by Angi Morgan
“What you need to do is keep your nose clean until the major says otherwise,” Jack told him. “We can handle things. Even the weird stuff.”
The door opened again. Slate escorted a woman who must have been Vivian Watts to his desk across from Wade.
“You know I could run some of those names Heath sent you.”
“No!” both Slate and Jack said together. They startled Vivian and both gave him a look like he was crazy.
“I can work the list,” Jack said. “I’ll be patrolling most of those neighborhoods anyway.”
Obviously, Slate had already spoken to him about what needed to be done.
The outer office door burst open and Heath marched in, heavy boots on the worn linoleum. “Is my TV still in one piece?” he asked Slate, referring to the fight that had taken place in their living room.
“As a matter of fact, it’s better than my head,” Slate replied.
Vivian Watts sat on the edge of the conversation, obviously paying attention and purposely restraining her opinion. It was obvious since she had eyes only for her hero...Slate.
Heath gave her a strange look. Maybe he recognized the shirt she wore was one of Slate’s. But what was strange about that? All her clothes were gone in a fire. And yet, Slate seemed preoccupied until Jack had mentioned the list they were waiting on from Heath. Then Slate had been quick to jump in that it had been Vivian’s idea.
Dammit, Slate. You’re falling for her?
“Have you found anything significant with Allan Pinkston’s background check?” Jack asked.
“I guess Slate hasn’t gotten to the Ps on the sleep-study list.”
“Pinkston’s on it?” Slate asked. “This doesn’t make sense.”
“Do you think he’s Subject Nineteen?” Vivian asked, turning all the men’s heads toward her. Which in turn had them all looking at Slate.
“Maybe we should talk in the hall?” Jack suggested.
“Be right back, Vivian.” Slate almost cooed.
“Stay.” Jack looked at Wade with the direct order.
“Looks like I’m keeping you company for a while,” Wade said to Vivian. “I’m Wade Hamilton and I assume you’re Vivian. Guess they forgot we haven’t met. You getting along with Slate okay?”
He already knew the answer. Her blush confirmed his suspicions as his fellow rangers disappeared into the hallway.
“Are they always this bossy?” Vivian remained in Slate’s chair, sitting across from Wade. “So, why are you stuck here with me instead of with those three, making plans?”
“I’m supposed to have plausible deniability. They’re trying to keep me out of trouble.” Even though he was the one who’d started everything three weeks ago. By begging Jack to take his place and rescue Megan Harper—now Jack’s girlfriend—Wade had gotten himself banged up and assigned to desk duty.
“Thank you.” Vivian waved his attention back to the present. “Talking through what’s happening should be helpful. I’m glad you could wait around for us.”
“It’s not like I have a lot to do.” He patted the files living on the corner of his desk. “I’m officially off the streets.”
And officially without a life.
“So you’re the one who gave Slate my brother’s case, right?”
“That’s me.”
“I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done.”
“I didn’t do anything except ask a question.”
“I know Slate wouldn’t be helping me if it wasn’t for you. He told me as much when we met.” She stood and began pacing the short open space between the desks on the next row.
Wade leaned back in his office chair, openly admiring Vivian’s shapely form. From what Heath had mentioned about Slate’s interest, they were both pretty certain he would have found some reason to look into her brother’s case.
“From what’s happened around you in the past twenty-four hours, it’s a good thing he’s at your side. Slate’s a good man.”
She nodded in agreement and looked like she might cry. “I appreciate everything you’ve all done, especially Slate.”
The guys came back into the office just as Vivian politely covered her mouth.
Vivian Watts had more than appreciation in her eyes. It was a look that represented something Wade could envy. The spark of love or something close to it. He’d seen it a couple of times now. Never aimed in his direction, though.
Did that mean he was ready for it? Nope.
Hey, he was a bachelor and proud of his status. The last thing he needed was a girlfriend. Or a serious relationship.
“We’re out of here, man.” Slate darted in the door, gathered Vivian under his arm and got out fast. “Thanks.”
Heath ignored Vivian and kept walking out the door.
Jack waited for the others to leave then wandered to Wade’s desk. He rapped a knuckle on the corner files. “It’s another good hunch. This won’t last forever. You’ll be out there fighting the good fight soon enough. You should lock up and go home.”
“Be cool,” Wade said as the door shut behind his partner.
It was late. He should go home.
Instead, he flipped open another file, brought the number up on the computer and began the process of verification. He really should get a life. Or maybe at least go on a date. But one woman kept breezing through his thoughts, pushing all the others aside... Therese Ortiz.
Repaying the favor he owed her was the reason he sat in this chair instead of doing the work he loved. Your pigheadedness got you stuck behind this desk. Not a woman. He couldn’t help his natural curiosity, he argued with himself. Was it his fault that he wanted to know more about her and what she did?
Therese was exciting. An unknown that he couldn’t predict.
The broken ribs ached. He carefully sucked in a deep breath, expanding his lungs to capacity. Testing them. Disappointed in their reaction.
After two weeks, the swelling was gone from his eye and the bruise looked like a yellow stain on his skin. He’d tried to find out what had happened to Therese or where she’d gone after her arrest, but all records of her involvement with the Harper case had disappeared.
So had the number he’d contacted her through before.
Wade wasn’t a patient man and hated to wait for Therese to reach out. But he knew without a doubt that she’d call.
And that he’d answer.
Chapter Twenty
“I want to help. I can be useful. You even told your friends that it was my idea to look up other veterans who may have had problems.” Vivian had voiced all the arguments in the truck on the return drive to Slate’s home.
He still hadn’t told her what he, Jack and Heath had discussed in the hallway out of her earshot. In fact, he’d been very closemouthed since asking her if she was ready to leave Company B headquarters.
“Did I miss a key piece of information? Did they discover something you don’t want to tell me?” she asked.
He shook his head and turned down the drive to his ranch house. It was completely dark at this end, but she could see the porch lights at both houses. There was no way to see a dark car parked along the road here. She hoped he wasn’t blaming himself for Allan Pinkston’s attack.
“You sure are quiet,” she said.
He parked his truck, cut the engine and gripped the steering wheel so tightly she could see the blood leaving his knuckles. Whatever he was working up the courage to say wasn’t going to be good.
“I have to apologize,” he said.
“For what?”
“Letting my guard down like that could have cost you your life.”
“I think we both let our guards down.”
Somehow she knew that he’d withdraw even more if she extended her hand to touch him like she wanted. Going inside and trying to pick up where they’d lef
t off would be awkward to say the least. Another intimate moment like that would bring up his need to apologize.
Yeah, it wouldn’t work. The possibility of a relationship with this kind man had passed.
“If you could take me to the women’s shelter in the morning, that would be great.”
“I don’t blame you for thinking... Hell, I’m totally at fault here. You lost your apartment and everything you owned. I should never have put you in a position where you thought you had to have sex with me.”
“What?”
“I want you to know that you’re welcome to stay here as long as it takes to get back on your feet. I spoke to my mom—”
“You think I was going to sleep with you for payment?”
He shook his head so hard the truck bounced. “No, not that. But a lot’s happened you might have...”
“Go ahead. I dare you to say that I’m a poor little ol’ female. So totally confused and overwhelmed by my situation that I’d sleep with the only man who extended me a kind word. Go ahead.”
“That’s not what I meant at all.”
“You know, Slate, you approached me. I didn’t ask for your help.” She jumped down from the truck, slamming the door. She marched several steps before she realized she had nothing to collect from inside.
She really did own nothing, and her smoky suitcase was still in the back of the truck. She pivoted with her next step and saw Slate still inside the truck cab, mouth open, probably wondering what had just happened.
She got back inside. “I’m not staying with you more than it takes to drive me someplace I can stay tonight or drop me under a bridge with a cardboard box.”
It was Slate who reached out and rubbed her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m serious.”
“I know you are. I spoke with my parents before we left. We can sleep in the main house.”
“No.”
He pulled the keys from the ignition and shoved them into his pocket. “It’s nonnegotiable. Heath and Jack agreed that it’s too dangerous to stay here. Whoever’s after you knows where I live.”
“That means it’s too risky to stay with your parents.”
“My parents are leaving in the morning. The alternative is us in the same room at a motel.” He shoved his hands through his short hair. “I know that’s not a good idea. It makes better sense to be somewhere with more than one room.”
“Just take me to a shelter.”
He shifted, winced at the muscle strain and stretched his neck. She would offer to rub the kinks out again, but that’s how this all started, with an innocent gesture.
“Look.” He dropped his hand on top of her shoulder again. “If you insist on going somewhere... I get it. There’s a motel back on Interstate 30, I’ll get a room. You can take the bed and I’ll camp out in front of the door. But I’d feel safer here with Dad’s shotgun pointed out the window while I catch some shut-eye.”
She’d forgotten that he hadn’t slept much. For that matter, neither had she.
“We are already here. Is there something I could do? Like keep watch? I’ve done it before in the military. Or maybe some chores? I’d love to repay you and your family.” Was she giving in and accepting his charity because she didn’t want to find a way to repay him for a hotel room? Was her mind actually working that way now?
Did it matter? She had few choices. Humbling herself to keep the rangers working on Victor’s case hadn’t been as difficult as before she’d kissed Slate.
“That’s not necessary.”
“My only goal at the moment is to get my brother out of jail. I’ll worry about my life and Victor’s after he’s free and clear of these charges. So I need to accept your charity for now.”
“That’s not what I had in mind when I apologized.”
“No apology necessary.” She meant it. Whether it sounded sincere or not wasn’t something she could correct at the moment. “I guess I should get the things you bought me together and move to your parents’ spare bedroom?”
“That’s probably best.”
The gravel crunched under their feet as they got out of the truck and went to the porch. So much had changed since they’d made the short walk earlier that evening before dinner. Even after the attack at the hospital, she’d felt lighthearted and good for the first time in months. Now...not so much.
“Care to share what you guys talked about without me?” she asked once inside.
“A game plan of sorts.” He went to the closet and got a gym bag, smelling the inside before handing it to her. “We split up the list. I didn’t mean to segregate you.”
“Oh, I realize that. Wade explained it was him you were trying to protect.” That still made it sound like she was upset about being excluded. “I’m not angry or anything. Just curious what the plans are for tomorrow. When I should wake up, et cetera.”
“Well...”
“Oh, no. I’m not waiting here with your horses while you discover who set up my brother. Please don’t strand me here to wait.”
“I told Jack you wouldn’t go for it.” He moved stiffly, attempting not to bend his knee.
“What’s wrong?” She pointed to his legs.
“Just need a couple of bandages across my knees from when I fell earlier. I think the blood dried to my pants.”
She was going to regret her next words. “Drop your jeans and let me see.” Just stay angry, and they’d be safe.
“Nothing doing. That is not a good idea.”
Vivian placed her hands on her hips for emphasis. “Do you honestly think I’d sleep with you after you practically called me a prostitute?”
“I didn’t say anything like that. You’ve been through a lot of trauma whether you recognize it or not.”
“Is that what your buddies at Company B told you?” She took a step closer to him and reached for his rodeo belt buckle to force him to comply.
He tried to jump back but stiffened in pain.
“Come on, Slate. You need help and I’m here. We are not going to sleep together. Ever. Not now. And it’s not like I haven’t see your plaid boxers before.” She walked toward his bathroom. “Where are the bandages and peroxide? In here?”
“There’s a first aid kit on the top shelf of the laundry cabinet.”
She heard the sound of a large belt buckle hitting the floor along with a couple of curses. “I’m not taking my boots off and making it easy to undress.”
“Suit yourself.”
Finding the first aid kit exactly where he said it would be, Vivian took a second to look at herself in the mirror. She didn’t look upset, insulted or homeless. She had a smattering of makeup left and her eyes weren’t red from crying for once.
Since the rain had stopped, her hair was actually halfway decent, too. She washed her hands, grabbed a clean washcloth and towel, then returned to the living room.
Slate did indeed have his pants pulled down around his boots. His strong thighs were tan instead of the white that she would expect from someone who worked out in the sun instead of going tanning. He also had a pillow covering his lap.
“I’ll clean up in here while you’re getting your stuff together,” he said.
She hadn’t noticed that the living room was still a mess from the earlier fight. Had that really been just a few hours ago? She pulled the coffee table closer, opened everything and caught a look at Slate’s knees.
“Those are pretty bad. There’re rocks still in the wounds.” She retrieved a bowl of warm water and a beer for the patient. “This is going to hurt. No way around it.”
“Yeah, I figured.”
The peroxide fizzed and she instinctively blew and waved her fingers at the white bubbles. She used the cloth to clean as much as she could before using the tweezers for the pebbles stuck in his skin. It was an intense experience and the least she could
do for Slate after keeping Allan Pinkston from catching her.
Had Slate known he’d wreck his knees like this in the gravel?
He gritted his teeth, took a sip of beer and dug his nails into the pillow. But he never yelled out. Vivian hated hurting him and winced several times at what she had to do.
“Thank you,” she whispered when she finished taping the second bandage in place.
“I think you’ve got that backward.” He reached for the top of his pants but paused.
“If I were you, I’d get something looser than those jeans. At least for tonight.”
He splayed his hands like he was stuck. She tugged the jeans up a bit, giving her access to the boots. Then she slipped each from a foot before pulling off the jeans, then folding them. She set them on the arm of the couch and extended her hands to help him stand. Much like he’d done for her before Pinkston had arrived.
He took her hands and when she tugged, his body rose to be next to hers. She couldn’t step back because of the table. His arms went around her waist to prevent her from falling.
Close to him again, she felt all the tension leave her body to be replaced by anticipation. She wanted him all over again. His erection proved he wanted her, too.
“I’m sorry if I offended you back in the truck,” he said softly. “I was embarrassed for the both of us. Not that we had anything to be embarrassed about. We’re both adults. It was just that it wasn’t fair to you that my parents...you know.”
“We’ve already agreed that sleeping together isn’t the most brilliant idea right now.”
“Probably not. But you should understand that it’s still on my to-do list. You’re not getting away that easily.”
“I didn’t think I had been affected by everything in the past couple of days, but you may be right. I mean, right about being emotionally compromised.” She sweetly kissed his lips and kept it short. “I don’t mind being on your to-do list.”
She was certain that could be misinterpreted, but she didn’t care. They were friends again. She was curious about the potential between them and knew he understood. He stepped around her and gestured toward his boxers.
