by Sheila Kell
Kate lifted the grocery sacks from him and placed them on the kitchen counter.
“Kate, you can stay in there.” Rylee pointed to one of the two rooms off the living area. “Devon, you can sleep in the loft. While it’s not a large cabin, there’s plenty of room up there. Just watch your head. The ceiling slants.” She hastened to the exit. “I’m going outside to rustle up Angel.”
He nodded and turned to the guest room, with Kate fast on his heels. He dropped her bag at the foot of a bed covered with a country quilt with hand-sewn squares by the look of it.
She closed the door behind them. “I’m glad you’re staying. She’s lying to us. Or at least leaving something out,” she suggested in a hushed tone.
He couldn’t argue with her on that issue; he already planned to get to the bottom of it. “Why aren’t you staying? I have a hard time believing you’re just walking away from this.” He kept his voice low to match hers.
“It’s tough to do, but I expect you to keep me updated. I know there’s a reason she’s here, and she doesn’t want to share with me. I’m hoping she’ll open up to you.”
“Have you thought that maybe she really just wanted to hide from me and won’t say a word? She did ask for an annulment after all.” That word kept lodging itself in his throat. He’d probably heard it only a handful of times growing up. Since receiving the paperwork a month ago, it had rung in his mind hundreds of times and each time the word repeated in his thoughts, it became more bitter and harder to swallow.
Kate shook her head. “Maybe that’s part of it, but not the real reason. Dave’s goons know she was in the car. Of course, I’m sure they won’t mention knowing anything about it either. If you find out something is wrong, you get in touch with me right away. I’ll bring all the men here. Rylee is too important to me. And, I believe she might be to you also.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “I—”
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep my mouth shut. You fix whatever there is between you two. In the meantime, this is mine.” She reached for her bag and withdrew a Beretta. “Take it.” She smiled weakly. “Just in case.”
His body lurched in surprise. “Christ, Kate. How the hell did you get that through airport security?”
She shrugged, confirmed the safety was engaged, slipped the clip out to check it, slapped it back in and handed it to him with the grip facing him and the barrel pointed down.
A damn handgun. His job was to give them to the team, not accept them for his own use. He knew how to operate one, but that wasn’t the point. “Fuck. Please tell me you didn’t ask Arthur for a favor.”
Indignation shined on her face. “No. Of course not. I put it in a locked case in the bag I checked.”
He’d wondered why she’d checked a bag for the anticipated short trip. “Dammit. You could’ve pulled an alert that Arthur would’ve found. He’ll have someone up here to grab Rylee to question. You and I both know that will be hairy for her with Westbrook’s son being involved. Even if she says she wasn’t there, her disappearance about the same time tells a different tale of her knowledge that something occurred.”
“Look, Arthur feels like shit after what happened with Jake. He loves Rylee and I think he wants us to watch out for her. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have called me.”
“Fuck. He called you? You know we aren’t working with him. Why the hell didn’t you tell us he was who you’d spoke with about the shooting? Jesse is going to be pissed.”
Placing a hand on her hip, she sighed. “Don’t worry. He doesn’t know we left to search for her. I told him that we had no idea where she was located. He won’t push me.”
Devon grunted in disbelief. The man did love Kate, but Arthur had fucked the family by keeping them in the dark about Jake’s location all those years and then the delay in allowing them to rescue him. A once tight family relationship with the man was held together by a shoestring. Putting his trust in Arthur again was too much to ask, especially with Rylee’s life.
“I don’t think he’ll send anyone unless I say something to him.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “I don’t know. Maybe we should get her out of here if she really wants to avoid the FBI.”
Kate shook her head. “No. You stay here and find out what the hell is going on. If you find different, then we’ll act.” She pushed the handgun closer to him. “Now, take this, just in case.”
He accepted the weapon and weighed it for comfort. Kate had a point. If Rylee was in trouble, which he didn’t doubt, he might need it. Holding the weapon, he hoped that this time he had the courage to pull the trigger in time so no one died.
RYLEE ASSISTED KATE in the kitchen preparing dinner. To her relief, Devon offered to take Angel outside, leaving her alone with his sister-in-law. She laid the knife she’d been using to cut fresh oregano on the counter beside the cutting board and turned to her friend. “Kate, I can’t do this.”
Kate didn’t even so much as glance her way. She continued stirring the ingredients in a large pot of slowly forming fragrant pizza sauce. “Do what? Make sauce? Sure you can, it’s easy enough.”
Rylee shook her head, frustrated, since she had no doubt that Kate knew what she meant but acted innocent. “Devon. You can’t leave me here alone with him.” Her insides fluttered in a weird way at the thought and it confused her. Maybe she’d picked up a bug. That could explain why her body went hot and cold and all crazy inside. Only, it hadn’t started until Devon had arrived. “I don’t trust him.”
Wiping her hands on a towel, Kate looked at Rylee and shook her head. “Nonsense. Devon is probably the most trustworthy of the Hamilton men.” A slight chuckle escaped her lips. “Don’t tell Jesse I said that.”
“But, he took advantage of my being drunk while we were in Vegas.”
Kate raised a questioning brow. “How’s that? Last I checked, it takes both parties to say, ‘I do.’”
Rylee’s stomach lurched at the thought. If she could only make Kate understand, she wouldn’t allow Devon to stay there with her. “I had a—” She broke off in an almost choked voice and took a deep breath before beginning again. She hated to admit this weakness, but it couldn’t be helped if she wanted him gone. “I had a blackout. I don’t remember anything except waking up next to him. I had to have been drunk as all get out or hell, something was put in my drink. Either way, he married me when I wasn’t in my right mind.”
Her friend’s expression hardened, and Rylee knew she’d said something wrong. Damn, she hadn’t wanted Kate to judge her for possibly drinking herself into oblivion like an over-the-hill alcoholic.
“First,” Kate said and tapped on a finger to emphasize the number, “I’m not happy with you. You should’ve come to me right away with this. Second”—she ticked off a second finger—“Devon would never, and I repeat never, have drugged or taken advantage of you. And finally”—the third finger received a tap—“how can you be sure you didn’t take advantage of him since you can’t remember? Or, to my way of thinking, be sure of the distinct possibility you two fell in love?”
In love? Was Kate crazy? Ever since Kate had married, she’d become a romantic believing in fairy tales. Hell, even she and Jesse hadn’t fallen in love right away. Two people didn’t meet and fall head over heels in love instantly. This wasn’t a romantic novel or movie. Things like that didn’t happen in real life. Other people might think so, but she wasn’t a fool.
Lust. That was what it had to have been. She couldn’t deny being attracted to Devon, and she could tell it was reciprocated in the way he looked at her—as if he planned to gobble her up for dinner. But, lust wasn’t enough to build a marriage upon, especially if it started when neither party could remember.
The whole idea of it was just fucked up. “Does he really not remember?” She wasn’t sure why she asked because she doubted she’d believe the answer no matter what it happened to be.
Kate shook her head and frowned. “Did you hit him on the head with the lamp? They say he could’ve pul
led it down when he fell, but I wonder….”
Rylee scrunched up her face and nodded. “Yes.” Her voice projected like that of a petulant child who’d been caught doing something they shouldn’t have been doing.
Tossing back her head, her friend belted out a laugh that brought Devon rushing back into the cabin with a look of concern etched on his face. How could she think this funny? Nothing about this entire situation was even remotely humorous.
Devon halted, hand resting on the doorknob and eyes fastened on Rylee. His lips twitched and his gaze slid to Kate, and then back to her and finally, he quirked an eyebrow. “What’s going on?”
Kate’s laughter died down, and she wiped tears from her eyes. “You two are made for each other.”
Rylee and Devon’s gaze intensified and a need for something intimate zipped between them.
“Okay, I’m going to say this and then the topic is closed for dinner. Neither of you remember what happened in Vegas so you need to do a lot of talking.”
Devon’s surprised expression caught her off guard. “Is that true?” The uncertainty in his voice tugged at her heart.
She flattened her lips and nodded in reluctance. “Yes.” She stiffened when she realized her mouth spoke before her brain caught up to it. “I mean, I don’t remember the night, only waking up beside you.” Could he see the tremble quaking her body at the admission? She worked to gain control of the tremors and failed miserably.
“Something happened that night that pushed the two of you to get married. Like it or not, you are married. I think you need to talk this out before you do something stupid, like”—she threw her hands up—“I don’t know, get an annulment. Try to remember what brought you two together.”
“Kate—” Rylee started, but Kate immediately cut her off.
“No. That’s all for now. When I’m gone, figure it out. I don’t want two of my good friends tossing away what might be the best thing to happen to them. Now, where’s that chopped oregano?”
Rooted to the spot, Rylee’s eyes still locked with Devon’s, she took a moment to comprehend that she’d lost control of her own guests. She didn’t fight it because she didn’t want to talk about the topic any longer. Nor did she want to discuss it after Kate left. It didn’t seem the time to try to change her friend’s mind about leaving her and Devon alone again. She’d try later tonight or in the morning before Kate left.
“The oregano?” Kate’s question prodded her back to her task.
Rylee jumped. “Oh!” She scooped the chopped herb from the cutting board, sprinkled it into the pot and watched Kate stir, wishing she could swirl away her problems as easily as the sauce mixed.
Before she realized it, Devon scooted around the kitchen island and appeared beside them near the stove. He reached over and stuck a finger in the pot of sauce and then licked it. “Needs more salt.” A mischievous smile fought to break out on his face and failed. He stepped back as if expecting his sister-in-law to hit him for his mocking insult.
“Stick your finger in there again and I’ll give you something to complain about,” Kate threatened, her voice light, shaking the spoon at him with red liquid dripping from it. “All right, let’s make these babies up and get them on the grill. Is it ready?” She looked to Devon for an answer.
He nodded and reached for the pizza crust she handed him. “Sure is.”
They picked up the sauce, mushrooms, green peppers, pepperoni, and cheese to carry outside with the dough and then filed out to the back deck and the grill.
Out of habit, Rylee scanned the area, but she couldn’t see much with the shadows and darkness forming around the cabin from where the sun had dipped behind the mountains for its evening descent and blocked out most of the light.
“Let’s hope this works. I read using a pizza grilling stone is preferred, but this is doable. We’ll see.” Kate placed her pizza dough on a circular pan with holes made for the grill. “We put everything on them once we flip it.”
Devon groaned. “You didn’t say you hadn’t tried this before.”
Kate shrugged and rubbed her hands together, as if dusting them off. “You didn’t ask.”
“Rylee, please tell me you’ve got more food here.” Devon shook his head with a chuckle. “Something tells me pizza delivery isn’t a backup option.”
She bit back her laugh. “Have I missed something? My experience with Kate’s cooking has always been superb.”
He plunked down in a deck chair. “Lucky you.”
“Don’t listen to him.” Kate sat at the table and turned her chair so her back was to Devon. “He didn’t care for one of my recipes a couple of months ago.”
Devon snorted. “Me? Try everyone.”
Kate huffed. “Okay, it won’t make my cookbook, but—”
“What?” Rylee almost shouted. “You’re writing a cookbook?”
Her friend flushed with embarrassment. “I’ve talked to someone to put together something for friends and family. Nothing big.”
“Thank goodness,” Devon mumbled in the background.
Angel slinked over and dropped down on the deck beside him. His attention diverted to the dog, and he slid his hand over and ruffled the pet’s ears.
Kate spun around to him. “Oh, hush. You like my cooking and you know it.”
He stood in one swift motion, sparking Angel to jump up and bark in excitement, rushed to Kate and plucked her out of the chair, gripping her in a bear hug. “You know I do. You’re an amazing cook.” He kissed her on the cheek and set her on her feet. “You should sell the book. It’d do well. As long as you don’t put in that one recipe.”
Giggling, Kate swatted at his arm in jest and smiled. “Quit screwing around and check the food.”
With a twinge of jealousy at their closeness, Rylee laughed at the camaraderie between the two.
As the evening progressed, she relaxed. The air chilled enough to drive them inside to eat their almost scorched pizzas. They’d begun talking and had forgotten about the first round they’d had to toss, and Angel chasing a squirrel had almost distracted them too long on the second round.
“I’m sorry I don’t have more drink offerings.” Rylee handed them bottled water.
“Don’t be,” Devon said. “This is perfect.”
Rylee’s skin tingled where he clasped her hand to accept the beverage, not only holding it longer than necessary, but also giving her hand a small caress. That threw her relaxation straight out the window and replaced it with worry. She’d been able to push aside the fact that she and Devon would be by themselves soon. With his playfulness, and that damn sensuality that radiated from him without effort, she didn’t believe she could handle it.
Unsure how to respond, she instead took a bite from her pizza. Exquisite flavor exploded across her taste buds from the sauce and the entire concoction. She closed her eyes and inwardly moaned at the deliciousness. After she swallowed, she looked at Kate and caught her surprised stare and then Devon’s devilish smile. Crap. Did I moan aloud? She set the piece of pizza back on her plate and self-consciously put her hand in front of her mouth, lest she have something in her teeth now that everyone watched her so intently. “You’ve outdone yourself this time, Kate.”
“I think we’ve got a keeper,” Devon boasted. Yet, he hadn’t touched his food and his eyes were riveted on her.
She wanted to slide under the table. Did he mean her? He couldn’t, not if he couldn’t remember the night either.
“What are you going to do about the dog?” Kate asked, breaking into what might’ve turned into an awkward moment. “I had thought you might want one of Dottie’s puppies, but now….”
Regaining her wits, Rylee pulled her attention from the man across the table and turned it back to her friend. “She had puppies? Wow. I’ve missed too much. As for Angel, I think I’ll keep her. She’s been great company.”
After that, Kate, thankfully kept up a steady stream of prattle about Reagan, Jesse’s daughter, and Jason, their adopted son, th
roughout dinner. Rylee and Devon had remained quiet for the most part. The only blessing had been that the two hadn’t asked her more about why she was there of all places.
After a team effort of cleaning up the dinner mess, Kate excused herself to the guest room, and a nervous air ignited in the room. Devon stepped closer to her. “Rylee—” he began in a hushed voice.
Panicked and overwhelmed, she fled. Putting her hand to her temple, she stopped his words. “I’m sorry, but I have a terrible headache coming on. Angel and I are going to bed.” Then, she smiled with what she prayed was a pleasant, hostess smile. “Make yourselves at home. I’ll see you in the morning.”
His crestfallen expression sent her stomach tumbling and a small part of her wanted to stay. Facing what was between them wasn’t something she could handle. Of course she was being a damn coward, but her own self-preservation was vital.
RYLEE woke suddenly with every muscle in her body tense and on alert. Her hand instinctively moved beneath her pillow to grip the handgun she kept there. What the hell had disturbed her? She’d only been asleep for what seemed like a few minutes. Most of the night she’d tossed and turned, her mind on Devon who slept in the loft. The same damn man she’d attempted to rid from her life without setting eyes on.
She’d set him straight today. No if, ands, or buts about it, he would leave today. Last night had been her last time fleeing from troubles in her personal life. A quick chat with Kate and she’d have her friend backing her to send Devon packing. Having that support couldn’t hurt when dealing with a stubborn Hamilton brother.