by Geri Krotow
“Don’t you ever get tired of being the mysterious man behind the scenes of a case, Kyle?”
“There’s nothing mysterious about my work.” His breath hitched and she placed her hands on his chest, only his thin, long-sleeved T-shirt between her fingers and his steel-cut chest. His hands came up and wrapped around her wrists, but his touch was gentle, and he didn’t try to stop her.
Portia stood on her tiptoes and moved until her face was a whisper from his, noses almost touching, mouths sinfully close. “Let me know you, Kyle. Remove a layer of your mystery for me.”
Her excitement ratcheted and she gave him one heartbeat, two, certain he’d snap his agent face back in place and tell her to stop. Tell her that this was a bad idea, a “mistake.”
When he didn’t, Portia closed the tiny gap between them.
His lips were warm, supple, firm, and Kyle only held back for a nanosecond before he let go of her wrists and buried his hands in her hair, held her face at the perfect angle to allow them to deepen the kiss. She teased the outside of his lips with hers, loving how he let her take the lead while fully responding to every lick and nibble. When his tongue came out to greet hers, she caved and fully opened her mouth, needing him to explore her, too.
Kyle didn’t disappoint as he kissed her, tasted her, plunged into every nook of her mouth. It was more than she could have fantasized, the pure, sexual power of their embrace. Portia’s hands gripped his T-shirt, but when that wasn’t enough, she reached up and clung to his neck, pulling his head down closer.
The kiss lasted minutes but Portia wasn’t fooled. This kiss, this intimacy with the man she barely knew, had life-changing abilities. No one had ever kissed her so thoroughly, had turned her on so quickly and intensely that she wouldn’t have fought it if Kyle suggested they take it back to his bedroom. Or on the counter.
He lifted his head and she couldn’t stop the protest that her voice emitted, a high-pitched cry that left nothing to his imagination, she was certain.
“Portia.” His ragged breathing only served to stoke her desire, make her hotter than she’d thought possible. But she remembered his words from inside the truck last night and pulled back, put her hands on his chest again and gently pushed him away.
“Do you still think I’m a mistake, Kyle?”
* * *
“You’re not a mistake, Portia.” He held her, reluctant to let her go, to end this but the only way it would go was problematic for both of them. Her eyes were half lidded, their brown depths willing him back into the warmth of what pulsed between them. Besides his erection. He placed his hands on her shoulders and took a half step back, needing the space to think. “It’s what we’ll have to face after we take this to the most obvious, and yeah, hot as hell conclusion.”
“You’re leaving Silver Valley after the ROC mission is over.” Her small white teeth peeked out as she gnawed on her lower lip, still swollen from their kissing. “We’re both adults, we know where we stand.”
“Babe, I want to agree with you. You know I do.” He grasped her hand and placed it on his erection, needing her to know he wasn’t coming from a place of intellect. He cared about Portia. Too much for someone he’d only just kissed.
“Kyle!” Her breath caught in a sexy growl and she closed her hand around him through his jeans but he pulled away then.
“We’ve got something that doesn’t come along every day, Portia, but we won’t have anything if you get killed because of being involved with me. Or if I get taken out, how would you feel? Isn’t it better to stop it before we get in too deep?”
She smiled softly and shook her head. “It’s funny—just two days ago I would be the one saying this to you. But after coming so close to dying, after seeing what kind of work you do, even just this little glimpse of it, I think I’ve changed my mind.”
“How so?”
“I think that life is short, and sometimes it’s the best thing ever to just go for it. To not overthink things so much, to enjoy life one day at a time. Not worry about the future.”
Her words were balm to him, and he didn’t disagree. But it didn’t change the fact that he had to keep her safe and take out Markova. No short order.
“Tell you what, Portia. Let’s table this discussion for now. I’ve got to get you to the safe house and I have a lot of intel data to analyze.”
She watched him and his respect deepened for her as she stood her ground, didn’t try to convince him to go to bed with her now. As if she, too, knew that sometimes the deepest needs had to wait.
“Then let’s get the day going. I want to be a help to this case, not your worry.”
He turned to place his laptop and phone in his bag, and heard her feet walk back to the bathroom where he assumed she was getting dressed. This was another first for him. Making the adult decision he loathed, turning away from what he knew would be an explosive union with Portia.
Comfort washed over him and at first he didn’t recognize the emotion. Until he heard Portia humming as she dressed behind the closed bathroom door.
Hope. He had hope that somehow, someway, things might take a very good turn with Portia.
Chapter 8
Kyle and Portia didn’t waste any more time alone in his apartment. As soon as she was dressed and had her few items in a bag, they left. It wasn’t just his desire to be alone with Portia that gave him a sense of urgency, either. He never forgot that Portia had a huge target on her back. As sure as he was they hadn’t been followed, and despite the high level of technological security he’d wired the place with, Markova wouldn’t give up until she found Portia and divested herself of her witness.
“I don’t see what going into SVPD is going to accomplish.” Portia argued with him, but she didn’t fight getting back into the truck, once he cleared the parking area and surroundings.
“We’ll talk to Josh and see where you can stay for the time being.”
“Why Josh?”
Kyle gritted his teeth. “He’s my point of contact for this case. And without getting into it, you absolutely cannot talk to anyone else about this, Portia.” He trusted Josh to reiterate the warning. And yet he also hated that he had to talk in work terms with her at all. This was hard—doing his job with a woman he was more attracted to than anyone else.
“I understand the need for confidentiality. But that doesn’t extend to me. I’m the one someone wants to kill!”
He looked over at her after he parked at the police station. While she appeared calm and all together, he knew this was incredibly difficult for her. It would be for anyone, even a tough-as-nails woman like Portia. Her cries during the nightmare had wrenched him awake.
“That’s why we’re here. You’re safe, and I’m going to keep it that way.” He waited for her beautiful brown eyes to meet his, to see his sincerity. She managed a smile.
“I know. And I’m sorry, Kyle. I’m being a brat because, well, because I’m sexually frustrated.” She let out a self-deprecating laugh. “And that’s not something I’d normally admit to anyone!”
He reached over and squeezed her thigh, a friendly reassurance to hopefully break the tension between them. He didn’t expect her to cover his hand with hers. The warmth of the skin-on-skin contact stilled him as heat rushed straight to his groin.
When was he going to learn to be extra careful around Portia? The woman wasn’t just another civilian witness to protect, nor a casual friend. They had a deeper connection that he couldn’t screw around with.
“Kyle.” She swallowed, licked her lips. Both signs of nervousness, yet all he paid attention to was how ruby-red her lips were and the fullness of the lower lip. The memory of their kiss seared right through to his dick and he had to make an effort not to groan. In the police station parking lot, no less. Where was his professional bearing?
Right where he’d left it the minute he’d noticed Portia as more than the Si
lver Valley librarian.
“Kyle.” She pressed her other hand under his, gave him an answering squeeze. “Thank you. And if you’re anything like me, you’re wondering why you’re not being totally all about business around me. I’m wondering it, too. I don’t usually kiss a guy I hardly know, and I’m not used to such a strong attraction dropping in on me out of the blue.” She lifted his hand to her mouth and kissed it. “You’re a good man, and I trust your law enforcement instincts. As much as it kills me to say it, if you think I need to disappear from town for a bit, then I do. As long as I can keep working on the gala from a distance. I’ll be able to use the internet, I hope.”
He stared at her, momentarily stunned into silence. He was darn sure Portia had never been through a clandestine op, had probably never had the occasion to fire a weapon, unless she hunted like many folks in this part of the country did. She was an innocent to the different circles of hell his line of work provided him with on a daily basis. And yet, she’d been the one to step up and call whatever was going on between them what it was. No denial, no hiding it like so many others would.
It made him all the more committed to her. To protecting her, from Markova, yes, but also from himself.
“Portia, you have more balls than a lot of the agents I work with, and let me tell you, there’s no one stronger than an undercover agent most days.”
She grinned. “I’m a bit of a control freak, I’ll admit. I love the organizational side of library science, and it spills over into my personal life. I’ve had some...some betrayals and unexpected difficulties with men in the past. I find it preferable to be open right from the get-go, don’t you?”
“Whatever you say.” He leaned over and kissed her firmly on the lips, a seal of his intent to keep her safe. “Let’s get inside.”
* * *
“I don’t need counseling,” Portia grumbled at her best friend, who happened to be a police psychologist. Annie Fiero worked for SVPD and also did contract work for other law enforcement agencies.
Annie was at the station when she and Kyle had arrived.
They sat in the nicer waiting area of the police station, reserved for interviewing victims. “And I wasn’t a victim.” She refused to wear that mantle. Sure, she’d been shoved by the laptop thief, but she’d been on the railroad tracks due to her own decisions. And the almost-attack last night at the homeless shelter was something she didn’t want to think about.
“I haven’t said a thing.” Annie handed her a paper cup from the specialty coffee shop downtown, and Portia bit back the instinct to tell her she’d spent the last night sleeping over it. “I got you a London Fog. The stuff they have here in the station is swill.”
“So you knew I was coming back in.”
“Of course. I happen to be engaged to one of the men in charge of this portion of the case.”
Portia gratefully accepted the drink, her favorite. As Annie knew. “Thanks.” She sipped, the warm smoothness of the vanilla flavor mixing with the bergamot and immediately calming her. “This is my go-to comfort drink.”
“I know. And before I forget, I brought in a few changes of clothes for you, along with your laptop. It’s all in Josh’s office.”
“Thanks.”
“Anytime.” Annie smiled, eased back into the easy chair across from the one Portia perched on. “Josh says you came close to getting hit by the train yesterday, and then at the shelter last night you could have been killed. I’m so glad Kyle was there.”
“How do you know him?” Was she the last person to meet the sexiest man she’d ever seen walk the streets of Silver Valley? And the most mysterious, at least to her.
Annie’s expression faltered, became guarded. “He’s a work colleague of Josh’s.”
“You can quit with the ‘it’s police business’ attitude. It’s okay if you can’t tell me.” She put her cup down so that she could slide back in the chair, just as Annie had. As soon as she did, she realized how tired she felt. It had been a long morning. The time with Kyle this morning had been glorious, if not totally what she wanted. She wanted to have Kyle in every way possible, but not at the expense of his job or this case. When they came together, if they did, she wanted it to be without the weight of worry she saw in his eyes whenever he mentioned the risks to her.
“I’m not pulling the ‘it’s classified’ routine. But some cases are tougher than others, and this one is the mother of all cases Josh has ever worked on, from what I can tell.”
“I’m glad you’re working at SVPD now. It means a lot to have you here this morning. It’s been a rough day or so. How’s the yarn shop?” Annie had taken over her grandmother’s small business when the woman had suffered a stroke this past summer. Ezzie had returned and ran her shop again but Annie helped her grandmother in between fulfilling contracts for SVPD as a police psychologist. She’d worked for NYPD for several years before coming back to Silver Valley when Ezzie had her stroke. While working the yarn shop’s register, Annie had encountered a woman she’d suspected had been a victim of domestic violence, so she reported it to Detective Josh Avery, now her fiancé.
“Grandma Ezzie is doing fine with the new shopkeepers I hired for her. I’m actually here full-time now, with the recent uptick in investigations.”
“The ROC stuff, you mean.”
“How much do you know about ROC? We’ve only talked about it in terms of when Lani OD’d, with the heroin distribution network.”
“I read the paper. Everyone knows about it unless they’re living with blinders.” She couldn’t stop the shudder that rolled over her. “What the heck is happening, Annie? Where is the Silver Valley you, Josh and I grew up in?”
“It’s still here.” Annie leaned forward. “And look, so are we. We’re stronger than any group of criminals.”
“I don’t know. Tell that to Lani’s family.”
A cloud passed over Annie’s expression, the same darkness Portia fought hard to avoid whenever she thought of Lani. They’d lost a few other high school classmates already, to car accidents or premature disease. But to lose one to a heroin epidemic hit her harder. Mostly because she felt it could have been prevented.
“It’s tough, as we still don’t have answers as to where the fentanyl came from.” Annie looked at her. “I don’t want to talk about that right now, Portia. I want to know how you’re doing, really.”
Portia took in a deep breath, held it, forcefully exhaled. “I’m okay. It’s probably not totally hit me yet, but I’ll get through this.”
“You will.” Annie looked thoughtful, though, and Portia couldn’t help wonder what she knew that she wasn’t sharing.
“What’s going on, Annie?”
“Nothing more than the usual, since ROC came to town. I want you to know that SVPD will do everything to keep you safe. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you.”
“That’s quite all right. I’ve seemed to have made a friend out of someone I’ve never met before.”
“Kyle.”
“Yes.”
She’d known Annie since they were in second grade, and she knew her friend’s moods. Something was on Annie’s mind, but she wasn’t going to give it up.
And as emotionally spent as she felt, Portia gained tremendous strength from being with her dear friend. And Kyle—Kyle’s presence had kept her sane through life threatening circumstances.
“You don’t have to say anything, Portia. I see it on your face.”
“What’s that?”
“You’ve got a crush on your protector.”
“You know me well, but not as much as you think. Yes, there’s something there, but it’s not a crush, Annie. This is big. I’ve just been through so much that I don’t want to mistake extreme gratitude for...for...” She didn’t know what to name it.
“You don’t have to do anything but focus on today, Portia. My only suggestion is that
you don’t let the fact you’ve known him such a short time prevent you from exploring your feelings. I knew Josh for forever, but when the time was right, our relationship took off and well, you know what happened.”
“I do.” Annie and Josh were as deeply dedicated to one another as long-married couples, and they’d only been together for the last half year or so.
Could Portia even wish for what her friend had, with a man she’d only just met?
* * *
Portia’s head swam from all that had transpired but was surprised to find she felt comfortable in Josh’s office at SVPD for the second time in twenty-four hours. She couldn’t ignore that it no doubt had a lot to do with having Kyle at her side.
“Hello again, Portia.” Josh handed her the large laptop bag and purse. “Annie got these for you. She went to your apartment and added more clothes, stuff from your bathroom. I’m sorry you’re dealing with more than just a random library-computer theft. Kyle’s informed you that it’s best that you don’t go back to your apartment or the library for a week or two?” Josh looked from her to Kyle as if trying to figure out the extent of what they’d talked about.
“I told her that you and I were coming up with a plan.” Kyle looked up from his phone; he’d been texting someone. Portia realized she’d never wondered if he was single, available. She’d let her desire carry her away, because she’d wanted to believe kissing Kyle was a good option. Hadn’t she learned from Robert that powerful men rarely had anything less than a bevy of women on their heels? Yet Kyle hadn’t struck her as being involved with someone else. He was too focused on her whenever their eyes met. As if she were the only woman he’d ever seen. A delicious feeling, actually.
“Did Kyle mention the house?”
“What house?” She shook herself out of her Kyle daze. “Is it in Silver Valley?”
