by J. M. Madden
“I’ll take you back to your car. I’m sorry I wasted your time, Duncan.”
He looked at her in the dim light of the car. “It definitely wasn’t wasted time, Alex. I enjoy every moment of being with you.”
She glanced at him sharply as she stopped for a red light. “Yeah, okay.”
He looked at her, hearing the skepticism. “It’s true. I love spending time with you, and I miss it a lot. I miss you so much that I ache to hold you.”
A horn blared behind them and she pulled away from the light, accelerating toward the hospital. “I’ve, uh, I’ve missed you too,” she admitted softly. “We weren’t together very long but I felt like we really clicked.”
Reluctantly, Duncan pointed her toward his truck, parked a few rows away in the middle of the lot. The handicapped spaces had been full. “Just because we didn’t see him tonight it doesn’t mean he’s not out there. If he is, we’ll find him. How long are you staying?”
She shrugged, looking out over the lot. “Not sure. I’m taking a break from my job for a while.”
“What? Why?”
She gave him a narrow-eyed look. “I thought we broke up?”
He sighed, resting his arm on the door. “We did, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care about you any more, Alex. If anything, I admire you for standing up for yourself and not settling. I wouldn’t be an easy guy to have a long-term relationship with.”
She snorted. “You never know. I thought we fit well.”
His eyes flashed for a moment in the darkness, and she knew he was remembering making love. Had she accidentally reminded him of that? Yeah, maybe. She wanted some kind of reaction from him.
“We did fit well,” he agreed. “Very well.”
Alex drummed her fingers on the steering wheel and they let the silence lengthen.
“Do you have a place to stay?”
In spite of herself she chuckled, and arousal swept through her. “I have a hotel room, just a few blocks away.”
“Okay,” Duncan said, a little too light-hearted. He pushed open the door and slid out of the SUV. “You’ll be around tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
With a final wave, he shut the door and walked to his truck. She waited until he got in and started it, then she pulled away. She couldn’t help but glance into the rear view mirror, watching as he turned in the opposite direction she did. It wouldn’t be hard to find his house again.
Forcing herself to glance away, she headed to her hotel. They wouldn’t solve anything by sleeping together again.
Chapter Twenty-One
Aiden could have laughed at what was happening in front of him. Oh, the irony. Duncan was a very identifiable figure. And the doctor, with her red hair, was also very recognizable, even in the dark of the night. There were a lot of lights in this lot, and he’d seen her when they’d driven within feet of his truck. He’d hunkered down so they wouldn’t see him, then lifted back up when they were focused on each other.
The two of them seemed… attracted. Like they could reach out at any moment and kiss.
I wonder what that’s like, just reaching out to touch someone with tenderness rather than pain…
A man got out of a car and walked through the lot to the front entrance of the hospital. Not LeBoutin.
Francoise LeBoutin was a slender man with dark hair. Of French descent, via the Foreign Legion, Aiden had been introduced to him several months ago. The Frenchman had been the one to kill Rector, of that Aiden had no doubt. When the four of them had gone off the rails, they’d been given a deadline to return, and as a group, they’d decided to miss it. They were going to stand up for themselves, even if it killed them.
Aiden had taken care of the first assassin who had come after him, and now he would take care of the second. Then he was going after the rest.
* * *
John sat staring out the window. Actually, he’d been unmoving for so long the nurses thought he might have fallen asleep. Poor thing. She’d worried him till he couldn’t eat or think about anything other than her safety.
Shannon understood it was hard having no family. It was actually one of the reasons why she thought John hadn’t proposed to her sooner. If they had an actual marriage in a church, there would be family for her, but only friends for him. Now, not to get her wrong, friends were great. But there was just something… unflinching and reinforcing about having family on your side.
In her heart, she wondered what had ever happened to John’s brother and mother. Surely they hadn’t both died. The one time she’d asked him about them he’d completely shut her down. He definitely didn’t want any contact with his mother, and he didn’t think his brother—if there was one—would want anything to do with a cripple like him.
She would hope after the past year that John would feel like he had more to offer, but maybe he didn’t. Maybe when she was further along in her pregnancy she would suggest he look him up again.
John turned his head when something caught his attention and she smiled. When he was around she had no worries. Big and brawny, even in the chair he made her feel safe.
Her glance landed on the huge array of flowers Alex had brought. They were stunning and if she were closer she would lean over and bury her nose in them. There was a hint of fragrance in the air.
Alex was one of those people who seemed aloof and so smart, but there was a glimmer of something in her eyes—a loneliness and a need—that said she wanted to be a part of something. She was kind of in the same boat as John. Alex just had her dad, and since he was in Afghanistan somewhere, she didn’t get to see him often at all. Shannon thought she’d seemed to appreciate being a part of their group while she’d been in Denver.
Duncan hadn’t returned like he’d said he would. Had he been lucky enough run into Alex, by chance? Shannon definitely hoped so. Those two needed to just go ahead and fuck and straighten things out. She laughed to herself. John had so rubbed off on her. She said and thought the F word more than ever now. That would have to change when they had the babies.
Reaching for the iPad mini and headphones that Lora had brought her she plugged in. Then, something Alex had said popped into her head. The VA was looking for test subjects for a new study. Tapping info into the browser, she started exploring.
* * *
Duncan paced through the living room, wondering why the hell he’d let Alex go. The woman lived two states away and probably wouldn’t come out again in the near future if he didn’t speak up about his feelings for her. When he’d seen her in the hallway, he’d been stunned, but the emotion in his heart had almost choked him. Rather than wrap her in his arms and kiss her senseless, he’d just stood there like a damned tree. She’d been a little reticent as well, so which one of them was going to have to make the first move?
It was obvious by his reaction to her that he was in love with her. It had kind of been creeping up on him, but tonight it had been so evident.
If he knew where she was staying, he would drive over there. Or would he? He felt a little like he was walking on rough ground. It had been years… hell, a decade… since he’d professed his love to anyone, and look how well that had turned out.
Alex was a different woman. No, Alex hadn’t gone through the same waiting game for him that Melanie had, but to some extent, she’d grown up with it, having experienced it with her father. He knew in his gut that she’d never have given up on him, on them, the way Melanie had.
And Alex wasn’t the type of woman to just wait around on a man. She had her own life and her own career that she was very proud of, and should be.
There was a knock at his door, and his heart began to race. Some sixth sense told him it was Alex. Walking across the room he opened the door.
The cold swirled in and she peered up at him, a pale toboggan pulled low over her ears. “Can I come in?”
He stepped back without a word.
“I’m sorry it’s so late.” She glanced at the clock in the dining room. “Shit, it’s really
late. I can talk to you in the morning if that would be better.”
Duncan closed the door firmly behind her. “You’re fine. I wasn’t asleep.”
Frowning, she shrugged out of her coat and hung it on the hook by the door, then straightened her clothes. At the last minute she jerked the cap off her head and hung it up as well, then smoothed her hair down. Then, as if she couldn’t help herself, she turned and walked straight into his arms.
Duncan swallowed hard, his throat tight with yearning. Within seconds she had his emotions totally in knots. How the hell did she do that? Then, he realized she was crying, softly, her tears soaking into his shirt. “Hey, you’re okay, babe. You’re okay.”
They stood there in the entranceway just swaying a little, connecting. When she finally pulled away, she leaned up to give him a kiss.
Wild, salty ocean and sunshine, that’s what she tasted of. But he could feel the heartbreak in her and he felt guilty. “You know,” he told her gruffly, “you kind of knocked me on my ass. I didn’t expect you at Christmas, and I certainly didn’t expect what you did to me the few days you stayed here. I thought I was okay being alone, but you made me want things I hadn’t wanted before. That I still want.”
Some of her vibrant hair was stuck to her cheek. He pulled it free and tucked it behind her ears. She leaned into his touch and he wished he were strong enough to swing her up into his arms and carry her to the couch. Instead, he tugged on her hand, gently. With a heavy breath she followed him to the couch. Once he sat, she settled into his side. Duncan wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her close, then he propped his feet on the coffee table to get comfortable.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t stay away.”
He chuckled. “I’m not. I was just wondering how the hell to find you. You didn’t tell me where you were staying.”
“I know. I did that on purpose. I didn’t think I wanted to see you tonight, but we need to talk.”
“We do. But I think I just want to hold you for a minute. Is that okay?”
She nodded, sagging into him. The clock on the wall ticked steadily on, and he was content just sitting there, listening to her breathe. Her body was incredibly warm next to his own, and it was easy to imagine this going further, but she seemed a little reserved. Maybe she was just still hurting over their breakup.
After a few minutes, Duncan leaned down to press a kiss to her hair. Damn, she smelled good. He wanted to see her and feel her and smell her every day if he could. “How can I get you to stay?”
“Hmm…?” her voice was drowsy, but she looked up at him.
“How can I get you to stay? I miss you, Alex. I saw you tonight and I wanted to jump up and down and cheer. Not my normal reaction to people, I might add.”
She chuckled. “I felt the same way. When the doors opened, I thought I was imagining you standing there.”
He gripped her hand in his own, marveling at the chance meeting. “I didn’t handle the breakup well. I should have chosen my words better and been more careful of your feelings. I’m sorry about that.”
“I’m sorry too,” she told him softly. “I could have not reacted so harshly. Everyone is allowed to feel the way they want to feel. You don’t want kids. I get that now. But I think I still want to see where this relationship goes.”
Duncan pulled back to look at her. “You would stay with me even though I told you I don’t want kids?”
She shrugged, looking away.
“What if I told you I think you could change my mind?”
Alex looked up at him sharply. “What?”
“I had a lot of long nights thinking about where we’d gone wrong,” he told her softly, “and I’m not sure anymore that it’s the kids themselves that I object to. I think it’s just the responsibility in general.”
“Are you serious? You’re one of the most responsible men I know,” she told him firmly.
“I am,” he agreed, “but what if a child is the one thing that comes along that I’m not good at handling?”
Alex leaned into him again, laughing softly. “Oh, Duncan, I think you just voiced the fear of every single parent in the world. I bet if you asked Shannon that question, she’d have the same concerns.”
Her words made sense. Responsibility was a heavy weight, and he already had a lot of it on his shoulders.
“I would like to try again as well,” she told him softly. Her voice had gone soft again, and he realized she had to be tired.
Gently nudging her up, he stood beside her. “Let’s go to bed.”
There was a flash of something in her eyes, before she smiled softly. “Would you mind just holding me tonight? I don’t think I have the energy to make love. I’ll be more excited about us getting back together tomorrow, I promise.”
Laughing, he guided her to the bedroom. “That sounds completely all right.”
And it did. Yes, if she offered him her body he would oblige her, but there was some underlying current of sadness to her that made him want to comfort her. So, when they reached his bedroom they each took a turn in the bathroom, then headed to bed. He left his boxers on, and she left her T-shirt and panties on. And when she settled against him with a sigh, he felt just as content. It had been weeks since he’d seen her, but this closeness was what he had missed. She was the only person in the world he could do this with. She was the only one he wanted to do this with.
They slept hard. They were so tired from the traumatic day before. When they woke late, they knew they needed to get moving. Shannon was going to be released from the hospital, and they needed all available personnel on duty just in case the accident hadn’t been an accident.
They rode to the hospital together, quietly holding hands. Duncan knew they needed to be focusing on other things, but it was very difficult to drag his eyes away from Alex. In the early winter light, her skin looked like alabaster, and her eyes shone like flawless emeralds. She’d drawn her hair back into an elegant French braid, then tucked it under her toboggan. Stunning. Just absolutely stunning.
The emotions she stirred in him were very different than anything he’d ever felt before, but he relished them. If he was going to commit to this relationship, he was going to do it whole-heartedly.
“So, you took a break from work?”
“Yes. Just a leave of absence. I’m too good at my job for them to let me go for very long, but I have a lot of accumulated time owed to me. I told them I was taking it one way or the other. Honestly, I’ve been searching for a change for a while, I think. Talking to the guys at Harmony House inspired me to start thinking about a new specialty. I don’t know yet.” She waved her hands in frustration. “I’m hungry, you know? But it may not just be the job. I had a taste of something special with you and it made me want more.”
In spite of himself, Duncan grinned. “I guess I’m kind of sorry I disrupted your life then.”
Alex laughed. “I can tell you are.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Aiden didn’t know what it was, but the sense that something was off grated along his senses. There was a weight to the air that told him his target was near. Glancing around the parking lot, he tried to identify where the man was, but he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. The morning was as chilly as he’d expected, but he didn’t want to start the truck. It would send up a plume of exhaust, visible from a long way away. If anyone was watching, it would identify him immediately.
Actually, he needed to slide in and see what was going on with Palmer’s woman. As long as she’d made it through the night without problems, she should be released this morning as soon as the doctor had seen her.
Slipping from the truck, he pulled his coat tight around him and headed for the door. Glancing up, he looked for the big guy who had been on the roof, but didn’t see him. That was one scary motherfucker. His demeanor spoke to heavy training, and it didn’t take binoculars to see the heavy-duty weapon at his side.
Striding out, Aiden walked into the hospital like he had a pur
pose for being there. That was all most people looked for. Confidence. He took the stairs up to the third floor and timed a casual pass through the nurse’s station. They were serving breakfast right now and waking patients, so there was no one manning the station right then. He glanced at the desk, looking for files or iPads he could get into, the something on the back wall drew his attention. He snickered. They couldn’t have made it any easier for him, her name was right there in front of him in blue marker. Murphy—Release per D.O., or doctor’s orders. Cool.
Aiden wondered if he dared peek down the hallway. He wouldn’t really see her and he ran the chance of being caught in the act, but he just wanted to make sure she was okay. It was obvious by the way Palmer doted on her that they were very much in love. Aiden smiled to himself… that was very cool.
Turning, he made his feet take him away from the room. He would find a place to stake out the area and hopefully, if LeBoutin appeared, he would be able to derail his plans without getting himself killed in the process.
* * *
John wanted to get going ASAP. They’d been sitting in this damn hospital room waiting around like sitting ducks and he wanted to get home where he could watch his cameras and control his surroundings.
The on-call OB had come in this morning and agreed that Shannon could go home, so she was in the bathroom getting dressed now. They’d filled out all the release paperwork and taken all the warnings about being careful of the babies. He’d bitten his tongue several times, on the verge of shouting at them to shut the fuck up and move on. That wouldn’t help anyone and Shannon would just give him that chiding look of hers, so he hadn’t gone there.
Chad and Zeke were outside, watching the route. When John and Shannon arrived at the front door of the hospital to leave, Chad would have John’s truck waiting for them. Zeke would bring up the rear. They all wore their radio earpieces and could talk to each other at a whisper.
Duncan and Alex had arrived a few minutes ago and waited against the far wall. They would lead them out, then fall back when they got to the ground floor. John felt good about having Alex around. If anything did happen to Shannon, she would be right there ready to help. And judging by the new closeness between Duncan and Alex, it looked like she might be staying around for a while. Duncan watched Alex like he knew he, himself, watched Shannon and that was a really good sign.
