by Debra Webb
She turned around slowly, her expression as uncertain as his own must surely be.
Raine attempted a shrug, but wound up grimacing. “I mean, I don’t have a list or anything, but I do have some things to say.”
Kate took two hesitant steps in his direction. “I’m listening.”
He took a deep breath for courage and went for broke. “First, I want to apologize for being so rough on you.” Fear of what could have happened plagued him again. Without her medication and with a concussion, anything could have happened in those damn mountains. His gut knotted at the thought.
She smiled hesitantly. “It’s okay. I’m tougher than I look.”
That was true, he knew, but he’d been a real ass. Admitting that to himself hadn’t been so bad, but saying it out loud to Kate was another story. Raine cringed inwardly. This touchy-feely stuff would take some getting used to. But Kate was worth every moment of discomfort. “Second, I thought you’d want to be the first to know that I plan to officially inform Lucas that I’m out of the business as soon as he’s back on the job.”
“I’m glad for you,” she said quietly.
Her reaction was entirely too reserved. He’d hoped for something more, like maybe her throwing her arms around his neck and then begging him to take her with him. I’m glad for you, she’d said. He wanted her ecstatic for both of them.
“The downside is, I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself.” He frowned in speculation, then chuckled wryly. “I’m not sure my particular skills are in high demand in the private sector.”
A full-fledged smile spread across her sweet face with that remark. “I’m sure you’ll find something to do.”
Now for the serious stuff. Raine swallowed tightly at the lump swelling in his throat. This was where he had to climb out on that flimsy emotional limb. And damned if he didn’t suddenly feel afraid of heights. “Well, I have that place in Virginia and I was kind of thinking of horses,” he ventured cautiously.
“Horses?” Her eyes lit up. “Oh, that’d be great.” She took the final steps that separated her from his side. “I love horses.” A hint of hopeful expectation joined that twinkle in her eyes.
“It would only be great if you shared it with me.”
Her eyes rounded in what looked like surprise. “We really don’t know each other that well, Raine. Most of what we do know is half truths and speculation. You might change your mind when you get to know me better.”
Raine resisted the urge to cut his losses before taking the next step. “I love you, Kate.” He took her hand in his and laced their fingers. “That’s all that matters.”
“But you said you weren’t coming back,” she argued, obviously still not ready to believe him. “You intended to walk away.”
“I was afraid to trust you with my heart.” He heard the slight tremor in his own voice, but he didn’t care. Stretching the IV tubes and earning himself another stab of pain, he reached up and touched her soft cheek with the fingertips of his right hand. “But it’s too late. You already own my heart. You have almost since the moment we met. And now I have to trust you. I do trust you,” he added firmly. “I hope you can find it in your heart to trust me.”
“So, it all comes down to a matter of trust,” she suggested carefully.
“Can you trust me, Kate? Trust me with the rest of your life?” His breath stalled as he waited for her reaction.
Her lips quivered into a smile. “Oh, yes. I’ve trusted you this far, why change now?” Kate leaned forward and kissed him thoroughly, with all the love Raine knew was in her heart.
Epilogue
“The Colby Agency cost me the best contract agent I had.”
Victoria lifted a speculative eyebrow at the man sitting on the other side of her immense oak desk. “The way I see it, you cost my agency one of our best trackers.”
Lucas Camp sighed, then twisted his lips into that one-sided smile that Victoria found entirely too charming. “Touché, Victoria,” he admitted.
“It is nice to see two people so much in love,” she said wistfully. She and Lucas had attended the private ceremony for Katherine and Raine, which had been held in a tiny wedding chapel in the Smoky Mountains. Victoria felt a pang of regret at the reminder that she would never again share that special bond with a man.
Lucas nodded his agreement, his silvery gaze too knowing.
“Well,” Victoria began, pushing the matters of the heart aside. “Nick tells me that you were rather impressed with his final report.”
“Very impressed. And not just with the report.” Lucas sat a little straighter and pulled a businesslike face. “I could use a man like Nick on my team.”
“Don’t even think about it, Lucas. Nick is too valuable to this agency. Don’t you dare try to recruit him. I won’t stand for it.”
“Okay, okay,” Lucas placated. “Nick’s a hell of a guy, but I would never recruit him behind your back. It was just a thought. It never happened,” he offered by way of apology.
“I’ll hold you to that,” Victoria stated pointedly, giving him notice.
Lucas got to his feet. “I should be going.”
Victoria stood, feeling oddly reluctant to let him go. “When is your flight back to D.C.?”
“Tomorrow morning.” Lucas reached for his cane propped against the nearby table. “If you don’t have any plans,” he said slowly, “perhaps you’d like to join me for dinner tonight.”
Victoria swallowed at the tight little lump that had lodged in her throat the moment Lucas entered her office. “I thought you never mixed business with pleasure.”
That crooked smile tilted his lips once more. “There’s a first time for everything,” he suggested. “Of course, we could talk shop if you prefer.”
Victoria surveyed the tall, distinguished man before her for a long moment. The gray peppering his coal-black hair hadn’t detracted from his good looks. Nor had the passing of nearly half a century since his birth softened his rugged frame. He still commanded a presence that made a woman breathless. When Victoria’s gaze settled back on his, she noted the uncertainty her scrutiny had generated.
“Dinner would be lovely, Lucas.” Victoria smiled and the doubt in his eyes vanished. “And I would prefer to discuss anything but shop.”
“I’ll call for you at seven then,” he said before he turned toward the door.
Victoria nodded and then watched his slow, labored progress as he crossed the room. Her attention riveted to his right leg. She knew that beneath the classic wool slacks he wore a prosthesis. Tears stung her eyes as memories flooded her mind. In that cage, all those years ago, during a war that no one wanted to remember, the price of one young lieutenant’s life had been the right leg of another.
And Victoria would always owe Lucas for that.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-7162-7
SAFE BY HIS SIDE
Copyright © 2000 by Debra Webb
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*A Colby Agency Case
> Debra Webb, Safe by His Side