by Vaughn, Ann
"Sarah just figured out that this was meant for her. Not you."
He held her gaze a moment and Lainey wasn't sure what all passed through his eyes, but she thought surprise might have been one of the things she saw.
"What's the matter, Mike? Thought your secret was safe? I'm sure Colt knows what you did."
"He does."
Her hand tightened momentarily on his stomach and then she withdrew it, turning to open the refrigerator. Mike stepped closer to her, shutting the door before she could reach what she wanted.
"God, what?" she hissed. "You practically ignore me for days and now that we have a full house you want to pay attention to me?"
"I always pay attention to you, cara."
She gave him a raised brow look. "Really? Could have fooled me."
"Hop down off your high horse. Things have come up that needed my attention."
"Fine," she said, trying to step past him.
"Don't walk away from me," he warned, his voice low.
"Or what? You'll ignore me again?"
"I haven't..." he began but stopped when the elevator buzzed. She took advantage of his distraction to step away from him, seeing that Colt was watching them. She had almost made it out of the kitchen before Mike grabbed her arm, keeping her anchored to his side.
The elevator arrived and Riley and Jenna stepped out. Lainey again tried to step away but Mike tightened his hold on her arm. She glanced up at him, scowling. He was looking toward Riley, not acknowledging her and it really ticked her off.
"Hey, Blondie," Colt said, shaking hands with Riley. "Where's the kid?"
"Staying the night with a buddy," Riley answered, his eyes on Mike and Lainey.
Lainey watched while Riley and Colt introduced Jenna and Sarah to each other. Jenna settled down next to Sarah, motioning for Lainey to join them. Again, Mike's hold on her arm tightened.
"Good grief, Commander, I'm just going to be across the room," she seethed.
"You're going to be sitting here with us discussing the security plan for the Founders Day Ball," Mike told her, escorting her to the desk and planting her in a chair.
Oh, how she wanted to tear into him! He was treating her like a child and she didn't care for that at all. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him as she'd done that first night when he'd refused to stay in bed. Riley came and sat next to her, putting his hand on her shoulder and giving it a firm squeeze. She turned her glare on him momentarily and he pulled her close so he could whisper in her ear.
"Stop provoking him," he told her.
"Me?!?" she hissed. "What have I done?"
Riley sat back when Mike began briefing everyone and asking for thoughts and suggestions. Lainey could have cared less about what they were discussing. She tried to go back through the last few days and figure out what had changed between them from the day he'd gone to check her house when he'd kissed her before he left, to now where all they could do was glare at each other. She hadn't done anything different. He just began pulling back and shutting her out, and she didn't get it.
"Lainey!" Mike snapped, drawing her gaze to him.
"What?"
"Could you pay attention, please? This is important."
She sighed. "Fine."
She focused on what he was saying for about two sentences, then let her mind drift. Mike was furious. She got that. What bothered her was that it was a cold, controlled fury. His eyes had gone stone cold. There was not an ounce of warmth or humor lingering in their icy depths. When he spoke, it was the short, clipped tones she'd heard him use to direct the team in the field.
She sighed again. She couldn't help what she was feeling, and more importantly, she didn't want to help what she was feeling. It had been so long since anyone had caught her interest she'd begun to think that maybe something was wrong with her. Face it, she'd had Kevin Adtkisson in her grasp and when he'd cheated on her, it hadn't really even upset her. The only thing about that whole situation that did upset her was wondering what was wrong with her that she hadn't been enough for him.
As she looked up into Mike's angry face, she wondered again what was wrong with her that he didn't seem to want her the way she wanted him. And that just made her mad, too. She knew she wasn't statuesque like Kacee but she knew she wasn't ugly, either. Why wouldn't he be attracted to her? What more would she have to...
"Lainey!" he snapped once more, jerking her from her thoughts. "Pay attention!"
She glared at him. "Why? So you can tell me more things I can't do? No, thanks." She stood. "You just work out your little plan with the boys and fill me in later." Across from her, Colt and Whit stifled laughter behind coughs. Next to her, Riley was shaking his head. She didn't care. She was tired of being ordered around. Tired of having her life turned upside down because a former patient decided he wanted her all to himself.
"Don't walk away from me," Mike growled again when she turned to leave.
"In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not one of your men to be ordered around," she tossed over her shoulder as she headed toward the stairs, well aware that all eyes in the room were on her.
"If you leave this room you will not be going to the Founders Day Ball," he said.
At that, she laughed. "Try and stop me."
"Don't push me on this, Lainey. You'll lose."
"I've already lost, Commander," she threw back at him, going upstairs.
For a moment, there was nothing but stunned silence in the room behind her. Then, just as she expected, she heard the sound of his footsteps pounding up the stairs as he followed her. Ignoring him, she kept going into the bedroom, not at all surprised when he was right there to slam the door behind them.
"What is your problem, Ms. Riley?"
"I believe I have made that abundantly clear, Commander."
"How am I supposed to keep you safe if you continually fight me on every little thing?"
"Seems to me that the safest place for me to be is with you. But you insist on pushing me away. So, I'm tired of fighting. I get the hint: you don't want me."
He stepped closer to her, backing her against the wall.
"I never once said I didn't want you, cara," he said, his voice menacingly low.
Lainey shoved him as hard as she could, not that it even budged him, but it made her feel better.
"Then why don't you act like it? You kissed me last week and now you act as if nothing happened. I'm tired of the roller coaster ride, and I'm tired of you using my protection as your excuse."
He leaned in even closer and she felt the evidence of his arousal pressed against her belly. She sucked in a harsh breath as he pushed his hips even farther into her.
"Don't think for one minute that I don't want you. Sometimes I have to close my eyes or look away because I want you entirely too much. But, there is more here to consider than just you and me and raging hormones. Riley has been my best friend for several years. There is nothing I wouldn't do for him. He asked me to keep you safe; I will not let him down. And when I claim you, there won't be a house full of my men and their wives downstairs, am I clear?"
She blinked up at him, her hands on his biceps, all coherent thought having left her the instant he pushed his hips into her. He cursed under his breath in Italian and crushed her to him, sealing his lips over hers in a kiss so hot she felt she would combust at any moment. His tongue dove so deep she could barely breathe and found she really didn't care. All that mattered was that Mike was finally holding her and kissing her...and kissing her like no one else ever had; as if his life depended on it.
She clung to his arms and felt tears pricking the backs of her eyes. Why was he doing this? Why was he playing with her emotions the way he was? Would he give her these stolen moments of passion now and tomorrow go back to ignoring her? Was he only kissing her now because they did have a house full downstairs and he knew it couldn't go anywhere?
On a strangled sob, she tore her mouth from his, turning her head away, even as his lips descended on her nec
k.
"Let me go," she whispered.
"Is that really what you want, cara mia?"
"I don't know what I want any more. I just know that I can't take this. Let me go, Mike, please," she cried.
He raised his head from her neck and cupped her face in his hands, forcing her to look at him.
"I've pulled away from you these last few days because I need the distance in order to focus. I can't think when we're together like this. And after I kissed you last week, there's no way I can merely lay in that bed beside you without touching you, and I don't think either one of us is ready to take that next step just yet."
"Speak for yourself," she breathed, touching his lower lip.
"All right, fine. But still. I did promise Riley that I would keep you safe. Our next big challenge is the Founders Day Ball. That's a tempting, semi-public event. You are Conroy's obsession and he hasn't been able to see or speak to you in days. That's got to be driving him nuts. And if he's from Springfield, then he knows the Founders Day Ball is a big event and that you will most likely be attending. I think it's too tempting a chance for him to ignore. The Adtkissons' security is top notch and Colt is going to make it even better, but that doesn't mean it's infallible. I will not cut corners and take any chances with you, do you understand?"
"Yes," she replied.
"Then cut me some slack out there, please."
"I meant what I said, though, Mike. What difference does it make if I sit in on your briefing or not? You're going to do what you're going to do and tell me what to do and where to go, anyway. Why not spare me the technical stuff and just tell me what you want after you've ironed everything out."
"Because for you to fully appreciate what's being done on your behalf, you need to participate. You need to know what will go on every step of the way. You'll need to..." he stopped when a knock sounded on the door. "I'm going to kill him," Mike muttered.
A beat later, Lainey heard Riley's voice on the other side of the door.
"Mike? Everything all right in there?"
"We'll be out in a minute," Lainey called to him.
"All right. But if you aren't out in ten, I'm coming back."
"Bite me, Riley!" she snapped.
"Back atcha, sweetheart," he said, his voice fading as he retreated.
Mike shook his head. "Damn Irish."
"Sure and don't you be forgetting it," Lainey said, mimicking her grandmother's accent.
Mike actually smiled at that, and this time, she noted, it went all the way through to his eyes.
Chapter Thirteen
The room fell silent when Mike and Lainey came back downstairs. She felt all eyes on them and even though she wanted to join Jenna and Sarah in the living area, she knew it was important that his men see that he was still in control, so she went back to the office area and sat next to Riley. She also knew that some of them would think that she'd been put in her place, but knew that Riley would know she was backing down.
Mike walked past her, allowing his fingers to skim her shoulder as he passed, then turned his attention back to Colt, asking him to continue the briefing. Colt cleared his throat and began speaking again and Lainey did her best to concentrate on what he was saying, but a lot of it was technical terminology that was going way over her head. Riley leaned over several times and told her to pay attention, and she tried, but it wasn't happening.
"Lainey," Riley snapped, drawing her attention.
"What?"
"It's fine," Mike cut him off.
Lainey blinked up at Mike, truly stunned by his words. It's fine? Then what the heck had all that earlier been about? She was at a complete loss and truly baffled by him, so much so that she could only gape up at him.
"Mike, can we steal Lainey for a while?" she heard Jenna ask, and her eyes widened even more when Mike nodded. Jenna placed her hand on Lainey's arm and smiled down at her, prompting Lainey to get to her feet and follow her across to the living area where Sarah sat with her head back on the cushion of the couch, eyes closed. Seeing her discomfort was enough to pull Lainey from her thoughts of Mike and into the present.
"Sarah?" she asked softly, "Are you feeling sick again?"
Sarah nodded slightly. "I feel like the room is spinning."
Lainey checked her pulse, then sat on the coffee table before Sarah, lifting her feet into her lap.
"I'm going to try a bit of acupressure on you, if that's all right?"
Sarah nodded. "Whatever you want," she answered quietly.
Lainey removed Sarah's shoes and began massaging her feet. She could tell it was working when the lines on Sarah's face began to relax. In the background, she could still hear the guys talking, and oddly enough, the deep timbre of their voices was relaxing to her. She supposed, since she grew up surrounded by guys, that hearing men's voices had become soothing to her; even when their tones were anything but soothing.
"That is amazing," Sarah said after a while. "I don't feel sick anymore."
Lainey smiled. "Acupressure seems weird but it does work." She glanced over her shoulder when she heard the scrape of chairs, knew the briefing was over. "Hey, Colt, can you come here a second?" she called. "I'll teach him what to do so he can help you when you start to feel sick again."
Sarah smiled, tears shining in her eyes. "Bless you."
Colt crossed over to them, leaning down to kiss Sarah before turning to Lainey, studying her.
"Whatcha doing there?" he asked, curious.
"Come sit here by me," Lainey told him. When he did, she placed Sarah's right foot in his lap. "This will help relieve Sarah's nausea," she said, showing him where to stroke Sarah's foot and how much pressure to apply. After he'd caught on to where to massage her feet, Lainey showed him where to massage Sarah's hands as well. "I prefer feet," she told him, "but sometimes if you're in a public place, hands will work just as well."
"Is that helping, baby?" he asked, and Lainey felt her heart surge at the tenderness she heard in his tone. She would give anything to have someone speak to her like that. Her eyes flashed across the room to where Mike was talking with Riley and Coop and Whit. Would he ever regard her the way Colt was looking at Sarah?
She stood, patting Colt's shoulder. "I think you've got this under control. Can I get either of you anything?"
"I'm good," Sarah replied, smiling at her.
Lainey's hand tightened on Colt's shoulder. "Need anything?" she asked when he looked up at her.
"I'm good, too. Thanks."
She left them, seeing that Jenna had followed her into the kitchen.
"Did you have any issues like that when you were pregnant with Cam?" she asked Jenna.
"Thankfully, no. I loved every second of being pregnant." Lainey watched Jenna's eyes dart across the room to settle on Riley. "I can't wait to get pregnant again; to feel Riley's baby growing inside me." Her gaze returned to Lainey and she offered her an embarrassed smile. "Sorry. Newlywed."
Lainey laughed. "Don't apologize. That's my cousin and I love that you are both so happy. Cam is doing great, by the way. He loves Riley so much."
Jenna smiled. "He definitely thinks Riley hung the moon. I love to watch them together. Wade doesn't realize yet the damage he's done to his relationship with his son. The way I see Riley and Cam is how Wade should be with Cam and never has."
"Well...you have to remember, Wade is not Riley. If you and he were still together, he may not ever have had the sort of relationship Riley has with Cam. Riley is different. He was a SEAL so there's the whole excitement angle, and he's an older brother so he already had some fatherly instincts...well, at least where I'm concerned...I'm sure Jack, Trev and Aaron wouldn't agree. But I always knew Riley would make a great daddy one day. He's always been the one to look out for me and for his brothers."
Jenna's gaze slid to Mike and then back to Lainey. "How are things progressing with Mike? I saw some serious sparks fly between you two a few times at my house when you were coming to see Cam."
Lainey shook her
head, eyes on Mike for a moment. "Who knows with him? Right now, things are...okay. Not great but not bad. But the last few days he acted like I didn't even exist. I know he's been through a lot and I know that it's eating away at him. He needs to talk it out but I'm sensing that he won't...at least not any time soon."
"Riley still has nightmares," Jenna confided. "They aren't intense but they do wake him up. Sometimes sweating, sometimes trembling. He calls out for Zig and Mike a lot. It's amazing to me that they never lost a man until that happened to Zig."
"Has Riley talked much to you about that day? I know some of it from my sessions with him but I know he didn't tell me everything. I know it wasn't long after Tessa and Colt left the Unit...Tessa because she'd been injured in an IED attack when she was in a convoy away from the guys and Colt because his brother-in-law had died."
"That's pretty much what I know, too. Riley said that they'd been called in to retrieve some diplomat who'd been kidnapped. They were in Mosul and they didn't like the feel of the town the minute they rolled in. They were on foot and the woman who'd been acting as their guide got really agitated. Zig had kind of bonded with her because she was pregnant and his wife was pregnant. When he turned to touch her, a sniper shot him. Riley said he was dead before he hit the ground. Riley was closest to him, he moved in to go to Zig and took a bullet to the shoulder and one grazed his neck, really close to his carotid. The insurgents started swarming in. Mike was the next closest. He yelled for Coop and Whit to get Zig and Riley and he charged in to provide cover fire. They got Riley and Zig but Mike was surrounded. Riley said that he was always doing stuff like that; putting his guys before himself."
Lainey nodded, watching Mike, seeing that his eyes were on her. She had a feeling he knew they were talking about him from the scowl on his face. She thought of that night he woke up with the nightmare. He'd been so controlled when he woke up. How could he do that? It had chilled her then; it frightened her now. It wasn't good for him to keep that inside.
Colt came into the kitchen and she was distracted by the happy glow in his eyes. He grabbed her in a fierce bear hug, making her laugh when he kissed her cheek.