by Terri Reed
No, Alicia wanted a relationship built on mutual trust and respect. She wanted to fall in love with someone who would put family first. Maybe that was unrealistic. Maybe she’d never find anyone like that.
But it wouldn’t hurt to ask God to bring someone special into her life for her and Charlie to love and be loved by.
“Where are the dish towels?” Leo asked as he brought in the last of the dishes from the table. “I’ll dry.”
Surprise washed over her. “Really? You want to help with the dishes?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I help? You made the dinner. It’s only right I should clean up. In fact, if you’d like to go be with Charlie, I can take over.”
“Wow, that’s...very thoughtful of you.” She glanced to where Charlie leaned against Julianne while they played their game. “I think Charlie is well occupied. Besides, I’m already elbow-deep into scrubbing.”
He let out a deep, masculine chuckle. “So, dish towel?”
Since her hands were soapy and wet, she pointed with the toe of her tennis shoe to the second-to-bottom drawer on her right. “Thank you.”
“It’s the least I can do for that wonderful meal after flaking on getting your groceries.” He bent and grabbed the top towel.
She shook her head. “Stop. You’ve already apologized, though there was no need. We have enough supplies for another couple of days. It’s not urgent.”
“I will reimburse you for all the food we’ve eaten,” he said as he grabbed the fry pan from the drying rack and towel-dried it.
She faced him. “That is not necessary. Dad and I are happy to provide for you and the other agents. You’re here protecting us. There’s no way we could ever repay you other than to be hospitable.”
He smiled and inclined his head. “All right, I’ll accept your generosity without conditions. Thank you.”
She returned his smile. “You’re welcome.”
“I take it your late husband wasn’t one for helping in the kitchen,” Leo said, his voice soft.
Checking to see that Charlie wasn’t paying attention to them, she lowered her voice to answer, “No. Jeff was, as he’d like to say, old-fashioned. The wife cooked and cleaned. The husband took care of the yard and house repairs.” She sniffed. “Personally, I think his mom did too much for him and he never learned to care for himself. I was too naive to realize what I was getting myself in for when I married him.”
“You weren’t happy in your marriage?”
After another peek at Charlie, she murmured, “No. Not for a long time.”
She pulled the garbage can from beneath the sink and removed the liner, tying the top into a knot.
“Here, let me take that.” Leo reached for the bag.
Relinquishing her hold, she said, “I’ll show you where it goes.”
She led him to the back door and out to the side yard. He tossed the trash bag in the large can. She moved a few feet away to stare at the charred remains of the barn. Leo stepped behind her and tugged her into the shadows.
To protect her. The thought warmed her from the inside out.
He was so close she could feel the heat of his body, could smell the spicy aftershave clinging to his skin. She wanted to lean into him and have him wrap his arms around her and tell her all would be well.
“I’m sorry you were unhappy,” he murmured.
“Not your fault.” And it wasn’t.
She realized she shouldn’t hold Jeff’s transgressions against all men. It’d been six months since his death and in that time she’d kept every interested male at bay because she’d decided she couldn’t trust a man to keep his promises or his commitments.
Yet here stood a man whom she could trust, a man of integrity who honored his word and lived up to every dream she ever had of what a man should be. A scary temptation to let her guard down. To give in to not only the attraction arcing between them, but also to the affection and care burrowing deep into her heart.
“What happened between you two?” he asked curiously.
“Age-old story—I wasn’t enough to keep his interest and he wasn’t willing to be monogamous.”
Leo’s hands cupped her shoulders, his breath warm on her neck. She didn’t feel trapped as she would have had it been anyone else. Instead, the heat of his palms penetrated the thin cotton of her T-shirt and made her heart race.
“I’m sorry he wasn’t true to you,” Leo rasped close to her ear. “He was an idiot. Not all men are that way.”
She swallowed before she could speak. “I’m still struggling to learn that. I had hoped once Charlie was born Jeff would change, but he never wanted children. He never bonded with Charlie. In fact, having a baby drove Jeff further away.”
The disgusted growl that came from Leo was gratifying in a strange way. “He didn’t deserve you or Charlie. Children are a gift from God to be cherished.”
“And wives?” she asked before she could think better of it.
He released her. “And definitely wives.”
She turned to face him. It was too dark to see his expression but the sudden tension emanating from him was unmistakable. She had so many questions she wanted to ask. Like why wasn’t he married? Did he ever want to settle down? Raise a family?
Questions that would only lead her into dangerous territory because she was afraid of the answers and what they would mean to her heart.
Instead, she gathered her courage and went back to the dramatic bombshell he’d dropped earlier that day. “What happened with your little sister?”
* * *
Leo sucked in a sharp breath, even though he’d suspected they’d come to this. He’d have to face the choice to give her the details of his horrible secret or walk away, effectively damaging whatever fledgling relationship they were building. Which he should do, if he was smart. Walking away would be easier and safer for them both. But he’d never be able to keep her protected if she didn’t trust him.
She reached out to place a hand over his heart. “You can trust me with your story.”
He nearly snorted as she echoed his thoughts. Trusting her wasn’t the problem.
“I want to know you, Leo. I won’t judge you.”
He gave her a wry smile, though he knew she couldn’t see it. He judged himself enough for them both. He wasn’t sure where to start. The beginning seemed the best option.
“My parents were messed up. There’s no other way to say it. Dad was an abusive alcoholic. Mom was—” Compassion for the woman who’d given birth to him spread through his chest. “She’d just turned eighteen when she got pregnant with me. My father was twenty.”
“So young.”
The compassion in her voice wrapped around him. “They ran away together and tried to make things work.”
“How old were you when your sister came along?”
“I was five. She was the most beautiful thing to happen to me. I loved her so much.” He blinked to keep the burn of tears back. “My parents left me to care for her while they worked or were at the bar.”
“They left a five-year-old to care for an infant?”
The outrage in her voice touched him deeply. “Crazy, huh? I took care of her instead of going to school. We’d move anytime someone reported that I wasn’t enrolled at the local elementary school.”
“That must have been so frightening for you and your sister.”
“I was Jen’s world. She came to me when she was hurt or tired or hungry.”
“That’s a great deal of responsibility to put on a child.”
He bit the inside of his cheek, welcoming the pain to counteract the sorrow and torment in his heart. “When she was a little over two I was watching her one afternoon and I really needed to use the restroom. I put her in her playpen. But she’d grown so tall and was a little monkey. I
t never dawned on me she’d climb out. But she did.”
Alicia’s arms slid around his waist as if she sensed the horror about to come.
He couldn’t stop himself from placing his arms around her. She felt so good in his embrace and gave him the courage to relive that horrible day. “When I came out of the bathroom, she was gone. She’d managed to get the sliding glass door open and squeezed through the broken slats of the back gate. I went after her but I was too late. She’d wandered into the street and was struck by a car. She died instantly.”
“Oh, Leo,” Alicia breathed, her voice choked with emotion. “I’m so sorry. You never should have been put in that position. You were just a child yourself.”
“That’s what the judge said,” he told her. “My parents both served time for negligent homicide. I was taken into child protective custody and sent to live in a series of foster homes until I ran away at fourteen.”
“Where did you go?”
“Andale, Kansas. I earned enough money mowing lawns for the neighbors of the last foster parents but Andale was as far as the money would get me on the bus.”
Moisture glimmered in her eyes. “How did you survive?”
“I lived on the street. People in Andale were kind, though. And there were shelters. I bluffed my way to a job on a horse ranch. The old-geezer foreman, Ben Smith, took me under his wing.” Affection for the man who’d changed his life lifted his spirit. “Ben insisted if I was going to work and live on the ranch that I had to enroll in high school. I don’t know how he knew I was only fourteen but he did. He took me to the admissions office and signed me up, stating he was my guardian.”
“He sounds like a wonderful man.”
“He was. He pushed me to do well in school and helped me get into college on scholarships and work-study. I miss him. He passed on from lung cancer right after I graduated from university.”
“I’m sure he was proud of you,” she said softly. “I’m proud of you.”
Her words made his eyes burn with unshed tears. “Thank you, Alicia. That means a lot to me. Though I’m not sure I deserve it. I’ve been letting a lot of people down lately.”
She tightened her hold and laid her cheek on his shoulder. He kissed her forehead, breathing in the floral scent of her shampoo.
She tilted her head up and pressed her lips against his. Sensations exploded through him, sending sparks through his veins, along his nerve endings. He deepened the kiss, reveling in the feel of her, the taste of her. She felt so good, so right, in his arms. Like they were meant for each other.
His mind clanged with warning bells that this was too much. He should release her and step away before they both got burned by the emotional fallout of giving in to their attraction.
But the way he’d been singed by the barn fire was nothing compared to the effect she had on him. He knew deep down the scars she’d leave on his soul would be far more permanent than what he’d suffered after saving the horses from the inferno caused by the drone explosion. Yet his heart refused to let him release her.
He wanted this. Had wanted to kiss her from the moment she’d walked into the chief’s office. There’d been such apprehension and courage shining from her pale blue eyes that drew him in. He’d been immediately attracted but it had been at the river when he’d felt the shift in his heart. She’d stood on the boulder, so pretty and fierce, bravely taking a stand for the unknown victim in the river.
He could tell himself that whatever this was that was happening between them was a mistake all he wanted. But he knew what that shift meant, even though the thought terrified him. He’d been struck with something he hadn’t really believed existed. Love. Or at least the beginnings of love.
Old man Howard’s story of falling instantly in love with his wife had resonated with Leo. He’d been confused by it, but now...
He’d never bought into the whole love-at-first-sight thing. That was too fantastical to be believed. Had he heard Harmon’s account of meeting his wife a week ago, Leo would have scoffed. But not now.
As crazy as it sounded, he had to admit he was falling for Alicia.
And that was reason enough to give him the strength to break the kiss and step back.
He couldn’t do this to her.
Refused to lead her on. He wasn’t the marrying kind. His job came first, and his guilt and remorse for the past would always haunt him. He couldn’t be responsible for the happiness of anyone else.
“We should go in.” His voice betrayed him with its huskiness.
“O-okay.”
The confusion in her tone made him flinch. But it was for the best. He guided her inside.
Max and Julianne were at the dining table with the computer and were live-streaming with Dylan.
“Your dad took Charlie for a bath,” Julianne said to Alicia.
“Great. Thanks,” she replied, her voice sounding overly bright to him. He suppressed a wince.
“Hey, Dylan has an ID on the killer,” Max informed him.
Pushing aside his own personal torment, Leo kicked into gear and strode forward with Alicia matching his stride. “What do you have?” he asked Dylan.
“The facial recognition turned up too many potential matches. So after learning that the unidentified subject had been seen at the hotel where Virginia Carter stayed, I hacked into the hotel’s video feed, with their permission, of course.” He flashed a wry grin. “Anyway, the perp is careful to avert his face from the camera, but I captured his body movements and the overall structure of his physique to run through another software program that compared all factors to find a ninety-three percent match.”
Leo reined in his impatience and calmly said, “Bottom line, Dylan?”
“Oh, right. Sorry. You probably don’t care how I obtained the information,” the techie said. “Bottom line, the unidentified suspect is Garry Pike from Ventura, California.”
An image with stats appeared on the screen of a Caucasian male, five-five, dark brown eyes, brown hair and thick facial hair.
“He’s got a rap sheet a mile long,” Dylan continued. “In the photos I can find of him, he’s got long hair and a beard. And his nose has either been broken in the last few years or he’s had a horrible nose job.”
“He’s got the same dead eyes,” Alicia commented.
“Good work, buddy,” Max said. “I knew you wouldn’t let us down.”
Dylan looked pleased by the compliment. “Thanks, boss. I hope you find the creep.”
“Can you get this information to Christy? I want his name and image on the news, pronto,” Max said.
“Will do.”
“Hey, Dylan, how’s Zara faring?” Julianne asked conversationally.
Worry crossed the younger man’s face. “Not sure. She mentioned some trouble affecting her group of trainees. She couldn’t go into details, but she’s concerned the group might not graduate on time.”
“How will that affect the wedding?” Julianne queried.
Dylan rubbed his jaw. “We’ll have to postpone if she doesn’t make it home in time.”
Leo’s heart went out to the guy. Dylan was obviously upset by the prospect of putting off his wedding. Dylan and Zara had gone through their own ordeal not that long ago, before Zara went off to the FBI training academy.
Thinking of weddings and marriage, Leo’s gaze met Alicia’s. He immediately yanked his focus away. Man, he had to stop this. He knew it would be the most difficult assignment of his life. She was like a magnet to him. Pulling him closer without effort and it would take everything in him to resist.
Something beeped on Dylan’s end, drawing Leo’s attention away from the mesmerizing woman who consumed his thoughts.
“Whoa,” the young man said. “An alert just came through from the sheriff’s department in a town called Basin. One of the de
puties spotted Jake.”
Leo jolted as if hit by a bolt of lightning. Through the ringing in his ears, he heard Max say, “Text me the name and the address of the department. Julianne and I will head there now.”
“On it. Talk to you later.” Dylan disappeared from the screen and Julianne shut down the computer.
Anticipation raced through Leo. They were so close to rescuing Jake from the clutches of Angus Dupree. Leo wanted to go with his boss. He wanted to be the one to find Jake. To bring him home safely since Leo had been the one to fail at watching his fellow agent’s back. A soft hand on his arm startled him.
“Go with them,” Alicia said. “We’ll be safe here while you’re gone.”
Suddenly the ringing in his ears ceased. There was no question in his mind that he wasn’t leaving her. Not even to appease his guilt. He shook his head and covered her hand. “I promised you I’d protect you. I don’t break my promises.”
The relief on her pretty face was worth staying for. To Max, Leo said, “Keep me informed.”
“Of course.” His boss whistled and Opal, who’d been sleeping under the front window, jumped to her feet. The other three K-9s also came alert, aware that it was time to go to work.
True came to sit beside Leo, and Thunder went to Julianne. The puppy, River, watched from his spot in front of the fireplace. He rose to his feet as if sensing something was happening and he wanted to be a part of it. One day he would, Leo thought fondly. After he was trained, he’d be a good K-9 officer.
“I’ll let you know if we’re going to make it back tonight or not,” Julianne told him before she and Thunder disappeared out the front door.
Max nodded and then exited, closing the door behind him.
True whined, clearly wanting to join in the work. Leo touched the chocolate Lab’s head. “We’re needed here, boy.”
“Thank you,” Alicia said. “I know what a sacrifice you’re making.”
Leo shook his head. “No sacrifice. This is where I’m supposed to be. You’re the priority.”
Her beautiful blue eyes misted and her top teeth tugged on her bottom lip, reminding him of their unforgettable kiss. His mouth went dry. He wanted to pull her to him and kiss her again. His fingers curled in an effort to refrain from reaching for her.
