by Liz Johnson
“Why don’t you get some rest?” he asked her.
“Mmm-hmm.”
“What?” he barked.
“Nothing,” she choked, her voice breaking on a sob.
Great. Now he was taking his aggravation out on her. This was going to make their night better.
“Listen, I’m sorry. I’m not mad at you.”
“Mmm.” Then came the telltale sniffle.
No man knew what to do when confronted with a crying woman. Myles was certainly no exception to that rule. He put his chin on his chest and grumbled to himself. Why had he ever let her tag along? She should be at the safe house. Safe. And far away from him. Not getting under his skin when he least expected it.
She tried to muffle another sniff, and he knew that he could not ignore it forever. Squaring his shoulders, he walked around the beds until he stood in front of her.
Kenzie looked like a small child, wrapped in a too-large sweatshirt—a purchase from the secondhand clothing store—her red hair pulled back into a schoolgirl ponytail. Her shoulders slumped, and he could see light from the lamp reflected in the single tear making a silver track down her cheek, but she refused to take her eyes off of the patch of ugly brown carpet between her feet.
Myles sat down gently next to her, turning her body so he could look into her almost-closed eyes. They were stormy, like the ocean sky before a tempest.
“What’s wrong?” His voice was almost a whisper, and he gently laid his hands on top of hers, which were folded in front of her.
She only shook her head in response, and still refused to meet his gaze.
“Let me help you fix it. Tell me what’s wrong, and we’ll figure out how to make it right.”
“You’ll laugh at me,” she mumbled.
Why would he laugh at her? She was obviously upset.
“No, I won’t.”
She only nodded.
“Please, just tell me what’s wrong. Is this about them? Do you miss your family? Is this about the article in the paper today?”
“It’s so stupid.” She hiccupped. “It’s just…it’s my birthday tomorrow. And I’m not going to be able to celebrate.”
He couldn’t help himself. Myles let out a loud snort. “Oh, sweetie!” He stood, and pulled her up, too. “Is that all?”
“I knew you’d think I was stupid!” Fire lit in her eyes, and she glared at him.
“I don’t think you’re stupid.” He tried to smile without laughing, but her cute scowl brought a chortle from deep in his throat.
She shook her head and looked away, some of the fight leaving her stance. “Just leave me alone. Please.”
Kenzie took a large step away from him. With his hands still firmly wrapped around hers, he gently tugged her back to a position standing before him. “I know I’m not your family, and I don’t have any gifts for you, but I’ll still celebrate with you.”
“Really?” Her eyes opened wide. “What did you have in mind?”
He really had no idea, but he’d figure something out. And then the most absurd idea popped into his head. It was so ludicrous that he almost laughed out loud. But he couldn’t stop himself.
“Well, there’s something I could give you.”
“I thought you didn’t have any gifts.”
Myles battled his conscience for a moment longer. She was in his care and protection, and he still had a job to do, a job that required him to keep a professional distance. If he followed his impulse, he would more than likely demolish any trust that she had in him.
She needs to be comforted.
But she needs to be able to trust me.
I’m sure she feels this electricity between us.
That doesn’t give me any right to take advantage of her.
One look into the gray depths of her eyes, and he forgot any argument for not pulling her into a tight embrace. Before his common sense could object again, he hauled her into his arms. He saw her wild eyes and open mouth for just a moment before he closed his own eyes and pressed his lips to hers. She remained frozen for a moment, then yielded to his touch, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her fingers in the shaggy hair at the nape of his neck.
His stomach nosedived, and he knew that his feelings for Kenzie Thorn had moved past fascination with her sweet-and-spicy personality. Could he really be falling for her?
Yes. And if he wasn’t careful he would fall hard.
Oh, he was still more than content with bachelorhood, its freedom and independence. After all, married agents were usually stuck with desk jobs. They rarely asked for field assignments, and they missed out on the adrenaline of living in the moment, the best part of the job.
For the briefest moment, the idea of a life with a woman flickered across his imagination. It wasn’t as though he’d never thought of what it would be like to settle down, to get married. But his previous daydreams were always with a faceless woman. Suddenly she had a face. Relaxing Saturday mornings, lounging around their Portland house. Random emotional outbursts. Cooking dinner together, then eating across the table, sharing the simple joys of the day. Wild fits of laughter. Racing through forests. Saving her from wild animals. Sweet, red-haired babies. Desk job or not, life with sweet-and-spicy Kenzie would never be boring.
After a few moments, she pulled away and looked at him with slightly hooded eyes. He smiled at her, cupping her cheek with his hand. A single teardrop still slid down her cheek, and he swiped at it with his thumb.
“Happy birthday.” Her smile wavered tremulously. “Crawl into bed and get some sleep. I’ll be back in the morning.”
“Where are you going?” she mumbled.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be back in the morning.”
She did as she was told, sliding into the bed. Within moments her breathing evened to a steady rhythm, and then he slipped out the hotel room door. He had to close the door to the room and to the crazy thoughts Kenzie brought him.
Kenzie woke with a start. What a wonderful dream she had just had. Myles held her to his chest and kissed her full on the mouth. Her lips tingled slightly now, and she pressed the tip of her middle finger to her lower lip. In her dream she’d never felt so protected, so secure.
“You awake?”
Myles’s voice made her jump, and she sat straight up in bed, hands immediately going to her hair to try to resume some order there.
“Happy birthday.” He stood beside her bed, holding out a small donut with a single pink candle in it. “I know it’s probably not like your grandma’s birthday cake or anything, but it’s the best I could do.”
“Thank you.” She reached out to take the little paper plate from him, her gaze only able to zero in on his lips. In real life, did he kiss like he did in the dream? One could only hope.
“My pleasure.”
And suddenly those perfect lips moved forward and landed on hers. There was no warning, no preparation, just that sensational feeling of electricity passing between them. “One more for your special day,” he whispered.
One more? So it wasn’t a dream!
Still lost in her brief joy, Kenzie almost missed the solemn expression that rolled across his face, replacing his smile. He shrugged once, shook his head and said, “Come on. We’ve got to go see what’s going on with Edna.”
Tingling from head to toe, she jumped up and followed him, still holding her birthday donut close to her heart.
How could she possibly have thought that the kiss the night before was a dream? Now that she was wide-awake, she wanted to recall every detail, every moment of being in his arms. The way his dark hair fell across his forehead. The way the soft tendrils of his hair felt like silk to her fingertips. The way he smelled like a man, freshly showered, redolent of soap and shampoo. The way he hadn’t demanded or pushed her for more than she was willing to give. Heaven on earth.
Caught up in her own world of memories, she lagged behind, staring blindly up at the puffy white clouds floating lazily through the sky.
“Thorn
! Let’s go!” Myles’s voice was both quiet and firm.
Myles stood with one leg in the car, resting his arm on the car door. He looked less than pleased with the delay.
“Sorry,” she said as she slipped into the passenger seat. How could he ruin such a pleasant memory for her with his impatience today? It would serve him right if he never got to kiss her again. “And since when did you start calling me Thorn?”
“Since today.”
“Are you mad at me?” she said.
“No. Just focused on the mission.”
“You sure didn’t feel that way ten minutes ago with your repeat of last night.”
“It was just to cheer you up for your birthday. It won’t—can’t—happen again. We can’t get distracted today.” The muscles in his jaw jumped. The vein at the base of his throat pulsed wildly.
His sudden intensity seemed out of the character that she knew, and impulsively she wanted to get back at him. “Well, that’s all well and good, but you’ve just guaranteed yourself to never have a revisit of that kiss!” And then it was hanging out there. Kiss. It was just an ordinary word, not dirty or terrible.
But that one word hung between them for an eternity, like a never-ending verbal reminder of the intimate moment they shared.
Kenzie could feel the heat rising up her neck, and she suddenly clamped her hands on her cheeks, as if to stop the movement of the rogue blush.
Myles ducked his head and broke their eye contact. “I’m sorry, Kenzie. I just get a little wound up before an assignment. I shouldn’t take it out on you.”
She nodded and finally became fully aware of the uncomfortable lump pushing into her back. With a little tug, a pillow in a white case popped out from behind her, and she almost screamed as she flung it away from her.
“Why do you have a pillow in the car?”
Nonchalantly, he pulled the car out of its parking spot and pulled into moving traffic. “I brought the pillow from the cabin.”
“But why?”
“Because I like to sleep with a pillow.”
She cocked her head and stared at him. “You slept in the car?”
He did not respond immediately; instead, he seemed intently focused on the red light directly ahead of him while chewing his lower lip. Kenzie wondered why she’d never noticed that trait before. It couldn’t be nerves that were keeping him from speaking.
The silence answered her question, so she asked another. “Why did you sleep in the car? You need to be able to stretch your leg out. It’ll never heal if you keep using it and don’t let it rest.”
“My leg is fine.”
“But why?”
He opened his mouth wide, then snapped it shut. After a long silence, he spoke very softly. “I just don’t think it’s a good idea for a man and a woman to share a room—motel or other—if they’re not married.” She wholeheartedly agreed, and had been pleased she hadn’t had to ask him to leave the room the night before. “I needed to make sure you were safe, and I couldn’t watch the room from another room. It was easy enough to keep tabs on you from the car.”
And just like that Myles earned himself a repeat of that kiss they’d shared the night before. Oh, she’d wait to give it to him, but it would definitely happen. Now that he’d shown that he cared enough not just to protect her life, but her reputation, as well, he’d earned a repeat.
Just now she refrained from throwing herself at him and put one of her hands over his instead, all of his earlier comments forgiven. “Thank you, Myles. I think that may be the most thoughtful birthday present I’ve ever received.”
Myles squeezed her hand gently and shot her a quick smile, as he pulled onto a small side street that Kenzie immediately recognized.
“So, are you going to eat that donut?”
Kenzie realized that she hadn’t touched her chocolate-frosted donut with pink and blue sprinkles. It sat idly on her leg, looking like some crazy adornment on her new jeans.
New jeans and a donut. New clothes—well, new to her—all around, and a donut. Life was good.
Really good.
“You should put your hat and sunglasses on. I have a feeling this neighborhood gets patrolled quite a bit. That cop we saw yesterday will likely be back.”
She mumbled incoherently, chewing a large bite of donut. She swallowed noisily, then tried again. “I will. Just a minute.”
Licking her fingers and delighting in every savory taste, she sighed loudly, suddenly regretting the urgency with which she ate the donut. The only donut.
“Hat.”
She reached behind her and scraped her hand on the underside of the seat and finally made the hat and sunglasses appear. Pressing them into place, she noticed how intently Myles studied the house across the street.
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m not sure,” he mumbled.
“Well, that’s reass—”
He held up his hand for silence, and she obliged. “I think that the answers to most of our questions about Whitestall are probably on the other side of that door.”
“So?”
“So we need to get in there.”
“But what about Edna Whitestall? I don’t think she’s going to suddenly decide to help us after she beat you up with her umbrella yesterday.”
“First, she did not beat me up.” His eyes blazed with something less than anger and more like humor. “Second, she’s not home.”
“How do you know?”
“Her car is gone, and so is almost everyone else’s on the block.”
Something niggled at the back of Kenzie’s brain. She’d seen something the day before, pertinent information. But what was it? “I saw something…yesterday. Umm…I just can’t remember.”
“What are you talking about?” His eyes sweeping back and forth up the street.
She gritted her teeth and tried to concentrate. “The newspaper!”
Plunging an arm into the backseat, she groped for the folded-up paper on the floor behind the driver’s seat. She spun forward, newspaper in hand, scanning the pages as quickly as she could.
“‘Rash of robberies.’ ‘Governor’s race closer than expected,’” she mumbled the headlines as she flipped the pages. “There!” Kenzie pointed at a spot on the events page. Myles had stopped watching the road and was looking at her with both wonder and concern. He finally dipped his head to read the three-line activity announcement.
“YMCA seniors swimming! Of course! I saw a bag in her house yesterday that must be her swim bag. It had a red swim cap sticking out of it.”
“Swim cap? Sounds fashionable.”
He chuckled. “Grams used to wear one every time she took us swimming when I was kid.”
“Ri-ight.”
He only smiled and looked again at the listing. “Well, it looks like the whole neighborhood is at the YMCA community center for swimming and water aerobics for another forty-five minutes. I guess we’d better get going.”
“Where are we going?”
“I’ve got an idea, but we need to get some necessary items to get inside when Edna gets back.”
“What do we need?”
Myles pulled back onto the major street and headed back toward the secondhand store they’d visited before. “If Edna’s going to let me into her house, then I have to look the part.”
NINE
An hour later, Myles watched Kenzie disappear around the corner of the house and then waited several seconds. Then he knocked loudly on Ms. Edna’s screen door, rattling the entire frame. Adjusting his recently purchased, secondhand electrician’s shirt, he straightened his shoulders.
This entire idea was doomed to fail, but they had to try. It was the only idea they had to get inside Edna’s house and figure out what her son knew.
For a moment he closed his eyes and prayed fervently for favor. God, please keep Kenzie and me safe. Show us where we need to go to find whatever information Whitestall might know. Father, you know my desire is to serve You and protect Kenzie.
Please give me the wisdom to do both.
After what seemed like an eternity, shuffling steps sounded from the opposite side of the door, and Edna’s white hair and wrinkled face appeared on the other side of the screen. She squinted at him, and he tugged on the bill of his baseball cap, praying she wouldn’t recognize him from the day before.
“What do you want?” Her voice was like gravel and her eyes like flint.
Myles closed his eyes and sent up one more quick prayer for favor in finding what they needed inside Edna’s house.
“Hello, ma’am. We’ve heard about some possible gas leaks in the area. Would you mind if I checked your furnace line to make sure there isn’t a problem?”
Edna glared at him so long that he was sure she would refuse. Then she finally reached out and unlocked the screen door. Not bothering to open it for him, she nodded her head down the short hallway, making her way toward the back of the house. Myles jumped into action, following closely behind her and silently thanking God for her acquiescence.
“Make it fast,” she said, at the top of a short flight of stairs. “I was just heading out the door.” Her eyes were stern, and he had the distinct impression that she had nowhere pressing to be. She just didn’t want him in her house any longer than absolutely necessary.
Myles took a quick glance around the kitchen and into the disaster that could only be Larry’s room just off the kitchen. Then he nodded and hurried down the steps, thankful that she didn’t follow behind him. Hurrying to one of the high basement windows, he quickly unlocked it and pushed it open. Immediately Kenzie’s feet popped through the opening. He grabbed her waist as she slid through and landed easily on the floor.
He quickly jiggled the gas line attached to the furnace, twisting the line slightly.
“What are you doing?” Kenzie asked, her face a mask of bewilderment.
“Making sure she really doesn’t have a gas leak.” Shooting a smile at Kenzie, he hurried back to the stairs. His feet landed silently on each step as he crept toward the door to the rest of the house. Suddenly Edna appeared on the landing, her hands firmly planted on her hips.