“I thought so.”
“Does that change your opinion of him?” she asked.
“No. He was assessing the situation before he did or said anything. Observing. He’s had a few things happen in his life that have made him suspicious of other people. He believes impulsiveness gets a lot of people in trouble. He takes everything in, then makes a decision.”
Boom. Wasn’t that interesting? Nathan had experienced betrayals. Just as she had.
Except for that kiss. Had he thought about that over and over? Or had her actions pushed him over the edge?
“I thought Navy SEALS had to make split second decisions sometimes,” she said.
“Who doesn’t? He’s seen a lot of things in his military career screwed up because people let egos and impulsiveness get in the way. It makes him cautious. Believe me, though, he defended the hell out of you and Malcolm when I told him what Dicky said. He didn’t believe a word against you.”
“Thank you for telling me all this.”
Gray chuckled. “Well, he might not thank me once he hears that I told you all of that.”
“I’ll bet. Thanks again Gray.”
“Anytime. Call again if you need us.”
After they hung up, she changed into pajamas and crawled into bed. It would be light soon and she needed at least a few hours of sleep. After that she would go back to the hospital and see Nathan and check on Dicky.
Just as she started to fall into an exhausted sleep, her cell phone rang. She groaned but rolled over and picked it up. Nathan. She’d forgotten to text him.
“Nathan,” she said. “I’m sorry I forgot to text you.”
“I got the busy signal so I wasn’t too worried. Then I called Finn and he assured me you were safe in your apartment.”
The fact he’d checked up on her so thoroughly…well, it was a turn on. She didn’t want it to be. She’d tried and failed to find a really good reason in the last few hours why she shouldn’t be so damned attracted to him. Why she shouldn’t already care about him so much.
She sighed. “Sorry but it’s been a hell of a night.”
“I know.”
“Are you all right?”
“Yeah. Can’t really sleep, but then the nurses keep coming in and checking on me.”
She smiled. “They probably heard there’s a hunk on the floor and want to see for themselves.”
He laughed. “You think I’m a hunk?”
Her face heated. She’d stepped right into that one. “You caught me.”
He laughed again. “So maybe you’re not as mad at me as I thought.”
“No, I’m not. I talked to Gray. He pumped you up as well. Told me what an amazing man you are and that…”
“That?”
“I’ll tell you tomorrow. You need to rest.”
“Right. You’ll owe me an explanation later.”
“I’ll come by in about four hours and if they’re ready to discharge you, I can bring you home.”
“Deal. Sleep well, beautiful.”
After they hung up, she relaxed completely and fell asleep with his deep, husky voice in her head calling her beautiful. A man had never called her beautiful before.
A cop car with two patrol officers was parked in front of the pub when Katie and Nathan arrived at the pub. Finn had followed behind Katie and Nathan in his SUV. When they got inside, Finn took off.
“I wonder if the cops are here to keep us safe or arrest someone,” Katie said with more than a hint of derision in her voice.
“Probably the former.” Nathan doubted the cops believed anymore that Malcolm and Katie had ties to the Irish Mafia.
Nathan groaned as his muscles protested. He didn’t have a headache and other than the small bandage on his head, he didn’t have much of a deficit in his physical fitness. If he hadn’t dodged when the bullets flew, he probably wouldn’t be here right now. As it was, he wanted nothing more than to be with Katie. Apologize thoroughly, then kiss her soundly.
Yeah, dude. Sounds like a great fantasy. Reality? Not likely.
What were the chances she’d kiss him again?
Katie had looked exhausted when he first saw her at the hospital. She’d twenty questioned him as he’d been discharged, and she’d twenty questioned the nurse while he signed the release paperwork. Downstairs they’d checked on Dicky and learned he’d survived surgery but was hanging by a thread with severe internal injuries. The doctors had done all they could at this point. Dicky wasn’t allowed any visitors.
As they left the hospital, Katie had wiped her eyes.
“Hey, you all right?” he’d asked.
“I just hate this for Dicky. God, what a mess.”
“I’m having some trouble feeling bad for him. He’s brought trouble to the pub and to you and Malcolm.”
“I know.”
She still looked tired. He’d wanted to hug her right then, to reassure her everything would be all right. Would it? He didn’t know. When they drove away from the hospital, he reflected on how grateful he was to have her beside him. She might not realize it, but she had more nurse left in her. The way she’d fussed over him might’ve been her nursing, or she might really care.
You’re a goner, man. You’ve never wanted a woman to feel concern for you before.
Well, he could qualify that. He knew his mother loved and cared for him, but Nathan had never yearned for a woman he’d dated to be concerned with his well-being. Now he’d gotten a taste of it from Katie, he felt addicted. Not just any woman would do. Just this beautiful, vibrant, stubborn, outgoing woman beside him. If he revealed his feelings, he knew she might reject him. He decided that after everything that had happened at the pub recently, he’d take the chance. He’d let her in, and he’d tell her what he thought about their relationship.
“Hey are you daydreaming?” Katie asked as she got out of the car.
“Yeah, but I shouldn’t be. We can’t let our guard down.”
He hadn’t either. He’d gone full SEAL when they’d left the hospital. He had a handgun in the apartment, but he hadn’t maintained it like he should. He hadn’t gone to the range in months either.
He walked with her toward the back of the building, his heart beating a little fast as he kept an eye out for anything suspicious.
Once they entered, Malcolm greeted them as he came from the kitchen. “Hey there, am I glad to see you two. How are you feeling Nathan?”
“I’m good.”
Malcolm looked pleased. “Good. Scared me last night. I’m too old for this shit.”
Nathan smiled. “I might be, too.”
Malcolm snorted. “Right. I just got a call from Chandra Henderson. Your friend Gray gave her the number here. She doesn’t have the funds to fly in to Tampa, so Gray is paying for her ticket. The only flight she could get comes in tomorrow afternoon.”
“I wish Dicky had family here already,” Katie said. “He’s in that hospital with no one to look out for him.”
“There’s a cop posted on his door. Unless the Irish Mafia is ballsy enough to come into the hospital and try and kill him, he should be safe,” Nathan said. “And I’ll admit I don’t have a lot of sympathy for him right now. His actions put all our lives in danger.”
To his surprise, Katie pressed his shoulder. “I know. You’re right. That’s the nurse in me coming out again.”
Malcolm leaned against the door jam to the kitchen. “Dicky is going to prison if he survives, that I’m sure of. It’s a damned shame he couldn’t take the straight path. In the meantime, I’m keeping the pub closed until further notice. Until this whole crazy thing is sorted out.”
“Good idea. I was going to ask if you’d consider that idea,” Nathan said.
Katie followed Nathan upstairs, and when they got to her door, she said, “Come inside and talk for a minute.”
He hesitated only for a moment. “About?”
“Just come inside,” she said.
He rubbed one hand over his bristly chin. “Can I get a shower first? I’ll
be over right after that.”
Once inside his new apartment, he hurried through a shower. It felt good to somehow wash the hospital off of him. He changed the bandage on his head, even though the wound was so small. He knew nurse Katie would give him hell, so he made sure to anchor the bandage securely. Anticipation filled him as he went to her apartment door.
Katie considered her reasons for inviting him to her apartment. While the doctors had cleared him, part of her worried that if she didn’t watch over him something bad could happen. Paranoid, yes. But there it was.
When she opened the door to him, she smiled. He looked so good. He wore a fresh white t-shirt that molded to his body just enough to hint at the amazing physique she already knew he possessed. His dark hair was slicked back a little, still damp. He smelled like heaven. Her t-shirt and capri pants matched him for casual, including the athletic shoes she wore. She wasn’t into being a fashion plate these days, not that she ever had been.
“Hey,” she said as she allowed him inside.
Out of habit, she locked the door.
“Can I get you anything to drink?” she asked.
“I’m good.”
He followed her to the kitchen, leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms. She grabbed a water from the fridge. When she turned around, he was closer than she expected.
“Why am I here?” he asked.
The question took her off guard. “I…okay, I’ll give you the truth.”
“Good.”
“I was…I’m still concerned about your health.”
He uncrossed his arms and sauntered toward her. She watched until he was close, then she twisted the top off of her water bottle to avoid looking at him. She took a swig of water and then set the bottle on the counter behind her.
“And,” she said, well aware her next words made her vulnerable as hell. “Because I don’t want to be alone. I’m scared, Nathan.”
“Hey.” His voice came to her soft and deep. “I’m not going to let anything hurt you.”
He cupped her shoulders, and then slid his arms around her shoulders. She encircled his waist and held on. “You can’t promise that. No one can.”
“Okay, then let me put it this way. I’m going to do everything in my power to keep you safe.”
It felt good. Really, really good to have his strong support surrounding her in comfort, to soak in his power and the safety she felt soul-deep every time he came near. She rested there, taking it in. She drew back and out of his arms and grabbed her water bottle. If she didn’t, she’d want to stay in his embrace forever.
“Come on, let’s sit down,” she said.
They moved to the couch. She abandoned her water bottle to the coffee table. Instead of him sitting at the other end far away, he took the cushion to her right. He laid his arm on the couch behind her. As his thigh touched hers, a zing of pure sexual awareness threatened to keep her from thinking straight. Man, this guy is potent. She almost slid down and found a place to lay her head on his big shoulder.
She plunged right in. “Gray told me that you beat yourself up over things. When things don’t go perfectly you get angry with yourself.”
He grunted, and she looked up at him. “Yeah, I suppose he’s right.”
“And that you’ve had situations in your military career where people fouled up and it causes problems.”
“Who doesn’t have that in their job?”
He stayed quiet so long she wondered if she’d probed too deeply.
“You were a sniper, right?”
He stared into space. “Yes.”
She didn’t know how to ask the question she had to ask. So she just said it anyway. “How many men did you kill?”
He didn’t look at her. He stood and went to the fireplace.
Maybe I shouldn’t have asked.
He stared at the huge landscape portrait that hung over the fireplace mantle. “A few. Under ten.”
Oh God. That was still…
Feeling the weight of what he’d told her, she left the couch and went to him.
When she didn’t speak, he turned to her. “Lot of other things I can’t tell you. Not because I don’t want to, but I can’t.”
She slipped one hand over his shoulder in a caress. “I know.”
He smiled, just for a second. “You already know what my favorite foods are, that we like the same books and movies but aren’t hundred percent aligned on politics. I know you’re a light sleeper, that you prefer peaches to pears and that you don’t like tomatoes much, which I think is a damn shame. I know you love old eighties music more than modern music. I know you don’t like to cook that much and I do.”
She did know all those things—she’d learned them over the months he’d worked here. That he remembered all these little details sent a new, warm tingle through her body and settled in her lower stomach.
“There is something I don’t know,” she said, keeping her hand on his shoulder.
“Oh, yeah?”
Go ahead. Ask him.
“Why did you kiss me?”
Eight
Raw emotion filled Nathan’s eyes. Katie saw heat, passion, a driving need to imprint himself upon her in the most sensual way possible.
“Because,” he said, “That dance was hot. I thought if I didn’t run out of there everyone would see the evidence.”
He didn’t need to explain. She’d felt his erection pressing against her, and when they’d kissed it had become even more evident how much he wanted her.
“We didn’t exactly cool off when we reached the alley, did we?” he asked.
“No. I’m…um…sorry I ran out on you the other night in the alley.”
“Yeah? Maybe it was good you did. We were still working.” He grinned. “If we hadn’t been…” He shook his head, as if he had an idea for something good and nasty.
Without saying a word he slipped his arm around her waist and brought her close. “I didn’t want you out there in that alley again without me. It scares the shit out of me thinking that something could happen to you. We’ve got to play it safe.”
“With everything?” she asked, barely above a whisper.
“Maybe not with this. What we’re doing right now?”
She shivered as his voice went deep to her core, her body heating as arousal took hold. This time she wouldn’t deny it.
“What are we doing?”
His other hand cupped her cheek. “Don’t know. Let me try this and see if I can figure it out.”
His mouth touched hers, but without the soft and sweet balance he’d established in their earlier kiss. His kiss was urgent, and she moaned as the stroke of his tongue made her core clench and release. She wanted him and wanted him sooner rather than later. Her hands went to his shoulders and hung on, kissing him back like she’d never get the opportunity again.
Loud sirens wailed outside and they broke apart. “Now what?”
They went to the window that overlooked the street.
“The cops aren’t there,” she said.
“Must have gotten a call.”
She turned to him and slid her arms around his neck. “Where were we?” Her cell phone went off. “Crap.”
She hurried to the kitchen counter to grab the phone. Dana’s name came up on the screen, so Katie answered.
“Katie?” Dana’s voice sounded a tad breathless.
“Hey, Dana. What’s up?”
“I’m outside the front door. I realized I left my planner in the bar somewhere. I think it fell out of my purse in the office or maybe behind the door. It’s got credit card slots and money in it so I’ve got to have it. Have you seen it lying around?”
Katie frowned. “No.”
“Would you mind opening the front door so I can look for it? Also, there’s something else I wanted to talk to you about.”
Her mysterious request made Katie grimace. She’d much rather stay with Nathan and enjoy what they’d started.
“Sure,” Katie said. “I’ll
be right down.” After she clicked off her cell phone, she placed it back in the recharger. “Dana’s downstairs. She thinks she lost her planner downstairs. It’s got money and credit cards in it so she needs help looking for it. I’ll help her and be back upstairs soon.”
“Bad timing, huh?” He smiled. “Come back soon.”
She smiled and grabbed her keys out of her purse, and on impulse, grabbed her phone again and stuck it in her pants pocket.
Katie left her apartment with a grumble under her breath. She didn’t want to leave Nathan, but if Dana needed her planner, she needed her planner. Katie understood. She also had a calendar to keep on schedule for the important stuff and if she had money and credit cards inside that would make Katie want to hunt for it, too.
Katie arrived downstairs and saw Dana at the glass entrance. Dana waved. She had a big smile, as always. Katie unlocked the door and Dana rushed inside. She looked frazzled, her frowsy blond hair a little wild. Her turquoise eye shadow clashed with her blue eyes and brilliant red lipstick. Her sparkly, multi-colored tunic hung over black leggings and black boots. She also wore a large cross body purse.
“Oh, thank Goodness, girl. You don’t know how frantic I was when I remembered I’d forgotten my planner,” Dana said.
Katie nodded as she walked toward the bar area. “Where do you think you left it?”
Dana moved around the bar. “I need a drink first.”
The statement took Katie off guard. “Oh.”
“It’s been one hell of a day.” Dana rolled her eyes. “You can’t even guess.” Dana held up a bottle of wine. “Do you mind? I wouldn’t ask but…”
It was afternoon, and Katie didn’t usually drink wine this early in the day, but she didn’t begrudge other people’s drinking habits. Many people had liquor or wine with lunch.
“Sure,” Katie said.
Dana sighed as if Katie had taken a huge weight off her shoulders. “Thanks. I appreciate this. Don’t worry, I’m not going to drink too much and drive.” Dana rummaged behind the bar, and then she looked up. “I forgot to ask how Nathan is doing?”
“It’s okay. He’s good. I don’t know much about Dicky. He was badly hurt and the surgery…well, he’s not out of the woods. His mother is coming into town. Once she visits him maybe we’ll get more information.”
The Omega Team: Lethally Yours (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 7
