by Kris Calvert
“What’s up, Gip? Where are you?”
“I’m in ah…”
“What’s the matter sweetie? They got you working so hard you don’t know where you are anymore?”
“No.” I let out a nervous laugh. “No Dad, I know where I am. Shadeland. Alabama.”
“I thought they were sending you to New York?”
“They did, Dad, but I shipped out the next day.”
“Are you there because of the hit and run on Tina Joseph?”
“Daaaad,” I whined.
“I know you can’t say anything, but that sure as hell wasn’t any hit and run. I’m not even there and I can tell you that much. Please be careful sweetie. Joe Joseph isn’t someone you want to fool around with. I worry you overthink these things. You’re too calculated, honey. You need to—”
“Dad,” I repeated flatly. “I know. I need to follow my gut. I know. You’ve told me this thousands of times. It’s not what you think you know, it’s what you know you feel.”
“Okay…Okay…it’s just that—well sweetheart, we need to talk. And I never intended to do this over the phone but—”
Three loud knocks rang out through my room and I knew King had arrived. “Daddy, I have to go. We’ll have to talk tomorrow. I love you. Bye.”
I turned off the television and gave myself one last look in the mirror. Looking to my phone, I put it on silent. The last thing I wanted was for my dad or Win to interrupt my secret interrogation of King Giles. And if I was being honest with myself, I didn’t want anyone to interrupt my date. Taking a deep breath I opened the door and peered inside my purse to make sure I’d remembered my key card and tried my best to look nonchalant about King’s arrival. I didn’t want to seem too excited.
His fresh scent wafted into my stale hotel room and I couldn’t help but stare when I met his bright blue eyes that came alive against his tan skin and dark hair. Dressed in all black, I swallowed hard at how amazing he looked.
“Good evening,” King drawled, his voice soft and velvety against the fresh musky scent he seemed to carry with him everywhere he went. I knew it wasn’t aftershave or cologne, it was just King.
“Good evening.” The words barely escaped my mouth as I whispered through my dry throat.
“You look…beautiful. Is it okay that I say that, Agent Weatherford?” he asked giving me the sexiest half-grin I’d ever seen. I knew at once why women wore lace panties with his name on them. This was a man any woman in their right mind would willingly give in to. I hadn’t thought about sex in a very long time, but something about King awakened that urge in me. Unexplained and unexpected, I tucked the compulsion into the back of my mind so I could remember why I’d agreed to meet King Giles for the evening.
“Well, I think beautiful might be a stretch but, please call me Reagan, and thank you,” I said shutting the door to the hotel room behind me. “Where are we off to?” I asked. “I mean, am I dressed okay? I packed to investigate a murder, not go out to dinner.” There, I’d said it. I felt as if I’d at least put him on alert to the fact I wasn’t going to let Tina Joseph’s death merely fade into the background. Even if I did buy a new dress, heels and lipstick for the occasion.
“You’re perfect. Do you think you might get a little chilly? We’re planning on spending some time outside tonight.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I didn’t bring a coat. I could grab one of my suit coats, but I don’t think it will go with my dress.”
King narrowed his gaze, holding out his arm for me to take. “How about we just figure it out as we go?”
“Okay,” I agreed.
Placing my hand through his arm, I latched onto his bicep and felt him flex. It was rock hard and I estimated he could bench press around two hundred and fifty pounds, maybe three hundred… I giggled at my own assessment, knowing he’d probably never been sized up in such a manner.
When the elevator doors closed, we stared at our reflections on the inside of the brass doors. “We make a hell of a good looking couple, Reagan,” King remarked as I pushed a mane of curly tendrils from my shoulder. “I like your hair down,” he continued.
I smiled at him in the reflection and he flexed his arm tightly. Without thinking, I bit my lip trying to hold in the butterflies that were dancing in my stomach.
When the door opened into the lobby, heads began to turn and strangers noticed us as we walked through the space. I felt special for the first time in a very long time.
“What a nice looking couple,” I overheard a woman whisper to her friend as we made our way to the front door.
“See?” King drawled leaning into my neck and breathing the word. “I told you—beautiful.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” I replied as he ushered me into the passenger side of his Porsche. “It’s nice that they think so, but I’m pretty sure the women are only looking at the mysterious man in black.”
King raised his eyebrows. “Mysterious? I like it.”
The inside of his car smelled like newly tanned leather. What’s more, there wasn’t even as much as a crumb on the floor of his car. It was immaculate.
He climbed into his own side bringing his fresh scent with him. I breathed him in deeply, hoping he wouldn’t notice what I was up to.
“It’s the leather,” he said.
“I beg your pardon?”
“The smell. It’s the leather. I hope it doesn’t bother you.”
I shook my head, thankful he didn’t realize I was breathing in his sexy pheromones and not his leather seats. “Not at all. It’s nice.”
With a touch of a button, the car started and we were off. The engine purred and I wondered what it would be like to take his car for a spin on the course at the Academy. The Bucars issued by the government were never like this. Only the deeply undercover got to drive the fancy stuff.
Pulling out of the parking lot, King turned on some classical music and I did my best to relax into the seat he had preheated to a perfect seventy-two degrees.
“So where are we going?”
“Not far, just a few miles into the country. I’ve got a little something planned I thought might be fun—different.”
I nodded. “I like different.”
“Really? Because I was a worried about not taking you back to Rose Hill and having a fancy meal with candles and roses, but then I thought, Reagan is better than that. I need to make a memory with her and not just have an evening with her that she’ll soon forget.”
“What?”
“I’m saying I don’t want you to forget tonight—ever.”
After twenty minutes of driving, the dark country road gave me little idea as to which direction we were headed or where King was taking me. “If I didn’t know you better, I’d think you were driving me to a remote area so you could kill me,” I said with a nervous laugh.
“I’d never try to kill you—at least not like that.”
“What? Why?”
“Surely a loaded Glock is tucked inside that little purse of yours. I’d never try anything on an armed trained FBI agent.”
I nodded. “Good answer.”
“Besides,” King said as we came to a T in the road and he turned to look me right in the eye. “Guns aren’t my weapon of choice.”
I didn’t say another word as he took a left turn onto the road and continued to drive.
King Giles was a mystery—one moment funny and sweet, the next, serious and on the edge of alarming. He was a man who knew what he wanted and wasn’t afraid to ask for it or to take it. It was sexy in a badass kind of way. Still, we were now twenty-five minutes out into the country with no sign of life ahead.
“Really King? Maybe it’s best if you told me where we were going. It might make me feel a little bit less…”
“Less what Reagan? Afraid? There’s nothing to be afraid of. At least not when you’re with me. Anyway, we’re almost there,” he said, nodding forward with his head.
I looked down the road and saw bright lights shining in an open
field. We approached a small lane and an older man dressed in jeans and a red sweatshirt stopped us at the road. “Welcome, Dr. Giles.”
“Thank you. Is it just down the lane?”
“Yes, sir. They’re all waiting for you.”
“Great.”
As he rolled up the window, I leaned into the windshield to see what was ahead.
The gravel under the tires crunched as he slowly made his way to another attendant, guiding us where to park.
Looking behind me, I wondered if what I saw was real.
“Is that—” I hesitated, doing a double take, pointing behind my head. “Is that a hot air balloon?”
King smiled. “Maybe.”
“Wait. What?” I turned around again and leaned down to catch a better view out the back window. There, in the open field was a cherry red, hot air balloon—the fire charging every little bit as the monstrosity inflated.
King turned off the car and touched the top of my hand to focus my attention on him. “I have something for you.”
“You mean something other than that?” I gestured to the bustling group gathered around the balloon and made a goofy face I immediately regretted.
“Yes.”
“Really?” I was beyond astonished. A man had never made such a fuss over me—let alone bought me a gift. When he placed the white box with the red bow in my lap I thought even if it was a rock, I would be flattered. I didn’t know exactly what to say, so I mimicked what I’d heard every woman say in this situation: “You shouldn’t have.”
King gave me a sly smile and leaned into his seat sideways, waiting for me to open the box. The red satin ribbon slid through my hands like running water and fell into my lap with one tug. The box top was tight against the bottom, and I shook the package lightly to free one end from the other. As it slid apart, white tissue floated in the air coming to rest on top of what was inside.
I swallowed hard. Being on the receiving end of anything was something of a novelty for me. Peeling back the paper, I pulled out a black sweater so soft it felt as if I was touching a baby duckling. “What is this?” I asked, the astonishment evident in my voice. I pulled it to my chest and hugged it as if it was a stuffed animal and I was six years old again. “Oh my gosh, really. What is this?”
“It’s a sweater. I thought you might be chilly tonight. You know, for our…adventure.”
I ran my hands along the kind of softness I could curl up and die inside.
“It’s Peruvian Alpaca.”
“Is it hand knitted by Peruvian Monks in heaven? This is amazing.”
King laughed at me, but it was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen or felt—and it was for me.
“I’m pretty sure they’re just a crowd of grass eating alpacas on the side of a hill in Peru,” he said opening his door. “Wait there.”
Coming to my side, King opened the car door and I stepped out, placing one foot next to the other on the grass. An evening breeze blew through me and I slid my arm into my new sweater. King wrapped the rest of it around my body and I cozied into the luxury immediately. “I think I’m having an out of body experience,” I confessed. King smiled at me and let out a small laugh that only I could hear.
Wrapping his arm around me, he pulled me close and kissed me on the head. “I’m very pleased you like it. Now let’s see what kind of trouble we can get into over there,” he said gesturing with his head.
Gazing up at him, I watched his chiseled features flinch with each small movement of his mouth—lips so full I knew he’d be an amazing kisser. I didn’t even care that he’d kissed me on the head. I didn’t care that he’d given me a gift. I tossed all instinct and reason that came with being a federal agent to the wind and settled into being a woman for what felt like the first time in my life. It felt good.
“Do you think this is safe?” I asked.
“God, I hope so,” he said as we joined the crowd.
The basket and inflating red balloon lay on its side, filling with each blast of the flame. My heart raced at the thought of being in the air without much to keep me from plummeting to the ground.
“Good evening,” said the man who seemed to be in charge of the operation. “I’m your crew chief, Keith. Are you ready to go?”
King looked down at me. “I don’t know. Are we ready?”
11
KING
I placed my hand in the small of Reagan’s back as she listened to the in-air safety instructions and was delighted when she leaned her body into mine. Was it possible that the stoic Agent Weatherford was softening into a sensual Reagan?
“You’re going to gently ascend and float between five hundred and two thousand feet and travel wherever the wind takes you tonight,” Keith explained.
“Above the treetops and below the clouds,” I said looking down to her. “We’ll cover between five and ten miles.”
Reagan studied the red balloon and I noticed the look of astonishment when she saw the white crown on the side.
“Shall we go?” I needed to make sure she was still on board with the plan even though I knew she was taken aback.
“Is this your balloon?”
“Is that okay?” I was casually detached as I looked over the paperwork Keith handed me that showed the propane tanks had been double-checked and she was ready to go. The basket came from its side to an upright sitting position as the balloon filled to capacity and Reagan skittishly took a step backward on her heels.
“There are footholds on the side Miss Weatherford,” Keith explained to Reagan.
“May I?” I asked, hoping Reagan would allow me to help her.
“Sure.”
Leaning down, I picked her up like a new bride.
“Whoa. Okay.” Even though she tried to protest with her words, when her hands gripped me tightly and she pressed her face into my neck, her body told me a different story.
After setting her back on her feet, I hopped over the side, took her hand and gave it a squeeze as another flame blasted overhead. Keith adjusted the burners with his gloved hands and gave me a thumbs up.
“All right then,” Keith said as he pulled on the propane burner making the balloon feel lighter while the crew still hung onto the ropes that kept us on the ground. “She’s ready, sir.”
I gave Keith a nod as he took off the gloves and handed them to me, while Reagan walked the length of the basket to check out the altimeter and compass.
“Have a good time and we’ll be tracking you,” Keith said as he hopped out of the basket and back to the ground.
“Wait!” Reagan shouted.
Panic was written across her face and I could only smile. I loved unexpected reactions.
“Why isn’t Keith with us?” she asked. “Why aren’t you in here with us?” she shouted over the side of the basket as we ascended into the evening sunset.
Keith cupped his hand around the side of his mouth. “You’re in good hands, Miss Weatherford.”
She turned to me, the confusion still flushed across her cheeks. “King, please tell me that was supposed to happen.”
“Don’t be afraid. Of course it was supposed to happen. How could I have a memorable evening with you way up here if Keith was with us?” I checked the altimeter to see how quickly we were ascending and looked back to her. “I wanted you all to myself.”
“Okay. But I’m a little afraid.”
As the balloon rose and the wind began to take us into the purple sky of the setting sun, I walked to Reagan and pulled her close by her tiny waist. The glow of the horizon reflected on her exquisite face and for the first time in my life, I found it hard to breathe in the company of a woman. She swallowed hard. Her shallow gasps affected me in a way that was new. It wasn’t a purely sexual attraction. There was something about this woman that hit me right between the eyes. Just like my dad said—a left hook.
Pressing my forehead to hers I took a deep breath, trying to calm her with my own reaction. “Match my breathing Reagan. You’re fine. We’r
e fine. I know what I’m doing.”
I said the words, but the reality was, I didn’t know what I was doing. I could pilot the balloon easily. What I couldn’t navigate was the child-like excitement I sensed deep inside. I felt ten years old on Christmas morning. It was loving, warm—like home. A place in my head I’d not been in years.
Her shoulders rose and fell on my cue and when I knew she was calm, I pulled away for only a moment to check our position and the burners. I didn’t want to get too high too quickly—in the air or in my emotions.
Closing her eyes, she grabbed my hand and licked her lips. I had to stop myself from kissing her. “Reagan?”
“Yes.”
“No matter what, you’ll always be safe with me. I would never let anything happen to you. Now open your eyes. You’re missing it.”
Knitting her brow, she wrinkled her button nose, finally opening her eyes. The sky around us was heavenly. She took a deep breath and squeezed my hand once more. “Okay,” she said settling into it all. “Okay.”
The night seemed to encapsulate us as we rode the wind across the Alabama countryside. The leaves had started to change and the light cast by the setting sun made the earth below us magical. As beautiful as it was, I had a hard time looking at anything but Reagan.
“It really is spectacular, King,” she said finally taking in the scenery.
“It is.” But not as spectacular as you.
“It’s so quiet up here.” Reagan walked to the edge of the basket and then stepped back. “Oh boy, that really gets you right in the stomach.”
Letting go of her hand, I looked to the controls to make sure we’d reached the altitude goal and slipped the gloves on my hands before turning off the burners.
Immediately coming back to her side, I rubbed her back over top of the alpaca sweater to comfort her. I loved the feel of her tight body beneath my fingertips.
With the burner completely off we drifted through the night air. The only thing we could hear was our breathing and the beating of our hearts. “That’s quiet.”
