Shelter for Adeline (Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes Book 7)

by Susan Stoker

  They were new. Hell, they’d only been on one real date. It would take some time for her to get comfortable with him. He hoped after Sunday she’d feel at least a little better about opening up.

  Seeing Sledge and Beth together made him realize how precious life was. Witnessing firsthand how frantic Sledge had been when he’d realized his girlfriend was outside his house by herself, and probably suffering from her agoraphobia, and not giving a shit that his friends could see how upset he was about Beth’s well-being, went a long way toward making Crash realize that being in a relationship was a give-and-take situation.

  He could give Adeline some security and support when she needed it.

  And she could give him an ear to listen when he had a tough call.

  They could lean on each other, and that was perfectly all right. He wanted that.

  Yes, Adeline was strong and tough and could function perfectly fine on her own, had been fine on her own…but that didn’t mean she should have to.

  Crash wanted to be there for Adeline.

  Wanted to make sure she was okay after a seizure.

  Wanted to have dinner waiting for her when she got home.

  Wanted to be the first person she spoke to in the morning and the last person she spoke to before she went to sleep at night.

  Watching her have the seizure and not being able to be there made it crystal clear how much he liked her. He wasn’t going out with her to simply get off or to tell his parents he had a girlfriend.

  Crash wanted to be by Adeline’s side when she went in to have her surgery. He wanted to allay her fears and brush away her tears when she was upset or scared. He wanted her to meet Laura and have his sister get to know her in return.

  It was a weird feeling; to know he’d met the person he was meant to spend the rest of his life with. Not only that, but to know that he had a hell of a long way to go before he could get on with spending the rest of his life with her.

  He had to take it easy, not spook her. He’d take it slow…even if it killed him.

  Adeline Reynolds was his. His to protect. His to shelter from the hits life threw at her, and his to love. He just had to convince her.

  She liked the coffee.

  She smiled at you. Big. Huge.

  And she drank it all. You have the proof.

  The man licked the rim of the cardboard coffee cup and closed his eyes, pretending he was kissing her. If he concentrated, he could almost smell her.

  He opened his eyes and looked down at the picture in front of him on his kitchen table. He’d gotten it out of his secret hiding place earlier, unable to resist.

  He’d taken the picture from behind. She was walking across the parking lot to her car. He ran his finger over her black hair, then down her spine and over her butt. His breathing picked up as he imagined her lying in his bed. Naked. Arms held up as she said his name, encouraging him to come to her. He licked his lips.

  Food next. You have to buy her food.

  It doesn’t matter that she said no last time.

  Keep asking. She’ll say yes.

  Maybe bring her something nice so she’ll see you’re serious.

  Send her a nice note.

  She’s so small and cute. Her hair reminds me of that cat we had a long time ago. The one who died when it was sleeping in your bed.

  But she won’t die. No. She’ll eat with you.

  You can feed her.

  Then she’ll like you and move in.

  Tomorrow. Ask again tomorrow.

  Chapter 10

  “Hey, Dean,” Adeline said as she opened her front door.

  It was Sunday and she was really, really nervous about their date. Why she’d said it was her turn to wow him, she had no idea. She wasn’t really a “wow” kind of person. But he’d gone out of his way to make their first date so amazing, she felt as though she owed it to him to put in the effort making sure he had just as much of a good time as she had the other week.

  Not only that, but she was still reeling from Friday night when she’d had another seizure in front of him—well, in front of him on the phone. He’d stayed right there on the phone with her and she vaguely remembered him talking to her while she was out of it. Then she’d fallen asleep on him. Not a very good way to impress him. She just hoped she could manage one day without a seizure. Just one.

  “Hi, beautiful,” he murmured, then leaned forward and put a hand at her neck and kissed her lightly on the lips. He left his hand on her nape and pulled back only a few inches. Adeline could feel his warm, minty breath on her face as he spoke. “How are you?”

  “I’m good. You? You’re not too tired?”

  “No. Surprisingly, we didn’t get any calls last night, so I slept a full night. But back to you. You’re really all right? Have any seizures yesterday?”

  She wanted to lie, she really did, but blew out a breath and said, “Yeah, one.”

  “Know what might’ve caused it?”

  “I don’t know what causes any of them, Dean. If I did, I’d do whatever it took to make them stop. But, I did have to talk to Douglas yesterday. He called with a question about the Wolfe account, and since he’s changed his modus operandi and started being nice, creepily nice, he wanted to pick my brain about one of the things I suggested the other week.”

  “What do you mean by ‘creepily nice’?” Dean asked in a low, hard voice.

  Adeline shrugged and suddenly realized she probably shouldn’t have described her boss that way. Not to Dean. Over the last week, she’d discovered one of his potential faults…he was über protective and didn’t like to hear about anyone being disrespectful or rude to her. She tried to minimize the impact of what she’d said and do damage control. “He’s just gone out of his way to be pleasant. Which is so out of the norm for him, it’s weird.”

  “He say anything out of line?”

  “Out of line? No. He asked me to go to lunch again to discuss the accounts, but I told him I was busy.”

  “Again? He asked you out before today?” If anything, Dean’s voice got even harder.

  “No, no, nothing like that. Not a date. He just thought it would be easier to talk over lunch.”

  “He asked you out.” It wasn’t a question this time. “What else?”

  How in the world did he always know when she was leaving stuff out? “Nothing important.”

  “Please don’t do that. I know we’re newly dating, but I can’t stand knowing that you’re keeping something about another guy from me. I’m not going to lose my shit. I promise. I just want to make sure you’re safe.”

  “I’m safe,” Adeline told him immediately. “Douglas is harmless. I mean, yeah, he’s weird, but I can handle him.”

  “What’d he do?” Dean asked again, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “He brought me flowers,” Adeline told Dean quietly. “But not as a come-on or anything. They’re for nailing the marketing plan with the new client. He also sent me a nice email saying how proud he was of me and that he was honored that I was his employee.”

  God, when she said it out loud, it sounded bad. But since she had no interest in Douglas, it hadn’t seemed like a big deal at the time. But now she could see that from Dean’s standpoint, it wasn’t exactly innocent.

  “You need to report his ass,” Dean bit out, his jaw tensing.

  “I’m hoping to be gone soon,” Adeline said in an even tone. “I don’t want to rock the boat. He’ll get the hint and leave me alone.”

  “Are you a guy?” Dean weirdly asked.

  “Uh…no?”

  “Right. I am. So when I tell you that he’s not going to get the hint and leave you alone, you need to believe me. You’re beautiful, Adeline. And smart. And you probably smile at him to downplay your rejection of him, which only makes him more determined to get you to say yes to his not-so-innocent requests for meetings.”

  “I need this job,” Adeline returned immediately. “Trust me, Douglas is harmless. I never see him outside of work, and even if
I do have to meet with him, nothing is going to happen.”

  Dean took a deep breath and gazed up as if looking for divine intervention. Then he returned his eyes to hers and brought his other hand up to rest lightly on her shoulder, practically enfolding her into his large body. “Just be careful, beautiful. Listen to your gut. If something seems off, it’s off. I trust you, but I don’t trust him.”

  Adeline licked her lips nervously and looked up at Dean. God, he was handsome. He was pissed on her behalf, and a part of her liked that. It meant that he cared. Dean was wearing blue jeans that hugged him in all the right places. He smelled delicious, like he just got out of the shower. She could smell his scented soap, and the calluses on his fingers against her neck were making her nipples tighten in response. She wanted to bury her nose in the crease between his neck and his shoulder, but instead she tried to appease him by deflecting.

  “I’ll be careful. Promise. Why don’t you come in for a minute? I just need to get Coco’s harness on and grab my purse, then we can go.”

  Dean took a step inside her house, forcing her to take a step backwards. He didn’t let go of her as he moved. He kicked the door closed behind him then leaned down, moving his hand from her shoulder to the other side of her neck. He tilted her head up to him and looked earnestly into her eyes.

  “If he asks you out again, you tell him you have a boyfriend. A boyfriend who wouldn’t appreciate another man taking you out to eat. Tell him that if he wants to talk work with you, then he can find you at work during the week, but your weekends are off-limits.”

  She’d thought they were done talking about her boss, but obviously she was wrong. Dean’s declaration that he was her boyfriend made her want to fall to a puddle at his feet. She liked that. No, she freaking loved that. Yes, he was high-handed and bossy, but the emotion and meaning behind his bossiness was hot.

  Instead of melting where she stood, she said in what she hoped was a nonchalant tone, “I’m a salaried employee, Dean.” She wasn’t protesting, per se…seeing how irritated Dean was over her asshole boss asking her out was exhilarating, but unnecessary. She didn’t want to go anywhere or do anything with Douglas Hill the Third. Why in the hell would she when Dean Christopherson was standing in front of her, looking like he did, being all concerned about her and calling himself her boyfriend? She wasn’t an idiot.

  “I can work on the weekends,” she finished somewhat lamely.

  “It’s inappropriate and could be construed as sexual harassment. Besides, I don’t like this sudden change in him. He wants something. And if that something is you, he can’t have you. You’re already mine.”

  Again, the ooey-gooey feeling of being wanted zipped through her. But she asked, “Yours? Dean…we’ve only known each other for a week.”

  “Figure of speech, beautiful. We’re dating. Goin’ out. Seein’ each other. Boyfriend/girlfriend. However you want to put it. If anyone takes you out to eat, it’ll be me.”

  “Oh. Okay.” She had nothing else to say, because she was one hundred percent down with that.

  “Okay.” He backed up, smiling at her response, but kept one hand at her nape. “Now…I’m sorry you had another seizure after talking to that asshat. Which is another reason I don’t want you anywhere near him. I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him. I especially don’t trust him with your well-being when you’re vulnerable in the middle of a seizure. You feel okay to go out today? We can just stay here if you want.”

  “I’m fine, Dean. I’m used to the seizures.”

  “I don’t care how used to them you are, beautiful. If you’d prefer to stay in, we’ll stay in.”

  “I’m not as good at organizing fun things as you are, but I’m hoping to surprise you with my plans today,” she said hesitantly. Staying home did sound nice, but she’d thought long and hard about what Dean might like to do, and thought she’d done a pretty good job. “Although I should probably warn you. I suck at these kinds of things and generally would prefer to hang out at home. People are mean. And they only care about doing what they want, and getting service as soon as possible. It’s annoying. So not only does staying home mean that I don’t have to worry about dealing with that kind of thing, I also don’t have to worry about finding a place to sit or lie down if Coco alerts. But I loved what we did so much last week, I wanted to take you out this time.”

  “Then we’ll go out. But, beautiful, in the future, I have no problem whatsoever staying in. We can watch movies, play cards, roughhouse with Coco, sit and stare at the walls. It doesn’t matter. What matters to me is spending time with you. That’s what I like. So when we get together, we can do whatever makes you most comfortable and whatever you want.”

  “Whatever I want, huh?” Adeline smiled at Dean playfully. She knew they were newly dating, but damn…he knew exactly what to say to make her feel squishy inside.

  He brought his head close to hers once more and whispered, “Whatever you want, beautiful.”

  “O-okay then…let me get Coco ready and my purse and we’ll go.”

  It took a moment, but Dean finally dropped his hand and nodded. “No problem. I’ll wait here.”

  “You want a tour?” Her house wasn’t anything impressive. It was a smallish home in a fairly nice suburban neighborhood. It had two bedrooms and two baths. She’d only met a couple of the people in her neighborhood, but both were nice enough. She’d bought the house because she figured it was smart to invest rather than continuing to rent. If she ever met a man who she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, and maybe start a family with, they could pick out a bigger house together.

  “Later.”

  Adeline nodded and turned to get Coco situated. Within minutes she was back at the door and ready to go. “Want me to drive?”

  Dean gave her such a look of disgust that she burst out laughing and held up her hands in capitulation. “Okay, okay, sorry. You can drive, oh masculine manly man of mine.”

  The smile that spread over his face was priceless. “I like that.”

  “What?” Adeline asked with a tilt of her head.

  “You calling me your man.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t really calling you my man. It was a figure of speech.”

  “You said it, I heard it. You can’t take it back.”

  Her first inclination was to blow it off and continue on their way, but she could see that it meant something to him. “That means something to you.”

  “Yeah.”

  He didn’t elaborate.

  “I know we’ve just started dating, and I have no idea what’s going to happen in the future…but you should know I like you. A lot,” she told him.

  “Good. Because I like you too.”

  “But for the record, I’m adding ‘not letting me drive’ to the list of your imperfections.”

  He chuckled then shrugged. “Told you I wasn’t perfect.”

  They smiled at each other for a moment before she said, “Okay, then. Enough mushy crap and list-making. We have places to go, people to see, and hopefully assholes to avoid.”

  “Lead on, woman.”

  They walked outside and Dean took her keys and locked the door. He handed the keys back and Adeline dropped them into her purse.

  He then reached out and took her hand in his as they went down her walkway to his car.

  Adeline smiled the whole way.

  “You cheated!” Adeline grumbled at Dean later that morning. She’d directed him to Cool Crest Miniature Golf. It was a historic landmark in the city that had originally opened during the Great Depression in 1929. It had been renovated a few years ago, but still held the charm of the original course. Banana trees lined the perimeter, their leaves throwing some much needed shade onto the miniature greens.

  Dean stepped away from the course and wrapped an arm around her waist, then tickled her. Adeline squirmed in his grasp and giggled. “Interference!”

  Coco barely lifted his head from his spot in the shade next to them. At each h
ole, Adeline told him “down” and “stay” and he did. The dog could certainly be high strung, but he also knew how to nap.

  “I need all the help I can get,” Dean said, leaning close to her. “I had no idea you were a miniature golf pro.”

  Adeline laughed again and tried to get out of his grasp, with no luck. “I’m not a professional, I’ve just played a lot.”

  Dean turned her in his arms and clasped his hands together at the small of her back and smiled down at her. “It shows.”

  Adeline bit her lip, suddenly worried he would be honestly upset if she beat him. “Um…I can give you a couple shots if you want…to make it more even.”

  He threw his head back and laughed.

  At first she smiled, then got more and more irritated as he kept on laughing. “Dean!” she exclaimed and tried to pull away from him.

  He refused to let her go and was still smiling as he looked down at her. “What, beautiful?”

  “I was being serious.”

  “I know you were. But no way in hell am I gonna take a handicap against you.”

  “But I might beat you.”

  Dean smiled again. “Beautiful, I don’t give a shit if you do. As long as you’re having fun, that’s all I care about.”

  “Really?” Adeline asked with doubt clear in her voice.

  “You don’t believe me.” Again, it wasn’t a question. He did that a lot. Said something that to some people might be a question, but coming from him it was more of a statement.

  Since it wasn’t exactly a question, Adeline didn’t answer, but her look was apparently answer enough.

  “Come here.” Dean pulled her off to the side so a family could play through. “What are you really concerned about?’

  She looked at him for a moment, then decided to be honest. If he really did want a relationship with her, then she needed to be truthful with him. “I don’t want to ruin our date if I beat you and you get all huffy about it.”