Page 30 of SEAL's Patience
Feeling more settled than he had in hours, he quickly scrubbed himself clean in the steamy shower. A luxury he hadn’t had since they’d been on the mission. After drying off, he slid between the crisp sheets, the soft fabric soothing against his naked, over-heated skin. It wasn’t long before sleep overtook his tired mind.
The ringing of his cell phone woke him. Reaching for it on the bedside table, he squinted at his clock—ten a.m. He’d only been asleep for about two hours.
“Gallagher,” he grunted.
“Aren’t you just a ray of sunshine?” Doc’s jovial voice sounded overly loud in his ear.
Quinn rubbed a hand over his face and sat up against the headboard. “It was a long night. Did you call for a reason or to just annoy me?”
“Aww, c’mon, bossman. I’d never do that, at least not intentionally. That’s only Ry.”
Doc had a point there. That man could piss off a priest if he wanted to. He was the total golden retriever around Harmony, but on a mission—holy shit.
“You’re right. What’s up?”
“Not much. That’s some blizzard out there, huh?”
What the actual fuck? Doc making small talk? He’d known him for over five years and never once had that happen. “Yeah, a helluva thing. Part of the reason for the long night. But you didn’t call for that. Spill it.”
“Fine. Two things. First, did you notice the server working with Patience yesterday?”
“No, not really. Sorry.”
“I’m not surprised. You don’t notice anyone except Patience and maybe Livie.”
“Shut the fuck up. Now, what about the other one?” Quinn couldn’t remember anyone other than Livie, Theo’s woman, and Patience’s roommate. He knew there were others, but Doc was right, he didn’t pay attention to them.
“She’s newer and older, I think.”
The way Doc was drawing this out meant he would need caffeine to get through this explanation. Fuck. Looked like he wasn’t going back to sleep anytime soon. While Doc rambled on about her, Quinn grabbed some gray sweats from a drawer and headed downstairs to make coffee.
“Wait, what did you just say?” Quinn clicked the coffeemaker on when Doc’s words finally sank in.
“She was limping and had bruises on her wrists. She kept trying to cover them up with her sleeves, but I saw them.”
“Did you ask Pam about it?”
“No, I thought about it. But the way she kept hiding them made me think she was embarrassed, and I didn’t want to make it worse.”
If anyone on their team was a playboy, it would be Doc. He’d never seriously dated anyone since Quinn knew him. He also was rarely serious about anything unless it had to do with a mission or treating an injury. That he’d even noticed the server was startling on its own, but that he was concerned? That took it to a whole other level.
“You realize I should give you a load of shit right now, don’t you?”
“What do you mean?”
“After all the ribbing about Patience?”
“I didn’t say I was interested in dating her, just concerned about her being injured.”
“Uh huh. And when have you ever even noticed someone other than a teammate’s injuries?”
Doc got quiet before letting out a pained sigh. “Fine. You got me. There’s something about her.”
Quinn grinned as he grabbed the mug of coffee from the Keurig. “That’s how it starts. What’s her name? I’m sure you got it.”
“Fuck. Yeah, I did. It’s Charity Embry.”
“And?” Quinn already knew that Doc would have researched her to find out as much as possible. It’s how they all were. No one got near their team without knowing everything about their lives first. Well, everyone but Rick Fuckface Kern. Just thinking about what he did to Felicity had Quinn clenching his fist.
