A Steel Town (A Gateway to Love #3)

by Chloe Barlow

  Worried he’d get back up, Claudia pinned his arms to the ground, as she stretched her body out on top of his. He didn’t fight her at all. Perhaps he was still winded from her stomach kick. Securing both his hands with one of her forearms, Claudia used her free hand to pull his hood back from his face, and her breath skipped in her throat. The shadowy figure she’d just taken down was freaking gorgeous.

  Dark hair framed his tanned skin. His face was so close to hers, she could feel his hot breath just barely brush against her skin. He looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t quite place him. Especially when she was distracted by the way his twisted curve of a half-smile, and sparkling gray eyes, made it clear he was laughing at her. Still not uttering a word, he grinned fully at her and began to move his large torso to sit up and face her.

  Oh, hell no, she thought. Moving her hands to his chest, she pushed him hard to the ground.

  “Hey, easy, little tiger,” he grunted out. “I let you have your fun, but this ground is starting to get uncomfortable. Even for a tough guy like me.”

  The smoothness of his voice, even through his clear annoyance, was almost hypnotic. His face held a few piercings and she could spy some tattoos peeking out from underneath his hoodie, but he didn’t look hard or scary — just intensely sexy.

  Finding a man so attractive was new to Claudia. It was really pissing her off how her own eyes were more interested in his strong jaw and chiseled cheekbones, rather than with trying to determine if he was aggressive.

  She couldn’t help herself, though. His face had a couple days of stubble, and she wondered what it felt like. Would it be prickly, or smooth?

  “Are you done?”

  “Excuse me? Done doing what?”

  “Staring at me?” he teased with a smile, which revealed a row of perfect, straight teeth resting behind his distracting lips.

  “I-I’m not staring at you. I need to ascertain what kind of a threat you are.”

  “Fine. Play it that way. You don’t need to worry about me. I’m on your side.”

  “What? My side? Did Agent Jacobs figure out I was still going to follow up on this tip? Did he send you?” Claudia asked rapidly, worry overpowering all other thought.

  “Jacobs? Hell no. Your dumb-ass assistant director wouldn’t recognize a tip in a urinal.”

  “You’re disgusting,” Claudia snipped out, but his crass joke made a smile twitch at her lips.

  “Besides, I’m not a Fed. Well, not really.”

  “Then who are you? Tell me who you are right now, or so help me…”

  “So help you, what? You’ll swat at me with those little mitts of yours again?”

  Claudia lifted a tiny fist and went at him hard. She wanted nothing more than to show him how this tiny paw of hers could do some serious damage, but he grabbed it in one of his large hands before she connected. She shook her hand out of his, fury pumping through her.

  “You son of a bitch! Tell me who you are.”

  “Calm down. I’m Trey,” he answered, awkwardly moving his other hand from his supine position to shake hers. “Nice to meet you, Agent McCoy, I guess… I’m one of Jenna’s friends.”

  Claudia leaned back, sitting fully on his midsection as she processed this information.

  “Wait. Trey? Trey Adler? Are you the one that’s in love with my brother’s girlfriend, Jenna?”

  “The Adler part is right. But I’m not in love with Jenna. What gave you that idea?”

  “That’s what Wyatt says.”

  “What your brother is wrong about is a lot.”

  “That may be true, but you still haven’t told me what you’re doing here.”

  “Um, first, do you mind moving? I know you’re just a little thing…”

  “I’m not little!”

  “If you’d let me finish, I was going to say, no, you aren’t that small. But if you don’t climb off me we’re going to have a situation on our hands. Or in my lap, to put it more accurately.”

  “You’re a pig.”

  “You’re the one who won’t climb off of me.”

  Claudia huffed at him as she stood, pushing off his chest hard enough to hear him release a satisfying oof sound. Trey lifted a hand to her, his crooked grin never still in place.

  She stared at him for a minute, finally grabbing his hand with hers and helping him up from the ground. His hand fully enveloped her much smaller one. It was rough and cool to her touch. As soon as he was standing, Claudia dropped it like she’d been bitten. Now that he was standing fully in front of her, she had to crane her head back fully to meet his eyes.

  “Impressive,” he said softly. “You really are a little one. It was quite a pleasure letting you take me down.”

  “Letting me? Screw you.” He just laughed gently in return. Claudia tried to bring reason back to her mind. “Why did Jenna ask you to follow me? What did she tell you?” Claudia demanded.

  Shame coated Claudia’s throat at the memory of letting herself get even remotely sick in front of her brother’s girlfriend. A stunning and confident physician, she knew a diabetic who may not be able to handle her shit when she saw one.

  Trey looked down at her, his eyes turning warm and reassuring. Claudia decided she preferred his teasing manner to this unnerving, caring demeanor.

  “Jenna didn’t tell me anything. She didn’t have to. She just asked and I said yes. I’m around the Pittsburgh FBI office a lot. I’m helping with the ongoing investigation into Jack Taylor’s murder, so she figured I could keep an eye on you.”

  “I know that case. I’ve been trying to get in on it. But they keep sticking me on the FBI equivalent of cat-stuck-up-in-a-tree types of cases. That’s what…”

  “This supposed lead is about? I know. I also know you were instructed not to follow up on it.”

  “Yeah. I get told ‘no’ quite a bit.”

  “I’m not a fan of being told what to do either, Claudia.” It was the first time he’d said her name, and it was like he’d poured warm honey down her body. “But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be careful. You were planning to follow up on a shady tip like this all alone?”

  “I was doing some digging of my own when it came through directly to me. It didn’t seem completely suspect, plus I tried to get support, but they said it was too dangerous for me to pursue.”

  “So instead you decided to come out here by yourself — a place that looks like Murder City, population of you? Forget the danger factor for a second, do you know how much trouble you’ll get into with your boss?”

  “So? Look who’s talking? From what I hear about you, all you do is get in trouble.”

  He stepped so closely to her he towered completely over her. The heat of his body came over her in waves, almost overwhelming her. Trey stared down at her until she met his eyes completely.

  “You aren’t me,” he whispered.

  “Thank goodness for that,” she huffed out, turning to walk away briskly. Claudia raised her chin, desperately trying to remember her original path before this tattooed pain-in-the-ass interfered with her evening, but it seemed like her brain just wouldn’t work. A sudden tug at her right arm spun her around, forcing her to look up again, straight onto his chiseled features.

  “All right, that’s it. This whole feisty thing is cute, and all. But I promised Jenna I’d keep you alive, so I’ll tell you right now — this shit’s going to get old really quick.”

  “I’m so sorry to inconvenience you. Here’s a solution. How about you leave me alone then? It’s a win-win, for both of us.”

  “Oh no you don’t, little one. Trust me, being Wyatt’s little sister’s designated hand-holder is not appealing to me in the slightest…”

  “I don’t need you holding my hand — or anything else for that matter,” Claudia interrupted gruffly.

  “Are you sure about that?” he taunted. “Regardless, Jenna is a good friend and I can’t say no to her.”

  “That does a lot for your whole ‘I’m not in love with Jenna’ g
ame.”

  Trey pressed a hand at the small of her back, stilling her.

  “Are you scared that I’m in love with Jenna, or that I’m not, and I’m available?”

  “Oh, please. I know your game, and your type. You just want to torment me. Thing is, if I don’t get going, it will get too dark to find anything, and this whole night will have been a waste.”

  “Not a total waste,” he answered with a smile, “you got to meet me.”

  “Ugh, no wonder my brother hates you.”

  “Trust me, my feelings toward your brother are mutual. It doesn’t change why I’m here, or what I promised to do. If you won’t give up, then I guess you’re going to have to get used to me going everywhere you do… Face it kid, I’m your new — much taller — shadow.”

  Claudia turned away from him and her stomach turned when she noticed night had almost completely fallen. The mill yard had seemed manageable before, but now, all she saw was a vast archipelago of hidden alleys and easy hiding places. She’d come too far to turn back now, but doubt had crept into her bones, as insidiously as rust had slowly overtaken the building in front of her. “What do they say in the movies?” Claudia muttered to herself. “Oh, right. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

  “Me too. Do you want to leave now?”

  “I’m not giving up. I never give up.”

  “Me neither, little one,” he answered.

  “Stop calling me —”

  A loud bang in the distance made her jump. She swallowed hard before choking out, “Fine. If you really want to come, I guess I can’t stop you.”

  “How kind of you, because unfortunately for both of us, you’re stuck with me. And I’m not going to let anything happen to you, little one.”

  Trey watched as Claudia’s shiny, dark ponytail bounced behind her. She was blowing out little indignant breaths in time to each of her steps from just a short pace in front of him. Wyatt McCoy’s little sister was already proving to be the pain in the ass Trey had anticipated she’d be, but the image of her tight little body and pretty face had a potent way of taking the sting out of his own practiced annoyance.

  Although he’d looked up a picture of her before tracking her down to this deserted steel mill, it definitely hadn’t done her justice. Her frame was tiny, but shapely enough to make him wonder how she hid such strength under all her tempting curves — much less, how the hell she’d managed to knock him right off his feet. She was practically Smurf-sized. She may have planted him on his ass, but all he wanted to do was bite hers. Yeah, that would definitely be an awkward conversation to have with Jenna.

  “You’d be proud of me, Jenna. I didn’t sleep with Claudia…I just bit her butt.”

  Another bratty and adorable sigh emanated from the sashaying form in front of him, bringing his wandering brain slightly back to reality.

  Her delicate, yet sensuous features and body were completely inconsistent with their surroundings, which at best could be said to resemble a George Orwell fever dream. Yet, somehow her obvious drive and fierce resolve made her seem right at home in the perilous world in which she’d insisted on thrusting herself.

  The whole package left Trey feeling a little unbalanced — a sensation he hadn’t experienced in almost a decade.

  Sure, he knew she was the daughter of a model, but nothing could’ve prepared him for the effect of feeling her pinning him down on the ground and finally seeing her perfect face, free of even a hint of makeup.

  Trey’s heart still raced at the thought of Claudia’s wide, dark eyes peering down at him, their disturbing beauty matched only by the shape of her full mouth, which was at once innocent and indecent. It felt like he’d been sucked into a parallel universe, one full of endless hope and goodness — a place where he could never live, but dammit, he’d love to be able to visit.

  Trey mentally shook some sense into himself. He needed to keep those kinds of thoughts in check. Nothing good would ever come of indulging the dirty thoughts still rattling around in his brain ever since she’d sat astride him. Any other woman would’ve been on her back beneath him in a second, but he’d let her have her victory and suppressed his urge to take control of the moment.

  Noticing her head whipping back and forth, he looked over her shoulder to a map she’d apparently prepped for the trip.

  He tapped her shoulder, and she jumped, quickly setting her face in a frustrated scowl.

  “Looks like we go this way,” he said, pointing to the left, down a dark path along the river. It would keep the steel mill to their left, and preserve their ability to escape, if necessary.

  “Right…um, yeah, you’re right,” she mumbled, her voice sounding different from the last time she’d spoken to him — almost confused, though he couldn’t imagine her ever showing that kind of weakness to him. Her face then twisted back to irritation, and she clomped quickly to her left.

  Trey grimaced at the echoing sound her march was creating through the emptiness. Leaning down to her ear, he whispered, “You might want to keep the petulant stomping to a minimum. It really fucks with whatever element of surprise you may be going for.”

  She inhaled deeply and spun her face and shoulders away from him, gifting him with a distracting swipe of her fragrant, soft hair against his face. Trey’s mouth quickly went dry from the contact.

  “I don’t get why Jenna is even friends with you,” Claudia stated roughly, looking straight ahead again.

  “I’m a great friend. It’s all the other stuff I’m shitty at.”

  “I guess I can believe that. I’m not too good at those other things either.”

  “We have something in common? Shocking,” Trey teased, and she rolled her eyes, releasing an odd giggle that seemed almost surreal coming from her mouth.

  She was clearly impulsive, coming out to this place by herself, but her ambition was a pleasant surprise. Claudia may have the smoking hot body of Catwoman, but underneath that she was all Tasmanian Devil. Maybe on paper she seemed like an indulged young woman, whose brother coddled her as if she were a child, but at least the impressive real-life version of her appeared to want some form of autonomy, in whatever brazen way she could find it.

  “What I’m worried about is that we also have insanity in common.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked, bringing her hand to her mouth to put something in it.

  “The reason you’re here. A lead shows up in your email on a case you aren’t even handling… Doesn’t that seem suspicious?”

  “Of course it does. I’m not an idiot.”

  “Are you sure about that? You seem pretty stubborn,” Trey grumbled through clenched teeth, which were suddenly gritting with worry. He could feel his hands curling with the urge to grab her and shake some sense into her.

  “I won’t deny the latter. But those are two very different things.”

  She stumbled slightly and her voice slurred somewhat over the last word. Though she quickly looked away from him, he caught her sneaking one of her small hands into her jacket pocket. Her hand shot back out, and she stuffed something in her mouth again.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” she retorted sharply, but her steps were slowing down and her hand was trembling when she tried to look at the map on her cell phone. Her breaths were coming out in rapid, almost-panicked bursts, and her eyes appeared as if swimming around, not focusing on anything.

  “You don’t look fine. How about we get out of here?”

  “I already told you, I’m not doing that…”

  “Yes, you did, but I don’t have to listen to you.” Worry was starting to fill Trey’s brain — a sensation that was quickly turning into an insistent need to take over this whole ridiculous situation, as well as this obstinate woman.

  She ignored him, and took a small, unsteady step, before turning her head back and forth.

  “What was I going to say? Oh, right, even if the email is fishy, that’s all the more reason to figure out why I got it and if it could mean som
ething. I’ve looked into it and this Taylor case has been going nowhere new — fast — for months.”

  “And you think you could make all the difference?”

  “What good detective w-wouldn’t, um, think that?”

  Her words were suddenly coming out somewhat garbled. After stuffing another handful into her mouth, she averted her eyes from him and chewed whatever it was with an almost desperate determination.

  Claudia took several steps forward, but stumbled slightly. After reaching her arms out for stability, she managed to regain her balance; yet, the sight brought him no comfort. The itty-bitty thing didn’t have far to go before making it to the ground, and he had no desire to see if that cute ass of hers would eventually smack hard on the gritty gravel beneath her. As she took another wobbly step, Trey lunged to her, grabbing her waist.

  “All right. That’s it,” he declared angrily, under his breath. With quick movements, Trey put her arms around his neck, and pulled her hard against her body.

  “What the hell are you doing?” she demanded, but he ignored her protests. With one hand under her ass and the other around her back, he lifted her into his arms and began heading briskly back to where he’d seen Claudia park her car. “Talk to me, little one,” he ordered to her. “Can you hear me?”

  “Yes, of course I hear you,” she grumbled with irritation, but he felt her head move to rest lightly on his chest, and she didn’t fight his grip. “I’m okay, just put me down.”

  “Not a chance,” Trey grunted out, as if the words were fighting to get through his clenched teeth. Fear was squeezing at his chest in a viselike grip. Though she was very light in his arms, it felt like he couldn’t get her to safety fast enough.