Finally Home (Home Series)

by Vaughn, Ann

  He knew the second she said his name that he'd do whatever she wanted; however stupid and self-tormenting it was. Taking a deep breath, he stepped back from her and removed his boots, then crossed to the other side of the bed and laid down beside her. Lainey turned to face him, tucking her hands under her cheek. They were close, but not touching, even though Mike's fingers were itching to skim over the smooth skin of her cheek.

  "Thank you," she whispered.

  "Go back to sleep," he said.

  "You'll stay here? All night?"

  He crossed his arms over his chest. "All night," he promised.

  Lainey closed her eyes and did her best not to smile. So what if she'd had to play the scared little rabbit to get him to lie down? It worked, didn't it? He was lying down and hopefully, he would give in and let sleep claim him. She could see the fatigue in his eyes, even if he wouldn't freely admit it. The man was tired and she was afraid of him working himself into an early grave because he was too haunted to allow himself to sleep. Now, she only hoped that her brilliant little plan hadn't backfired on her, because having him in bed with her, feeling the heat emanating from his body had her unbearably turned on. She did her best to fight the feelings of desire and concentrate on sleeping; she had a feeling she would need all her wits about her to handle him in the days to come.

  Chapter Four

  Lainey could feel a change in the air in the room that told her Mike was in the middle of a nightmare. She sat up slowly and glanced at her bedside clock; it was almost four in the morning. Mike was still on his side, facing her. He wasn't moving, but his body was tense, as if ready to strike at any moment. As slowly and as silently as she could, she began to ease off the bed. She'd nearly made it to the edge when a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist in a vice-like hold. His hold tightened painfully and when she gasped, he immediately let go and brought that hand up to scrub over his face.

  "Are you all right?" he asked, his voice soft.

  "I'm fine," she said, rubbing her wrist, looking down at him. Even in the dim light of the room, she could see the flash of those pale eyes. His breath was slow and steady; controlled. He didn't look like someone who'd just come out of an apparent nightmare...and for some reason, that had her blood running cold. When he started to sit up, however, she placed her hand on the center of his chest and held him in place.

  "I need to get up, I've got work."

  "It's barely four in the morning," she said, her voice steady and authoritative. "Go back to sleep."

  "I'm good, I -"

  "Mike," she said, cutting him off. The look he gave her almost had her laughing. It was clear he wasn't used to being interrupted. "Just lie back and relax. There is nothing that can't wait another couple of hours."

  "I have to..."

  "You have to get some sleep, Commander," she interrupted him yet again and this time she did laugh at his expression. "Wasn't that your rank? I think I remember Riley telling me that. Anyway, you're exhausted. You need to sleep. We've only been in here three hours. That isn't long enough."

  He did sit up then, in spite of her hand on his chest, which fell away once he was fully sitting up. He got out of bed and towered over her, glaring down at her.

  "Don't try to pull any psycho-babble on me, Ms. Riley," he snapped, "trust me, I've heard it all."

  He started to walk off, but she scrambled out of the bed and to his surprise, zipped in front of him to block the door.

  "Fine. So, you've heard it all. Wonderful. But you know what you haven't heard? Your friends are worried about you. They all know you haven't been sleeping much since recovering from your last mission. The time after you got shot helping your friend Colt was probably the first time you've slept more than two hours at a time since returning from Iraq. So, guess what, buddy? While you're here helping me, I'm going to be helping you. And that starts with you turning your stubborn ass around and getting back in that bed, do you hear me?"

  Mike stared impassively at her for about two seconds, then picked her up, moved her aside, sat her down and opened the door.

  "Is that your solution? To just ignore it and walk away?" she pressed.

  He kept walking, down the stairs and into the office, Lainey right behind him. He opened his laptop and settled down behind the desk, ignoring her. Lainey glared at him and settled down in the chair she'd sat in earlier, arms folded across her chest. He kept his eyes on the monitor and she kept her eyes on him. If he thought he could freeze her out, he had another thing coming. She'd grown up with four cousins who were more like brothers and because of that, she knew a bit more about how guys operated than most women did. She'd succeeded in manipulating him into lying down with her tonight, but she was pretty sure that wouldn't work again. But, she had a million tricks up her sleeve. It was just a matter of time. Because she'd find his trigger. And when she did, all bets were off.

  She continued to glare at him and she knew she was getting to him; a muscle in his jaw was ticking and she could see a vein popping out at his temple. Oh, this was great, she thought. The Commander had a chink in his armor after all. She wondered how long he would sit there before trying to address...

  "Go to bed, Lainey."

  She laughed. Not long at all.

  "I'm fine right here."

  His eyes flashed at her but he didn't speak again. Lainey wanted to laugh but kept silent. Time with Mike wasn't going to be dull, that was for sure. He would learn soon enough; she wasn't one of his men to be ordered around.

  Mike couldn't believe she was being so stubborn. She was sitting there glaring at him, and she'd been doing it for the last hour at least. He was doing his best to ignore her, but it was hard when he could see her in his peripheral vision as he looked at the monitor. He checked his messages and saw that Colt had boarded his plane on time and would be arriving in the next couple of hours. Tessa was on the road and would pick Colt up at the airport and meet them at Lainey's offices.

  "We have to be at your offices by seven," he told her, standing.

  "Fine."

  He stood over her a moment, wanting to say more but sensing it would be pointless. Better to let her think she'd gotten the best of him than to provoke her again. He shook his head and walked out, then stopped suddenly when he realized she was right behind him. She stopped just short of colliding with him.

  "What are you doing?" he asked, not turning to face her.

  "What does it look like I'm doing?" she retorted.

  He closed his eyes, counting to ten, and then turned to glare down at her.

  "Stop."

  She held up her hands, palms out in supplication. "I'm just going to my room. You did say we needed to be at the offices by seven, did you not?"

  He actually growled and cursed low, under his breath, in Italian. She had a feeling he thought she didn't speak Italian. He was forgetting that she grew up best friends with Kacee Adtkisson, whose mother was Italian. She understood every word of the foul oath he'd just spat out, but decided not to let on that she knew.

  "You want to move out of my way so I can pass, Commander?" she asked in as sweet a voice as she could manage.

  He shook his head, muttering about crazy women as he stepped aside to let her breeze past him. Lainey smiled all the way up the stairs and into her room. She had him flustered and she was pretty sure that hadn't happened to the Commander in quite some time.

  They made the ride to her offices in silence. Lainey glanced at his profile from time to time, seeing that muscle in his jaw ticking every so often, making her smile. She was quite certain he had never met anyone like her...at least not in a long time. She deferred to him when they parked and he put his hand on her shoulder to hold her close to his body as they walked the short distance from the SUV to the lobby door. He kept her shielded with his body from the outside doors while they waited for the elevator, then stepped back to give her space once they were safely in the elevator car. He was standing slightly in front of her, and she admired the way his suit fit him. He wore a bla
ck suit with a white shirt, open at the collar, no tie. She loved the way the jacket fit his broad shoulders.

  As the elevator doors opened, she saw two people standing outside her office doors. One was a really tall, really built man with dark curly hair and a day or two growth of scruff on his cheeks. He was wearing a black Henley and khaki cargo pants, and had the warmest brown eyes she'd ever seen. Next to him, was a tall, extremely beautiful blonde woman who wore a nice navy blue pant suit. Both were smiling as they stepped closer to greet them.

  "Hey, stranger," the woman said, embracing Mike.

  "Hi, Tess," he said, kissing her cheek.

  "Hey, Boss," the tall man said, shaking Mike's hand and slapping his back in one of those one-armed hugs guys always did with each other.

  "Thank you both for coming," Mike said, then stepped back, gesturing to Lainey. "This is Lainey Riley. Lainey, Tessa McCanton and Colt Harris."

  "Nice to meet you, Lainey," Tessa said, shaking her hand.

  "So, you're Riley's cousin," Colt said, shaking her hand as well. "He spoke of you often...though, he made it seem like you were a little girl."

  Lainey laughed. "They all tend to forget I'm not a little girl any more."

  "Let's get inside," Mike said to Lainey, nodding to her to unlock the office door.

  She rolled her eyes and turned to do as he asked, huffing when he put his hand on her shoulder to prevent her from stepping inside first. She clenched her teeth to keep from snapping at him then followed him inside.

  "Stay here with Tessa," Mike said to her as he took his scanner out to check for bugs. Lainey started to protest but stopped when the scanner began beeping, indicating the presence of new bugs.

  "Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" she seethed.

  Mike flashed her a look over his shoulder but didn't speak. Colt followed him through the offices, searching for and removing bugs as the scanner indicated.

  "He just removed bugs from here yesterday," she explained to Tessa as they waited by the door.

  "Well, after Colt gets this system installed, this guy will have a hard time breaking in. Colt's systems are top-notch," Tessa assured her.

  Mike and Colt came back into the reception area, several bugs and cameras in their hands. Lainey met Mike's gaze, seeing that he was seething.

  "Call Kacee. Tell her to tell her father I need access to the building's security tapes," Mike said to her.

  "Just go down to the security offices; Reggie will give you what you need," she said, referring to the building's head of security.

  He nodded. "I'll go check with him. Colt, go ahead and get started. Tessa, stay with her. She isn't out of your sight except to use the restroom, got it?"

  "No problem," Tessa said.

  "She can't be in the room with me when my patients start arriving," Lainey told him.

  "She will be in the room. That's not up for discussion."

  "Do you really think one of the children I counsel is responsible for all of this? I will be perfectly safe with her right outside the door, but I-"

  "This is not up for discussion," he repeated. "Tessa stays in the room, you in her line of sight or we pack up and head home right now. I will not negotiate with you on this, do you understand?"

  Lainey took a step closer to him. "I understand that you better remember that I am not one of your men to order around. No one can be in the room except for me and my patients. These are children, you can't..."

  "And Tessa is a beautiful woman and a mother. Just say she's a student there to observe if anyone asks. But she will be in that room with you. Period. Fight me on this any longer and we will pack up and head home."

  Lainey glared up at him, so mad she wanted to scream. Mike glared right back at her and for a while they stood there, staring each other down, until Lainey finally threw her hands up in frustration and stalked away from them.

  "Excuse me a minute," Mike told Tessa and Colt, following Lainey into her office.

  Colt and Tessa exchanged shocked, wide-eyed stares then both began laughing.

  "Did you see what I just saw?" Tessa asked Colt.

  "Oh, this is good. This is so good. Malibu Ken is going to flip out," Colt cried between his laughter, referring to Riley.

  Tessa gave him a light punch to the gut. "Don't you dare do anything to ruin this for him!"

  "Seems to me he's doing a pretty good job of that on his own," Colt chuckled.

  Lainey stalked inside her office and dropped her briefcase down on her desk, well aware that Mike had followed her inside.

  "Don't even try to justify this, Michael Casiano!" she snapped. "You are over-reacting and you know it."

  "What I know is that I promised Riley I would keep you safe. That can't happen unless I know that you are safe at all times. Tessa is more than able to look out for you. She trained with Colt and his Ranger unit for years."

  "Then she can stand guard outside my office door and I'll be just fine. No one is getting into my office unless they come in through that door. This isn't just me throwing a fit, Mike: these are the rules. What a patient tells me is privileged information. Privacy laws will not allow anyone else to be in the room. That is just the way it is. That's not me being stubborn. That is the law."

  His jaw clenched and she felt the full weight of his icy blue eyes settling on her. She suddenly felt like there wasn't enough air in the room. He was standing so close, and she wanted him to come even closer. What had shifted? What was it in his gaze that had her heart pounding? She licked her lips that had gone suddenly dry and gasped when she saw his eyes were immediately drawn to her mouth, following the action of her tongue.

  Mike cursed under his breath and stepped back from her.

  "Fine. She'll stand outside your door. But you do not leave without Tessa, am I clear?"

  "Crystal. Thank you."

  He walked out and Lainey sagged against her desk, closing her eyes to calm her racing heart. A knock sounded on her door, and Lainey looked up to see Tessa standing in the doorway.

  "Everything all right?" Tessa asked, stepping inside.

  "Fine," Lainey replied a little too brightly.

  "Don't let him upset you," Tessa said, studying Lainey's face. Lainey got the distinct impression that Tessa was evaluating her every move, and decided to choose her words carefully.

  "He hasn't; not really."

  Tessa nodded and Lainey could tell she wasn't convinced.

  "OK, well, I'll be just right outside the door here if you need me."

  "Thank you, Tessa," she said, giving her a bright smile. As soon as Tessa shut the door, Lainey stood and paced over to her window, staring sightlessly out at the Springfield landscape. The tensions of the morning were wearing on her; she could feel a stress headache coming on, which was the last thing she needed just now. It occurred to her that she hadn't gotten Mike to talk about his nightmare. Of course, as closed as he was, she knew it would take longer than just a day or two for him to feel comfortable enough to open up to her. And now that she'd ticked him off, it was going to take even longer. Maybe she needed to take a different approach with him. He'd responded well to her scared rabbit bit, but, since that really wasn't her, she needed to come up with something else.

  "Good morning!" she heard Kacee call brightly from the doorway.

  She turned to smile at her best friend as she walked in and closed the door behind her. Kacee handed her a travel cup of Starbucks and sat on the edge of her desk.

  "There is a guy out there who...wow, is all I can say. I love Connor but, that tall drink of water could spark many a fantasy."

  Lainey smiled. "That's Colt. He was on that task force with Riley and Mike. Tessa, too. Did you see her out there?"

  "The Amazon Warrior Queen?" Kacee asked, smiling. "I can't believe she was in the military and not a model or something."

  "I believe she and Colt were in the Army, if I remember what Riley told me. Colt was a Ranger and Tessa ran tactical support for their team. She didn't actually engage in
combat, but as you can see, she could have if needed."

  "I believe it. So, dish! How did your first night with Mike go?"

  "Fine. Tell me something, your family and Mike's family are close, right?"

  "His family villa is right next door to my mother's family villa. We all grew up together."

  Lainey nodded. "I guess I never really gave this much thought over the years, but now I realize I should have. Why did you never introduce me to him before? His mother and sister were at your house several times through the years, and you said that you grew up with him and his brothers so it goes to follow that he was there at those times as well."

  Kacee sighed. "Mike is...well, he's always been intense. His brothers are a lot like mine. Lovable but arrogant. Always laughing and joking. And Mike was like that when he was younger, though a bit more subdued than the others. When he went off to college, something changed. It was a huge scandal in his family when he joined the Navy rather than joining the family law firm. He rarely came home after that. That time you saw him at the Founders Day Ball was the first time he'd been home in years, and was the last time he'd come back to Springfield until just recently. I knew you had a thing for him, of course; we talked about him a lot but I just kind of glossed things over about him. I didn't want to see you get hurt."

  Lainey frowned at her friend. "You speak as if you knew that I would fall for him all along."

  Kacee smiled. "Come on, Lain...you're my best friend. I know your type. And while I was thrilled when you were dating my brother, I knew that wouldn't last. Kevin is...well, he's a lot of things but what he isn't is your type."

  Lainey folded her arms over her chest. "And just what is my type? I dated Kevin for two years."

  "And when you broke up with him, you never even shed one tear. Your type, Lainey Riley, is standing right out there in our reception area, working on upgrading our already elaborate security system."

  "My...what makes you think Mike Casiano is my type? He's stubborn and authoritative and set in his ways and broody and..."

  "Gorgeous, strong, dominant and wounded. You may think you don't like someone who is controlling, but the truth is, that is exactly who you want. Kevin let you do your own thing and he did his own thing and while you had fun with him, you never really respected him because you could walk all over him. Mike, on the other hand, may make allowances for you, but you're never going to control him. He's used to being in command and deep down, you like that. Admit it."