by Kat Martin
His jaw hardened. “I guess we’ll have this talk now, then.”
Wolfe cleared his throat. “I can get out and jog to town, if you’d like.”
Evan slowed down.
“No,” Michelle blurted out. “There’s no reason for you to leave. In fact, I wouldn’t know a thing if you hadn’t talked to me this morning.”
Wolfe winced. “Sorry about that, Boldon. My bad. Hadn’t had all of my coffee yet.”
“No worries,” Evan said, his voice a mite too calm as he drove onto the interstate. “If Michelle had questions, she should’ve asked me.”
There hadn’t been time. “Maybe you should’ve been more forthcoming,” she said, her throat dry.
Evan craned his neck to read a sign and then exited near a ramshackle motel. “Let’s check this place out while we’re here.” He drove around the cracked asphalt of the parking area and then pulled to a stop next to the front door. “By the way, I told Raider no. Not once have I intended to go work in DC.”
Well. “You could’ve said so,” Michelle snapped, knowing she was being unfair.
“When?” he snapped right back.
“All right,” Wolfe said cheerfully. “How about you give me your phone with a picture of Jayleen, and I’ll run into the office and scare whoever’s there into giving me information?”
The dog whined as if he wanted out, too.
Michelle silently handed over her phone. “Don’t hurt anybody.”
“No promises,” Wolfe said, jumping from the car with the dog on his heels and the kitten in his pocket. As soon as he’d shut the door, Evan pressed the gas and drove to the far end of the lot, backing up against a row of spruce trees. With slow, deliberate movements, he parked the vehicle and then cut the engine.
Michelle’s skin started to hum.
“If you had concerns, you should’ve said something,” he said, way too evenly.
Oh, he didn’t get to remain calm while they were fighting. Well, kind of fighting. “There hasn’t been time, for Pete’s sake.” In fact, since he’d barreled through her front door, she hadn’t had a chance to even catch her breath. “We don’t see each other for years, then you’re here, then we’re in bed, and now what? We’re supposed to figure everything out?”
“No.” He turned toward her, overwhelming the cab with heat and intensity. “We don’t have to figure anything out right now, but we do need to talk about it. If you have questions, you ask them.”
Did she have questions? She was so muddled, she wasn’t sure what to say. “Why aren’t you taking the job in DC?”
“I don’t want it,” he said shortly, his eyes a heated blue. “I like my life and my town. I figured you’d like them, too.”
“This can’t be about me,” she protested, her heart rate kicking into gear fast and hard.
“Everything is about you,” he countered, turning to see Wolfe emerge from the office with the dog, gesturing wildly toward the motel. “Ah, hell. Come on. Let’s deal with Jayleen and continue this discussion later.”
“Fine.” She jumped from the truck, somewhat grateful for the reprieve so she could figure out what to say. Last night had meant a lot to her, and maybe she should’ve started with that. Her emotions had always been all over the board with Evan, and apparently that hadn’t changed. Or maybe it was just her indecision. It was time to own her life, to decide what she wanted.
Not taking risks these last years had led to a calm and rather boring life. She’d thought that’s what she wanted, until Evan had stormed into her apartment.
For the first time in too long, she felt alive. Electrified. Like she was living again instead of just existing. It was both intriguing and scary as heck.
She hustled after Evan, her mind spinning, until they reached Wolfe.
He gave the dog a command to sit, and Roscoe just looked at him. “Whatever,” Wolfe muttered. “Kid behind the counter said Jayleen is down in room ten.”
Michelle exhaled and tried to look beyond the door. “Kid? You didn’t hurt him, did you?”
“Nope,” Wolfe said. “Kid is a girl, about sixteen, and I charmed her with my HDD badge and sweet smile.” He pulled a wallet out of his back pocket and flipped it open to show a shiny badge. “I wouldn’t scare a girl.”
Somewhat sexist, but Michelle couldn’t fault him for not frightening a sixteen-year-old. “Let’s get this over with.” Her mother had better have that tablet. She turned and stepped lightly over mud puddles that led right to the doors of the hangdog building. The paint was peeling, and yellowed curtains hid the contents of the rooms through the dusty windows.
Finally, she reached the door to number ten and knocked loudly. Before she could tell her mother to open the door, Evan tackled her to the ground, covering her with his larger body.
She hit hard, and the air blew from her chest. What had just happened?
Then the world exploded.
Chapter Eleven
Evan lifted Michelle off the wet asphalt, keeping them both low, and dodged to the other side of the door. “Stay low.” He pressed her behind him, making sure Wolfe was all right on the opposite side of the one window. The soldier had slivers of wood in his hair from the shotgun blast through the door and a pissed expression on his hard face, but apparently he’d heard the cocking of the shotgun right with Evan and had jumped out of the way.
Evan leaned to the side and pounded on the destroyed door. “Jayleen? You there?”
The shotgun pumped again.
“Duck!” He turned around and covered Michelle as another blast blew the door completely apart. As fast as possible, he swirled. “Now, Wolfe!” Ducking, he went in fast, with Wolfe breathing down his neck.
One look confirmed it was a naked Jayleen with a gun. He reached her in seconds and yanked the shotgun free of her bony hands while Wolfe jumped into the bathroom and returned, shaking his head.
Evan emptied the shells. “You could’ve killed us.”
The woman chortled and reached for a blue silk robe on the bed. Her body was overly thin and pale, with track scars on her arms. Her blond hair was wild, and her eyes, a dimmed blue compared to Michelle’s, were almost blank. “Didn’t know it was you.” Red wine stained her cracked lips, and several empty bottles were lined up on the dingy dresser. “Man, you’re as good-looking as I remember,” she said, drawing the robe closed and tying the belt. “Your friend ain’t bad, either,” she slurred. “How about a party?”
Evan’s stomach revolted.
“Hell, no,” Wolfe mumbled, heading right back out the door.
Michelle came into view, hovering in the doorway. “Is she high?”
Jayleen snorted. “No. Just drunk. A lot of drunk.” She raised a hand and then wobbled, staggering to the bed.
A quick pain glimmered in Michelle’s eyes and she quickly banished the emotion. “Where’s my tablet?” Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed a green backpack off the floor and scrabbled through it. Then she went for the dresser, opening and closing each drawer.
Jayleen blinked several times, swaying on the bed. “Not here. I wouldn’t have it with me.”
“Bull.” Michelle went through the closet and then the bathroom before looking under the bed.
Evan watched Jayleen carefully. The woman had stiffened when Michelle had approached the bed. “Look between the mattresses, Peaches,” he said.
Jayleen jumped up and then fell on her butt on the dirty gray carpet. “Stay away from my bed, dammit.”
Michelle grimaced and looked at the lumpy bed.
“I’ve got it,” Evan said, lifting the top mattress with one hand and flipping it over the other side of the bed, revealing a tablet, some cash, and what looked like a packet of cocaine. “I’ll take this.” Ignoring Jayleen’s screech, he took the powder to the bathroom and flushed it all down the toilet.
Michelle clutched the tablet to her chest. “Don’t you have to arrest her?”
“Not in my jurisdiction right now,” Evan said.
/> “You’re an asshole,” Jayleen slurred, falling to the side and resting her head on the bottom mattress. Her body went limp, and she started to snore.
Evan had never wanted to punch another person this badly before. He exhaled several times before he could speak. “We need to get her out of here just in case she’s being followed.” He absolutely hated the thought of taking this woman to his home, but he couldn’t handle the threat to Michelle until he knew who was after her.
Michelle was too pale for his comfort. “If she drank enough to pass out, she won’t come to for quite a while. I don’t want to take her to your place.”
“It’s okay.” Evan plucked Jayleen off the floor. “Grab her pack and let’s go.” He paused. “Make sure there isn’t a phone in the bag, and if there is, leave it here.”
Michelle nodded and grabbed a phone out of the pack, dropping it on the floor. “I’m sorry about this.”
He paused, meeting her gaze over the too thin woman in his arms. “Not for a second is this your fault, Michelle. Don’t take this on yourself.”
She nodded. “I know.” Yet the sadness in her voice nearly tore him in two.
He carried Jayleen across the parking lot to the truck, where Wolfe stretched out of the back seat. “I’m not sitting with her,” Wolfe muttered. “I’ll go give the gal at the front desk money for the door, so maybe she won’t call the cops.” He jogged away.
“He can have the front,” Michelle said, her shoulders down. “I’ll sit in the back with her and the dog.”
Roscoe whined and licked her hand as if offering reassurance.
Evan settled everyone in the truck and secured Jayleen with the seat belt so she rested against the door and not Michelle before Wolfe returned and they drove off. “We okay here?”
Wolfe nodded. “Yeah, but I’m out of cash now.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Michelle said quietly, already typing on her tablet.
“I’ve got it,” Evan said, his chest aching for her. He could protect her from any enemy out there except for the one next to her, and that inability frustrated the hell out of him. When that woman woke up, she’d tell him everything she knew about the people after her.
Whether she liked it or not.
* * *
Michelle finished tucking Jayleen into the guest room and returned to her room before calling George, who answered immediately. “Hi. I have my tablet and I’ve deleted your comic,” she said, the relief she felt almost dropping her to her knees.
Silence met her statement for two heartbeats. “You deleted my comic?” he repeated.
She rolled her eyes. “Of course. Just in case. I think it’s better I don’t have a copy, don’t you?” Sometimes he was such a prima donna.
“Still.” He drawled the word out with his British accent, sounding like royalty. “Not many people would actually delete me.”
She drew deep for patience. “I didn’t delete you, just the comic. I will definitely buy myself a hard copy just like the rest of the world, and if you’re super nice, I’ll let you sign it for me.”
“You’re impossible,” he said, laughter in his voice now. “Fair enough. I shall think of just the right thing to say.”
“Can’t wait.” She disengaged the call. Who the heck knew what George would come up with after the last several days.
Her phone buzzed again, and she paused at seeing the number. Then she winced. Might as well get this over with. Considering she’d slept with Evan, and wanted only Evan, she couldn’t lead Mike on.
The phone call was short and surprisingly congenial. Mike wished her well, and she did the same for him.
She couldn’t help but keep her tablet with her as she strolled out of the room, down the stairs, and onto the back deck. The moon was coming up over the mountains, already glowing across the curving river.
Evan sat in a wooden deck chair, facing the mountain. Roscoe snored at his feet, while Kat batted something on the table back and forth.
She sat in the adjacent chair and kicked her legs out. “Where’s Wolfe?”
“He ran to town for supplies,” Evan murmured, his gaze remaining on the river. “God knows what he’ll bring back home.”
Home. The place truly felt like a home, even to her. “I don’t know what to do about us,” she said quietly, wanting to talk while also needing to delve into her comic and finish the adventure.
He chuckled. “I’ll do anything you want.”
Desire flushed through her, tipping all balances in his favor. What comic? She grinned against the incredible pull she’d always felt toward him. “I’m not talking sexually.”
“Neither am I.” He took her hand, rocking softly. “Here’s the deal. It’s always been you and that’s not ever gonna change. So I’ll switch jobs if you want and move to Portland, or whatever you need.”
It was more than she’d ever dreamed, but the last thing she wanted was for him to become anybody other than Evan Boldon. It was time to take a risk, and she was ready. “I’m strong enough, grown-up enough, to handle your job, Evan. Here as a sheriff or even if you go back into the military.” It was a possibility for him, even if he didn’t realize it right now. “But how do we do that? It’s not like we’ve been together these last years.”
“Ah, that’s just details, sweetheart.” His voice deepened and roughened. “You only live six hours away. We can date for a while, relax into it, and end up where I know we’re going. I’m not going to rush you, and there’s nothing to stress about.”
Long-distance dating?
“Besides,” he continued, “I like the idea of a good courting.”
Humor attacked her and she laughed. “Courting? Did you actually just use the word ‘courting’?”
“Yep.” He rocked more. “I want flowers. I expect love letters and a box of chocolates once in a while. A guy likes to be wooed.”
Evan Boldon had just used the words “courted” and “wooed.” “Man, this small town is going to your head,” she said.
“Yep.” He finally turned her way, looking unbelievably handsome in the moonlight. “I’m even helping to coach the pee-wee softball team.”
She jolted. “You are not.”
“Sure am.” He shrugged. “I’ve got a pitcher with an arm you wouldn’t believe. I mean, they’re still playing T-ball, but one day Annika Jones is going to play college ball, I’m telling you.”
The guy even sounded like a pee-wee coach. Had she dropped into an alternate universe or what? The image of what life could be with him filtered through her mind, warming her, tempting her.
Wolfe stomped his big boots out on the deck, whistling softly, and handed over two large mugs of fragrant brew adorned with a pile of whipped cream and multi-colored sprinkles. “The grocery store is very well stocked. I’m happy.” He scraped a chair away from the table and sat down, emitting a huge sigh of pleasure.
“When did you get back?” Michelle asked, looking warily at the whipped cream in her overlarge coffee cup.
“Five minutes ago,” Evan said, eyeing his cup in the same way. “You didn’t hear him banging around in the kitchen?”
She’d been concentrating on Evan and nothing else, as usual. “No. I was thinking about that cat I want.” Tilting her head, she took a sip, trying to keep the whipped cream from giving her a mustache. The brew splashed into her stomach, and she coughed. “More than coffee,” she sputtered, trying to control her breath.
Evan gently patted her back. “More than coffee?”
“Yep,” Wolfe agreed, sounding mellow and pleased. “There’s good Irish whiskey in there, too. Makes for a great nightcap.”
At least the alcohol might counteract some of the sugar. She took another drink, this time mixing whipped cream with the liquid. Yeah, delicious and decadent. “This might be the best coffee I’ve ever tasted.”
Wolfe smiled in pure delight, still looking like a hungry animal. “That’s sweet. Did you two get your act together while I was gone? I stayed away as long a
s I could, but your stores close really early here.”
She barely knew this guy, but something about him invited trust. “Yeah. Apparently we’re going to court and woo each other for a while.”
Wolfe shook his head. “That’s fucking stupid.”
For some reason, the statement had her erupting in laughter. Why, she wasn’t sure. But darn, he was funny.
Evan lifted an eyebrow. “I don’t believe we asked for your opinion.”
“I’m a giver. Always happy to give it,” Wolfe said, downing half of his coffee and whipped cream.
Evan rolled his eyes. “Did you make the call?”
“I did and we’re all set,” Wolfe said.
Michelle turned to face Evan. “What call?”
Evan took a drink of his coffee and grimaced, wiping whipped cream off his mouth. “Wolfe has a contact at the Ryerthton Rehab Center over in Seattle, and we’re checking Jayleen in tomorrow. We’ll drive over there in the morning, and she can give us all the information about the drug dealers on the way. We’ll go from there.”
A rehab center? “What if she won’t go?”
“She doesn’t have a choice,” Evan said. “It’s either that, or jail. She’ll do it.”
Maybe rehab would finally work. “Thank you.”
“No problem. Now finish that drink so you can take advantage of me,” he said, warmth cascading off him.
“Now that’s more like it,” Wolfe muttered.
Chapter Twelve
The following morning, Michelle tried to hide a yawn as she settled into the passenger seat of Evan’s truck with Jayleen in the back, huddled beneath a blanket.
“Michelle, you can stay at the house and catch up on sleep,” Evan offered, pausing as they were about to drive away from the cabin. “I’ll get Jayleen settled in at rehab.”
Man, that was tempting. After a wild night with Evan, she hadn’t been able to sleep, so she’d worked on her comic until dawn arrived. When creativity struck, sometimes she could do nothing but draw and write. She couldn’t let Evan take this on by himself, though. Jayleen was Michelle’s problem, not his. Plus, after they dropped her mother off, they could talk some more about this whole courting situation. What she’d say, she really wasn’t sure. The idea that they really did have a second chance almost made her giddy, and she wasn’t going to stand in her own way this time. “I want to go with you,” she finally said.
