Got it Bad

by Christi Barth

“Why am I telling you, or why do I do it?”

  “I got a 179 on the LSAT. I can use deductive reasoning to ascertain that you’re—finally—sharing something private about yourself. Why do you call her?”

  “She read a study that claimed most car accidents happen within two miles of home.” Delaney held up a hand. “It’s not accurate. Em doesn’t care. She worries because I not only live alone, but live in random hotels half the time. So we chat for those ‘dangerous’ two miles and the scary walk into the dark apartment, and she has peace of mind.”

  Grabbing her hand, he pressed a light kiss to the back of it. Then he gave her a knowing look from beneath heavy-lidded eyes. “You, too, I’ll bet.”

  “Kellan, I carry my service weapon with me every day. If there was someone waiting in my dark house, they’d end up far more surprised than me—and with a slug in their shoulder.”

  “I don’t doubt you can take care of yourself. I meant that you get peace of mind from checking in with your friend on a daily basis. Your job, all the secrecy, it seems lonely. Knowing you have a daily connection must help.”

  He got it. Delaney had wondered if sharing what could seem like an inconsequential habit would resonate with Kellan. That she did it as much to stop Em from worrying as she did to have that caring touchstone to close out the day.

  “It does.”

  “Hang on—didn’t you tell me that she travels all over the world for her job?” His jaw dropped in exaggerated horror. “So you might end up calling her at three in the morning?”

  Delaney giggled. “Yep. We don’t discuss anything deeper than ice cream flavors when I wake her up. But she’s made me promise to do it every single night, no matter what.”

  “Then I’ll remind you tonight. Although I may be guessing about the exact two mile radius when we get close.”

  “Close to where?

  With a tug on her hand, Kellan said, “Come with me.”

  They went back into the main room, then up several flights of shallow wooden stairs to a viewing area. It was just another natural opening in the cave wall. The wind whipped, and gulls squawked as they circled overhead. The air was so thickly tinged with salt that Delaney felt as though she could lick it from her lips. Moss provided a thick green wallpaper up the black face of the rock wall. It was wild and rugged and spectacular.

  Kellan pointed up the coastline, to a white lighthouse perched between the edge of rock and pines. Three squat buildings, also white with red roofs, sat next to it. “That’s where I’m taking you.”

  “More stairs? Is this a date or a training session?”

  “It’ll be a workout. But not from the stairs. That lighthouse is a B&B.”

  Another glance told Delaney that its unobstructed view of the sunset would be stunning. That it looked private and romantic and she was bowled over yet again by his plan for today.

  Their . . . situation meant that she couldn’t spend the night at the house he shared with his brothers. And Kellan certainly couldn’t stay with her in the long-term hotel suite she shared with another marshal. Yet he’d managed to give them the gift of being alone with each other.

  “We get to spend the night together?”

  “Yes. It seemed like the right thing to do, for our first time.”

  It was. Maybe she should’ve thought of that. It was her job to think of every tiny detail when creating people’s lives from scratch. Delaney planned. Came up with multiple scenarios. Left no possible development unaccounted for. But this relationship stuff . . . well, she sucked at it. Good thing Kellan already knew how well she kicked ass at keeping her protectees alive. Maybe he’d forgive her weak showing in the romance department.

  “You’re a gentleman. And a romantic.”

  That cocky look that she’d fallen for on day one smirked across his face. “Is that good?”

  “It’s mind-bogglingly good.” Delaney threw her arms around him. “Thank you.”

  Kellan pulled out of her hug abruptly. “Okay, stop that.”

  “Why?” Nobody had followed them up the steps. The space only held enough room for a handful of people, anyway. They’d hear anyone on their way up.

  “This is all a surprise to you, but I’ve been planning it for days.” His arms caged her in against the edge of the rock wall. His breath felt like fire on her cheek, in contrast to the icy whip of wet wind on the other. “I’ve been thinking about being alone with you. Thinking about all the things we’d do. Imagining what you’ll look like and sound like and taste like. I’m a man on the edge, Laney.”

  Finally. A moment where Delaney could shine. Or at least pull her own weight in this relationship. Because she knew her own strengths in the field. In a split second, she could assess, determine options, choose the best, and implement it on the fly. So she’d solve this problem for him.

  “Let’s do something about that.”

  “I don’t want to shortchange you on the sea lions. Plus, we can’t check into the lighthouse for another hour.”

  “Don’t worry about what happens in an hour. Be in the moment,” she teased, smugly throwing his own words back at him. “We’ve got this.”

  Chapter Eight

  Whiplash. Could you get it just in your brain and not your skeleton? Because Kellan had it from watching Delaney turn from a vulnerable, self-doubting mess back into a take-charge, in-control woman.

  The weirdest part was that he liked both versions.

  In the past, a woman navel-gazing slapped wings on his feet. Women were fun. Dating was fun. When the serious and hard parts hit, that signaled it was time to move on, fast. Kellan’s life was too busy, his focus too laser sharp on his own priorities, to waste any of his precious down time watching a woman fall to pieces.

  Was that selfish? Only a little. By getting out before things hit that point, he saved the woman from building any fantasies about the depth of their relationship. His timely exit did them both a favor.

  But he wasn’t looking for an exit sign with Delaney. It was the complete opposite. Kellan was trying his damnedest to find the key that unlocked all of her layers. Being able to help her through her confusion, her introspection had made him feel about ten-freaking-feet tall. Anything he could do to reassure her, to tease that smile back on her face—that was his new focus.

  Seeing the side of her he’d first fallen for, though? The side that had strong-armed the Maguire brothers out of the mob and into not one, but five brand-new versions of their lives? The side that stood up for them, defended them, and bent over backward to keep them in WITSEC no matter how badly they screwed up because—and here’s the kicker—she believed in them?

  That was fucking hot.

  The wooden stairs clattered and shook as Delaney took them at a dead run. The dedicated public servant part of her remembered to mutter I’m sorry to the dozen people she elbowed and shouldered out of her way.

  It cracked Kellan up and he stayed hot on her heels.

  “Why don’t you just whip out your badge? Maybe wave your gun around? That’d clear people out of your way.”

  Delaney skidded to a stop right by the entrance to the sea lion cave. And damned if a gull didn’t let out a squawk that perfectly tracked with the look of chagrin on her face. “There are multiple things egregiously wrong with your suggestions.”

  Oh, yeah. The side of Delaney that got all righteously ticked off at him? That might be the hottest sight of all. Totally worth enduring another wallop to his nose from the shit stank. Kellan crossed his arms, settling in for the show. “Enlighten me.”

  “First of all, it would be a blatant abuse of power.” She tugged at his shirt to bring his ear right to her lips. In a stage whisper, she said, “My badge is a privilege. I carry it with honor.”

  “I’ve noticed. Honor . . . with a side of swagger.”

  Delaney’s teeth nipped at his earlobe. “Secondly, I’m undercover. In general. But doubly undercover in that I really shouldn’t be spotted with my protectee. It’d be very, very bad. For b
oth of us.”

  “Yep. Especially if you were holding the badge while I was, oh, say, holding your ass.” Kellan punctuated his comment by reaching around to squeeze the luscious seat of her jeans.

  In some lightning-fast move probably rooted in martial arts, Delaney twisted from his grasp and twisted his arm up behind his back. Huffing out an exasperated laugh, she teased, “Is there any boundary you won’t push?”

  “I’ve never . . . well, hang on, that’s a fun game. We’ll save strip Never Have I Ever for another time.”

  Delaney let go and headed toward the elevator as Kellan’s laughter echoed off the rocks. “The third thing wrong with your suggestion? You didn’t tell me where we were going.”

  “That’s pretty much the definition of a surprise date.”

  “Yes, but I couldn’t look up the restrictions of this tourist attraction ahead of time.” Inside the elevator, she repeatedly punched the close door button. It earned her frowns as more people crowded in to capacity. “So I had to leave the, you know—” she made a gun out of her thumb and forefinger “—in the car.”

  He had to wipe his hand across his mouth to keep in the laughter. Good God, but she cracked him the fuck up.

  “You were worried that your latent big game hunter tendencies would come roaring to the forefront when you saw the sea lions?”

  “No. I was worried there’d be a metal detector.” Delaney went on tiptoe to deliver the last two words into his ear.

  Oh, yeah. She was real slick with the undercover stuff. “In a big city, maybe. Here? In some tiny hick town on the literal edge of the continent? Fat chance.”

  “Hey!” A short, mustached guy in a trucker’s cap gave him a heated glare. “How about a little respect?”

  “Sorry.” And he was. Sometimes these knee-jerk comments came out. They weren’t really insults to Oregon. Which he liked, quite a bit. Kellan figured they slipped out as an homage to his old hometown. An acknowledgement that nothing could ever live up to the Windy City.

  Delaney sniffed at him. “Don’t be rude.”

  “It was a slip of the tongue. But you’re giving the Sea Lion Cave—as awesome as it is—credit for being more safety conscious than a movie theatre. The risk wasn’t even minimal. It was infinitesimal.”

  “Nevertheless, it was one I was unwilling to take.”

  The doors opened and everyone pushed to exit simultaneously, so Delaney didn’t finish her thought until they were back outside. At least there she didn’t have to whisper.

  She drew herself up, straight as a flagpole. Her actual badge might be locked in the car, but Delaney wore what it stood for like an invisible superhero cloak. “That’s what I do, Kellan. I assess risk. Weigh the options.” Stiffly, like she was in a military parade, she moved from one side of the boardwalk to the other. “Balance the threat of danger against the worry about being discovered.”

  “It’s a date, not a walk under the Armitage Avenue El stop at two a.m.” Kellan gave a lazy shrug. Just for the fun of watching her go from righteous indignation to a fully ignited burn aimed straight at him. For months, they’d fought and snapped at each other and not had any outlet for all that pent-up heat. Today, he’d give her an outlet. “There’s no danger here. Unless you’re worried about aggressive sea gulls. Which are probably protected. So don’t shoot them.”

  “You don’t know that.” Delaney stabbed him in the chest with her index finger. But her tone wasn’t heated, merely earnest. “You can assume it, because I need you to be happy and comfortable in your new life.” She tapped her own sternum. “But I don’t have that luxury. I have to constantly be on the lookout, assuming that a previous associate of your brothers’ could’ve shown up in that elevator with us.”

  Fighting back laughter—not to mention a fierce desire to rip down her jeans, bend her over the wooden railing and plunge into her right the fuck there—Kellan said, “Then you would’ve wished you’d waved your gun and badge. Which makes me right.”

  “I swear to God, Kellan,” The minute her voice rose, she bit her lip. “Damn it. We’re not supposed to be bickering anymore.”

  “It’s fine . . . when it’s foreplay.”

  Her eyes widened. Kellan could see the awareness of his plan click into her consciousness. “You did this on purpose.”

  “I did. All those I’m yelling at you because I can’t kiss you vibes we had going on for so long? Figured we needed to get them out of our system for once and for all.”

  “That’s really brilliant. Definitely twisted.” She threw back her head and laughed into the wind. “It’s exactly perfect for us.”

  Thank God. Kellan grabbed her shoulder to turn her away from the water and back to him. Need made the motion a little rough. Jerky and fast. So when she spun, her lips parted in surprise. “Are you as turned on as I am right now?”

  “I’m crazy hot for you. Ten times more than when we were down in the cave, and I thought that was pretty freaking intense.” Delaney dodged around him and took off at a steady jog down the long wooden walkway. Over her shoulder, she yelled, “Come and get me, Maguire!”

  She ran with a graceful ease that was almost as fun to watch as the twitch of her ass in those tight jeans. Then Delaney put on a burst of speed that caught him by surprise. It shouldn’t have. Marshals probably trained just like FBI agents and cops to be able to run for as damned long as it took to get the job done.

  Even with his longer legs, Kellan had to step up his efforts to catch her. After running on the beach for seven weeks, the flat boards were easy.

  Kellan stayed right behind her across the highway, then up the hill to the parking lot. When he saw the car, he pushed hard enough to get four steps ahead, using that distance to unlock and open Delaney’s car. By the time she poured herself into the passenger seat, he was behind the wheel with the engine running.

  Except that she kept moving. All the way over to lie across his chest. And she rained fast kisses and quick little bites up his neck while tugging at his shirt.

  “Whoa. We can’t do this here.”

  “Why not?”

  “The sun’s out. People keep coming in and out of this lot. We’d get arrested for public indecency, at the very least. Talk about something that’d blow your cover.”

  Delaney yanked his tee over his head. She stared for a couple of seconds and gave him that gratifying double blink as her eyes raked up and down his torso. “I told you. I’ve got this problem solved.” After rubbing her palms in circles over his nipples, she slid back into her seat. “Drive.”

  “To where?”

  “Like I said before, my job is to notice things. And I noticed when you drove us up here that there’s a sign for overflow parking.” She twisted to point out the sign to him. “This lot’s not even half full. Nobody’ll head for the other one but us.”

  “You’re pretty smug when you show off your awesomeness as a marshal. It’s fucking sexy, too.” Gravel sprayed as Kellan backed out of the space. Fast.

  “We already covered foreplay with our fight. You don’t need to compliment me, too. I’m ready for this.” Delaney tossed his shirt into the back seat.

  More gravel sprayed as Kellan stomped on the brakes. Because this needed to be addressed right the fuck now.

  “Listen up, beautiful. My compliments aren’t foreplay. They aren’t part of a planned seduction. When I give you a compliment, it’s because I’m bowled over by you. By your smarts. By your ability to cut through the bullshit and get straight to a point. By the smile that turns your face into something so beautiful you’re practically angelic. By the fucking amazing way you listen and understand things I’m trying to say when I haven’t figured them out for myself. They’re fact.”

  Then he floored it.

  Okay, then. Delaney was legitimately torn about what to do next. Half of her wanted to get out of the car, race to the nearest store, and buy Kellan two dozen red roses in thanks for that amazing speech.

  The other half of her just wanted to te
ar his clothes off. Even more. This man kept surprising her.

  She loved what he’d said. Her entire life was spent working her butt off to do better, to be better, to get ahead. Kellan made her feel like she’d already won every race in the world, aced every test, and bested every competitor. He made her feel special.

  It was wonderful.

  “I think you’re pretty amazing, too.”

  Quick as a blink, in his signature style, Kellan’s mood shifted from serious to smug. “You only think so? Just wait until we’ve had sex. Then you’ll know. Then you’ll lose the ability to form words to describe my amazingness.”

  “You deserve more.”

  “Your finely honed organizational skills found us a place to have sex outdoors in the middle of the afternoon. Trust me when I say I need nothing more than that.” Kellan sped them up another hill, across a vacant lot to park on the far side of what looked like a double-wide garden shed. It didn’t completely hide them from view, but it made their lone car less obvious.

  The parking brake ratcheted into place as Delaney whipped off her shirt. A smarter person might have left it on, in case they were discovered.

  The fact that she was in this car with Kellan at all proved that Delaney was far from smart where he was concerned. Because the smartest thing she could think to do right now was facilitate his touching her bare skin.

  Before she could climb across the console, Kellan reached for her. His hands stroked up and down her exposed abdomen. His touch was rougher than before. Not in a bad or harmful way. No, this fast, harder approach, almost skidding across her skin, inflamed her need.

  Not to mention that it proved the level of his. Kellan wanting her was incendiary all by itself.

  “Do your back seats fold down?” Even his question was sexy. Because he whispered it in her ear, and then licked along the curve of it.

  She fought for her own chance to play while she answered. Seeing as how she’d exposed his chest a whole minute ago and hadn’t gotten to touch it yet. With clothes on, Kellan looked less bulked up than his older brothers.