Harlequin Romantic Suspense December 2020 Box Set

by Addison Fox, Cindy Dees, Justine Davis

  He almost laughed at her description of finding out who Tate really was, but decided it wasn’t quite the right moment. So he went with honesty instead. “That’s what I’m talking about. That kind of thinking. That’s what I need right now.”

  “And I’m not going to be a burden?”

  “No.”

  “And you’re not just saying that?”

  “No.”

  A small grin edged the corner of her lips before she winced, laying a hand on her jaw. “Ow. Don’t make me smile like that.”

  He knew she was trying to lighten the mood, but at the sign of her pain, he made one more internal vow.

  Whether he liked it or not, the RevitaYou case had become personal. And when he finally got his hands on Tate Greer, there was no way he was going to give the man any mercy.

  No way in hell.

  CHAPTER 6

  Sadie yawned and ignored the shooting pain in her jaw as she tried to remember the last time she’d been this exhausted. She’d pulled some all-nighters when she was in the police academy. She’d studied overtime and in every free moment she could find when she was learning the ropes for CSI. But none of it had felt so all-consuming.

  And so emotionally draining.

  Neither had it come with that bone-deep chill that still lingered from her dive into the lake.

  “We’re almost there,” Tripp said. “The turnoff for my neighborhood is in two more lights.”

  “Sorry. I guess I yawned out loud.”

  He grinned, the smile visible in the light of the streetlamps. “It was hard to miss.”

  She had always wondered about where he lived. Now that she had the chance to see his home, she could admit to some excitement. Tripp had always been a mystery at work. He was kind, a hard worker and a true champion for his people, but he kept himself aloof.

  Separate.

  It made him mysterious and, she admitted to herself, even a little bit sexier than he already was. Which was silly, because not knowing about people didn’t necessarily mean that lack of knowledge was a good thing. Look at all she didn’t know about Tate, for example.

  “What’s the frown for?”

  “Nothing.” Goodness, she needed to stop this train of thought. Not only was it frustrating and repetitive, but clearly those negative feelings were stamped all over her face.

  “Look, I know we don’t know each other incredibly well, but I’m a good ear. I don’t really talk to others, and I certainly don’t share confidences.”

  He made the turn at that second light he had referenced, pulling into a nice older neighborhood on the outskirts of Grand Rapids. Sadie had been here before, she realized. A friend of hers from high school had lived nearby and she’d visited often when she was younger. Although the trees were bare now, the neighborhood boasted huge oaks and the most gorgeous fall foliage when October came around.

  It suited him well, she thought. There was something solid and sturdy about the neighborhood. Just like Tripp.

  “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, or anyone, really.” Sadie started in, stopping as she tried to think of the right words. “I mean, I have my sisters, and we talk about pretty much everything pretty much all the time.”

  “I’m not trying to pry into the sisterhood.”

  She smiled at that and his sweet attempt at lightening the mood. “I promise I won’t make you pinky swear on anything, nor will I make you do my hair. But that’s not actually what I meant.”

  “I can do a mean braid, if I do say so myself.”

  “I’ll remember that.”

  She hesitated and wondered if she dared to say what was on her mind.

  Oh, what the hell.

  “It’s just that I can’t stop thinking about what a bad decision I made. And how horribly duped I was. It’s embarrassing, you know? Like, really embarrassing. Like, I-jumped-into-a-freezing-cold-lake-to-escape-the-jerk-I-thought-I-was-going-to-marry embarrassing.”

  Now that she’d gotten into it, the words wouldn’t stop.

  “I realize I should be incredibly upset because he tried to kill me. And I am. Don’t get me wrong, I really am. But it’s like one more example of how shortsighted I was. How stupid I was. And all that keeps going through my mind, over and over, is one question.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Was I so happy to finally have a relationship and someone who wanted to marry me that I didn’t pay any attention to what was actually going on?”

  Tripp navigated the neighborhood streets until they reached his driveway and he hit the opener for the garage door. He pulled in, his attention on the rearview mirror until the door closed fully behind them. It was only then that he turned off the ignition and turned to face her.

  “I don’t know how you feel. I haven’t been in that situation and I won’t insult you with some dumb platitudes designed to make me feel better, not you. But I will tell you something and I hope you take it to heart.”

  When she’d started in on her tirade, she’d expected he’d do nothing more than politely listen to the pressure cooker he’d unknowingly unleashed.

  But the serious look in his eyes, visible in the dome lighting, told another story.

  “What’s that?”

  “You’re a remarkable woman, Sadie Colton. I’ve thought it since the first time I saw you at the academy and I’ve thought it every day since. You’re sharp and smart and you care about people. You believe in people. And because of it, you’re one of the finest members of our department. You do right by others and you want to see justice brought for all who deserve it.

  “I can’t tell you how to feel, but I can tell you how others see you. And I can tell you how I see you. And it’s not as some helpless damsel in distress or some silly duped woman. Tate Greer is a criminal and he behaves like a criminal. And you, unfortunately, were collateral damage. That’s his fault, not yours.”

  He flipped off the dome light and reached for his car door handle, admonishing her before he got out. “Stay where you are. I’m going to come around and help you.”

  The normal urge to argue or to tell him she was fine never made it past her lips. Because she was still so shell-shocked over his speech.

  He thought she was remarkable.

  Her.

  She was still trying to make sense of those words when he came around and opened her door.

  * * *

  Tripp wasn’t sure what had gotten into him, but now that the rush of words was out, he wasn’t sure if he should be embarrassed or pleased by Sadie’s response.

  Or lack thereof, if the fact that she hadn’t moved from her seat was any indication.

  “Once you’re ready, step down carefully. If you place your foot on the running board, I’ll help you from there.”

  Sadie did as he asked, planting her feet as she shifted herself out of the passenger side. Her movements were slow, but he was pleased to see she seemed to have full range of motion as well as some pink color back in her cheeks.

  Even if that rosy glow competed with the purple bruise lining her jaw.

  Ignoring the hot rush of anger, Tripp took hold of her hands and helped her step down. Just like earlier, the gesture was simple and meant to help, but Tripp couldn’t help but feel there was something more to it. Something monumental.

  That was a train of thought he definitely needed to pull off the tracks if she was going to be living with him for the next few days.

  “There are just two steps up to the garage door. If you wait, I’ll help you up them and into the house.”

  He went around to the back of the vehicle to pull out a few of his work items as well as the small bag her sister had brought to the hospital. But by the time he closed the rear door to his SUV, Sadie was already at the steps.

  “Hey there. I told you to wait for me.”

  She turned t
o him, perched on the second stair. It basically made them eye level, but she had the slightest advantage in height. From her perspective, she looked down on him, a small smile at her lips.

  “I want to do this, before I lose my nerve.”

  Before he could even register her words, she leaned in and pressed her lips to his. It was a quick kiss, and rather chaste, but something inside him imploded.

  Unable to stop himself, his free arm wrapped around her, holding her in place. Without questioning if he should, or even if she’d welcome the gesture, he returned his mouth to hers. She hesitated for the briefest moment and he nearly pulled back, but her arms came around his neck, her lips opening beneath his.

  Desire and a delicious sort of shock rippled through him as the kiss spun out. Heat, need and the culmination of what felt like endless years of wanting combined to create something he had never felt before. A soul-deep desire that made all the principles he held on to so tightly seem almost silly.

  He didn’t need or want a relationship in his life…right?

  Somewhere a small voice inside kept trying to remind him of that, but Tripp disregarded its steady drumbeat. And then he ignored it completely as he dropped the bags from his one hand, lifting that arm to join the other at her waist. With the additional leverage, he pulled her closer, reveling in the way she seemed to melt into his arms.

  Her lips were playing over his, pulling sensation after sensation. Like that runaway train he had worried about, the emotion sparking between them was electric.

  And wildly raging out of control.

  It was Sadie who finally broke the kiss, her pretty green eyes hazed with passion. “I guess that means you didn’t mind.”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  She reached behind her for the doorknob. “I should probably go in now.”

  As she still fumbled for it, Tripp reached past her, his forearm brushing her waist, to turn the knob. “You should. I can help you, if you need it.”

  She shook her head, sudden shyness taking over her normally ebullient personality. “I’m good. A friend of mine from high school used to live in this neighborhood, and I think your house has the same layout. I can find my way.”

  He bent to pick up her bag, handing it over. “The bed in the spare room is all made up. And there are towels in the attached bathroom.”

  “Thanks.”

  She turned then and slipped into the house. While he hated to see her go, Tripp was strangely relieved. In the cooling aftereffects of their kiss, reality was rapidly coming back.

  He’d kissed Sadie.

  Well, she’d kissed him, but then he’d kissed her.

  The dangerous swings of emotion he had carried for the last several days had erupted at the touch of her lips. It was a distraction he didn’t need. More, with the threat to her well-being still out there, it was a distraction that could prove lethal.

  Yet no matter how hard he admonished himself, he couldn’t deny how good it felt to touch her. To kiss her.

  He gave her one more minute and then followed her into the house, setting the alarm behind him.

  As he heard the light creak of someone walking over the floors above his head, Tripp acknowledged he couldn’t deny how he felt at all.

  It was good to have Sadie here with him.

  Even if having her here, close enough to touch, would be the hardest test of his life.

  * * *

  Sadie came awake the next morning in a rush, the same way she had woken up every other day of her life. Only this day, she was different. Wildly different. Because last night she’d kissed Tripp. More, she had initiated the kiss with Tripp.

  Although he had caught up quickly, she thought, unable to hold back a smile.

  She hadn’t intended for things to go quite so far and, if she hadn’t been so exhausted, likely wouldn’t have worked up the courage to kiss him at all. But her guard had been down and he had said those lovely things in the SUV, so she’d gone for it.

  And then been beyond surprised to find such a willing partner in the kiss.

  Oh, could he kiss. Whatever she’d imagined, the strong lips with their gentle-but-firm pressure and the warm, secure feel of his arms around her had been beyond anything she’d imagined. And over the past several weeks, she’d imagined plenty.

  Only to find that reality had been so much better.

  Sitting up, Sadie tested her body, curious how many aches she would find. She was lightly sore all over. Yet, all things considered, she felt pretty good. But oh, her face. She raised a hand to lay it against her cheek and felt the tender, warm-verging-on-hot skin beneath.

  Damn it, Tate had done a number on her. She could only imagine what her face looked like and was dreading her first glance into the mirror. If it appeared half as bad as it felt, she was prepared to look pretty awful.

  Hitting her had been a nasty move, designed to make her feel small. And it had worked. Only now, with the bright sunlight of a winter morning streaming through the windows, it made her angry. She meant what she had said to Tripp the night before. She did want to help him. And in light of what he had suggested, working together through a timeline of the past several months in the investigation into Capital X, she likely did have something to contribute.

  Tate had thought he was so clever, concealing everything he did from her, but there had been some cracks. They had spoken of travel and he’d mentioned a lot of the places he had been to. He had almost bragged about it, really, talking about the things he had done and seen.

  She could use that. If they could triangulate some of the locations, they might have a better chance of tracking where Capital X’s interests might lie.

  Regardless of what they turned up from her memory, she was also a pretty decent whiz with the computer. She could dig as much as the next person, and she was determined to help Tripp find what he needed. They would put Tate away. And she was first in line to be part of the team to do it.

  With that resolution keeping her company, she got out of bed and crossed to the bathroom. Flipping on the light, she moved before the mirror, offering up a small prayer as she went.

  “May it not be too bad,” she whispered before opening her eyes. And watched them widen in her reflection as she took in the purple and blue that ran down the edge of her jaw.

  Wow. She breathed out, shocked to realize that it actually looked worse than it felt. That was saying something.

  Determined to find the silver lining—and realizing it was rooted in the fact that her jaw wasn’t broken—Sadie quickly washed up and headed back into the bedroom. She put on a fresh change of clothes then headed for the kitchen. Coffee would make it better.

  Then she’d hunt up a pad of paper and start writing down what she knew.

  It was only as she came into the kitchen that she found Tripp at the table a few steps ahead of her. He had his laptop open and a series of photographs laid out on the kitchen table. He was also scribbling notes on a legal pad beside his computer.

  “You’re up early.”

  He glanced up from his notepad. “I could say the same about you. Have you had enough sleep?”

  “I’ll probably crash again later, but right now I’m good.” She pointed to the coffee maker on the counter. “Can I get you a refill?”

  Tripp stood at that, snagging his mug from the table. “You don’t have to wait on me.”

  “It’s coffee. I think it’s okay.”

  He’d left a mug out for her on the counter and she filled it before turning with the pot to replenish his. It was only as she turned, morning light streaming through the window, that she caught his dark glare.

  “What?”

  “That bruise on your cheek.” Tripp came closer, ignoring the outstretched carafe in her hands and instead setting his mug on the counter with a hard thud. He then reached for her, tilting her face so he had a better
view in the light.

  “How sore is it?”

  “It hurts, but I’m fine.”

  He ran tender fingers over her jaw, from just beneath her ear all the way down to her chin. The light touch sent shivers down her spine and Sadie had the abstract thought that if given the chance she’d happily stand there with him every morning for the rest of her life.

  Oblivious to her thoughts, Tripp gestured with his mouth, his movements reminiscent of the Tin Man after a dose of oil. “Can you move it back and forth?”

  Sadie followed suit, nearly laughing out loud at the image.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “I’m waiting for you to pull out your oilcan, Dorothy.”

  It was enough to break the moment and he dropped his hand from her jawline. “Very funny.”

  “I’ll be fine. Nothing’s broken and, while it hurts, it’ll heal.”

  “We should get some ice on it. I should have thought to do that last night.”

  Last night.

  When they’d kissed.

  If she’d been even half thinking when she’d come into the house, she’d have thought of it herself. She’d fallen into bed, so exhausted from the day, that it had never crossed her mind.

  “I’ll do it in a bit. Right now I want to enjoy my coffee and see what you’re working on.” She turned to refill his mug before setting the coffeepot back on the burner. “I’ve been out of the loop on everything for the past month. Fill me in.”

  He looked about to argue before grabbing his mug and following her to the table. “What has Vikki told you?”

  “We communicated by burner phone when I was in the safe house, so I know a few things. But why don’t you give it to me through a cop’s eyes?”

  She took a seat, reaching for one of the photos he’d placed on the table. A name was pinned to the bottom: Landon Street. Sadie turned the photo over, curious to the details. “This is Flynn’s brother, right?”

  “Half brother. He’s the man who came up with RevitaYou.”