by J. S. Scott
We aren’t exactly strangers. We were intimate. Okay…maybe not intimate…maybe I was just a lay for him.
He’d treated her as if she was special, and try as she may, she couldn’t get last night out of her head. He’d dried her off like a treasured woman after they’d left the shower, brushed out her hair, and scooped her up and taken her to bed. She’d been out almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, falling asleep with Tate’s body sheltering her protectively.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” she murmured, seeing a quick flash of vulnerability in his eyes.
“I had no problem finding out. And I wasn’t angry. You’re an agent. That’s not something you go around telling everyone. I know what it’s like to need to hide certain parts of your life.” He paused for a moment and speared his fingers through her hair. He tilted her head up and searched her face before he added, “It’s lonely.”
She nodded slowly, not looking away from him. “It can be. I don’t have many real friends because I live for my job. I’m pretty much on the job twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. It doesn’t leave much time for socializing.”
“And the asshole who cheated on you?”
“It happened two years ago. He was an agent, too, in a different department, thank God. I don’t have to see him every day. It was convenient. We both worked long hours, got together when we could. But I thought we were monogamous. He didn’t. It hurt, but it didn’t break me.” She tried to look away, but he turned her head up again to keep eye contact.
“Who have you been with since then?” His voice was demanding.
“Nobody until you,” she admitted. “I know we didn’t use a condom last night. It was careless of both of us. But I’m clean, and I’m still on birth control—”
“I know you’re clean. I saw your last physical. I knew you were on birth control, too. It was in your medical records.”
“You looked at my damn medical records,” she said irritably. Really, what the hell else did he have access to?
“You saw mine,” he reminded her cheekily. “Fair is fair. And if you didn’t see a physical, I’m completely free of any diseases. I never fuck without a condom. And I haven’t been with anybody at all since my accident.”
Lara gasped softly. “Why?” She would have thought that Tate Colter would have a ton of women waiting in line to jump into his bed.
“Because there was nobody I wanted to be with, Lara. My leg isn’t a pretty sight, and the desire just wasn’t there,” he answered bluntly. “Before that I lived for my job, too.”
“What changed?” She held her breath. His eyes drilled into hers, smoky and possessive as he stared.
“I saw you.” He stroked an errant lock of hair from her cheek. “My dick has been hard ever since,” he said unhappily.
Lara laughed until she snorted.
“It’s not funny,” Tate growled, annoyed.
“I’m not exactly a femme fatale.” Just the idea made her want to laugh again. “I eat like a pig. I hate dressing in heels, and I rarely bother to put on makeup unless I’m forced to. I don’t bother messing with my hair, and I’m most comfortable in jeans or a dark pantsuit and ugly, comfortable, flat shoes for work. I work in a male-dominated field, so I have to be tough. Most of the time I’d rather be kicking a guy’s ass than screwing him. How is that the least bit sexy?” She pushed on his chest and stepped away from him to put a safe distance between them.
He leaned a jean-clad hip against the kitchen counter and grinned at her. “There’s something really erotic about a woman with a gun who wants to attack me.”
“You’re deranged.” She covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. Dammit! He was so freaking hot that she did want to jump him. There was no denying they were attracted to each other. Sparks were almost visible as the heat and chemistry flowed between the two of them, making it very hard for her to keep her hands to herself.
One of the most attractive things about Tate—and there were unfortunately way too many of those—was that he accepted her exactly the way she was. He found her desirable even though she rarely released the feminine side of herself. Not only was he attracted to her, but he also seemed to actually like her.
He stepped toward her again. “I already told you that a woman with a healthy appetite turns me on.”
She stepped back out of his dangerous reach. “That reminds me that I’m starving.” Actually, her heart flip-flopped around in her chest. Every trait of hers that he mentioned that he accepted as sexy made her just a little bit giddy. “I was going to make breakfast. Now that the weather is clear, I need to get going after breakfast.”
His face turned grim. “You have to tell me what’s going on, Lara. I can help. If you don’t tell me, I’ll tail you. So you might as well spill it. I know you were headed toward Marcus’s property when you had your accident on the sled. Were you trying to get his cooperation in an investigation?”
Her heart clenched, and she hesitated. She shouldn’t tell him anything, but he had a right to know, and he might be able to help. However, she didn’t want to hurt him. “No. I wasn’t trying to get his cooperation.”
He gave her a questioning look. “Then what were you doing?”
She sighed. “Your brother Marcus is actually a suspect. We have very good reason to believe that your brother is instrumental in trying to organize a large-scale terrorist attack. I was sent here to investigate your oldest brother, Tate. I’m so sorry.”
He didn’t react at all like Lara expected. Tate Colter did the one thing it never even occurred to her that he might do when he found out about Marcus.
He laughed.
“Did you and Dad ever fight?” Chloe Colter asked her mother as they sat at the table together to have a late breakfast. Her mom had arrived home on an early-morning flight, and Chloe had gone out to the airstrip to pick her up.
Aileen Colter loved every one of her children equally, and worried about different problems with each one of them. But right now, she was concerned about Chloe. Her only daughter and youngest child had always had the sunniest personality, a happiness that always seemed to radiate from her being. Lately, that bright light that was her Chloe seemed to have disappeared. “Sometimes we did,” she answered her daughter carefully, wondering why Chloe asked about her relationship with her husband, Chloe’s father.
Chloe put down her fork, her food untouched, and reached for her coffee. “I never remember hearing you two argue.”
Aileen looked at Chloe’s full plate and frowned. “What happened to your wrist?” When her daughter had put her fork down, she’d noticed bruises on her arm.
“James was trying to teach me some martial arts moves. It was an accident,” Chloe explained.
An accident? Maybe it had been accidental, but how had James bruised up Chloe’s arm by teaching her beginner martial arts? It wasn’t a tiny bruise. Her entire wrist and arm was purple and yellow. “Your father and I did disagree sometimes, but we respected each other enough not to yell.” Her deceased husband, Russell Colter, had been a handful—just like his boys—but he’d never raised his voice. He had never had to. Aileen had always sensed when something was wrong, and they’d been able to talk it out. If things got out of hand and they wanted to vent, they never did it around the children, and they never disrespected each other.
“He had a lot of responsibility,” Chloe mused. “Did he never get angry and take it out on you?”
“Never,” Aileen told her daughter emphatically. “He talked to me about it, but he never blamed me for anything that wasn’t my fault.” She studied her daughter’s face, and noted the dark circles under Chloe’s eyes and the stress lines around her mouth. “Is everything all right between you and James, sweetheart?”
“Yeah. Fine. They’re fine,” Chloe answered quickly. Maybe too quickly. “He just seems pre-occupied and stressed out about work. And with me starting my practice, things are a little tense, I guess.”
Something was wrong. Aileen could sense it.
But her daughter was an adult, nearly thirty years old, and she was so proud of Chloe. She didn’t want to pry, but she planned to watch their relationship much closer. Her instincts as a mother were rarely wrong. “You know you can talk to me about anything?”
Chloe smiled at her weakly. “I know, Mom. Thanks. I missed you while you were gone.”
Aileen had missed her children, too. Chloe had been gone for school for so long, and now she was getting married and leaving home for good in a matter of months. Luckily, James was a local doctor and they would live here in Rocky Springs, but she’d gotten used to having Chloe back in the house again, and it would be hard to see her move out again.
I wish I could get rid of this nagging, motherly feeling that something isn’t right with Chloe. I’m sure it’s just because I’m sad that she’s leaving. James is a doctor, a respected physician, and my daughter is a local veterinarian now. He and Chloe should live a wonderful life together.
Unfortunately, Chloe just didn’t seem like a happy bride-to-be, and James was polite but distant. He always had been, so it was difficult to really get to know him well. “You and James haven’t gotten your rings yet?” Aileen knew her daughter wanted a ring. She’d seen Chloe look longingly at wedding bands and diamonds for months. Ultimately, she knew that Chloe wanted a child. Although her daughter had plenty of time left to have babies, Aileen wondered whether Chloe felt as though her biological clock was already ticking. There were moments where she wondered whether Chloe wanted a child more than she really wanted a husband.
“He still wants to wait until closer to the wedding.”
A male voice behind Aileen startled her.
“Then dump the loser and marry me instead.”
Aileen smiled and turned around, happy to see her son, Blake, and his friend Gabriel Walker, the mysterious male voice teasing her daughter.
“Blake,” Aileen said excitedly as she jumped out of her chair quickly for a woman her age and threw herself at her son.
Blake’s duties as a US Senator had kept him in Washington DC for way too long. He hadn’t been back to Rocky Springs in months.
He picked her up and swung her around. “How’s my favorite mother?” Blake joked as he hugged her tightly.
She swatted Blake’s shoulder. “I’m your only mother. Now put me down.” She scolded him, but she secretly adored the way her children were able to openly display their affections for her and for one another. They fought and scrapped like all siblings did, but their devotion to one another was always evident. And she was so blessed with the children she and Russell had created together: every one of her kids a child to be proud of, and that she loved with all of her heart.
He squeezed her tightly before he lowered her feet back to the ground. “Ah…well…even if I had fifty mothers, you’d still be my favorite,” Blake answered glibly.
Sweet talker! Of all of her boys, Blake was the most charming—which was probably good because he was a politician. But honestly, Blake had always been that way. Even as a child, he could charm the rattles off a rattlesnake.
Gabriel held out his arms to her, and Aileen didn’t hesitate to hug him. “It’s so good to see you, Gabe.” It was always nice to see Gabe Walker. He and Blake had been friends since they were teens, and Gabe was living permanently in Rocky Springs now. He owned a very profitable horse ranch that bordered Blake’s cattle ranch, which stretched way beyond the city limits of Rocky Springs. Her husband and Gabe’s father had been good friends, and Blake and Gabe had bonded like brothers when they were teens. Aileen had also been friends with Gabe’s mom, and she’d hurt for him when he lost first his mother, and then his father. Since then, she looked at him almost like another son. He had to be lonely all by himself out in the big mansion he’d built on his horse property, but he never spoke about it.
Gabe had obviously known Blake was coming in. He’d probably met him out at the airstrip and followed him home for breakfast.
As she released Gabe, Aileen turned to her daughter, who had risen to throw herself at her brother, Blake. Her second eldest son was currently nearly squeezing the life out of his little sister.
Aileen asked her daughter jokingly, “You just got another marriage proposal, darling. Aren’t you going to respond to Gabe’s offer?”
“No,” Chloe answered irritably as she glared at Gabe. “I’m already spoken for.”
Aileen had to bite her lip to keep from smiling. The way that Chloe and Gabe sparred amused her. Secretly, she wished that her Chloe was marrying a man like Gabe. He’d keep her on her toes without bringing her down. Gabe was obviously fond of Chloe, but her daughter was having none of him. For some reason, Chloe avoided Gabe at every opportunity.
Gabe caught Chloe’s gaze and winked at her. “You know you were just waiting for a better offer to come along.”
“Then I’d have to wait forever,” Chloe told him in almost a hostile voice, but she shot him a fake smile. “Luckily I’m marrying the man of my dreams in just a few more months.”
“If you were my woman, I’d have a ring on that finger by now.” Gabe’s voice was light, but his eyes were intense.
“It’s a good thing I’m not your woman then,” Chloe answered sharply.
Blake spoke up to dispel the tension in the room. “Where is everybody?”
“Zane’s in Denver, working on a project. Marcus was due home yesterday, but he got delayed by the storm. He should be home today. And Tate is at home.” Aileen motioned for everybody to sit down and she went and dished up some breakfast for the two men. She didn’t miss the fact that Chloe was quick to pull her long-sleeved shirt all the way down to cover her bruised wrist.
“I think Tate has a thing for a woman who is staying here at the resort. I went to see if Lara was in the gym this morning and she wasn’t there. I think she might have ended up being stranded with Tate,” Chloe told Blake excitedly. She sat back in her chair, with Blake seated on her right and Gabe to her left. She ignored Gabe completely.
Blake’s eyes widened. “Oh? And who is this mystery woman, and why would she be stranded with my little brother?”
Chloe relayed what she knew about Lara, and how she hadn’t come back from snowmobiling yesterday before the storm. And then she proceeded to explain that Tate had gone out to look for Lara. “He texted me that he found her and told me she was safe, but she never came back to the resort last night. She has to be with him. I like her. She kicked James’s rear at judo.”
“Mr. Black Belt?” Gabe interjected sarcastically.
Without looking at Gabe, Chloe answered him defensively, “James is really good, but Lara is fantastic. She offered to teach me some of her self-defense moves.”
“So you think this Lara is still at Tate’s place?” Blake asked.
“She has to be. Maybe it was closer. The blizzard was pretty bad yesterday,” Chloe told her brother thoughtfully.
“And Tate has a Jeep with a plow that could have easily brought her back to the resort,” Blake reminded Chloe with a massive grin on his face.
Aileen put a heaping plate of eggs, bacon, and toast in front of Blake and Gabe. “Eat. And don’t tease your brother about liking a woman. He’s had a difficult year. It would be nice if at least one of my boys were thinking about marriage and grandchildren.”
Tate had transitioned out of the military Special Forces, a fact that had delighted Aileen to no end. She’d gotten tired of worrying about her youngest son putting himself in harm’s way every single day. But she knew he missed it, and that he was restless. A good woman might go a long way to helping her youngest boy become more content.
Tate had healed from his injury that had caused him to leave the military, an injury that he insisted had happened when he was skiing while he was off duty. Humph! Did her youngest son really think she bought that excuse? She knew he was trying to save her some worry, but she hadn’t bought that lame story for a minute. A mother just…knows.
“Mom, I’m a United States Senator. Do you really
think I’d be immature enough to give Tate a hard time over a woman?” Blake protested before he dug into his plate of food.
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
Chloe and Gabe both answered emphatically at the same time.
Aileen sat down with her coffee, happy as she watched Gabe and Chloe look at each other in surprise and exchange a small smile for the very first time.
Lara hated putting on dirty clothing, but she figured she could change when she got back to the resort. Her clothing in place, she adjusted her concealed Glock 23 at her back and lowered her sweater over the top.
“What are you doing?” Tate wandered into the bedroom.
“I’m getting ready to go back to the resort,” she told him in a clipped tone, still pissed off at him because he hadn’t stopped laughing since she revealed that she was investigating Marcus. She guessed he’d recovered, because he wasn’t laughing now. She’d finally stomped out of the kitchen when he’d been laughing nonstop for five freaking minutes.
“So you can investigate an innocent man?” Tate’s voice still held a hint of humor.
She turned around and crossed her arms in front of her. “I’m tired, I’m hungry, and I’m armed. Don’t screw with me, Colter.”
“Damn, you’re hot when you’re pissed off.” He shot her an amorous look.
“Don’t even think about it.” She held out her arm as he advanced, walked around him and stomped back into the kitchen. She felt his presence behind her. “I have a job to do, and I don’t appreciate you making fun of what I do.”
“Hey.” He caught her arm in the kitchen and swung her around. “I’m not making fun of what you do. You have an important and dangerous job, and you’re obviously good at it. But you’re hunting the wrong guy.”
