by Lori Wilde
The man made a strangling noise, and immediately let go of Kelsey so he could snatch hold of Noah’s arm with both hands.
Noah added pressure to the guy’s throat, holding him still. “Driver, if you want your buddy to keep breathing, undo those locks. Now!”
The driver swiveled his head around to see what was going on, eyes widening at the situation. “Steel?” His voice quivered.
Steel made gurgling noises, and Noah could feel the fight going out of him. Fear streaked through him. He didn’t want to kill the guy. He just wanted them to let Kelsey go.
“Do it,” Noah said.
The driver looked unsure.
Noah stared right into Steel’s eyes. “I’ll let up off your throat if you tell him to do it.”
Steel shot bullets at him with his glare, but he blinked and nodded as best he could.
Noah eased off the pressure, but kept his elbow positioned on Steel’s Adam’s apple just in case there was still fight left in him.
Gasping, Steel sucked in a big gulp of air. Grunted. “Do it.”
The door locks clicked, disengaging.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Kelsey said, apologizing for something that wasn’t her fault, and flew from the backseat, slamming the door behind her.
“Shit,” the driver said. “I didn’t sign on for this.”
“Me either,” Steel said, but his voice was garbled, and it came out sounding like “Mefever.”
With his enemy neutralized, Noah eased up, and extracted himself from the car. “Tell Filomena James she can kiss my—”
“Tell her this is not the way to bring me home.” Kelsey came around the Town Car to stand beside him.
Noah wrapped his arm around her waist, tucked her against his side. Her entire body was shaking. Fury at her mother wound around his spine like a cobra. All four of them were breathing hard.
“Don’t wuwwy,” Steel slurred, raising a hand to his throat, his face covered in his own blood. “I quit.”
“Me too,” the driver added. “Kidnapping is way outside my comfort zone.”
Chapter 13
“You’re bleeding,” Kelsey exclaimed after the Town Car had driven off, leaving them standing underneath the streetlight. “And your poor eye! It’s swelling shut.”
Sure enough, Noah squinted, reaching up to touch his cheek, and felt blood. His body was still numb from adrenaline. “Forget about me, are you okay? Did they hurt you?”
“I fell getting out of the car and skinned my palms.” She held up her hands for him to see her wounds. Bits of dirt and gravel were embedded in her skin.
Noah winced. “Assholes.”
“And my head hurts where he pulled my hair, but I’m okay. You’re in much worse shape.”
“Your friend Steel is in the worst shape.”
“I can’t believe how well you handled yourself.”
“What?” He grinned even though it hurt. “You believed I’m too laid-back to put up a fight?”
“Well, kinda.”
That sobered him. “Kelsey, are you telling me that you seriously thought I would let those hoodlums just whisk you away?”
“They were my mother’s henchmen. I didn’t expect you to fight them.”
“I admit it. I’m an easygoing dude, and not much gets under my skin. I’m not a fan of conflict and I would rather patch things up than hold a grudge, but I would never”—he cupped her chin in his palm and tilted it up so that she had to meet his stare—“allow anything to happen to you, woman. Got that?”
“Got it.” Through long lashes, Kelsey peered at Noah as if he’d been the one to decorate the sky with the moon and stars.
In her eyes, he was some kind of hero.
Uncertain how he felt about that, Noah dropped her chin and glanced away. They’d just had a big discussion about keeping things casual, but if she kept looking at him like that, all bets were off.
A bicycle bell chimed, and a man’s voice called out, “Noah.”
The pedicab driver, who was named Alonzo, pulled up at the curb. He lived just down the road from the marina and had once worked at Froggie’s as a dishwasher. “You guys need a ride? I was just heading home . . . whoa, what happened to you?”
“Wild night out,” Noah said, drawing his arm around Kelsey’s waist again.
Alonzo eyed him up and down. “I’ll say.”
“We’d love a ride, thanks.”
“Hop in.”
They climbed inside and covered themselves with the wool blanket Alonzo kept on hand in cold weather.
On the way back to the Rockabye, Kelsey sighed and rested her head against his shoulder and Noah couldn’t help smiling. He felt like a gladiator returning victorious from a heated battle to the loving arms of the woman who’d waited for him.
Uh-oh.
He was feeling too much too fast. He needed to slow things down and figure out why he was so willing to jump in headfirst.
In the ten years they’d been apart, Noah had gained and lost an entire career, blown out his knee, been married and divorced, and started his own business. He had dealt with his life changing course one hundred percent.
Did his attraction to her have something to do with those rapid and complicated life changes? Did she represent security and continuity and that’s what he was really longing for, not Kelsey specifically?
Were his hopes childish and impossible?
Could they really start anew and this time around develop a steady, reliable, mature love?
It was a good question.
But Noah did not have an answer.
Surreptitiously, Kelsey checked her cell phone in the pedicab. Bracing herself for a barrage of angry texts from her mother.
Nothing.
Uh-oh.
Silence from Filomena was often worse than her rage. Silence meant she was gathering her resources and plotting her strategy for the next attack. Kelsey knew because she was normally by her mother’s side as she manipulated and maneuvered.
Now she was on the receiving end, it wasn’t pretty.
You did tell her not to contact you for two weeks.
Yes, but that was before Filomena had sent her toadies to attempt a kidnapping. Nibbling her bottom lip, and careful of her skinned palm, Kelsey slipped her phone back into her pocket, refocused her attention, and tried to enjoy the ride. If she wanted to ruin her mother, she could. Kidnapping was against the law. She could have her arrested, or sue her, or at the very least, go to the press.
But she knew her mother. Filomena would find some way to turn the blame back on Kelsey. If she had to lie, cheat, or gaslight to do it. Of that, Kelsey was certain.
The clouds had blown away, exposing a nearly full moon shining down as they headed toward the marina. Kelsey rested her head on Noah’s chest, listened to the steady thumping of his heart, and wished she could freeze time and hang suspended in this moment where she felt like a damsel who’d been rescued by a storybook knight.
Silly of course. She didn’t believe in fairy tales, but it was fun to pretend for a few minutes. He had slain two dragons for her.
But they were lesser dragons. The main dragon was far more powerful, and only Kelsey could slay her.
Oh heavens, what kind of daughter was she? Thinking of her mother as a dragon in need of slaying.
Guilt and shame burned her ears. Closing her eyes, she gulped and struggled to push back the feelings.
Failed.
She should go home. Smooth things over before this standoff got too ugly. She checked her phone again. No texts or missed calls.
“It’s going to be okay,” Noah said.
Easy for him to say. He didn’t have to eventually go home to Filomena. And yet, she took hope from him. Maybe things would be okay. She was feeling emotionally stronger after completing two of Tasha’s dares. Perhaps there was something magical about a Christmas of Yes.
“You were so brave,” he murmured.
“Me? You were the one who risked being dragged by a c
ar.”
“I just reacted,” he said. “Instinct. But you could have just told me to step away from the car and gone passively home with them . . .”
He didn’t finish the sentence, but she knew what he was thinking. The way she had their seventeenth summer when he tried to pull her out of her mother’s car, and she’d told him to leave. It had been for his own protection, not because she hadn’t wanted him to fight for her.
“You took a chance on me,” he said. “On us. You got out of the car. You stayed.”
Kelsey wasn’t brave. Not at all. If it hadn’t been for Tasha hijacking her to Twilight, she wouldn’t be here.
From the pedicab, they transferred to Noah’s golf cart and a few minutes later were at the Rockabye. The Christmas lights were off, but the porch light was on, guiding their way into the boatel.
Tiptoeing so as not to disturb the other guests, they slipped inside the front door and Noah locked up behind them.
In the light from the lobby lamp, Kelsey could see how badly his left eye was swelling shut. Dried blood had settled in the cut on his cheek. Thankfully, it didn’t look deep enough for stitches. Adhesive butterfly strips should close it up if he had a first aid kit.
“We need to doctor that eye of yours,” she whispered.
“And your palms,” he whispered back.
“Do you have a first aid kit?”
“Fully stocked. It’s in my bathroom. C’mon.”
“First,” she said. “Frozen peas for your eye.”
“Okay.” He nodded. “This way.”
Noah led the way into the kitchen and flicked on the light. Kelsey pulled out a kitchen chair. “Have a seat.”
“Taking charge, are you?”
“Does that bother you?”
“Not at all,” he said, his good eye crinkling in amusement as he watched her. He turned the chair around backward and sat with his chest against the high back.
She tilted her head and studied his smashed face in the brighter light, sucked in her breath.
“Well, doc, what do you think? Am I gonna make it?”
“I could throttle Steel for doing this to you,” she seethed.
“The guy was just following your mother’s orders.”
Too true. Exhaling, Kelsey went to the stainless steel commercial freezer in the corner. Being careful with her abraded palms, she used her fingers to dig out a bag of frozen peas, and gingerly wrapped them in the kitchen towel she found dangling from the oven door handle. Then she brought the makeshift ice pack to him.
“Actually, the guy didn’t put up much of a fight. I don’t think his heart was really in it. Kidnapping his boss’s daughter is probably not the high point of his résumé.”
“Looks to me like he did plenty of damage.” Tenderly, she fingered his forehead just above where he held the ice pack to his swollen left eye.
Her hand trembled. She was furious with her mother. Kelsey’s stomach grumbled loudly, upset by her fuming emotions.
“Are you hungry?” Noah asked. “You only had one slice of pizza.”
“No, no.” Kelsey shook her head. “I have a nervous tummy that rumbles when I’m upset.”
“Anxiety,” he said. “Like your eye tic.”
She nodded. “When I was a kid, and my stomach would growl in public, Filomena would pinch me. Of course, that only upset me more and my tummy growled even louder.”
“What?” He scowled.
“Right under here.” She fingered the flesh on the underside of her upper arm. “So that people couldn’t see the bruises.”
“As if you can control how loud your stomach growls.” Noah shook his head. “The more I hear about Filomena, the more I dislike her.”
Kelsey’s defenses shot up. He was talking about her mother after all. “You have to understand. My mother grew up with parents who neglected her and her older brother. Yes, they had money, but my grandparents were never there for her. She grew up with servants and when she was just eight years old they sent her off to boarding school. She vowed never to do that with her children.”
“Boo-hoo, poor little rich girl. I’m beginning to think you would have been better off at boarding school.”
“I’m making her sound terrible. There were good times.”
“Yeah? When?”
“When she was pleased with Chelsea and me. She could be a lot of fun. Took us for mani-pedis or a concert or afternoon tea at the Ritz. That’s why we worked so hard to stay on her good side. For those rare nice times.”
“I guess I get that . . .” Noah paused. “To some degree. After my mom died, my dad turned to alcohol. Although he never abused us, we four kids were careful to keep things light to head off the depression that could send him on drinking binges.”
“Maybe that’s why you’re so mellow.”
“Maybe . . .”
“I wish—” She stopped, bit down on her bottom lip.
“What?”
No point wishing for something she couldn’t have. “Time to get that blood cleaned off your face and that cut closed up.”
“All right,” he said, thankfully not pressing her on her thoughts, which were jumbled and nonsensical in the first place. “This way.”
Still holding the ice pack pressed against his eye, he stood up and guided her to his bedroom.
The hallway was narrow and there was no one else about as they took the stairs down to the lower deck of the paddle wheel boat where guests were not allowed. Briefly, she closed her eyes, but that only made things worse as she felt Noah’s hand at the small of her back. Imagined him pressing hot kisses down her spine. Dreamed of his erect shaft throbbing against her backside.
Holy freaking cow, what was wrong with her! She was losing it.
Her eyes flew open.
Moving in what felt like slow motion, Noah stopped outside a closed door, took keys from his pocket, and unlocked it. Time stretched, elongated.
Dangled.
“After you.” Noah swept his arm over the threshold. His tattoo visible. Dare.
She would be entering his bedroom suite. Just the two of them. All alone.
Not smart, not smart.
Taking a bolstering breath, Kelsey stepped past him. The room was tidy. Simple. A queen-sized bed made up with a sage green comforter. A bookcase. A dresser. Braided rug on hardwood floors.
Pictures on the wall. Noah on the basketball court and in scuba diving gear. More pictures of him with Joel and the rest of his family. A small Christmas tree sat in the corner. Even here, she could not escape the relentless holiday cheer.
The place smelled of him. Pine and sandalwood and Noah. It felt way too intimate.
She wanted to run. She should run.
“First aid kit is in the bathroom,” he said.
The bathroom was larger than she expected, but still a small space to be sharing with this big man.
“Who should go first?” she asked.
“I’ll bandage your hands, then you can bandage my face.”
“Good plan,” she murmured.
He lowered the toilet lid. “Have a seat.”
She sat. The lid was cool against the back of her legs. If she’d known she would be involved in a thwarted kidnapping, she would have worn pants instead of a short skirt and leggings.
He towered over her. Reached in the medicine cabinet above her head. His shirt rode up and she got a glimpse of his taut flat belly, and immediately she was transported back to The Horny Toad Tavern where Noah stripped in time to the music as she sat in the chair onstage, transfixed.
Kelsey’s face flushed hot.
Noah kneeled in front of her, the first aid kit in his hand. This was a heavy-duty first aid kit, not the cheap kind from the big-box stores. Professional grade. He unpeeled the Velcro closures on the kit and it reminded her of the sound his pants made when he ripped them off onstage. He rolled the heavy canvas kit open on the bathroom sink counter.
“Let’s see your hands.”
She held out her
palms.
He clucked his tongue and shook his head. “It’s going to sting when I clean out the abrasions.”
“Got a bullet for me to bite on?” she joked.
“How about a candy cane.” He reached into a jar on the shelf and pulled out a candy cane wrapped in cellophane.
“You keep candy canes in your bathroom?”
“It’s a long story.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
He unwrapped the candy cane.
She opened her mouth and he settled the candy across her teeth. She bit down lightly. Ran her tongue over the candy cane crook. “Hey, it’s cinnamon not peppermint.”
“Cinnamon is Grace’s favorite flavor.”
“Grace is your niece, right?” Remembering what he’d told her when they met on the bridge that morning. So much had happened this evening, it seemed eons ago. “Flynn’s daughter.”
“Yep. Grace is how the candy came to be in the bathroom. I was babysitting her and Ian a couple of days ago and they were running around the boat, bothering the guests with their high-octane kid energy. To keep them quiet, we made candy cane reindeer. You might have seen some of them hanging from the tree in the lobby.”
She had noticed the candy canes with glued on googly eyes and antlers made of brown pipe cleaners. It touched her that he did craft projects with his young niece and nephew.
“Ian kept eating the candy canes. Grace got frustrated and hid the jar from him in here.”
“They sound like fun kids.”
“They are.” He beamed, the proud uncle, and took an antiseptic swab from the packaging. “Time to bite down on that candy cane.”
He rolled the medicated swab over her right palm.
“Shhhittt,” Kelsey hissed around the candy cane.
“Warned you.”
She chomped on the candy. The taste of cinnamon burst into her mouth and she bit the cane right in half, closed her eyes and busied herself chewing as he ran a fresh swab over the left palm.
“Wave your hands to dry them, and I’ll get out the burn cream.”
She flapped her hands while he loaded the burn cream on a cotton ball. When the antiseptic had dried, he coated her abrasions with the thick white cream. Kelsey stared down at her greasy palms. “What now?”
