by Becki Willis
He, however, was serious. He did not sound at all pleased when he muttered something beneath his breath that sounded a lot like, “You have my heart and soul, isn’t that enough?”
“What did you just say?” she asked softly, even though she was fairly certain she heard him correctly. Her heart was doing a crazy little somersault in her chest, back-flips and all.
Travis was suddenly very focused on the road in front of them. A faint trace of color crept up the side of his neck. He stalled as long as he could, making a very careful lane change that required an exorbitant amount of attention. He checked his speed, then the fuel gauge. The entire time, she kept her gaze trained on his every move.
At last, Travis blew out a deep breath and met her eyes. “Is that what you want, Kenzie? Because I’ll do it. I’ll give up my promotion if it will make you happy.”
He expected one of her huge, happy smiles, the kind that danced in her eyes and made a man feel like he could waltz in the clouds. He did not expect her to burst into tears.
“What? What did I do wrong this time?” he cried in bewilderment.
Again, she surprised him. She caught him off guard when she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him squarely on the mouth. The car swerved in a crazy pattern before she settled back into her own seat, both her arms latched around his right one.
“That is the sweetest thing any man has ever said or done for me,” she announced with shimmering eyes. “Even better than taking me to my first carnival.”
He grunted, still confused but her abrupt change in moods. “Don’t forget the cheap motel and the overpriced stuffed animal.”
“I could never forget any part of that night. It was wonderful. But nothing compares to you offering to quit your job for me.” She squeezed his arm, doing a happy little dance in her seat. Then her voice softened as she told him, “But you don’t have to look so green around the gills, like you might be sick at any moment. I don’t want you to give up your promotion for me, Travis. I would never ask that of you.”
He was more confused than ever. “Then what is this all about?”
“It’s enough just knowing you would give it up for me.”
Travis huffed out a sigh. “You are the most confusing woman I have ever known.”
“Not really. No one’s ever been willing to give anything up for me before. I know it’s selfish and makes me a terrible person, but it’s nice, you know?”
Travis was quiet for a few moments before answering in a gruff voice. “Yeah, I do know. It’s been the same for me, at least since I was seven, when my grandmother died.”
Kenzie hugged his arm, moving as close to him as the center console would allow. As they traveled down the highway, Travis put his hand on her knee and let his warmth penetrate into her bare skin. After a while he spoke.
“Did I ever tell you I was there when she got killed?”
Kenzie gasped as her eyes widened. “Oh, Travis, how awful!”
“I had gone with her to the bank that day. We were almost done when the robbers came in and demanded we all get in the vault. I was so afraid, but Gannie said everything would be all right.”
“Wh-What happened?”
“Someone shoved, and I got pushed into the steel door and scraped my arm. Gannie was just trying to protect me. She demanded they let me go. Just as I got to the front door, a shot rang out. I turned and saw her crumble to the ground.”
She could hear the horror in his voice, still fresh after all these years. “I am so sorry,” she whispered, rubbing her cheek against his arm. She pressed a kiss into the lean muscle.
“That was the day I decided I wanted to be a Texas Ranger. It took a lot of hard work and dedication, but I made it. I was an orphan kid without any family or any money, but I put myself through college and got into the DPS and, eventually, the Rangers. There are less than a hundred and fifty officers chosen for the program, did you know that?”
“No, I didn’t realize that. Very impressive,” she said, her heart swelling with pride that he was among the elite of law enforcement.
“Most of those never get promoted to Lieutenant.”
“No, I suppose not,” she murmured, suddenly uncomfortable with where the conversation was leading.
“It’s been my dream since I was seven years old to be a Ranger. I never dared to dream I would become an officer. But I would give it up, if it made you happy.” His voice dropped an octave as he kept his eyes trained on the road. “That’s what I would do for you, darlin’.”
Emotion thickened her voice and she was only capable of one strangled word. “Travis.”
Travis pulled in an unsteady breath, preparing for his question. “Would you do something for me, darlin’?”
“Wh-What?”
“I want you to go into Witness Protection. If you won’t do it for yourself, would you do it for me?”
Kenzie felt the world fall out from beneath her. The walls of the car crowded around her, crushing her with the weight of solid brick. She could not breathe, could not see beyond the black fog in her brain. She could barely manage a whimpered, “You-You’re cheating.”
“I told you once before, all is fair in love and war.” He looked over at her long enough for her to see the dark glimmer of his eyes. “This is both, darlin’.”
At that moment, Kenzie was not certain if she loved him or hated him. He was asking her to do the one thing she swore she would never do again; move again, using another name, another identity. She had done it so many times in the past that her soul had begun to fracture off into a hundred shards, leaving only a slim core of her old self. She was afraid if she pretended to be someone else one more time, she might never remember who she really was.
It slowly dawned on her that she did not even know who she was, not really. She certainly did not know who her mother was.
“You-You have no idea what you’re asking of me!”
“I’m asking you to stay safe. You’re not out of danger, Kenzie. Have you forgotten that someone is still out there, trying to either kidnap you or kill you?” He pulled his hand away from her leg, but she stubbornly refused to release his arm. Even in her current state of mind, she was aware of the hurt that crossed his face, just before he masked it with an angry glower.
“Travis.” Her voice was hoarse and low, scraping against her heart like gravel. “What you’re asking…. Please don’t make this about you, about us. This is about me. What you’re asking… if I did this, I’m afraid I would get so lost I might never find myself again.”
His voice scraped the same bumpy road. “Either way, I might lose you.”
“I can’t go into WITSEC, Travis.” Her voice broke. “Not even for you.”
Tension charged the air. The coarse silence hummed between them, broken by the shrill ring of his cell phone. The blaring intrusion caused both of them to jump.
His voice was gruff as he barked into the phone, “Lieutenant Merka.”
Kenzie rubbed her aching temples as she listened to his brusque side of the conversation. “I understand, sir…. No, sir, I’m at least five hours away…. I can be there before seven… Tell Agent Jensen I’ll meet her at the bar…. Yes, sir. Goodbye, sir.”
“What-What’s happening?” Kenzie asked. He looked even more agitated than he did when she pulled one of her infamous stunts.
“Of all the times for this to go down,” he muttered.
“Tonight?” Worry sparked in the single word.
“Looks like it. Look, darlin’, I’m sorry, but I have to go. We have to go back.” He was already looking for a place to turn around.
“I understand,” she said with a sigh. If she wanted a future with him, this was how it would be. The Rangers’ number one assignment was to work with local police departments all over the state, to assist and lead, if necessary, in any way possible. Rangers were often called away at a moment’s notice to travel to a crime scene, no matter where or whose territory it was in. “Is tonight going to be dangerous, Travis?”
He refused to lie to her. “It could be. I’m meeting with Rudy tonight.”
“And he might recognize you.”
He shrugged, but she noticed how stiff his shoulders had become. “It’s been seventeen years since I saw him last. I’ve changed a lot in that time.”
Kenzie was quiet for a long time as they headed back toward Austin. When she finally spoke, her words took him by surprise. “I can’t go into WITSEC,” she said quietly, “but if it will ease your mind, if it will keep you even a tiny bit safer so that you’ll worry about yourself and not me, I will agree to protection.”
“You’re serious?” His voice sounded slightly amazed. Definitely pleased.
“I won’t give up my identity,” she said quickly. “I can’t pretend to be someone else. But if it makes you happy, I can give up my freedom.”
His jaw tightened. “You make it sound like I’m a monster, about to lock you up in a dungeon,” he grumbled.
“That’s how it feels, Travis, like a prison. Every move I make is monitored, every step I take is shadowed by an officer.” A teasing smile came to her face as she twined her hands around his arm once again. “At least the last time I got stuck with a sexy Ranger to make things interesting.”
He bit back the smile that threatened to ruin his frown. “I’ll be sure and request Ranger Miles, our oldest Ranger. Or better yet, Higgins, our female Ranger.”
She stretched lazily and tried to sound nonchalant. “My closet is getting a little full,” she admitted. “I might have to give up collecting shoes.”
This time, he did not fight the smile. It upended his frown, just like the woman beside him kept upending his world. “Well, that’s one less thing I’ll have to worry about.”
“I don’t want you to worry at all, Travis. That’s the only reason I’m agreeing to this, to keep you safe.”
“I’m still going to worry about you, Kenzie, no matter.”
“Okay, but just a tiny bit,” she allowed, holding up her fingers a mere inch. “Keep me tucked away in your heart, but clear your head. I want you coming out of this in one piece.” She slid her gaze over him with a devilish smile. “And I can’t wait to see you in all your biker glory. Might be kind of kinky,” she said, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.
But the smiling man beside her was slipping away. With every mile, her approachable companion fell further behind, replaced by the solemn, serious Ranger she knew so well. By the time they reached her apartment and he disappeared into the bathroom to change clothes, his persona had already changed. The stoic, unyielding lawman was back.
Chapter Fourteen
Twenty minutes behind closed doors, and even that was debatable. Travis stepped out looking like a different man. The upright, uptight Ranger had been replaced by a dangerous, devastatingly sexy rebel.
Black leather chaps encased impossibly long legs, exposing faded denim only at his crotch and buttocks. Seeing his best features highlighted and so clearly on display, Kenzie’s mouth watered. Heavy boots replaced his usual cowboy style. Chains hung from the wicked black belt hugging his waist. The white wife-beater shirt stretched tight across his scarred chest, revealing arms hard with muscle and shoulders broad and pointed. He wore a black leather vest and wristband, with a vibrant red and black bandanna encircling his head. In short time his hair looked longer, greasier. But most shocking was the vivid tattoo that now stretched down his left arm.
At six feet, four inches of lean muscle, his biker persona was intimidating and mean, and so outright sexy that Kenzie thought she heard herself sizzling from the inside out. Her eyes raked over him, taking in every fascinating detail.
“Kenzie, are you alright?” he asked in concern.
She put up a trembling hand. “Stop. I swear, if you as much as touch me, or call me darlin’ again, I won’t be responsible for my actions.”
“Are you mad at me?” he asked in confusion.
Kenzie took a deep breath. “I’m trying to let you get out of here with your virtue - and my pride - still intact, but I swear, I’m about to come undone, just looking at you!” she said, her voice oddly shrill. “And just who is Agent Jensen and why are you meeting her at a bar?”
“She’s FBI. She’s part of my cover.”
Kenzie knew the answer, but she asked anyway. “What part does she play?”
“My old lady.”
She drew in a sharp breath, surprised at the evil green fangs that sank into her heart. “You’re meeting her in a bar, looking like that?”
His brows drew together. “Yeah,” he said warily. “Why?”
“Good Lord, my teeth ache, just looking at you,” she mumbled. “How could any woman keep her hands off you?”
Travis looked slightly embarrassed by her words, the faint stain across his cheeks a direct contrast to the hard, confident character he portrayed. As understanding dawned upon him, he said, “There’s no need to be jealous, darlin’. Look at my tat.”
Her eyes settled on the realistic-looking tattoo he offered for inspection. “B-Betty Boop?” Inspired by floor mats in the Volkswagen, Kenzie had used the name Betty while in Wyoming.
He grinned mischievously, setting off another wave of desire within her. “Told you I’d been thinking about you.”
She studied the cartoon image, which did seem to have some of her facial attributes. Even though Kenzie was well endowed, her bust was not nearly so generous and overflowing as the girl depicted on his arm. And she certainly would not be seen holding that in her hand in such a suggestive pose. For Travis, the image was shocking; for a hardcore biker, it was more modest than many she had seen.
Travis slid his arms around her waist and pulled her close. “As much as I hate to leave you, it’s time for me to go.”
Biting her lip to keep from begging him to stay, Kenzie clung to him tightly. Fear overruled lust as she thought of all that could happen. “Promise me you’ll be careful.”
“I promise.”
“Call me when you can.”
“It may be a few days. Don’t freak out if you don’t hear from me.”
“I’ll try,” she promised. “It was bad enough when I thought you just didn’t care, but now I know how much danger you’re in!” she lamented.
“I cared,” he assured her. He took her by the arms and held her just far enough away that he could search her face with dark, glittering eyes. “I do care,” he said urgently. “Very much.” He proved it with a long and thorough kiss.
He finally released her, turning to gather his duffle bag and riding gloves. “I have to go.”
She fought back tears, failing miserably. “Be safe.”
He gave her a reproachful look. “You, too. Work with the people who come to protect you. Play nice.”
Kenzie brushed away a tear, twisting her face with a sweet smile. “Don’t I always?”
Travis chuckled. “Do you really want me to answer that?”
“What I want is for you to give Agent Jensen a message.”
“Which is?”
“That you, Travis Merka, aka Stix,” she said smartly, jabbing a finger into his chest, “are taken. Tell her to keep her hands off.”
The slow smile that softened his face was the most magical thing Kenzie had ever seen. His rare smiles always melted her heart and curled her toes; this one humbled her. She had never seen a man look so genuinely pleased, so touched. It was a heady feeling, knowing she inspired such a smile.
The flirtatious light that came into his eyes was just as potent, as he turned her earlier words back on her. “Aw, darlin’, does this mean I’m your man?”
Kenzie grabbed his face with both hands, stood on tiptoe, and kissed him soundly. She landed back on the balls of her feet, wearing a pleased smile. “What do you think?”
“I think I’ll put in for a transfer the minute I get back,” he mumbled.
She laughed, hiding her giddiness by raking her eyes over him. “Be sure and keep the biker outfit,” she purred in a sultry voice. “It’s
very sexy.”
One more kiss, and he sighed. “I have to go.”
Kenzie hooked an arm through his. “It may not be good for my reputation to be seen with such a bad-ass biker, but come on, I’ll walk you to your bike.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Are you kidding? This is one pleasure you are not going to deny me tonight. And if I’m giving up my shoe collection, I’ve got to get my jollies somehow.”
***
Four hours later, Kenzie stirred from a restless sleep when she heard the buzz of a text message on her phone. Reading it, she smiled and curled up with the warm and fuzzy feeling echoing in her heart. The words, like the man, were simple.
Heart and soul, darlin. Heart and soul.
Chapter Fifteen
Kenzie tried. She tried to ‘play nice’, but the effort was too much.
The moment she agreed to police protection, two DPS officers showed up at their doorstep, disguised as Kenzie’s and Makenna’s shadows. From that moment forward, everything the sisters did was monitored and recorded, traced and followed. The partial print from her damaged brake line came back with a match from a known criminal; his ties with the Italian Mafia brought in agencies from all over. At any given moment, their apartment might be overrun with an assortment of local police, DPS officers, Texas Rangers, FBI agents and Homeland Security personnel. Kenzie thought the constant protection was over-kill, but no one seemed to be asking for her input. They rotated shifts among the agencies and someone followed either sister any time one stepped foot out of the apartment. Cars were checked, calls were monitored, packages were scanned. It was like living under a microscope.
Makenna, more tolerant than her twin, found the protection an irritating but necessary evil; Kenzie found it stifling. By the third day, she made a game of trying to outwit the agents who followed her every move. By the fifth day, the game had grown weary, the agents had grown angry, and Kenzie’s nerves had mushroomed into a destructive force.
Makenna came in while Kenzie was packing her suitcase.
