrong?”
Midas wasn’t surprised she was as in tune with him as she was. Then again, they were lying together like lovers, so it was hard to hide any physical reaction. “I was just thinking about your lack of shoes,” he admitted. “I feel awful about it.”
“Why?” she asked. “It’s not like you had a chance to find any for me. And neither of us expected we’d have to crawl out the window like we did. Besides, being barefoot isn’t anything most of the locals haven’t experienced at one point in their lives.”
“True. But I’m responsible for you. I should’ve anticipated something going wrong. I was too lax.”
“You are not responsible for me,” Lexie retorted heatedly. “I mean, okay, sure, in the eyes of the government, you’re responsible for getting me to the ship. But I’m an adult, Midas. I’m perfectly able to make my own decisions about my life. And I doubt you’ve got the psychic ability to know what everyone around us is going to do every second of the day. I’m more than grateful to you and your team for freeing me and Dagmar, but that doesn’t mean I’m an empty-headed damsel in distress. If I started screaming right now and brought all the bad guys running, would you be responsible for what happened to me next? Or if I insisted I needed to stop and go shopping on our way out of here, would you be responsible for whatever happened as a result?
“Shit happens, Midas. We can either deal with it as it comes, or freak out and have a meltdown. I haven’t had the luxury of being able to have a meltdown in my life. I’ve had to brush myself off and keep going. And I’m not about to stop now. Unless you tell me you’re some sort of seer and know what’s going to happen in the future, you need to quit beating yourself up for things you can’t control.”
God. She was magnificent.
She was level-headed and passionate and so far from being a spoiled diva, it wasn’t even funny. He wasn’t offended by her outburst. Yes, her argument was a bit over the top, and he hadn’t thought his comment would set her off like it had. But it certainly didn’t turn him off. He liked that she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind.
Midas had never given much thought to the kind of woman he wanted in the long term—but this was it. She was it. He wanted a strong and pragmatic partner, someone who could function when he was deployed.
He apparently didn’t respond fast enough for her, because she asked, “Are you pissed at me? I’m sorry. Now that I’ve thought for two seconds about what you said, and I realize I kind of overreacted. I can also admit I don’t know what I’d do if you weren’t here. I’d have no clue what to do next…other than going back to the Food For All building, which I’m guessing wouldn’t be in my best interest right now. I’m not saying I’m not scared, because I am. But if I let my fears overwhelm me, things could get even worse.”
“I’m not upset, and I agree. And I never saw you as a damsel in distress,” Midas said. “From the moment I saw your name on the reports and realized that I knew you, this mission ceased to be like any other for me. I appreciate and admire how you’ve conducted yourself so far, Lex. You’ve been amazing. I just… I don’t like the thought of you being in a disadvantaged position. I could carry you if I needed to, though it would be harder for me to protect us both. But you not having shoes means that you could get hurt, and I can’t do a damn thing about it. That’s what bothers me about you being barefoot. It makes you more vulnerable. That’s all.”
He felt Lexie take a deep breath, then nod against him. “I’m sorry. I’m always cranky when I first wake up. You know what I miss most?”
“What?”
“Coffee. The good kind. The kind that’s way too sweet and doesn’t really even taste like coffee. The kind where you take a sip and your taste buds wake up and take notice. That first swallow, it’s like heaven.”
Midas chuckled. “I like it black.”
“Gross.”
His smile widened. Then he sobered. “What are your plans after we get you to safety?” he couldn’t help but ask. He knew his way of changing subjects irritated people. They were just talking about coffee, and suddenly he was turning the conversation in a more serious direction. But now he was thinking about her sitting on his back deck, watching the sunrise, sipping a cup of way-too-sweet coffee and smiling about it.
He knew the odds of that ever happening were slim to none. And he couldn’t help but wonder where she would go when they got out of Somalia. Would she go back to the States? Take another assignment immediately? If she took time off, it didn’t sound as if she had any family or close friends to hang out with until she was ready to start work again.
But instead of asking him how the hell he’d gotten from coffee to her future, he felt her shrug against him. “I don’t know.”
The short answer didn’t make him feel any better.
“I need to talk to my coordinator at Food For All, see what my options are. For all I know, I don’t have a job anymore.”
“That’s bullshit,” Midas said angrily. “It’s not like you were gallivanting around the city causing trouble when you were taken. You were with one of the head honchos and were outside their headquarters. If you don’t have a job, you should sue.”
Lexie patted his stomach as if trying to calm him down. “I was just saying it’s a possibility. I don’t really think they’d fire me because I was kidnapped.”
