by Carolyn Lee
Give me time to convince you to stay.
"What do I have left here? My fiancé is a criminal and I can't go back to my job. I have nothing left." She sounded so sad he wanted to pull the truck over right there on the side of the road and take her in his arms. He resisted simply because he couldn't find a safe place to pull over.
"You have your beautiful apartment with that amazing view of the ocean." You could have me too, if you wanted me.
"My apartment has been destroyed. I will never feel safe there again." She released a heavy sigh. Kaiden wished he knew the right thing to say but he had never been very good at the emotional stuff. For him, the last couple of days wouldn't have been the end of his world but a reason to change it. He looked at adversity as a challenge. Cara had never liked that about him and he couldn't understand why.
"I could help you find a new apartment. Maybe somewhere down here by the bay?" They were passing beautiful waterfront condos and homes that sat right on the Chesapeake Bay. The view would be as good if not better than what she had since they were out of the tourist area.
"Wonderful. But with no job, it wouldn't matter. I never should have moved here. It's time for me to go home."
Kaiden started to feel a little desperate. They had only just begun their relationship and now she talked about running away.
Okay, so maybe they were a long way from a relationship but he couldn't deny the chemistry between them. With all that electricity, there had to be something more waiting to be discovered. He had loved Cara but she never made him burn with desire the way Katie seemed to simply by sitting in the same truck.
To be fair, Cara never showed him any real interest either. If he had to venture a guess she had been seeing that yahoo she was married to now long before their marriage had crumbled. Cara wanted to be an officer's wife and it didn't matter what branch of the service that officer worked in. He had long since suspected that she started her hunt for a new man the day after he'd left the Coast Guard.
"Why don't you hold off on making any rash decisions until we get this case wrapped up?"
"Yeah, sure. Okay," Katie replied unenthusiastically. "It's not like I have anything to rush home to either."
They rounded a curve and Kaiden headed to downtown Norfolk leaving the bay and its beauty behind them. He became more determined than ever to find Nathan Marks. Sure he wanted to wrap the case up but he wouldn't mind knocking the guy's lights out for hurting Katie the way he had.
"What is this place?" Katie asked as they pulled into one of the municipal parking lots.
"My office. The boss will want a rundown of what happened at the hospital."
"Do you have to tell him everything?" She glanced at him and he caught a quick glimpse of fear in her eyes.
He looked over and winked at her. "There are a few details I will likely leave out of my report."
"Good," she replied, obviously relieved. "After this morning at the hotel…"
"Nothing to worry about there. John Hunter might come across as a hard ass but he is as nice as they come. You will like him."
"It doesn't matter if I like him, as long as he doesn't throw me in prison."
Kaiden dissolved into a fit of laughter as he parked his truck and turned off the engine.
"What's so funny?" Katie demanded, her cheeks turning a deep crimson. He reached out and traced a line along the side of her face, ending at the place on her chin just below the center of her lips before opening his hand and resting his palm against her cheek.
"You are not going to prison," he managed between chuckles. "How can I make you understand that?"
She pulled away from him. "I don't know. Catch Nathan, I guess."
"We will. It will just take a little time. If we don't do it right, his daddy and the fleet of Marks' attorneys will have him safely tucked away on some tropical island before the ink on the warrant for his arrest dries."
"I hate Nathan. In fact, I hate the entire Marks family. How could I have been so stupid?"
"Hey." He took her hand from her lap and held it, caressing the palm with his thumb. "We all make mistakes. Especially when it comes to love. Do you have any idea how many times I have kicked myself for leaving the hospital and not saying goodbye? I have dreamt of you every night for nearly a year. I also know what it feels like to have my heart broken."
"You do?"
Kaiden had turned to face her and now leaned back against the driver's side door. He released a heavy sigh. "Yes, I do. My ex-wife probably had more than one lover on the side during our marriage."
"I didn't know you were married. Is that why you didn't pursue anything between us when you were discharged?"
He nodded. "Exactly. Fear of being hurt is a powerful deterrent."
"Funny thing is if you hadn't taken off without a word when you were released, I never would have gotten serious with Nathan." Katie picked at an imaginary thread on her jeans.
He watched her for a moment, mulling over her words in his mind before speaking again. "So, what you are saying is that you felt the same way about me as I did about you?"
"That depends, how did you feel?"
"Like I wanted to get to know you better. Every time you touched me—to change a dressing, check a vital sign—I was afraid you would call for help from the way my heart raced. I'm surprised you couldn't hear the thumping in my chest. It's a wonder my blood pressure ever came up normal when you were around."
"Then I guess we felt the same way. I was afraid that I was breaking every rule of the Hippocratic Oath when I took care of you by enjoying it way too much." She offered a half smile but still didn't fully look him in the eye.
"I wish I had known. I'm no good at understanding women. That's what my ex always said. At our final appearance in divorce court, she said I deserve to be alone and that I would never find a woman that could put up with me the way she had put up with me." He remembered that day like it happened yesterday. The words had cut straight through his soul. "I had no idea that while I was loving her she was merely putting up with me."
"Nathan told me that no man would ever be able to stand being with me. I am not the kind of girl men want to…" her voice trailed off.
"That men want to…?" he prompted gently.
"Make love to," she whispered, her eyes closed. Kaiden watched as one tear fell from her left eye, traveled down her cheek and fell onto the leg of her jeans.
"All I've done for the last two days—several months actually—is think about making love to you." He almost laughed out loud at her shocked expression. Laughing would absolutely be the worst thing he could do. "Come on, Katie. After what keeps happening between us, you can't actually be surprised to hear that."
"I thought… well, I mean, it was… I was the one who keeps attacking you."
"In the elevator or bathroom maybe but I have done my fair share of the attacking." He offered up a grin. "Believe me, it was no hardship to have you on top of me in that elevator. If I was going to die I would have died a very happy man."
Katie started giggling which soon lead to full on laughter. It became his turn to be confused.
"What's so funny?" he demanded.
"Gives new meaning to Love in an Elevator!" The lyrics of the Aerosmith song filled his head instantly and he joined her laughter.
"Yeah, I guess it does." They both broke out in a rendition of the chorus of the popular classic rock song, dissolving into another fit of laughter.
Katie finally leaned back against the truck seat and wiped the tears from her eyes. Happy tears, he thought to himself. Much better than the sad ones he had witnessed a few moments earlier. "We should probably get inside and take care of business."
"Yeah," Kaiden replied. "We probably should. We will continue this conversation later—maybe over dinner?"
Katie hesitated and then she nodded. "Okay. I mean, we gotta eat, right?"
"Right," Kaiden agreed with a smile. He opened the door and jumped down out of the truck. He jogged around the bed of t
he vehicle to open Katie's door where he ran right into her nearly knocking them both to the ground. Kaiden wrapped his arms around Katie to steady her. He didn't intend to kiss her there in the parking garage but somehow his lips found hers. She snaked her arms up around his neck, pulling him in closer. The passion between them mounted quickly. He marveled at the effect a simple kiss from her had on him.
He heard a sound and opened one eye to see a couple of young girls, probably college students standing across the way pointing and giggling. "We have an audience," he whispered against her lips.
Katie pulled back and looked up at him. He thought the pink in her cheeks made her look adorable but he knew she was embarrassed. "I did it again."
"Please, it takes two to tango, you know? You and I, we were tangoing here and I've been a more than willing participant. In fact, I love to tango with you."
Kaiden adored the sound of her laughter. He loved kissing her and he was pretty sure he would love everything— and every inch—of her eventually. Just not there in the center of the municipal parking lot.
She looked up at him through slightly lowered lashes. Kaiden's chest tightened as much as his jeans when Katie smiled shyly. "I like to tango too."
He stroked her cheek gently with the pad of his thumb. "Good. Now stop doubting yourself. What I wouldn't give for two minutes alone with Mr. Nathan Marks. He had a lot of nerve saying so many terrible things to you and I feel the need to tell him so."
This time she looked him right in the eye and offered a wide smile. "I think you should have a word with him. If we can find him."
He still held Katie wrapped in his arms and as much as it pained him to do so, he stepped back. They really needed to get to the office. Taking her hand, and pleasantly surprised when she didn't pull it back, he started walking toward the stairs down to the street. "We will find him. I work for the United States government, remember? We have eyes everywhere!"
They both laughed. Being with Katie felt so right, even under the current circumstances. Nothing had felt this right in his life for a very long time.
17
Katie
Katie loved the warmth of Kaiden's hand around hers. She had forgotten how much she missed the simplicity of someone to hold hands with. Nathan wasn't a touchy feely kind of guy. He always made her feel bad for needing that sort of attention. Now she found herself caught in a limbo of attraction she didn't know how to handle. Nathan put her in a crazy situation—but not nearly as crazy as her feelings for the man beside her. It felt like no time at all had passed since he left the hospital. The simple act of holding hands had her heart racing, blood heating, and palms sweating. She felt thirteen with her first crush all over again.
"I know Hunter came off as sort of a jerk this morning at the hotel but he really is a decent guy. He has always had my back—especially when my ex and I split. I was a wreck there for a while. Another boss would have told me to put up or shut up but Hunter sent me on vacation at my mother's place in the mountains. He was right on, sending me home. Not to mention my mom's place—quiet, secluded. Just what a man nursing a broken heart needed."
"She lives near the hospital then?"
"About forty-five minutes up the side of a mountain actually. Down the end of an unmarked dirt road."
"That explains why you came in by helicopter that night."
Kaiden chuckled. "That and the fact that my mother's friend likes to play with his toys."
"How is your heart now?"
"Come again?"
"Your heart? Has it healed?"
Kaiden lifted her hand and brushed a kiss across the knuckles. "Perfectly."
They reached the ground floor and started down the sidewalk in the Waterside area of Norfolk. She could see how it got its name as they strolled a few hundred feet from the water to what seemed like another bland office building.
"How did you get shot that night?" Katie realized she had never asked him. She assumed it had been work related since he told her he was in law enforcement but the incident occurred a long way from home.
"We were fighting off a couple of mercenaries sent after a woman who is now my cousin Logan's new bride."
"Ah… the tuxedo you interrogated me in." Katie smiled remembering how incredibly well that tux had fit his broad shoulders and trim, muscular frame.
"Yes, ma'am." They reached the door to the building and Kaiden flashed an ID card at a little machine that read it and buzzed them in. She followed him to the elevator, admiring the way his jeans also fit him well from behind. Katie imagined Kaiden would look good in anything he put on—or took off. The thought of Kaiden out of those jeans brought back images of what she knew lay under that shirt he wore. How she wouldn't mind getting her hands on that hard chest without any bandages getting in her way.
"You okay?" Katie looked up to find Kaiden staring at her with a curious look on his face, like he knew exactly what she had been thinking.
"I'm fine."
"Well, the elevator is here. Shall we go up?"
Not another elevator. She realized that he held the doors open waiting for her to enter the car. For a split second she thought about taking the stairs but then it occurred to her that getting locked in the car hadn't been so bad the last time. What the hell, it would be worth a ride if it meant she might end up on top of Kaiden again.
It had to be all the excitement of the past couple of days that had her limbic system all riled up. Right. It had absolutely nothing to do with the handsome hunk and his blue eyes that seemed to be undressing her right there at the elevator doors. She stepped into the car.
"Let's get this over with."
Following her into the elevator, Kaiden pushed the three button and watched as the doors closed before turning to her again. "I promise you Hunter is a good guy. He wants to solve this case as much as I do."
"If you say so, but I am pretty sure he thinks I am some sort of floozy."
Kaiden burst into laughter as the elevator slowed to a stop. "A floozy? Who says that anymore?"
He led her into the hall and she followed him to a glass door at the end. There were no markings on the door, only another key card reader.
"I do. What's wrong with it?"
"Nothing." He chuckled as the door buzzed open. "You just reminded me of my mother for a moment there. She already liked you before but now…? It's a done deal. She will be sending out invitations by Christmas."
Katie shook her head in disbelief. "Invitations to what?"
He didn't hear her or he chose not to respond, either way Kaiden had moved several strides ahead of her when another man called out to him from an open door.
Invitations. Oh my, was he talking about a wedding?
18
Kaiden
"Well, it's about damn time you turned up here!" John Hunter bellowed as Kaiden stepped through the door into his boss's office.
"You won't believe what happened at the hospital," Kaiden replied as he motioned to Katie to enter the room. She hovered in the hallway looking uncertain but slipped around the door frame and leaned against the wall when he motioned to her. John rose from his chair and covered the distance between them in three long strides, his hand outstretched to Katie.
"Hello, Ms. McCoy. We didn't have the chance to meet properly earlier this morning. The name's John Hunter. I am sure this guy over here has told you all about me." He cocked his head toward Kaiden.
"Yes, sir. He has told me a bit," she replied, accepting the handshake.
Hunter let out a laugh. "I am sure none of it is true!"
Katie glanced at Kaiden and he could see how uncomfortable she was. Steering her to a seat in front of the desk, he sat beside her. Fortunately, John took the cue and returned to his seat as well. He was thankful when his boss didn't bring up the morning encounter again. Kaiden had no interest in discussing his personal life with his boss.
Personal life. Boy, that sure sounded weird. Kaiden almost couldn't remember the last time he had a personal life. The job
had been his main focus since Cara had left him. Except of course for the nightly dreams he had about Katie for all those months after his injury. He still couldn't believe that she sat there next to him. Or that they might actually have a chance at something together once they nabbed Nathan Marks.
"I'm sending you to back to Staunton," Hunter announced without prelude.
"I was just there. You made me drop everything and rush back here. I missed the prime rib!"
Hunter pulled his wallet from his pocket and tossed a fifty dollar bill at Kaiden. "Here, buy one when you get there. On me."
Kaiden bit back a growl that started deep in his throat as he picked up the bill and examined it. "What the hell is going on?"
"We got a little intel that Nathan Marks is hiding out at his family's mountain retreat. I know your momma's got that compound of hers up that way. It's time for you to visit her and find out if he is really out there. Bring him back here before anything else can happen."
"If he is there then who robbed the lab at the infectious disease ward early this morning?"
"Well, I doubt that he did it himself. Maybe it was another chick he's been boffing."
Katie sucked in a breath. Hunter shot her a look of apology. "Sorry, Miss. I forgot you…"
"Don't worry about it. He can boff whomever he wants. We have been done for some time now."
Kaiden watched the color rise in his boss's cheeks at Katie's use of the term boff. He bit back a laugh and turned to his boss. "I can't go to Staunton. I have to keep an eye on Katie until this is resolved."
"We can post surveillance at her place."
"I'm not sure she even has a door on her place right now," Kaiden replied, thinking of the officer that had been assaulted there while he watched the place.
Hunter shrugged. "Take her with you. I'm sure Ms. Clara would love to meet the young woman her boy has been spending so much time with."
"We have already met," Katie interjected. "I can't go to Staunton."
