The Rescuer's MC Bk 6

Chapter 2 - Ace lays his heart open

After the three of them left the room, Dot turned to the young man coming out of the bathroom and said "Thanks for the fresh linens. I'm sorry. I didn't get your name?"

"My name is Carlyle, ma'am. If you prefer, I can come back to do the bed after you are done in the shower?" Carlyle said.

"Carlyle, I just spent the better part of the last 5 years on a ship with over 200 men. So long as there is a lock on the bathroom door and you don't have a death wish, I think it will be fine if you do it now." Dot said with a slight smile at the very nervous young man.

"How long have you been a prospect for the MC, Carlyle?" Dot asked. She guessed he would say not long.

"Only about a month. But I like it here better than home, even if I do have to scrub toilets every day. At least they don't hit me here." Carlyle said.

Dot was horrified. "Who used to hit you, Carlyle?" She asked.

"My dad. When he drinks, which is pretty much all the time, if I didn't move fast enough to please him, he'd hit me. One night he cornered me and damn near beat me to death. I only managed to get away because he took a swing at me and missed and he fell over. I ran for all I was worth. I managed to make it to a friend's house and he called Prez for me. I spent a few days in the infirmary here and then got to know some of the other prospects and decided this place is better than foster care." Carlyle told her as he stripped her bed. "You had better get a shower because Ace will be back to collect you for dinner soon."

Dot collected an outfit of her civilian clothes and went into the bathroom. She quickly stripped out of her uniform and carefully folded it and put it on the vanity. She turned on the water, adjusted the temperature then stepped under the spray of hot water and let it beat down on her back for a minute.

"Oh this is heaven for sure!" She thought to herself. She grabbed the shampoo and quickly washed her hair then bathed her body. She was going to enjoy that jacuzzi before she left here but right now, she needs to get out and get ready for Ace to pick her up for dinner.

As she dried off, she thought about what she had felt when she had first seen Ace. While she had definitely felt a connection to him, she wasn't sure what that was. All she knew right now was that she was just tired to the bone. A good meal and a good night's sleep would help to clear her head and maybe she could contemplate it tomorrow.

She only had a few civilian outfits to wear but they were mostly new, considering that most of the last five years she had only worn the clothes the navy provided for her. She had pulled out her blue skinny jeans and nice top of a pretty turquoise blue with pretty jewel toned and gold embroidery in a lightweight gauzy material that was naturally wrinkled so the fact that it was wrinkled from being in her duffle bag didn't even show. She had gotten it when the ship had stopped in Mumbai, India for a weekend and she had shore leave.

The only shoes she had besides the pumps she had worn with her dress uniform were her combat boots and a pair of sneakers. She had decided to wear her sneakers since they would be more comfortable. Since she had been in the navy, she had been wearing her hair short so she just combed it into place and left it wet since she couldn't find a blow dryer. She had gotten used to the short style but was thinking about letting it grow back out now that she was out of the navy.

She reapplied her mascara and lip stain but that was really the only makeup she needed. She was just leaving the bathroom when a knock came at the door. She walked right over and opened it to find Ace, Robbie and Diana waiting for her.

Ace felt like his jaw hit his chest when he saw her. She had been pretty in her dress blues, but she was beautiful in civilian clothes, especially those skin tight jeans that showed off her legs. She wasn't a tall woman but damn she was packed in all the right places.