Harlequin Romantic Suspense May 2018 Box Set

by Regan Black

  Relief made him want to shout out loud “Yes!” Instead he held his hand out to her and smiled. “So we’re engaged, huh?”

  “Yes. And we’ll celebrate later.” Her eyes promised so much more than just making love. He pulled her to him and kissed her, needed her up against him, on top of him.

  “Rob.”

  “Hmm?”

  “We’re in front of the church’s main entrance.”

  * * *

  Trina had never seen so many silver-haired ladies go gaga over a man before. Dimly she remembered her mother saying that the nursing home where her grandmother resided was full of fit, active women all vying for the affections of a very few senior men of equal ability. It had seemed foreign, nothing she needed to think about, until she saw Betty Laurel shove her sagging, albeit smooth for an octogenarian, cleavage under Rob’s nose.

  “Here you go, sugar. Sign this list for the committees you want to serve on. This one meets on Wednesdays, as you know. We have outreach to the homeless on Fridays, and the meals-on-wheels committee meets daily as necessary.” Betty’s heavily made-up eyes ate up the sight of Rob. Trina watched Rob handle the attention with aplomb, treating Betty and the other senior women as if they were his age and eligible.

  He had them eating out of his palm.

  Trina loved Rob’s hands and his palms. Especially when they were on her breasts.

  “Trina, honey, what made you decide to come in on this committee? I thought working for the Marshals would make you sick of helping out people, at least on your downtime.” Mildred Maple sat next to her in the church cafeteria where on Sundays after services the congregation was treated to oversize doughnuts and hot soup.

  “There’s always more work to be done, right? And since Rob is interested in doing more for the community, I thought this was a good place to start.”

  “I’ll bet your parents are thrilled that you’re getting married.”

  “Oh, um, we’ve only just gotten engaged, and we’re in no hurry.”

  “Why wait? Your little boy is so darling, and he’s the perfect age to be a ring bearer.”

  Trina gave her a wobbly smile, but it was her best at the moment. Thankfully a woman on Mildred’s other side started talking and distracted her from grilling Trina further.

  A warm hand squeezed her thigh. “You handled that perfectly.” Rob’s mouth was next to her ear as he assured her they were blending in. The heat of his breath made her squeeze her legs together against the rush of awareness.

  “How soon can we get to the bar?” she whispered back to him, breathing in the scent of his soap and shampoo. He grabbed her hand and held it between them, giving her another reassuring squeeze. She could get used to being supported like this. Mentally she counted the hours until they’d be done with the outreach tonight. It was the perfect night to show Rob exactly how much her trust in him had grown.

  The man who’d greeted them at the door, Carl, stood up in front of the almost dozen people gathered and clapped his hands smartly, twice. “Okay, folks! I see our two newest members—welcome. As a brief reminder, not all of our efforts have been successful, so when we’re allowed in one it’s on us to be polite and professional to all we meet. The owner of the local club doesn’t have a problem with us being there, for now, because he wants to give the appearance of being above the law and not tied into any illegal actions. Another reminder—we are not law enforcement or vigilantes. If you see anything troubling, wait until we’re out of there and then tell me. I’ll report it to SVPD or go with you as you report it. Unless it’s an emergency situation, of course.” Carl made it a point to make eye contact with each volunteer. “Let’s get going. Mary is going to run down who’s assigned to which station today, and then we’ll drive to the bar. Anyone in need of a ride, please join us in the church van. I’m driving.” The ladies all chuckled, sharing some inside joke.

  “Will there be room in your car?” Mildred leaned so far in front of Trina to see around to Rob that Trina imagined poking her with her index finger, just to see if she’d topple.

  “I’m sorry, but Trina and I have to get Jake from camp right afterward, so we’ll drive on our own.”

  “Well, phooey. I’ll take the van, I guess.”

  Trina walked over to Rob, who stood at the assignment table. “We’ve got the dessert spread.”

  “Sounds good.” She slipped her hand into his, cozying up next to him like a good fiancée.

  “Anyone ever tell you that you could make it on the stage?” His murmur was low and urgent.

  “I’m not a good actor, FYI.”

  * * *

  Trina had been inside the strip bar twice since working the Harrisburg office, and it hadn’t changed. There was new carpet in the front lounge and it was very quiet, since it was a weekday before opening time.

  “Does this place usually draw a big crowd?” Rob took the tray of cookies and placed them at the edge of the table, next to a pile of smaller paper plates and napkins.

  “When I’ve made my apprehensions here it’s been booming. The music’s so loud, it’s like a rock concert. There are always at least half a dozen girls on the stage.” And probably more in the back, doing private dances. But she hadn’t been interested in that when she’d come in, as she’d had specific people to arrest.

  “I’d like nothing more than to bring the bastards down who would even think about putting an underage girl in here.” Rob’s growl was louder than the crunch of her bite into a particularly good snickerdoodle cookie.

  “I agree. I love what I do for the Marshals, but I’ve often thought I wouldn’t mind doing something a little different.”

  “Trust me, if you stay in TH long enough, you’ll do a lot of different things.”

  “Better be quiet.” She smiled as Carl approached their table. “Hi, Carl. We’re all ready!”

  “Okey-dokey. The women will start coming in over the next twenty minutes. Some days we get no more than two or three who are willing to grab a bite—other days we’ve had as many as twenty. And not all are trafficked, or here illegally. Some are legit, and enjoy the meals and goodie bags just as much.”

  “That’s a lot of employees for one bar.” Rob shook his head, playing the suburban fiancé to a T.

  “What did you say you do, Rob?” Carl knew Trina’s parents and they’d met on occasion, so he knew what she did. Everyone at SVCC did, it seemed, so she’d had to play up her desire to do community service more than she’d expected. For some reason they all thought her job was enough. She had a hard time making the correlation. She was a US Marshal, not a minister or physician. Those were professions that she admired.

  “I’m actually between jobs at the moment. I was in the Navy, and have worked law enforcement. I’m looking into a few options locally.” Rob’s sincerity wasn’t an act. And for some reason Trina didn’t think he was talking about Trail Hikers.

  “What’s your passion?” Carl got to the point, that was for sure. Trina had noted that seniors tended to do this. As if small talk was a luxury of youth.

  “At-risk youth.”

  “No kidding! My son’s a counselor at Silver Valley High School.” As the two compared notes, she was shocked to hear Rob state that not only did he know Carl’s son but he’d worked with him when he’d volunteered at the school.

  The men finished up their conversation, and Carl turned back to Trina. “Keep the smiles coming for these girls. I really think that this is the best meal of the week for a lot of them.” He rapped his knuckles on the front of the table.

  “Will do.” She waited for him to be out of earshot. “What the hell, Rob? You never mentioned this before. Did you make that up? Because if you did, Carl is going to find out. He’s probably texting his son right now.”

  “And he’ll verify that we’ve worked together.” Rob’s enigmatic smile unnerved her.

  �
�I don’t get it.” She’d pictured him as solely an undercover agent.

  “I’ve gotten my Master of Social Work degree over the last five years, mostly at night and online. I had to finagle it here and there between the course load and my ops, but it’s worked out. You were briefed by Claudia about how all Trail Hikers need a real, solid job outside of these ops, right?”

  “Well, yes, she said my position as a marshal was ideal, as it was the perfect job and cover to dovetail with my work as a TH.” Realization dawned. “So you’re really settling down here?”

  “I was going to do everything on a temporary basis until I saw you again. Now that I know about Jake, it makes sense that I make Silver Valley my home base. I still have a condo in Arlington that I’m renting out for now. I could opt to sell it or use it as a pied-à-terre, depending upon how the workload goes here.”

  “How do you justify your absences to the kids you help? To Carl’s son and the other counselors?” The Silver Valley school district was large, encompassing several elementary schools, two middle schools, and one of the largest public high schools in the state.

  “They think I’m still on reserve duty in the Navy. I’ve told the school that I could be called to active duty at any time due to my skill set. And that’s not entirely untrue, as TH calls me in when I’m needed.”

  * * *

  Rob watched Trina absorb the information that he’d earned his degree and was already putting down semipermanent roots in Silver Valley. And the funny thing was that as he explained his status to Carl, he hadn’t been just answering the elder’s question. He’d been serious. With all of the attention on first the ROC op and then getting know Jake this past month, he’d never told Trina what else he did. She’d assumed all he did was work Trail Hikers ops, and he allowed her to. He still hadn’t taken her to the apartment he rented, as they spent their time mostly at her place. Where Jake was.

  “I meant to tell you sooner, Trina, but I didn’t want to put any extra pressure on us, or on our start of parenting together. It wasn’t important.”

  “Not important? You figuring out what you want to do with your life is incredibly important.” She fidgeted with the edge of the tablecloth. The sunshine-yellow plastic looked out of place in the dark strip club. Rob had the urge to grab Trina and haul her out of here.

  His protective instincts had been on overdrive since meeting Jake.

  Baloney. It’s about Trina and Jake. Your family.

  “Yeah, well, it came in bits and pieces. I don’t even have an income from it yet. What I’m thinking about is opening up my own office and getting a contract with local government and mostly the schools. I want to provide a sanctuary for the kids who don’t have the safety net they need.”

  “I think that’s wonderful, Rob.” Her words didn’t match her disconcerted expression.

  “But?”

  She shook her head. “No ‘but.’ This explains why you’ve been so great with Jake. Why you’ve given me time and space to let you in as his father. You’re a professional.”

  That stung.

  “Whoa—I’m not a professional dad. My relationship with Jake is from the heart.”

  “I know.” Quiet, a small smile. Had he destroyed her trust again by not telling her sooner about his social work? She placed her hand on his. “It’s okay. I know why you didn’t tell me. You said so yourself. It would have spooked me.”

  “Babe, I’m here. And as much as I enjoy getting a rise out of you, I’d never do anything to betray you, Jake or this.” He motioned at her, then him.

  “About that, Rob.” Oh God, she was going to tell him to forget it all. That his relationship was going to be with Jake only.

  “Go ahead.”

  “I’ve been thinking…you know Jake is in Williamsport with my folks, and we won’t be at the truck stop all night.” Hope flickered again as he watched her lick her full, rosy red lips. “I think it’s time we had an adult sleepover.”

  * * *

  Rob’s expression went from wary to hungry in an instant. It wasn’t hunger for a meal, but for her.

  “Trina, are you sure? Because I’m willing to wait as long as I need to.”

  “I know you are. But I’m not.”

  She stared at him a heartbeat longer before a movement in her peripheral vision drew her attention. “First girl, dressed to look about seventeen years old, your six o’clock.” She used the analog clock face as a reference to indicate that one of the dancers was behind Rob.

  “Roger.” He replied quietly and slid into the chair next to Trina so that he could have the same view. “She looks a lot younger, more like fourteen.”

  “And she probably is.” Compassion tugged, but Trina shut that part of her heart down. If she was to save any of these girls, she had to be a professional first.

  The girl approached the dessert table, reinforcing their assessment of her age. Younger teens often had a bigger sweet tooth.

  “Hi, I’m Trina. Please help yourself to whatever you want.”

  Her eyes were pale blue against a porcelain complexion. She was slight and petite, her movements jerky as she took three cookies off the plate.

  “Thanks.” She didn’t make eye contact, and Trina recognized a heavy Russian accent.

  “Do you speak Russian?” Trina gave her a chipper smile, and began to explain, in that language, that she was studying it and always needed more practice. She introduced Rob as her fiancé and said that he was trying to learn but wasn’t so good at it.

  Rob glared at her and the young woman laughed.

  “What’s your name?” Rob asked in English. Trina stifled her giggle. Rob was fluent in Russian.

  “Stacia.” Trina would bet her full name was Anastasia but didn’t press her luck. The girl was talking; that was enough for now.

  “It’s so nice to meet you, Stacia.” Both she and Rob held out their hands and Stacia shyly shook them. “Do you live around here?”

  She shook her head, then drifted over to the sandwich table with no further conversation.

  “Smooth,” Rob teased her, and she bit her cheek.

  “I messed that up.”

  “Relax. There’s still the truck stop.”

  As several more women came by to eat and pick up the goodie bags filled with toiletries, healthy snacks, local restaurant and grocery gift certificates, Trina refrained from asking any deep questions. She could kick herself for such a rookie mistake with Stacia but then it was only their first day, their first time with this group of ladies. And as her experience with the Marshals and training from TH taught her, nothing happened as quickly as she wanted it to. Patience was the key character attribute of any law enforcement officer.

  But there were lives at stake here. She was certain the girls had been told that they’d be hurt or killed if they talked about how they got here.

  After lunchtime ended, Rob placed his hand on her shoulder. “Have you stopped beating yourself up yet?”

  “Never.”

  He said nothing as he regarded her. God, she loved how he looked at her. “We have a few hours before we’re due at the truck stop.”

  She consolidated the remaining cookies onto one dish and stacked the empty plates as she waited for him to catch her vibe.

  “As in we have your house to ourselves for the afternoon?”

  “As in it’s time for an adult sleepover.”

  Rob leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on her lips. Chaste for the church crowd, but the contact heated her as much as any kiss from Rob did.

  “I’ll bring the popcorn.”

  * * *

  The drive back to Trina’s passed in a blur. When Rob pulled up to her front porch, she turned to him. “This doesn’t have to mean everything to you, Rob, but I want you to know that it can. Mean everything. If you want it to.”

  “Get out of the car,
Trina.” He couldn’t answer her, because he couldn’t look at her. It was the same as it was in the Poconos at Camp Serenity, the way his need for her shook him to his core. But it wasn’t the same at all. That had been closure on their old days.

  This was their beginning.

  Trina said nothing more, but he knew she was as juiced as he was by the pink color on her cheeks and how her chest rose and fell in ragged, quick motions. As she unlocked the door, he was so close to her he felt the heat of her body along his front. The door spilled open and he’d never been so grateful he’d seen the inside of her house already. He used his foot to slam her door shut and immediately pulled her back up against him, his arms reaching around her front.

  “Rob, God.” She reached above and behind her to grab his head, and he kissed her from behind as his hands held her breasts. Her nipples pressed against his palms through her sundress, and it felt like his head would explode if not for the grip of her hands in his hair. Their tongues fought, lapped, twisted together as their bodies wanted to. As their souls always had.

  “Trina, your room. Now.”

  “No.” She took the two steps to the back of her sofa. “Here. Now.” As she playfully repeated his request, she looked over her shoulder at him. She’d hitched up her skirt, revealing black lace thong panties. Her ass, her beautiful ass, drove him mad. But nothing did more to him than the look of pure desire in her eyes. The impish grin.

  “Those panties aren’t made for church, Trina.” He reveled in her gasps as he pushed the scrap of fabric away and quickly tore open the condom packet he’d had enough foresight to shove into his front pocket. As soon as he’d unzipped and donned the protection, he touched the small of her back. “Are you sure?”

  “Always. Now, Bristol.”

  Rob didn’t need to be told twice. Trina was wet and open for him, and he plunged into her, his hands on her hips, pure sensation rocking him with each pump. He saw her hands as they gripped the back of the sofa, saw her head swing around to encourage him.

  “Faster, Rob. Faster.”

  He wished it could last forever, but knew he’d always remember the flush on her face, the smoothness of her ass, the pure connection between them. Trina’s moans grew deeper, and she let out an ecstatic scream just as he went rigid and his own release quaked through him. She kept pulsing around him until every last nuance of his orgasm faded.