Now that he saw her in the bright light of the kitchen, it was even more obvious that something was wrong. The dark shadows under her eyes were sunken hollows. And her cheekbones were more prominent in her face than he'd ever seen them before. Her clothing hung too loosely on her small frame. What was going on?
A need to hold her… protect her… welled inside his chest.
"It isn't your usual Merlot, but I think you'll like this one," he said as he pulled glasses from the cupboard. The goblets sparkled as he poured the dark liquid.
He passed her a glass. Then he watched, mesmerized, as she took a tentative sip. The wine kissed her mouth. A sudden desire to lick the sheen of red away from her lips sliced through him when she withdrew the glass. A little drop taunted him. Damn it. What was wrong with him? She was obviously going through something and he was getting turned on? Idiot.
Then her tongue slipped out and whisked the droplet away.
"It's… unexpected," she said.
He smiled. So was she. They returned to the living room. They each selected a different part of the sectional. She pulled her legs up beside her and leaned against the arm rest. He put his feet on the coffee table he'd made from lumber he'd salvaged from an old barn a few years ago. They sat in silence for a few minutes before she cleared her throat.
"I'm not sure I should tell you," she said.
"I'm not going to force you to confide in me."
She swirled the wine so it almost met the rim. "No. I know that. It's just…"
As he drew closer to her, he placed his glass on the table. He plucked hers from her hands and set it aside too. Then he took her hand in his. "You don't have to say anything, but you can if you want to."
She turned to stare at the fire. Her fingers tightened around his. "I think someone is trying to intimidate me so I don't testify against him."
Someone was threatening her? Instant anger erupted in him. "What's he been doing?"
She rubbed her forehead. "It's mostly been little stuff. They like to call me… breathing heavy, that kind of thing."
"Have you talked to the police?"
She laughed, but there was no amusement in the sound. "That's who I was talking to when you came downstairs. Sounds like the bastard soaked my house in pig's blood. My neighbor Matt called 911 when he saw strange men leaving my condo. Matt told the officer that he'd known I wasn't home because my car wasn't in my parking stall."
"Jesus…" Aiden shook his head. He waited until she looked at him again. He rubbed his thumb over the back of her trembling hand. "Do you want to tell me what else happened tonight?"
"When I came out of work…" Her words trailed off and she turned toward the fire again. "I was locking up and someone called—"
"You were there by yourself?" Didn't her co-workers have any common sense? She shouldn't have been there alone if someone was threatening her.
"That's been my routine for a while now." Kayla dismissed his concern with a wave of her hand.
"And the call?"
"It was somebody breathing. Like always." She squirmed. "I knew better than to answer without looking, but I thought it might have been my client. I'd just emailed him a copy of the Development Permit that is being submitted tomorrow. I had been hoping that he was going to request another change to the parking lot… or a reconfigure to the storage room… or… anything really." She smiled ruefully at him. "To keep me at work a few days longer."
"You have to go back to the city tomorrow to submit something?"
"No. My co-worker will take it in. I'm on holiday now." She sighed. "I didn't want to use my holiday time because of this. It isn't like this was on my bucket list. But my bosses suggested I take some time before the trial to relax." That last bit was delivered with a snort.
Aiden frowned. "Okay. Back up a little. Why Sanctuary Lake?"
"I found the mouse." Her voice had dropped so it was barely audible over the crackling of the fire. She shrugged, suggesting that was the only answer she had for him.
"What are the police doing about all this?"
When she looked into his eyes, she seemed so tired. How much had she tried to bear all on her own? His chest tightened.
"They've offered witness protection… but what about my parents? My job? My life? I'm not going to let myself be a victim." She didn't raise her voice, but her tone conveyed the force of her conviction. "It's only been calls. It's not like he's done anything else…"
"Except now he's leaving dead animals for you…" The threatening behavior was escalating as the guy was becoming more desperate. That didn't look good.
Her face blanched.
"Who is this guy?" Aiden scowled. His brother Drew was a wizard on the computers; he would be able to track this lowlife in a matter of seconds. And then Aiden could teach this guy a bit about intimidation.
She closed her eyes tightly. Her fingers clenched his. When she opened her eyes again, her gaze flitted to his. The little space between her eyebrows was furrowed. She looked so sad. He wanted to gather her in his arms and hold her until her worries faded away. Instead, he waited. After the long silence became bloated and heavy between them, Aiden thought he would lose his mind. At long last, she nodded, as if deciding she could trust him with her secret.
"I caught him dumping his murdered girlfriend at one of my projects."
"Murder?" Then he remembered the headlines. "Shit… You are the one who found the guy disposing of a body at a construction site, aren't you?" Aiden's blood ran cold. "He's from one of those families with connections to gangs or something like that, isn't he?"
"I wasn't supposed to be there that night. I had stopped by to check if they had put up the No Smoking sign beside the propane tank at the site trailer." She cleared her throat. "The lawyer thinks my testimony could send Ed Metsky away for life."
"And without your testimony?" Aiden thought he knew the answer, but he asked it anyway.
"The body disappeared by the time I got back there with the police. There was blood, but nothing else. And the prosecutor is also going to use my testimony to suggest Ed's actions were premeditated instead of a heat-of-the-moment thing." Her gaze grew distant and unfocused as she stared at a random point on the wall. "You see, he had refused to cover the deep utility trench. It had sat open for days." She swallowed. Her shoulders slumped. "I don't know. A bunch of people think he could get off because his lawyer is good, and the really damning part… the part about me seeing him with a body… That is my word against his."
"So it may be possible that he wants to do more than intimidate you with prank phone calls…"
In spite of the heat cast from the blazing hearth, a chill had seeped into his bones.
"He and his goons have gotten more intense in the last week or two…" Kayla's voice wavered. She locked gazes with him and her hand trembled in his. "Do you—? No… You don't think they would try to kill me, do you?"
Chapter 4
This conversation was definitely going to haunt her in the dead of night. Then again… it was already well into the wee hours. Maybe she could stay up until dawn broke. Everything seemed better by daylight.
"Never mind," she said, slicing her hand through the air. "Stupid question. Of course they might consider killing me. Hell, he killed his girlfriend. I imagine it'd be easier to kill someone you didn't know. But I don't think he would. That's why I didn't apply for witness security."
Now that she'd said the words aloud to him, they sounded stupid. Naïve. Reckless. She didn't want Ed to have control over her. But was she risking her own life? Until today, there hadn't been anything but phone calls…
Aiden drew her into the protective circle of his arms. She wriggled around, moving her feet to the other side so she could get closer to him. Then she let her head drop to his shoulder. The air around him was spiced with the scent of his soap and shampoo. He'd always smelled the same. The familiarity of it swept over her and eased her suddenly chaotic thoughts.
"Your parents didn't say anything to
me," he said. "I'm surprised they decided to go on a cruise with all this happening."
Kayla bit her lip and shook her head.
"You didn't tell them?" Aiden craned his neck to look her in the eye. "Jesus, Kayla—"
"I didn't want them to worry. Besides, it isn't like I'm the one on trial. I just saw something." She shrugged.
That was what she'd told herself in the beginning. Since then, she'd wished she'd confided in them, but they were happy in their oblivion. Her mom had been so excited to tell her that following her dad's retirement his blood pressure had gone down enough that the doctor had taken him off his medication. How could she tell them that she was being threatened because she was the key witness in a murder after that? It would have been a surefire way to send her dad back to the doctor's office.
Aiden squeezed her shoulder. "So no one knows?"
"The people from work do. It caused big problems for our client when the prime contractor tried to use the property as a graveyard." She drew her thumb along the seam in her dress pants. "God, I don't even have a change of clothing… or a brush… or anything."
"It's okay," he reassured her. "Those are easy things."
They stayed like that for several long minutes, before he shifted. He loosened his hold and moved to settle into the corner of the sectional sofa.
"Come here," he said softly.
Then he held his arms open to her. She crawled into his embrace and allowed him to cradle her as she lay beside him. In the warmth of his hug, she could almost believe everything was going to be okay. That everything would go back to normal after this was over. The fire crackled as they fell silent again.
He'd held her countless times over the years, but this was different. It was funny how she felt more at peace in a place she'd never been before than in her own home. But it wasn't about the place. It was about him. Aiden Randall.
Her ear pressed against his chest and she could make out the solid thump, thump of his heart beating. Calm. Steady. Just like him.
"I'm going with you," he said.
"With me?" What was he talking about?
"To the trial. I'm going with you."
"Don't be silly. There will be tons of people there. I'll be safe enough."
He tensed at safe enough. Then he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Let me do this."
He would do that? For her? Sure, they'd been in a weird casual sex arrangement for years, but this? This was taking their unspoken agreement and changing it into something different… something more.
He was the one guy she had always counted on… but only because there were no expectations. She wasn't sure she wanted that to change. Keeping their relationship at Sanctuary Lake made it special, protected it somehow. She didn't want to tarnish it by bringing it into the day to day chaos of her life. This place... This man… He was her safe haven.
A little rumble of laughter vibrated through his chest. "You could just say okay."
"I'll think about it," she whispered as she snuggled closer. Of course she wouldn't let him come to the trial. What if one of Ed's goons tried to hurt him to get to her? How would she ever live with herself? No. This was her problem, but it was sweet of him to offer.
He didn't argue with her. Not that she had expected him to. Instead he rubbed her back softly, soothingly. Her eyelids drifted down and a luxurious and unfamiliar peace descended on her. Maybe everything would be okay. For the first time in weeks… maybe months… her head wasn't crowded with bloody images and worry.
The winter wind battered the house, but even that sound, so natural and real, was comforting when she was in Aiden's arms. She should have come here earlier.
No one would find her at Sanctuary Lake. It was the perfect place to hide…
As Kayla's breathing slipped into the steady rhythm of sleep, Aiden listened to the fire and wished for the first time in his life that he had an Internet connection out here. He wanted to read those news articles again, figure out what had happened and who this Ed Metsky guy was.
But that wasn't going to happen tonight.
The best he could do was hold her and watch over her as she slept.
He closed his eyes and listened to her breathe. In the past, they had stayed wrapped in one another's arms until morning a few times, but it'd never felt like this. He didn't want to let her go. A sense of protectiveness churned through him.
She might think that he shouldn't go to the trial with her, but he wasn't about to let her face this guy alone. She thought she could handle it on her own, but what she didn't seem to understand was that she didn't have to.
That was the difference.
His sister Viv would have gotten a kick out of his revelation. She used to say the same thing about him after Fran ran out. But the situations were wildly different. He had been elbows deep in changing diapers, not being tormented by a thug.
Aiden held her until the fire died down and a chill seeped into the air. The cats stretched and eyed him expectantly. Routine suggested he should go upstairs now, but he was reluctant to move Kayla in case she woke. As long as she was here in his arms, she was safe.
The snowstorm was in full fury now. Big wet flakes were plastered to the window facing the lake. By morning they'd have to dig their vehicles out to get anywhere. If it weren't for the meeting he'd arranged with Drew, Aiden would have been happy to spend the whole weekend just like this.
She shivered a little in his arms. He frowned. Due to the storm, the air was cooling faster than normal. It would wake her too soon at this rate. They needed to get to a warm bed. He lifted her gently, rolling her toward the inside of the couch. He waited for a minute before moving again but she didn't wake.
When was the last time she had slept?
After he stood, he quickly moved through the house and turned off the lights. At the front door, he noticed the lock was turned. He frowned. If anyone wanted to come in, there were half a dozen windows they could break on the main floor. A little deadbolt like that wasn't going to stop someone if they were determined, which is why he didn't bother with it. He didn't have any high end possessions, so a potential burglar wouldn't stick around long. It'd take Aiden longer to fix a broken window than replace whatever a thief might grab on his way through the place.
But obviously the lock made her feel more secure. Damn it. He hated that even out here, in his home, she felt threatened.
When he returned to Kayla, the only light was the small nightlight he had originally purchased for Cassy. It shone brightly enough that he could see she hadn't moved in the few minutes he'd been gone. But she had started to whimper in her sleep. Her breathing quickened, her forehead wrinkled and a frown fell over her face. She looked so fragile and vulnerable. But it was clear that the nightmare of the trial and what she witnessed still dogged her, even in her sleep.
He stroked her cheek and murmured soothing words to her, like he did with Cassy when she woke with nightmares. The deep furrows around her eyes gradually softened. Without opening her eyes or seeming to come awake, she reached for his hand. Her fingers wrapped around his and squeezed. Then her breathing grew uniform and easy again. He waited for a few minutes before lifting her carefully and carrying her up the stairs to his bedroom. He'd promised her the spare room, but that was before…
No, she wasn't going to sleep by herself tonight. The least he could do was watch over her. Comfort her if nightmares invaded her dreams again. Make sure she knew she wasn't facing this alone anymore.
Chapter 5
Kayla wiggled and stretched as she woke. Then she froze. Someone was in bed with her. Her face was pressed to a T-shirt-covered chest. Nothing about this was familiar.
Her heart pounded as she tried to clear the sleep from her head. The hand resting on her back began to move, stroking her. Her eyes fluttered open and things snapped into place. Her disorientation faded. It was Aiden. Right.
God, she hadn't slept so deeply in months.
"Good morning, beautiful," he said against the top of her he
ad.
The soft glow of morning light streamed through his bare windows. There wasn't a curtain or blind in sight. When was the last time she'd woken after the sun rose? Last summer?
"What time is it?"
"Don't worry about the time," he whispered. "Go back to sleep if you want."
More of her daze ebbed away as she became aware of just how entangled her body was with his. But they weren't skin to skin.
She wasn't sure if she was disappointed or relieved.
She lifted up and propped herself on one arm to look at him.
Man, he was sexy in the morning.
He'd shaved when he'd cleaned up last night, but now a new shadow of stubble covered his strong jaw and cheeks. The sunlight caught on the smattering of silver in his whiskers and the wash of gray at his temples. She could look at him every morning and every night and never tire of him. He was the most gorgeous man she'd ever known.
And the kindest.
And the sexiest.
And the—
"Tell me what you are thinking." A wicked little grin broke over his mouth. It snagged her gaze and scattered her thoughts.
"I'm glad I'm not in the spare bedroom." Her voice took on a husky quality as her body responded to his nearness. They were in a bed, after all.
"Is that right?" His grin grew wider.
They hadn't yet completed their little dance of flirtation that would inevitably lead to sex, but she couldn't resist brushing her lips over his. Her hair fluttered down around their faces. She expected him to push his fingers into her hair, to deepen the kiss… But he didn't. His hands stayed resting on her back, but they had stilled now. And they remained on top of her shirt. She slid her leg over his and wiggled closer but froze when a phone rang.
Reluctantly, she pulled away. Aiden didn't move to answer it.
"I think someone is calling you," she said.
Hot Silver Nights: Silver Fox Romance Collection Page 63
