Page 34 of Sundowners
The guy was definitely a romantic. He held out his arm all old-school like, but I reached for his hand instead. I linked my fingers with his, feeling as if it were the natural thing to do, although I usually wasn’t touchy-feely on dates. My hands seemed to have a mind of their own, and they were of a mind to keep touching him. We took the steps down to the sand and, once we got there, we took our shoes off and linked hands once again.
“You were pretty impressive back there, wielding that club like you knew how to handle yourself,” I said as we took off towards the water. “You always work with old folks?”
“No,” Creed said, his gaze someplace off in the distance. “I prefer working with the elderly, but no. I’ve worked in juvenile placements before. And psych wards.” That would explain his cool demeanor.
“So you learned how to handle tense situations, huh?”
He gave a wry smile. “You learn all you can after a three-hundred-pound man doesn’t want to take his meds, that’s for sure.”
“I bet. That’s tough. You can’t appeal to their reasonable side.”
“Nope. You just have to know how to subdue them, hopefully without hurting them or yourself in the process.” He glanced at me. “You seem to have experience as well?”
I shrugged. “I work out with my uncle. We’ve taken Kajukenbo for years. I’ve also volunteered as tribute for his department’s S.W.A.T. Training.”
“Wow. What’s that like?” he asked, his brow furrowed as if that didn’t sit well with him.
“Mostly they make me a victim needing to be rescued, or if I’m lucky, I get to be the bad guy. Although if Rey’s there, he hates it when I do that.”
“Why?” Creed asked with a chuckle.
“He doesn’t like seeing me at the business end of a gun.” I ducked my head a little. “Maybe it reminds him too much of what I could have been if it weren’t for Lola taking me in. He prefers if I stay with the hostage negotiators, which actually is where I’ve learned the most.”
“That’s interesting,” he said, squeezing my hand. “Aren’t you afraid?”
“Not at all. They don’t use live ammunition. They’ve trained extensively. The worst part is the flash bangs. Makes my tinnitus worse for a few days after.”
His smile slipped. “Does it bother you? The militarization of the police? I can tell you, I’ve squared off with riot cops in the past. They can be brutal.”
“At, like, a demonstration?”
Creed nodded and lifted his chin higher as if he were reliving a difficult memory.
“That’s different, but you’re right. I’ve spent many hours arguing with my aunt and uncle about the need for mental health services rather than tanks and riot gear. A Youth and Family Services program with licensed therapists on staff is critical to any police department. I wrote up a proposal for a mental health crisis response team. I want to present it to the city council and the department, but it still needs work. That’s why I started doing ridealongs with Reynaldo and Vanessa.”
Creed whistled low.
“What?”
“You continue to dazzle me, Professor. Is there anything unattractive about you?”
I barked out a laugh. “Depends on who you ask. My ex would say I’m too involved with my work, my uncle and aunties would tell you I’m immature, and my lola would tell you I’m shit at cleaning house.”
Creed laughed. “I think your work is fascinating. I think you have your whole life to grow into who you are meant to be. And cleaning house is an art. You’re a scientist. Makes sense you’d be shit at it.”
I bumped him with my shoulder. “What about you? You work at the home and what else? What should I know about the extraordinary Nurse Creed?”
Creed’s smile slipped a little. “Depends.”
“Depends? See, there you go with the mysterious shit again.”
Creed stopped walking and tugged on my hand to bring me to a halt. “It depends on why you’re asking, Professor. If you’re trying to find out whether I’m safe to be caring for your grandmother, that will determine how I answer—”
“Creed—”
“Let me finish,” he said, turning to face me, brushing against me. The contact of our hips made my skin hyper aware of him once more, and I had that static electricity thing going on.
“If you’re asking to make just enough small talk to gauge whether I’d be a good hookup, thatdefinitelywill determine how I answer you.”
