Saving Rose Red

by Maggie Dallen

She deserved that. What had he been thinking? He hadn’t been thinking, that was the answer. He’d allowed himself to get caught up in a fantasy. He’d been acting like he was on a date with the wine and the small talk…and the kissing. Oh man, that kissing. But soon enough he’d have to walk away. Pretending that this was anything more than fleeting was a mistake. One that would only end in someone getting hurt. Definitely him, that was a given. His mind flashed back on the gentle look in her eyes as she’d given him a kiss on the cheek.

  Maybe Andie, too. That was unacceptable.

  Chapter Seven

  Something happened to Cole and Andie had no idea what. The change was clear as day—like a light being switched off when he looked in her direction.

  Had she done something? Said something? For the life of her she couldn’t figure out what had gone wrong in the course of one short car ride across town. The worst part was, she couldn’t ask him about it. Not immediately, at least.

  Once they reached Hunter’s place, Jenna was waiting for them with mugs of tea but her hostess demeanor didn’t fool Andie. She was practically vibrating with the energy it seemed to require to hold back the questions.

  Finally, Andie took pity on her. She took a sip from her tea as she watched Cole, Spencer, and Hunter talking in low voices across the room—most likely game-planning how they’d proceed. Heaven forbid they think to include her in the conversation. She gave a mental eye roll. It wasn’t like she was involved or anything.

  She’d get the downlow from Cole when they were done, but for now she had a near-frantic half-sister to contend with. Putting her cup down, she turned to face Jenna. “Okay, go ahead. Ask your questions.”

  With what looked like an excessive amount of will power, Jenna clamped her lips together and shook her head. “I promised Mackenzie I’d wait until she got here so you and Cole don’t have to repeat everything.”

  Andie’s eyes widened in shock. “You told Mack?”

  Hunter overheard and he and Cole came over to join them. “We thought she might be able to help,” Hunter said. To an extremely disgruntled-looking Cole, he explained who Mack was and how she ran HeatMap. “She’s been trying to uncover the Gallagher criminal connections for a long time now. She might be a good resource.”

  Cole looked to her first as if needing her confirmation that Mack could be trusted. When she gave a little nod, he gave a grunt that seemed to pass for approval. She tried not to read too much into it, but his trust in her and her judgment was heartening. He might have flipped off the tenderness but at least he still trusted her.

  And maybe he was acting standoffish because they were no longer alone. He didn’t know these people the way she did—it made sense that he might be on guard. That’s what she tried to tell herself, at least. But she still found herself trying to meet his gaze and hoping to see something deeper there. Something that had been there before but had gone missing.

  Mackenzie showed up with Jacob in tow—Cole glowered at the new addition but Jacob didn’t seem to notice. He gave Cole that charming smile of his as he shook his hand as if they were the best of friends. Turned out he wasn’t comfortable with Mack going into this situation without him and no one could blame him.

  So there they were. Just the seven of them. Nice and cozy. Everyone seemed to be talking at once getting one another caught up on what had been unfolding over the past two days—everyone except for her and Cole.

  He glowered at the group from where he sat on the edge of the living room. Andie was on the couch, sandwiched between Jenna and Mack, both of whom seemed to think was her personal duty to keep her safe. Good Lord, everyone in this room seemed to think it was their duty to keep poor little Andie safe from danger.

  Please.

  Their protectiveness was sweet, she supposed, but it wasn’t her they should be worried about. She kept casting sidelong glances in Cole’s direction but he either wasn’t picking up on her looks or he was purposefully avoiding her.

  He kept his mouth shut until the doorbell rang. Then he threw his hands up and growled, “What now? Is there anyone you didn’t invite to this little tea party?”

  Andie and everyone else ignored him. He got a pass because it was his life on the line and all. And really, this party was getting a little out of control. Too many cooks in the kitchen, for sure. Everyone seemed to have a take on what he should do and pretty much every theory involved keeping Andie far, far away from any possible danger.

  Hunter answered the door and when he came back to the living room he was followed by a tall, lean Hispanic man with black hair and steel gray eyes that glowed with warmth. Andie liked him immediately.

  She liked him even more when Cole relaxed slightly at the sight of him. “Eddie, good to see you.”

  Eddie headed straight to Cole and to Andie’s delight, he not only took Cole’s proffered hand but pulled the big, stubborn giant in for a bear hug that Cole reciprocated.

  Awww. Some of her nagging fear eased up at the sight. See? He cared. He could care. He wasn’t the cold, unfeeling guy he kept pretending to be. She knew that, of course, but he’d done a good job of shutting down his emotions these last couple hours and seeing him open up again, even if it was with someone else, was a good reminder.

  Once Eddie was filled in on who everyone was and assured that all could be trusted, he told them what he’d been up to. “I have internal affairs quietly going through all the new personnel—new transfers, new hires. Anyone who might have access to Cole’s investigation.”

  “So you think it’s one of us,” Cole said. Andie’s heart ached on his behalf and she toyed with the idea of getting up and going over to where he sat but his crossed arms and shuttered expression stopped her. Now was clearly not the time to try and resume their earlier intimacy. But she wasn’t giving up on him. Not without a fight. What she’d felt with him—the chemistry, but also the easy companionship—that wasn’t something she’d ever experienced before and she refused to let it go. They deserved to see what this was, if it really was something.

  Everything in her told her it was. Her gut and her heart told her this wasn’t just something, it was everything. It was the real deal, she was sure of it. When she was with him, it felt…right. There was a wholeness, a contentedness there that she hadn’t known existed before he walked into her life.

  Eddie’s voice cut into her thoughts. “It definitely looks like the Coradas got some inside information from someone.” He clearly didn’t want to outright state that it was a cop behind the leak…but Spencer had no such reservations.

  “It was an officer, all right.” Everyone turned to him. As usual, he turned taciturn and aloof in the face of a crowd. He gave a shrug as he tapped at the keys on his laptop. “Once Andie left I blew up the photo she gave me and enhanced the image.”

  At his silence, Hunter prodded, “And?”

  Spencer gestured toward his screen. “And there’s a slight bulge beneath his jacket that could indicate a concealed weapon.”

  “Is that it?” Mack asked.

  He clicked some keys and his smile turned smug. “From what I can make out from the car in the corner, it’s an unmarked cop car. It has all the tells, including bars between the front and back seats. It’s not easy to spot, but they’re there.”

  Everyone was staring at him. Finally, Andie said, “Why didn’t you tell us this earlier?”

  He shrugged again. “I didn’t know what I was looking for before so I didn’t take a close look at the car.”

  “Better late than never,” she said. Spencer gave her a little smirk as thanks.

  Eddie and Cole looked dangerously angry. They wore matching scowls as they turned over this new information that confirmed their worst fears.

  Or at least, Andie imagined it was their worst fears. She nibbled on her lower lip as she fought the urge to tackle Cole with a hug that would dispel the tension written all over him.

  Cole turned to Spencer. “Do you think you could make out any numbers on the license plate?”


  Spencer nodded slowly. “I can try.”

  Eddie stood. “Send me whatever you’ve got on that car. It could help our guys narrow it down.”

  Hunter was tasked with keeping Cole and Andie safe and hidden while Eddie promised to keep an eye on Andie’s friends and family, Spencer included.

  Mack recruited Jenna to help her do more research on Anthony and his family to see what they could dig up to help Cole. She felt certain that if they combined their efforts they could help him find some tie between Anthony and the Coradas.

  The only one left without an assignment was Andie. Apparently her job was to not get killed. Her mission was simple: don’t reply to Anthony’s texts. Stay inside and out of sight. Lie low until this all blew over.

  She blew out a rush of air that had her pink bangs fluttering. Non-action was not exactly a satisfying assignment. “Are you sure I can’t do anything more useful?”

  No one seemed to hear her. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Maybe if I took Anthony up on his offer—”

  “No.” Cole barked the word from across the room, his gaze fixed on her with an intensity that was unnerving.

  She swallowed down her protest until later when she could catch him alone. There was a lot they needed to discuss and being put in the corner like a child was absolutely on the agenda.

  It was late by the time the gathering broke up. Eddie took Spencer, Mackenzie, and Jacob back to their homes, and Andie helped Jenna make up the bed in the spare room for her. Cole came into the living room while she was turning the couch into a makeshift bed.

  She frowned down at it as she threw the last pillow at one end. “Are you sure you don’t want the bed?”

  “No.”

  Her sigh was loud in the quiet room. Jenna and Hunter had long since gone to bed and this was the perfect time to talk to Cole. Assuming she could manage to get more than one syllable words out of him.

  She straightened the blanket. “We could share the bed.”

  Heat flooded her cheeks at his silence. She probably sounded like some desperate lech. “I mean, you could sleep on top of the blankets or something. I didn’t mean—”

  “I know what you meant.”

  Well, at least it was more than one word. But his tone was far from welcoming. Sure enough, when she turned around to face him there was absolutely nothing in his stance or demeanor that said “let’s chat.” If anything, he managed to convey “leave me alone” awfully well with nothing more than a heavy-lidded glare.

  She swallowed down a rare case of nerves. “I’m sorry.”

  A flicker of surprise flashed in his eyes before he resumed his unreadable mask. “Sorry for what?”

  She looked up at him through her eyelashes. He was too hot. Too sexy. Too masculine and too…much. Just too much. Her senses couldn’t handle it. But that was a good sign, right? That was how one was supposed to feel around a guy one liked.

  And she liked Cole. He might have been the exact opposite of every guy she’d ever dated, but that didn’t mean anything. She’d been drawn to her past boyfriends for one reason—she’d thought they might have a future. She’d thought that maybe they could be the one. Now, if she compared her string of short-term boyfriends to Cole, they seemed overwhelmingly…flimsy.

  She might not have known Cole for long, but he already seemed more real than any of the other men who’d come before. He was a solid presence and he took up a space in her life. Something told her that if she were to never see him again, she’d feel the empty space acutely. But he barely knew her and she had no reason to believe he felt the same. All she had to go on was her instincts…her heart. And right now, her heart and her gut were in agreement—despite his big, burly size and his formidable muscles, the cagey expression he wore told her one thing.

  He was scared.

  She approached him cautiously. “I’m sorry that your fears were proven to be true.”

  At his temporary look of incomprehension, she clarified. “That the leak came from the police department, I mean.”

  Understanding dawned but he merely shrugged. “These things happen. It’s disappointing but not unheard of.”

  She took another step toward him and tried not to flinch when he backed away. So apparently something had changed between them between that epic kiss in her apartment and here.

  Just the memory of that kiss made her skin burn in the best possible way. The temperature in the room skyrocketed suddenly as she remembered the feel of his hard muscles beneath her hands, pressing against her….

  “You’ve had a long day,” he said. “You should get some rest.”

  She bit back a tween-angst retort but the urge to remind him that he was not her father was almost too powerful to restrain. “Thanks for your concern, but I’m not all that tired. My brain is going a mile a minute.”

  He watched her in silence. Well, he was definitely not going to make this easy.

  “I was actually hoping you and I could talk before we go to bed.”

  She took another step closer to him and he didn’t back away but he stiffened as if her nearness was physically uncomfortable. Well, good. Because she was definitely uncomfortable around him, but not in a bad way. She was painfully aware around him—of herself and of him. It was like all her senses went on red alert when he was near.

  When she reached out a hand to touch him and he jerked away from her touch—that was when she knew she needed to reconsider her strategy. A new idea popped up in her mind. Turning her back on him, she whipped her thin sweater over her head in one swift move. She was wearing a camisole underneath so the gesture wasn’t nearly as salacious as it could have been.

  Still, she heard his breathing halt and smiled to herself in victory.

  “What are you doing?” he growled. She saw her sweater appear out of the corner of her eye as he held it out to her like he was waving a flag. And maybe he was waving a white flag of surrender because his voice was hoarse and strained. “What do you want from me?”

  Her smile faltered at that. He made it sound like she was torturing him, but that wasn’t what she’d intended. She’d just wanted to show him how much he meant to her. Glancing over her shoulder, she met his gaze and smiled. See? No threat here.

  “I wanted to talk to you about my tattoo.”

  After a brief silence, he blinked at her as if those words were just now being processed. She’d like to think his slow response was caused by the fact that they were alone together in what was basically his bedroom.

  “Your tattoo,” he repeated slowly. “Now?”

  She shrugged, turning slightly. Yes, now. If there was one thing she’d learned in her life it was that finding a true connection was rare and precious. There was no way she could let any more time go by without claiming it.

  Her mouth went dry as nerves threatened to drown her but she turned her shoulders again so her tattoo was visible above the low-cut neckline of her camisole. She pulled her hair up off her neck to make sure he could see.

  She didn’t have to have a mirror to know what he was seeing, the thin line of ivy that connected a collection of seemingly random images. Pointing to her right shoulder, she said, “See that one? The whiskey bottle? That was the first one I got. I was thirteen.” She glanced over her shoulder with a wry smile. “I thought I was so cool when I discovered that older guys would buy liquor for me if I smiled real pretty. The one next to it, the compass. Spencer has the same one. It means we’ll always be there to help each other find our way.”

  “Andie—”

  She didn’t know what he was going to say but she didn’t like his tone. It sounded wary. Weary, almost. She licked her lips and hurried on. “This cheesy little heart is for my first love. I was fifteen and he was older. Too old for me, but try telling teenage me that. I didn’t want to hear it.”

  She was starting to babble but she couldn’t seem to stop. “They’re not all in chronological order. I got this book for the nice lady who took me in when I was eight. I’d
managed to get that far without learning to read. Like, at all. I didn’t even know my ABC’s so Ms. Sheryl took it upon herself to teach me. I wanted to make sure I never forgot her kindness. My life would have turned out a whole lot different if I’d never learned. And then there’s the snake—”

  The feel of his hands on her shoulders finally put an end to the verbal barrage that had come crashing out of her mouth. The silence seemed to stretch and bend, wrapping them in a cocoon she was loathe to break. But she hadn’t even reached the point. And if he spoke first… Well, she was terrified of what he would say.

  He dropped his hands and the spell was broken. Spinning around, she forced herself to face him to say this next part, trying not to notice the way his expression was set. He didn’t want to hear her. Well too bad.

  “I was thinking about getting a knife as well as the red rose tattoo.”

  She could feel him stiffen even though they weren’t touching.

  “A dagger, really,” she clarified, as if perhaps he’d missed what she was getting at.

  “Andie.” Her name came out as a low growl. A warning.

  “I know,” she said. “I know what you’re going to say. That it’s too quick, that I don’t know you well enough….” His eyes met hers and she hated the sadness she saw there. Even as she spoke she could sense him pulling away in every possible way.

  “But the thing is, you’re wrong. What you’re thinking is wrong. I don’t have to know you for years to know that you’ve made a difference in my life. And I don’t just mean that since meeting you I’m suddenly in the middle of some Scooby-Doo mystery.”

  She thought she saw a flicker of a smile and hope reared up in response.

  “For the first time in my life I feel like I’ve genuinely clicked with someone.” His gaze grew hooded again and she swallowed past the sudden lump in her throat. “For the first time I’ve met someone who really sees me…even when I can’t always see myself.”

  His eyes darkened and his gaze moved to her lips. That had to be a good sign, right? He might not be declaring his feelings back to her but she hadn’t expected that. Hoped for it, maybe, but she would have been surprised if he opened up just like that.