Her Unlikely Protector

by Regan Black

“Excuse me,” Leo said, butting in to their conversation. “A friend of mine is out in this weather. Homeless.” He stamped his feet and blew into his gloved hands and then listed the places he’d been so far. “Do you have any other suggestions about where I should look for him?”

  “Stick with the shelters,” one young man replied, raking Leo with a glance. “You’ll be in trouble if you spend much more time out in this weather.”

  “But—”

  “No sense creating drama. We’re rounding up everyone who will come with us. If your friend’s smart, he’ll be at a shelter.” He clapped Leo on the shoulder. “Go on in and check around.”

  Leo didn’t need to be asked twice. Inside he found more people than he’d expected to see at a shelter that had just opened. Several people had clearly come in from the street and others seemed to be heeding the councilman’s advice to ride out the storm in a place where the power wouldn’t go out. There was no sign of Lara. He sent text message updates to Aubrey and Grant, hopeful someone would find her soon.

  Needing to thaw out, he joined the volunteers stocking stations with snacks and water while he kept an eye out for Lara. He’d just picked up another case of water when he caught the flash of a familiar bright pattern out of the corner of his eye.

  Looking up, he recognized the scarf he’d given Lara for Christmas. He took a deep breath before jumping to conclusions and making another blunder. This could be a coincidence. The cashmere scarf, with a stylized pattern for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team, hadn’t been one of a kind. “Great scarf,” Leo said.

  The man wearing the scarf clutched it to his throat and stepped back from the table.

  Leo noted that the accessory lacked the dinge of most items he’d seen in the homeless camp. He reached for the next case of water and tried again. “Cincinnati’s my team. Yours, too?” He offered a bottle of water.

  “No.” The man’s weather-beaten hand curled around the bottle and pulled it close, holding both it and the scarf tightly against his chest. “Some girl shared it with me. Said I could keep it. I was coughing.”

  Some girl. Leo’s head reeled. Had to be Lara. Here was the proof his sister was working within the homeless community of Philly. His first instinct was to show the man a picture, but he didn’t want to repeat his previous mistakes. “That was really nice of her.”

  “I know. I said thank you,” the man muttered defensively.

  “That was really nice of you,” Leo said.

  The man’s chin bobbed up and down once and then he wandered toward a row of long tables. Leo watched him go, hoping his conversation partner would join someone who might be more talkative. No such luck. The man wearing Lara’s scarf seemed to be a solo act.

  When the cases of water were stacked, Leo retreated to the kitchen where volunteers were warming up after scouring the city for people in jeopardy. “Is anyone heading back out?”

  “It’s coming down too hard,” a young man answered. A concurring murmur rippled through the kitchen. “I think we have everyone willing to come in. Some folks just don’t trust anyone no matter what we tell them.”

  Leo’s stomach sank. If Lara had earned the trust of those who refused to come in, she wouldn’t abandon them. “This group you just brought in—where did you find them?”

  The young driver explained they’d picked up a few people, including the man with the scarf, near a condemned building a few blocks away. Leo shoved his hands into his gloves, grabbed his coat and headed out to find his sister.

  * * *

  Aubrey was cold, despite the foul-weather gear covering her from head to toe. The storm was getting worse by the minute, but there were still some stubborn people out here, refusing to come in.

  Councilman Keller’s determination to make this a zero-loss event was admirable and the PPD would keep making rounds, urging at-risk people into shelters until the visibility was too low for safety. The police commissioner had quietly pointed out that he didn’t want to lose any officers, either.

  Although the councilman had excellent intentions, zero-loss was an impossible goal. Aubrey respected his commitment, agreed with it, and she and Calvin continued trudging on, hour after hour, checking alleys and buildings and cars for signs of people trying to survive without assistance. With each round they made, there were fewer people out and about. It was a good sign and normally she would have been delighted that people were taking the bad weather seriously.

  But as much as she looked forward to going home to her toasty apartment after shift, she dreaded the call to update Leo if no one spotted Lara at any of the shelters. None of her fellow officers had seen anyone matching Lara’s description. Aubrey had even gone against her intuition and pressed Mary-Tea for information, but the older woman hadn’t seen Lara since yesterday.

  Hearing a call over the radio about activity on the other side of the college campus on their route, Aubrey and Calvin agreed to check on it. They’d been over these blocks time and again. Aubrey had to move quickly to keep up with Calvin’s longer stride. She didn’t mind since the effort kept her a bit warmer. They reached the address and looked around, circling back to the alley behind the building.

  It was marginally warmer, with the structure blocking the worst of the wind. The snow that had blown in around the narrow passage was tamped down from several pairs of feet coming and going.

  “See anything?” Calvin asked.

  “No.” She shook her head.

  “Whoever was here must have gotten smart.” Calvin turned a slow circle. “Or frozen.”

  She could all too easily hear the reprimand if they were too late to help or overlooked someone in Keller’s district. As she followed Calvin out of the alley, movement caught her eye. A man huddling from the cold was poking at the flimsy cardboard and shelters. The distressed leather jacket was familiar, despite being soaked from the wet weather.

  “Leo?” He looked up and the raw grief etched on his face nearly knocked her back a step. She immediately snapped out orders for Calvin to call for a patrol car as she rushed to his side. “What are you doing back here?”

  “Aubrey?” A vapor cloud billowed between them and he squinted at her.

  “That’s right.” His cheeks and nose were red, his lips tinged with blue. She chafed his gloved hands. “Did you walk over here?”

  He nodded, his feet shuffling. “She isn’t here.”

  “That’s a good thing. No one should be.”

  “She was here, but she’s gone.”

  Aubrey wondered what made him so sure, but that question could wait until he was thawed out. “You are determined to be a problem in my precinct. Come on, let’s get you warmed up.”

  He walked slowly, the cold making him stiff. His shoes were soaked through and his jeans were wet to the knees. It was a wonder he was still standing. “Leo, you’re not dressed to be out in this weather.”

  “She isn’t here,” he repeated.

  The defeat in his voice broke her heart. Her big, mushy, too-soft-for-police-work heart.

  “I know,” she crooned. Why was the man out here? He wasn’t even wearing boots. “We’ll find her,” she said, adding more nonsense as she chafed his back and arms, trying to get some heat into him. “How long until the car arrives?” she asked Calvin.

  “They’re on the way.”

  “Have you seen her?” Leo tripped and Calvin helped her hold him upright.

  “Not yet,” Calvin replied. “Right now you’re my main concern.”

  Together they shuffled Leo toward the main street, hoping to intercept the patrol car as soon as possible. Keeping him moving was paramount to prevent any further injury from the cold.

  The vehicle met them before they’d walked a full block, and she and Calvin got him into the backseat and cranked up the heat. After a brief discussion, they decided to take him back to his hotel. His teeth chattered through the
entire trip and when they pulled up to the front entrance, she looked at Calvin.

  Without saying a word, he understood she didn’t want to leave Leo to his own devices. Shaking his head, he promised to handle things at the station. “They aren’t going to send us back out anyway,” he said. “Can you get him upstairs on your own?”

  “I’ll manage.”

  Leo was more cooperative, having thawed out a bit on the ride over. He seemed to be thinking more clearly, though his hands fumbled with his key card when they reached his room. She got the door open and helped him inside.

  Her radio crackled with the alert that all patrols were being called in and officers would only go out on an emergency basis. Leo shuffled around his room, unable to shrug off his coat, and she realized she was watching an emergency.

  “Let me help.” She yanked off her gloves and coat and reached for his, peeling them away from his shaking hands.

  “I can do it,” he protested, landing heavily in the chair by the window.

  “You aren’t doing it,” she pointed out gently. He’d put himself closer to the heater, but that was the only positive thing she could say for his decision making. If she walked out now, he’d likely just fall asleep right there. And he’d be sick by morning. Or worse.

  She dropped his gloves to the floor. Reaching around him, she turned up the heat and put the fan on high. Kneeling, she started to work on the laces of his shoes. Her fingers fumbled, stiff with cold as well as a hefty dose of nerves. When she imagined getting Leo out of his clothing, the scene wasn’t anything like this.

  The man was heartsick and chilled to the bone. When she had him down to a thin white undershirt and his wet jeans, she hauled him to his feet.

  “Thank you, Aubrey.” His lips collided with hers in an awkward, frosty kiss. With a little hum, he tried again.

  She patted his cheek. There were more effective ways to warm him up, though her body was eager to give it the old college try. How could such a meager kiss strike this immediate desire? She really didn’t understand herself.

  “You need to get warm,” she declared. After marching him into the bathroom, she turned on the shower. As the water heated, the small room started to steam up. This was a better way to thaw him out.

  Leo might be freezing and shivering, but the little tremors rippling through her were all about an overabundance of heat. After kissing him last night, and even just now, she couldn’t keep him locked away in the safe category of “person in need.”

  He was Leo. Not Mr. Butler. Not report number whatever it was on Lara’s missing person case. When he wasn’t impersonating an icicle, he was a walking fantasy, a baffled stranger in town, and a brother who’d lost all of his common sense to the worry for his sister.

  She wanted every facet of him, and all those facets waiting to be discovered. Ordering her hormones to shut up, she pulled off his damp shirt. He was a victim. A man in need, and her job was to help him in the capacity of a trained, professional first responder. It was a daunting task when she simply wanted to hold him close and promise him things would work out.

  She pressed her lips together and reached for the fly of his jeans.

  He pushed her hands aside. “I’ve got it.”

  “You’ll need to turn the temperature down before you get in or you’ll hurt your skin.”

  “Okay.”

  “Then slowly keep turning it warmer until the chill is gone.” She folded her arms over her chest, waiting.

  “All right.” He fumbled with his fly, but got the button open. His hand went still on his zipper. “I can take it from here.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Go. I’m embarrassed enough already.”

  She counted that a good sign. She walked out, hearing the splat of denim against the tile floor before she closed the door. He cursed, loudly, and she figured he hadn’t dialed down the temperature quite far enough.

  His lean torso was as solid as she’d imagined, and the reflection of his back in the mirror would give her plenty of fuel for more sexy dreams of a man who should really be off-limits. Between the blast of hot air in the room and the hotter direction of her thoughts, she had to unbutton her uniform shirt and take off her insulated boots. At least she was dry under the layers of gear.

  Distracting herself, she called in a room service order for both of them. If he insisted on pushing too far and putting himself at risk, he gave her no choice but to step up. Yes, it went above and beyond her official duty as a cop. Then again, her shift was over, her partner was handling the report and she couldn’t get home without risking her own case of frostbite.

  Leo was still in the shower when the delivery arrived. She used her credit card to cover the charge and tip, wishing she could have ordered a change of clothes, as well.

  The savory scents of cheesesteak sandwiches and thick-cut, seasoned fries made her stomach growl. It was hard to regret getting stuck here with Leo when the food was such a vast improvement over the can of soup she’d planned to heat up at home.

  The bathroom door opened and Leo strolled out, the white hotel towel low on his hips. Aubrey forgot the food, swamped by a completely different kind of hunger.

  “You’re still here.”

  She opened her mouth and nothing happened. No words, no sound. What in the world was wrong with her? One fantasy-fueling kiss didn’t give her the right to ogle him. She tried again, though her throat was dry as sandpaper. “I wanted to be sure you didn’t drown. Ya know, after trying to freeze to death.”

  “Scalding might have become the bigger risk.”

  Her gaze slid over him, taking in the deep rosy hue on his cheeks, the expanse of his torso and especially his feet. With heroic effort, she dragged her eyes back to his face. “I told you to turn the water cooler.”

  “I did. And following your instructions, I kept turning it hotter again until the chills stopped.”

  Her gaze drifted back to the dusting of golden hair on his chest and she forced her attention to more pertinent matters like his health. “Go on and dress so you can stay warm,” she said briskly. “Let’s keep you out of the hospital if we can avoid it.”

  “Yes, Officer.”

  She snorted. An obedient Leo Butler was a pipe dream. She turned away from him, toward the cart loaded with food. “I ordered cheesesteaks and fries. And coffee.”

  “Hot chocolate, too, I hope.”

  She heard the dresser drawer glide open and close again, the rustle of denim and softer fabrics. Her mind gleefully filled in the blanks, taunting her with the view she was missing. What she’d already seen wasn’t torture enough? She couldn’t seem to drag her thoughts back into a professional lineup.

  “I did.” She turned a mug upright. “Would you like some?”

  “I’d like to know you ordered it for yourself.”

  Oh. “I did,” she repeated.

  “Good. You deserve more than a hot chocolate for saving me.”

  “I plan to have one of these sandwiches,” she said.

  A low chuckle sounded behind her as he moved around. “You can look. I’m decent again.”

  The amusement in his voice made her smile, relaxed her. They were new acquaintances, sure, and she’d enjoyed the sensual chemistry. More than that, despite Leo’s pushing every limit, she recognized a trust and respect that ran both ways.

  She poured a cup of coffee for him and nearly bobbled it as he crossed the room. He was obviously feeling more like himself, evidenced by the masculine confidence that shredded what was left of her composure.

  He wrapped his hands around hers, holding her gaze as he took the coffee cup. His lips pursed as he blew across the hot surface before he took a sip. “Strong and hot,” he said. “Perfect.”

  Need coiled into a tight spring in her belly. Was he trying to get her to jump him? Because it was working. She didn’t know what
to do with her hands or where to look or how to handle whatever was going on here.

  She motioned to the covered plates of food. “You should eat something.”

  “You don’t expect me to eat alone, do you?”

  She had no idea what to expect with Leo. Pulling the chair away from the table, she plopped down. “What were you thinking out there?” Appalled by the outburst, she held up a hand. “Sorry. Eat first. Please. My questions can wait.”

  “You deserve an explanation,” he began.

  She cut him off. “Later.” She nibbled at a steak fry to appease her growling stomach while he loaded a plate with a chunk of the sandwich and a pile of fries.

  “You’re not eating?” he asked.

  “I’m getting there.” He’d scared her, nearly becoming a statistic out there in the alley. Now that he looked and acted like himself it all hit her. Hard. Left her hollowed out and weak. She didn’t have the luxury of weakness. Not on the job or off.

  Her stomach rumbled and she loaded up a plate for herself.

  “Wouldn’t it be more comfortable without the gun?” Leo asked. “Or are you planning to draw on me?”

  “Ha,” she said. “Although...if that’s the only way to keep you out of the storm, I won’t rule it out.”

  “Ha,” he echoed. “I’m sorry I created more trouble.”

  “Play to your strengths,” she quipped. Immediately contrite, she added, “I know you’re worried about Lara.”

  He took a big bite and chewed, leaving her to wonder how many more blunders she might make before the weather let up. She should check on the availability of another room here at the hotel. It would bust her budget, but it was better than mooching off Leo. He was clearly out of danger, and a little space was better than sticking here and giving in to temptation.

  She rose, moving toward the phone on the desk.

  “What are you doing?” Leo followed her. “You can’t go out in this.”

  He was absolutely right. Through the window she could see the storm had reached whiteout proportions. A person could get lost crossing the street. “Calling to see if they have another room available for tonight.”