Crying?
“What the—” Glo grabbed her by the hand and pulled her into the roomy handicapped stall, closed the door behind them.
Took her friend by the shoulders and pulled her tight. “Shh. What’s the matter? Was it Knox?” She pushed Kelsey away from her, met her eyes. “What did he do? I’ll kill him—I’ll have Tate kill him—”
Kelsey put her hand to her mouth, shook her head. “No—he’s…” She closed her eyes and ran her fingers over her cheeks, catching the escaping tears. Drew in a breath before she opened her eyes again. “He’s amazing. I think…I think I love him.”
Oh. Uh. Glo just blinked at her.
“It’s horrible.” Kelsey pressed her hand to her mouth, her eyes wide. “He kissed me, and it was amazing, then… Oh, Glo, it was Danny Mueller all over again! I just…freaked out. I ran away from him. Like…”
“Like a woman who’s been through a trauma and isn’t sure how to sort out the good from the bad?”
“But I do…I mean…I feel safe with Knox. He’s…” She drew in a breath and leaned back against the stall. “He just surprised me, and I didn’t think—I just reacted.”
“What did you do?”
“I kissed him back!” She stared wide-eyed at Glo. “I just wrapped myself around him and hung on and kissed him back.”
“Good!” Glo laughed, caught her hands.
“But…what does that make me?” Kelsey looked at her. Swallowed.
“Kelsey, with the exception of Danny Mueller, who I don’t count, Knox was your first real kiss. It’s supposed to be amazing and freak you out and leave you wondering how to put yourself back together again. Unless, of course, he scared you.”
She shook her head. “No. I feel…”
“Knox is a good guy,” Glo said. “And the fact you kissed him back makes you nothing but a woman who liked being in his arms. That’s a good thing…and seriously, it’s about time you had a real kiss.”
Kelsey gave her a tentative smile and it made Glo want to march out and grab Tate and…
Nope. Nope.
Then Kelsey’s smile fell, something of horror in her eyes. “I probably need to tell him—”
“You don’t have tell him anything. Listen, you have nothing to be ashamed of. The past is behind you—way behind you—”
“It feels a lot closer,” Kelsey said quietly. “Especially right now.” She pressed her hand to her mouth, her eyes still filling. “I hate Vince Russell.”
“Me too,” Glo said quietly, then pulled Kelsey into her arms. “I wish I knew how to fix this.”
Kelsey held on. “I’ll be okay. I think I want to go home, though.”
Yes. Good. But shoot. “Okay. I’ll get Tate.”
“I’ll meet you by the door.”
They exited the bathroom, and Glo wound her way back to the table.
Tate sat straddled on his chair, and when he saw her, his eyes brightened, and her stupid heart did a sort of backflip.
Get over him. She reached for her jean jacket. “We gotta go.”
“What? Why?” Tate stood up, however.
“It’s Kelsey. She’s…she’s tired.”
He glanced past her, toward the door. “She looks upset.”
Glo pursed her lips together.
Tate’s expression turned thunderous. “Wait. She went outside with Knox. What happened?”
“Nothing.”
Tate pushed past her.
“Tate!”
He wove through the crowd, Glo following.
And as bad timing would have it, met Knox just coming inside. Where Kelsey stood by the door.
“What’s going on?” Tate said, nearly charging Knox.
Glo caught up in time to see poor Knox’s confused expression.
“What are you talking about?”
“What did you do to her?”
Knox’s eyes widened. “Nothing—”
“Then why was she crying?”
And now Knox looked gut punched. Turned his attention on Kelsey. “What—”
She pushed past him out the door.
Knox turned, hot on her tail. “Kelsey?”
“Leave her alone, Knox!” Tate came up on him fast.
Knox whirled around and stiff-armed. “Step back, bro. I think you’ve had too much to drink.”
Tate swiped his hand away. “All I know is that Kelsey was just fine before she went outside with you.”
And if he’d hit Knox, it probably couldn’t have affected him more. His jaw tightened, and a person would have to be blind to see how Tate’s veiled accusation stripped him.
“He didn’t do anything,” Kelsey said suddenly, standing a few feet away from them, her arms around herself. “I’m just tired. And…” Her gaze flickered to Knox, then Tate. She shrugged.
And Glo wanted to weep for her.
She walked up to Tate, put a hand on his arm. “Come on, tough guy. Your brother really doesn’t have anything to do with this. I promise.”
Tate looked down at her, blinking into her eyes. Then back at Knox. And she could nearly feel the anger shudder out of him.
Knox, however, stared after Kelsey, the pain on his face turning a knife in her chest. “Really,” Kelsey said now to Knox.
He swallowed, nodded.
Glo let Tate go and followed Kelsey to the truck. Climbed into the back seat behind her.
Put her arm around her. “At least we know they care.”
And she wondered just how she was going to stop herself from falling for a man like Tate Marshall.
8
So, Tate might be taking his job description a little too seriously.
Because if Kelsey was safe with anyone on the entire planet, it was Knox. The bad boy Marshall genes simply didn’t run through Knox the Sainted.
Even his infamous debacle with Chelsea had been mostly about his good heart. That, and yes, pure teenage boy who’d been seduced by a girl who couldn’t be trusted. But Knox blamed himself, completely.
And it clearly didn’t take much to stir up the guilt of that disaster.
Tate stood at the kitchen sink, downing a glass of cold water, trying to screw up the courage to head upstairs and let Knox take a swing at him if he wanted.
Because maybe Tate deserved that. The beer had gone to his head, perhaps a little, because in his right mind…
Frankly, he’d been fighting to keep a hold of his right mind all night. It didn’t help that Glo had picked a sexy little white V-necked top that accentuated her curves, paired it with her faded jeans, her hair in crazy, fun tousles all over her head, the kind of mess he sort of wanted to dig his fingers into.
And then there was the way she looked at him, her arms hooked around his neck when they danced. Like if he wanted to lean down and kiss her, she wouldn’t call him any names.
Or, if she did, he might actually like them.
It was all he could do to keep his brain latched around the fact that she was his boss.
Sorta. Because Carter had done the actual hiring.
Still. Off-limits.
Off. Limits.
And maybe it burned him a little—no, a lot, a full-out inferno—that Knox could kiss Kelsey, or more, or whatever happened out in the parking lot to leave Kelsey so undone, without losing his livelihood.
It went straight to his brain. Jealously, frustration, not a little unrequited desire, and it all boiled out of Tate, all over Knox.
He could hardly believe he’d nearly decked his brother because Tate had turned into a lovesick sot. Not love…but yeah, Glo had his number, and he needed to keep his distance if he hoped to not screw up the good gig he had going with the Belles.
He definitely owed Knox an apology.
Tate finished his drink. Took a breath.
Headed upstairs.
Knox’s room was at the top of the stairs, right next to the one Tate had shared with Wyatt and Ford, and two doors down from the girls’ room.
He knocked. Braced his hand on the frame
. “Knox, open up.”
Silence, then the sound of the closet closing and finally, steps to the door.
Tate straightened as Knox opened it.
His big brother considered Tate a long moment, his eyes dark and still simmering.
“Can we talk?” Tate asked quietly.
Knox stood in silence before he stepped aside.
Tate entered the room. Knox hadn’t changed out of his black button-down shirt and jeans, apparently not quite ready to go to bed. Now, he folded his hands over his chest, which Tate considered a good thing because that meant he wasn’t going to punch him. At least not right away.
Tate went to the window, glanced back at Knox. “There’s something that you don’t know.”
He didn’t know why he started with that. It wasn’t his story to tell, but he found himself cutting his voice low, suddenly wanting to keep Knox from getting hurt and maybe from even hurting, inadvertently, Kelsey.
In truth, he’d started to care about both women as more than clients.
Kelsey, a sort of sister.
As for Glo…
Tate blew out a breath and curled a hand behind his neck. “Okay, bro, here’s the deal. There’s things about Kelsey that—”
“I know about the attack. She told me everything.”
A gust of relief blew out of Tate, his chest uncoiling. “Oh man. I was really worried I was totally going to have to betray her here. I just…so you get that there was probably a reason she freaked out tonight when you…” He frowned. “What did you do?”
And Knox gave him such a look he felt like a jerk for asking. Because Knox wasn’t him. Had never been.
“I kissed her. What did you think, that I grabbed her and threw her up against a wall and had my way with her?”
And the very fact that those words came out of Knox rattled Tate.
Worse, Knox blew out a breath and turned away as if, huh?, maybe he’d been thinking that exact thing. “I surprised her, I guess. I should have asked—”
“Yeah. Maybe. I mean, she’s probably pretty sensitive to any sort of physical contact, even if it’s wanted—”
Knox turned back to him, frowning. “What do you mean?”
Tate lifted a shoulder. “It’s not hard to figure out that a girl who’s been raped needs to know she’s safe. And in control, if you know what I mean.”
Knox just stared at him, his face whitening.
Oh. No… Tate’s gut bottomed out. “Knox—”
But his brother had leaned over, was grabbing his knees.
Tate walked over and picked up the trash can, set it in front of him. “I felt the same way when I found out.”
Knox breathed out hard, a couple times, then stood up and ran his hands through his hair.
“Sorry. I thought… Shoot. I shouldn’t have told you.”
Knox glanced at him, then pressed the back of his hand to his mouth as if he might still lose it. Shook his head. “Maybe not, but…yeah, that makes sense. Please tell me she wasn’t—”
“Fourteen. Mmmhmm.”
Knox turned and walked to the window, bracing his hands on either side of the frame, and Tate wasn’t sure his brother wasn’t going to do something crazy like put his fist into a wall. Or through the pane.
“They caught the guys.”
It was a statement, Tate thought, but he wasn’t sure, so, “Yeah. But that’s the thing. The gang leader—Vince Russell—is out on parole.”
Knox rounded on him. “What?”
“Yeah. That’s why we’re here. Why Kelsey’s so freaked out. Because we all know the bombing wasn’t related but…”
“But the randomness reminds her of the attack.” Knox shook his head, then met Tate’s gaze. “And you’re sure that this guy had nothing to do with the explosion?”
Tate frowned. “I’ve been trying to track him down in New York City through some contacts, but, I doubt it—”
And that’s when Knox walked over to his closet and opened the doors.
Tate stilled, enthralled for a second by the masterpiece of his brother’s research. A map of the San Antonio complex, pictures, news articles, lineups, schedules, itineraries, and Post-it Notes all tacked to the place where his clothes should hang.
Tate took a step closer. “What is this?”
Knox stepped up to the grid. Pointed at two sketches. “Do either of these guys look familiar?”
Tate made a face. “Uh, dude, that’s like a second-grader sketch.”
Knox gave him a look. “Okay, remember the guys at the bar the night Kelsey showed up?”
“In the beer tent?”
“Yeah. Maybe you didn’t get a good look, but one had a tattoo of flames encircling his neck. The other has gauged ears and a port-wine stain and these two guys—” He pressed two fingers against the pictures, as if for emphasis. “They were sighted with the so-called bomber, this guy out of Lubbock.”
“Arnie Gibbs, rodeo clown?”
“Yeah. Doesn’t that feel weird to you? I mean, the clowns I worked with were straight-up, honest guys. Sure, they liked the adrenaline, but they were about saving lives. That’s why I did it those few times.”
Tate lifted a shoulder. “I dunno.” He took a step closer to the grid. “How do you know these guys were with him?”
“An investigator from San Antonio asked me if I’d ever see Arnie before—showed me a picture, and these two guys were standing beside him.”
Tate considered Knox. His brother wasn’t the conspiracy theory type, but this felt a little reaching. Still, “What does this have to do with Kelsey?”
“Are either of these guys Vince Russell?”
Tate took another look. “No. I don’t think so, but…I don’t know. All I have are old news clippings. I need a real picture.”
“Okay,” Knox said. “Do you really think Russell poses a current threat to Kelsey?”
Tate lifted a shoulder.
“What can I do to help?”
Tate blinked. “Really?”
“I’m not going to have Kelsey spending her life looking over her shoulder.” His face tightened. “And frankly, I’d like to have a few words with this guy.”
“Knox—”
He held up a hand. “Calm down. Maybe he falls down the stairs or something.”
Tate drew in a breath, tightened his jaw. “You let me do the talking, bro. This is my wheelhouse.” Then he turned toward the door. “We leave for New York first thing in the morning.”
“No,” Knox said, reaching into the closet for his duffel. “We leave in fifteen minutes. Right after I call in a few favors.”
Seriously? But Tate nodded. Stopped with his hand on the door. “I’m sorry I jumped on you tonight, bro. I just thought—”
“There’s nothing going on between you and Kelsey, right?”
Tate turned, and Knox couldn’t hide the question—no, the past—haunting his expression.
Oh. Right. Chelsea. “No, bro. She’s just a client.”
Knox raised an eyebrow. “Like Glo?”
Tate sighed. “No. Glo is… Glo is trouble.”
Knox smiled. “I know the feeling.”
Tate grinned back. “Fifteen.” Then he walked out the door.
She’d slept the entire night through.
In fact, she’d slept so hard, lines etched her face, the morning sun high enough to find her eyes, burn them open.
Glo was scrolling through her phone on the other bed. “You’re not going to believe this, but we had fans last night at the Bulldog. At least three people posted on Instagram. And one of those pictures is you and Knox.” She held the phone up to Kelsey.
They were on the dance floor, her arms up around Knox’s shoulders, and the look on her face… She heated all the way through.
“Yeah, I’ll bet that was right before he kissed you. Because no guy in his right mind would be able to walk away from that come-hither look.”
“What— Glo!” Kelsey grabbed a pillow and shot it at Glo, who ducked.
The pillow hit the wall, fell in a heap.
“I’m just saying that maybe there’s a reason you’re not downstairs in the recliner, all knotted up like a pretzel this morning. Sweet dreams?”
Kelsey smiled, slid down into her second pillow. “I’m a coward. I shouldn’t have run upstairs last night after we got home and hid in our room. Apparently, that’s what I do when I’m embarrassed.”
“We had some serious debriefing to do,” Glo said, closing her app. “Girl talk.”
“But poor Knox. After Tate nearly took him apart in the parking lot—”
“He did go off the rails a little.”
“Talk about a look, Glo. The man is a little crazy about you.”
Glo shook her head. “Nope. Nothing happening there.”
Kelsey made a face but didn’t circle back around for another shot. Some wounds took years to heal.
She should know.
And so should Knox. “I nearly caused a brawl between brothers. And I’m not sure why. Tate was so—protective.”
Glo drew in a breath. “He is a bodyguard.”
“He was practically convinced that Knox had done something to… I don’t know. Wound me or scare me or…” Wait—
“Glo. Does Tate know…” Kelsey’s eyes widened. “You told him I’d been raped, didn’t you?”
Glo made a face. “I just wanted him to understand that… I don’t know, okay? It seemed like the right thing at the time, but I know I shouldn’t have—”
“Stop. Just… Do you think—” She sat up. “Oh no. Do you think he told Knox?”
Glo too had sat up, put her feet on the ground. “I don’t know. I…judging by the look on Knox’s face, I don’t think so. He looked pretty horrified that he might have done anything to hurt you. And my guess is that Knox is pretty…careful.”
Safe.
Yes. Even last night when he’d kissed her. Overwhelming, decisive, consuming, intoxicating, especially when he broke away, breathing hard, those eyes in hers.
But with such a gentleness that it turned her deliciously, wonderfully weak.
As if she didn’t have to try so hard to keep herself glued together.
In fact, she’d lost herself when he kissed her, the past simply dropping away.
And for a moment, she was simply a woman in a man’s arms, kissing him back.
Knox Page 14
