by BJ Harvey
Thankfully, Bridget stayed with me while I filled out paperwork and stuck around while a nice detective by the name of Marlee Manning did the preliminary checks. Then I was led into an office and gave a formal statement detailing when I last saw and spoke to my mother, explaining what I knew of her movements since then and finally, if I had any idea where she might be. I did explain my concerns about Gavin and told her everything I knew about the FBI investigation, what Gavin had done the morning before when he’d kicked me out of my office and lastly, I put Marlee in touch with Barrett in case she needed more information.
That evening, I sat in my hotel room, staring at my cell phone in my hand. My finger hovered over Aiden’s name in my address book. I wanted to call him; I wanted him to reassure me that everything would be fine. He had always been able to make me see reason. I knew he would be able to help me. I wanted to feel his arms around me as he drew me in close and kissed the top of my head and told me it would be okay.
Then I thought of Barrett. I hadn’t returned his calls or text messages since leaving Seattle. I owed him an explanation—for a lot of things—and yet again, I now had a lot more questions to ask him.
Part of me wished I hadn’t gotten on that plane to Vegas five weeks ago. I might still have my father’s company under my control and know where my mother was, and I would never have met Mark “Barrett” Lucas.
For some reason I refused to either acknowledge or admit to, the thought saddened me. For all his faults—and lying was high up on that list—there was no denying the visceral and unmistakable connection I had with the man. The moment I saw him I’d felt the pull between us. At first it was a physical appreciation, which morphed into an intellectual attraction, and the rise of a challenge to go after what I wanted; a game of cat and mouse turned around on me in the most surprising and thrilling way.
I was kidding myself though, because getting on the plane and meeting Barrett was not the catalyst for everything going wrong in my life right now—Gavin Barnes was. He may have orchestrated the meeting, but he didn’t magically conjure up the chemistry I felt with Barrett. He couldn’t be blamed for my heart being torn in half, each part owned by two different yet fatefully connected men.
Needing to do something to stop myself from reaching out to either man, I called Carrie, something I should’ve done the night before but got waylaid.
“Ms. Jacobs?” she said, answering the call.
“Carrie, hi. How are you?”
“I’m . . . I’m still in shock. I wanted to contact you, but I wasn’t allowed to bring anything from my desk—my company phone included.”
“I’m really sorry about that.”
“It’s not your fault, Ms. Jacobs.”
“Call me Alyssa, Carrie. I just needed to make sure you were okay and to assure you that I will be reinstating you as soon as I get to the bottom of all of this.”
“Thank you. I loved my job and working for you. I’ve been so distraught thinking about what that man did to you.”
“It was done to you too.”
“It’s not my company. I know what it means to you.” Her words hit me hard and tears gathered in my eyes.
I swallowed down the large lump in my throat. “I’ll get it back.”
My stomach growled loudly, and I remembered I hadn’t eaten since breakfast. I grabbed my purse and went downstairs to one of the hotel restaurants. A glass of wine and a Caesar salad later, I walked through the lobby when I saw the back of a dark-haired man standing in front of the elevators—wide muscular shoulders covered by a navy cotton tee, and a perfectly sculpted behind wrapped in dark-wash denim that clung to his hips and thighs.
My heart started to beat wildly as I rushed toward him. He turned around and even expecting it—and hoping for it—I still stopped mid-step at the beauty of the man before me.
“Barrett?”
The expression on his face was unreadable as he reached out his hand, grasped onto mine, and pulled my body into him. He wrapped his arms around me, running one hand up my back to rest on my hair as I buried my face into his neck and lost control of my emotions.
He ushered me into the elevator without letting me go, and the floor jolted beneath my feet as we started ascending. “Barrett . . .” I murmured against the skin below his ear.
He gave me a gentle squeeze but didn’t say a word as the doors opened, and I tilted my head to see the dark grey walls of a corridor and a few moments later, the lacquered black hotel door to my room.
“How did you find me.”
“I’ll always find you.”
“But—”
“I have my ways, remember . . .” is all he said.
“I need your room key, Lys?” he murmured as we stopped outside my room. I pulled away and reached into the front pocket of my purse before handing the card over to him.
“I—” A myriad of scenarios played out in my mind while all of the things we needed to talk about crashed around my head.
“Lys, give me a few more minutes then we can talk. I need to make sure you’re in a safe place before we speak about anything.”
If it was possible my heart melted while simultaneously stuttering to a halt in the same beat, but somehow I was able to keep breathing and nod. “Okay,” I replied, letting him lace his fingers with mine and lead me into the room, pushing the door shut behind us.
He turned the lights on but dimmed them down until they were soft and led me over to the bed. I sat down on the edge and watched as he dropped to one knee and carefully unclasped my pumps and pulled them off, one by one. Then, as if I’d dreamed his closeness, he was across the room, perched forward in the one-seater chair with his elbows leaning on his legs and his eyes pinned to me.
I crossed my legs on the mattress and stared at him, then it hit me that his eyes were clear. There was no war, no conflict—just a look of tenderness with an edge that I’d come to realize was all Barrett. His brows were drawn together, and his chest seemed to rise and fall as if he was trying to rein himself in.
“Why are you here?” I asked warily, trying to ignore the thrill I felt knowing he’d come to Vegas for me.
It was not the normal jolt of electricity I felt whenever I was near him; it was a shot of warmth coursing through my veins, culminating in the middle of my chest and filling me near full to bursting.
He raked his teeth across his bottom lip, then ran the fingers of one hand through his hair. “Detective Manning called me this afternoon, and I tracked your credit cards. Caught the first flight I could get and came straight here to find you. Any update on your mom?” he asked gently.
I sniffed loudly then swallowed back a sob. “Not yet.” My voice cracked, and I rubbed my face with my hands to distract myself. “I’m sorry, I must look terrible. I’ll just go—”
Then I was flat on my back and he was hovering over me, his fingers tangling in mine and pushing into the mattress above my head. “You’re amazing. You always take my breath away, Lys. But seeing you let me in, clinging to me in a way I know you don’t want to let me go—that is more beautiful than you will ever know.” He lowered his head and brushed his lips softly against mine. Then, instead of taking things further and kissing me again, he moved me up the bed and lay down beside me.
“I don’t know what’s happening here,” I blurted out, looking across the pillow into Barrett’s deep blue eyes and feeling them pull me under.
“I’m going to make you trust me, Lys. I know I haven’t given you reason to believe me in the past, but you know everything there is to know about me now. I’m an open book with you. Anything you want, everything I can give you—all of it is yours.” As he spoke the words that shook my entire world on its axis, he stroked my hair, my cheek, my jaw, and then ran his knuckles down the soft skin of my throat and collarbone.
My hands instinctively wrapped around his shoulders, and my body leaned into his like a magnet unable to resist the pull. It was as if the universe knew the power of what I felt for the man beside me,
even if I was still unable to verbalize those feelings. “I need to know about Christy,” I whispered, my own hands starting to roam. There was no intent to my exploration; it was merely a need to feel him beneath my touch.
Barrett blinked but didn’t hesitate in answering me nor did his hands stop their slow, tactile assault on my senses. “Christy played me, and she played Lawrence. She told me they’d broken up; I had no fucking idea that she was lying to the two of us. I would never—and I mean that, Lys—I’d never do that to a friend, especially not him.”
Tension I didn’t realize I’d been holding leached out of my body. Then I moved forward, leaning my full weight into him and stopping my face just an inch away from his. Our foreheads touched, and I looked straight into his eyes. There was nothing there but intense emotion, all of which he was giving to me. “He doesn’t know that.”
“I don’t suspect he does, but he also never asked.”
“I can’t talk about him with you.”
“I don’t want you to. Especially not when your body is pressed into mine and we’re in your bed. I want to talk about you and me.”
“I don’t want to talk,” I whispered against his lips.
“We need to talk and only talk. I know we run hot, Lys; what I need you to know is that I want more than just the physical connection with you. I need you to believe in me and us as much as I do.”
“I want to,” I replied honestly.
His hand lifted up and hooked a stray tendril of hair behind my ear. “Then I’ll work my ass off until you do, because when I see something I want, I go for it.”
“I seem to remember experiencing that firsthand.”
“But first we need to see to other things. We need to find your mom, and then we need to bring down Gavin once and for all so that he never gets up again.” The determination in his voice was unmistakable, and the strength behind his words buoyed me at a time when I should’ve felt anything but.
“You are the biggest surprise, Barrett.”
“And you’ll be my greatest reward, and one I’ll work my ass off to protect.”
I lowered my head and ran my tongue along the seam of his mouth, diving inside when he opened his lips, pouring all the words I couldn’t say and all the feelings I couldn’t describe into the kiss and my touch.
We didn’t make love; we didn’t even undress; we simply lay in each other’s arms, talking, kissing, touching, and finally—sleeping.
I was woken early in the morning by a loud knocking on the door. We’d shifted in the night, and my leg ended up hooked high over Barrett’s thighs with the rest of my body draped over him.
The knocking came again just as my purse buzzed. I lifted my leg away and moved toward the end of the bed, but was stopped by arms tightening around me. I looked up to see a sleepy-eyed Barrett gazing down at me.
“Where are you going?”
“There’s someone at the door,” I whispered, my eyes dropping to his lips, watching his tongue dart out enticingly.
“I’ll get it,” he replied, before he gave me a quick closed-mouth kiss and rolled away from me.
Facing the door, I watched with avid fascination as he stood up, walked over to the door and pulled it open to be met with Detective Manning and Aiden standing at her side.
“Shit,” Barrett spat out, his head switching between the two of them.
“Surprise, fucking surprise,” Aiden growled, looking past Barrett to glare at me.
Detective Manning correctly read the situation and stepped forward. “I wanted to update Ms. Jacobs on her mother’s whereabouts.” The moment I heard her words I sprang into action and jumped up off the bed, rushing to Barrett’s side.
“You found her?” I said, my voice cracking.
“May we come in?” Detective Manning asked.
“Why is Aiden here?” Barrett asked in a low voice.
“Marlee is an old colleague of mine,” Aiden replied tersely.
“That doesn’t explain jack shit.” Barrett retorted.
“I don’t owe you anything, asshole.” Aiden turned to me. “I knew you’d come looking for your mom,” he said, offering me an explanation.
“Boys,” Detective Manning warned, but I’d had enough. All I cared about was where my mom was. “Special Agent Lucas, I presume?” she asked, holding out her arm and shaking Barrett’s hand. “Detective Lawrence had concerns about Ms. Jacobs’s safety and since we used to work together, he visited me at the precinct. When I advised him I was coming to see you,” she said, looking at me, “I asked if he wanted to come. Had I known it would not be a welcome visit, I would’ve acted differently.”
“It’s fine. Please come in,” I offered, pulling Barrett back from the door to allow them to enter. He hooked his arm around my shoulders, pulled me into his side and held me there. I felt terrible for Aiden. He looked at Barrett’s arm and then met my eyes. He gritted his teeth and moved into the room, standing ramrod straight beside the door as Detective Manning closed it behind her, and again looked between the two men, taking in their aggressive stances before looking at me and smirking.
“My mom?”
“Yes, we were able to track down Mrs. Barnes late last night at a beauty retreat in Wyoming and made contact with her this morning. I expect you will hear from her soon, but she is returning to Vegas later today.”
My body slumped into Barrett. Relief swept through me as tears fell down my face, and I buried my face in his shirt. “I’m . . . I’m sorry. I’m just so hap . . . happy,” I mumbled.
Barrett gave me a gentle squeeze, and I pulled back to look up at him. “Glad she’s okay, sweetheart.”
“Me too.”
Aiden cleared his throat, and my head snapped up to see his eyes narrowed at the two of us. “Now, I’ve gotten my answer, I can go,” he stated angrily before wrenching the door open and storming out of the room.
“I’ve got to go after him,” I said, stepping out of Barrett’s grasp.
“Lys . . .” Barrett warned, and I spun around and put my hands on my hips.
“Think about how you would feel if the tables were turned and it was his arms around me, not yours, Barrett. I need to talk to him. I have to explain.” A muscle in his jaw jerked and his shoulders slumped. I caught his barely there nod before I was out the door and running down the corridor behind Aiden.
“Aiden!” I called out, catching him just as the elevator doors opened. “Please stop!”
He spun around, and I was hit with the hurt in his eyes. “Aly, just leave it.”
“I need to explain,” I said, letting go of the breath I was holding when the doors closed again.
“I think being greeted by Lucas having his arms around you first thing in the morning says it all.”
“It’s not what you think.”
He scoffed loudly. “Oh really? Now this should be good. Please tell me, Aly, how did I misinterpret that scene?”
“He turned up last night. I did not leave your bed for his.”
“Then how else would you describe disappearing in the middle of the night leaving only a note and then not twenty-four hours later, I find you with him?”
“I didn’t leave you for him. I left you because I couldn’t hurt you.”
“Well, congratulations, Aly. You failed at that.” I watched the moment he gave up the fight, the thing he told me he’d only do when he knew there was nothing left to fight for.
I lifted my hand to touch him, but he jerked out of my reach. “Don’t. Just don’t, Aly. It’s history repeating itself. Except this time, you’ve fucking wrecked me.”
My eyes welled up with tears, and I caught a moment of indecision before he clenched his eyes shut and shook his head. When he opened them again, his expression was flat.
He reached behind his back, pressing the elevator call button. My chest tightened as the flashing screen above the doors started to descend, signaling I only had moments left to explain myself.
Deep down, I knew this would be the last tim
e I’d see him. My actions of the past few days inadvertently succeeded in putting the final nail in the coffin of any future platonic relationship I might’ve been able to salvage with him.
“Just give me one thing, Aly,” he said.
“Anything,” I replied quickly.
He took the last step between us, wrapped his hand around the back of my neck and jerked me forward, slamming his lips against mine and plunging his tongue into my mouth. As quick as it started, it was over. He turned his back to me and stepped into the now open elevator. Facing me, his expression showed resignation.
“Tell me I had a chance. I need to know that this wasn’t one-sided,” he said quietly.
I opened my mouth to say something—anything—to reassure him that my feelings for him were real, but nothing came out.
It was never meant to be because fate stepped in.
I hated the pain I’d inflicted on Aiden and could only hope that one day he would find a woman who would heal his broken heart just as I knew Barrett would fix mine. It wasn't that there was even a conscious choice to be made between the two of them. In fact, looking back on it, it was completely out of my control.
Before I could say something, he got there first, just as the elevator doors slowly closed.
“Tell him to keep you safe.”
Then he was gone.
Detective Manning and Barrett were still talking when I returned to the room. His eyes were soft when he saw my face, and I knew I must’ve been wearing my broken heart on my sleeve.
“How about I come down to the precinct in a few hours and we can talk further?” he said to Detective Manning.
She nodded and walked toward me with her arm outstretched. “It was nice to see you again, Ms. Jacobs. I’m glad we were able to find your mother safe. I’m a sucker for happy endings.”
I shook her hand, and she gave me a gentle squeeze with her fingers before walking toward the door that Barrett was holding open and walking through it.
After he closed it, he walked over to where I was standing beside the bed and pulled me into his arms, not saying a single word. I knew I was a mess, and I’d obviously done a bad job at hiding it because in that moment, he gave me everything I needed just by holding me.
