by Susan Stoker
She’d used paper towels and hand soap to wash her body. The little travel-sized shampoo she’d found at the bottom of the bag was now empty, and her wet hair straggled around her head, but it was clean. And brushed. She wondered how often Deputy Whitfield called his friend to bring strange women these necessities.
After tossing her old clothing in the trash and putting the rest of the items she’d used in the shopping bag, she ran out of excuses to keep hiding in the bathroom. Cain Whitfield had been kind, even if he was a little blunt, but he still intimidated her.
Too tall, too good-looking, blonde and big-shouldered—with the chilliest blue gaze she’d ever seen. One hard glance from those laser-blue eyes, and she’d done exactly what she’d feared. She’d spilled everything. Including the cringe-worthy story of what Joey had done to her that night. How could she face the handsome deputy now?
A light rap sounded on the door.
She drew a deep breath. He wouldn’t wait forever. “Coming,” she called out. She looked like a drowned rat, but at least she didn’t look pathetic anymore. Too bad his girlfriend hadn’t included a little lipstick, too. Something to brighten her features. She needed a boost of confidence.
Carina entered the hallway, and the deputy straightened away from the opposite wall, his gaze giving her a quick once-over. She couldn’t help wondering if he found her the least bit attractive. She’d always taken her beauty for granted—but she’d never been caught without her face done or her hair perfectly styled. At least, the clothing she now wore fit.
“The shoes work for you?” he asked, his gaze traveling downward.
She glanced down toward the canvas slip-ons that hadn’t shown much wear. “They’re fine. Not even snug in the toes.” She glanced upward, feeling shy. “Thanks.”
His mouth tightened. “Save your thanks for the mayor.”
Carina thinned her mouth, too. “Of course. And your girlfriend.”
His eyebrows drew together. “Sheriff’s back.”
She swallowed. “What happens now?”
“Suppose it depends on what the fire chief told him.”
Her mouth tightened. “I didn’t set that fire.”
He waved a hand toward the front of the station. “After you.”
Carina’s steps dragged. The sound of voices, several, echoed down the hallway. When she entered the larger room, she noted the sheriff, a large man still dressed in a firefighter’s turn-out gear, and several others she hadn’t seen at the fire, but whose gazes all turned toward her.
She drew to a halt.
A large hand settled at the small of her back and pushed her gently forward. “They just have a few questions,” the deputy said quietly.
“All of them?” she asked under her breath, although whispering was a waste of time. Everyone listened to her hushed conversation with the deputy.
Deputy Whitfield cleared his throat. “Gentlemen, this is Carina Black.”
The men formed a half-circle, and one by one, they introduced themselves. Two were arson investigators, one a Texas Ranger out of Austin. The sheriff tipped his hat.
The fireman gave her a frown as he introduced himself. “Blake Thacker, fire chief here in Caldera. Seems you made a lucky escape.”
She wished the floor would open up and swallow her. “Yeah, that’s me. Lucky.”
The deputy grunted beside her.
Was he laughing? She aimed a glare over her shoulder, but his stern face gave away nothing of his thoughts.
“We’ve all reviewed the statement you gave Cain,” the sheriff said. “Anything else you can tell us that might help us find Joey Guiducci?”
She shook her head. “He’s not from around here. How hard should it be to find a guy driving a Viper—one who’s not wearing a cowboy hat?” She realized she was being snarky and clamped her mouth closed. “Sorry. Must be nerves.”
The hand at her back gave her a tap.
She stiffened. The touch almost felt like a spank.
“Do you have any reason to believe he might not be alone?” the sheriff asked.
Carina chewed her bottom lip. “He’s operating pretty far from home. And he’d hate for anyone to know I left him like that—plus taking his stash. If he brought anyone else with him, I’d be surprised. I’m not important. Not to anyone but him.”
The men shared glances among themselves. One of the arson investigators turned his gaze to the sheriff. “We might need to revisit once we’ve had a chance to walk through the cabin.”
“She’s not goin’ anywhere.” The sheriff raised an eyebrow and nailed her with a steady glare. “Are you?”
“I guess not.” They had her car. She didn’t have a license, a phone, her clothes were borrowed, her money was in their safe… Nope, she was stuck here. “I can’t go anywhere. He took my money,” she said, hooking her thumb toward the deputy.
“Caldera doesn’t have safe houses,” the sheriff drawled. His gaze slid to the deputy. “What about that house you’ve been renovating?”
The hand at her back fell away. “It’s barely livable.”
“Got electric? Water?”
She didn’t need to look behind her to know he’d nodded.
The sheriff was smiling. “I’ll make sure a deputy drives by regular-like. But you’ve got yourself some time off, Cain. Keep her under wraps. Can you handle that?”
She heard a loud, drawn-out sigh.
“Guess I’ll have to.”
The men from Caldera all shared grins.
What the hell they thought was so damn funny, she couldn’t even begin to guess. But she didn’t care. Cain Whitfield, with his broad shoulders and icy blue stare, would be keeping her safe. And since he’d managed to keep her alive this long, she was relieved by how things had worked out.
Cain stepped to her side. “He might be watching for her to leave the station.”
The sheriff pursed his lips. “Still got those ugly clothes you arrived in?”
Narrowing her gaze, Carina frowned. “Wouldn’t you feel like crap if they were really mine?”
The sheriff arched a brow.
Carina huffed. “I put them in the trash can.
“Well, go get ’em.” The sheriff looked beyond Carina and the deputy. “Hey, Rita.”
“Ooh-wee! Do I get to be bait?” the older woman said with more than a hint of glee in her voice.
He gave her a wink. “You do, ma’am. Perez’ll give you a lift in his squad car to your house. We’ll put a blanket over your head.” He fished in his pocket and brought out keys, which he tossed at the deputy. “That’s for the old Coronado out back. Five minutes after Perez leaves, you head out with the girl.”
I’m not a girl, and I’m right here, Sheriff! Carina knew she’d have a canker sore from the number of times she’d bitten her lip to keep from commenting.
“We’ll keep you safe, Ms. Black,” the sheriff said. Then he turned to the men in the group and indicated that they follow him. They strode past her and headed down the hallway. A door closed in the distance.
“I’ll go get those clothes.”
“No need,” Rita called out. “Have to change in the bathroom, anyway. I’ll fetch ’em from the trash.”
Alone with the deputy, Carina turned and glanced upward. “I’m a lot of trouble.”
“You are.”
She nearly winced at how quickly he agreed. “Last thing you want is to babysit me. Give me back my money, and I’ll be gone.”
“Can’t do that, ma’am.”
Ma’am. She couldn’t recall anyone but a high school kid at a gas station ever calling her ma’am. She liked the way it sounded in his smooth baritone. She thought she might like to hear him say more words. Ones not spit like bullets. She glanced away. “I won’t cause you any more trouble.”
“Can’t help you were born that way.”
Carina narrowed her eyes as she returned his steady stare, not sure whether he’d insulted her or was cracking a joke. Hell, she wasn’t sure which made h
er hotter.
Chapter Four
‡
Cain pulled the sheriff’s Coronado into the garage—the only finished part of this renovation project. He’d started renovations on the old house the week after Susan left. She hadn’t been game to live in it while he pulled down the walls around them. Once she’d done him the favor of emptying his home of furniture, he’d gotten right to work, beginning with the garage. He’d worked on it first, because this was where he’d placed his tools and saws, and where he did most of the carpentry work required. Which meant he had to be careful when the garage door lowered. The back of the Coronado barely fit inside.
When the door finished closing, he turned in his seat to Carina, whose gaze flitted around the garage. “It’s a bit of a mess.”
“Looks like you spend a lot of time in here.”
“The house isn’t much better,” he warned, anxious to see her reaction.
She gave him a small smile. “I hate that I’m putting you out.”
“Don’t.” He didn’t stop the impulse that had him reaching to cup her chin and turn her face toward him. “I’ll keep you safe. Once we’re inside, I’ll show you around and establish a few ground rules. Ready?”
She drew her bottom lip between her teeth and gave a little nod.
He opened his door. She did the same. They wove their way through his equipment, over the power cords, up the stairs into the mudroom. Or what would be the mudroom. He’d torn out all the old drywall. Only the bare wooden frame and the slats of the siding were visible.
He held her arm to help her circle the large hole in the floor that opened into the crawlspace beneath the house. Tomorrow, he’d have to cover it with a sheet of plywood so she wouldn’t fall through.
They entered the kitchen, which at least had solid walls. He pointed to the refrigerator. “Feel free to help yourself to anything you find in there.” The cabinets lacked doors, but the plates and glasses were visible in the openings, so she could figure that out herself. “The pantry’s pretty much finished,” he said, indicating the doorless space. Thank goodness, he’d shopped for groceries that week. Dry and canned goods lined the shelves.
They entered the living room, and she halted, her gaze going to the high ceiling. The room was empty, but except for the crown molding he was refinishing, this room was nearly done.
“I like the color,” she said, her gaze on the pale robin’s egg blue he’d painted the walls and ceiling.
“Be nicer if some furniture was actually in here,” he said wryly. “The upstairs is more comfortable.”
“I can’t believe this staircase,” she said.
He liked that she’d noticed the curved balustrade.
Her hand followed the smooth, newly stained wood as she climbed.
The house wasn’t large, but the details hidden in the old Victorian more than made up for its limited space. He’d made the best he could of the antiquated floor plan, opening spaces on the ground floor to give the dining and living area the illusion of spaciousness.
On the upstairs landing, he flipped on the hallway light and realized one issue could pose a problem. “I took down all the doors to refinish them. Too many layers of paint on a really nice teak.” He turned on the light just inside the gaping doorway of the one bedroom he thought she might like. He’d stripped out old, threadbare carpeting to expose oak flooring that had only needed sanding and restaining to return it to its former glory. The painted metal bed was a junk shop find. “The mattress is new. Clean. I’ll find sheets so you can remake it.”
Her head jerked his way. “You’ve been sleeping here? But where will you go?”
“I have a pullout sofa in the space I’m making over into an office downstairs. I’ll be fine.”
She eyed his long frame. “Maybe I should take the pullout.”
“No. This room has a private bathroom. The fixtures are all new. But no door as well,” he said, staring into the dark space. The tub would be visible from the doorway. “I’ll rig a curtain, but at least you’ll have a little more privacy.”
Her cheeks turned red. “Well, thank you.” She took a deep breath and set her bag on the mattress. “You said something about ground rules…”
“Yeah.” Cain took off his cowboy hat and held it between his hands. “Not all the windows have curtains. So you can’t be walking around with all the lights on during the night, or you could be spotted. Best to stay far from the windows. This house isn’t on the main road, but we shouldn’t take any chances. There’s a phone in the kitchen, but you don’t answer it until you hear my voice on the message machine. Don’t answer the door. Not to anyone. I have keys. I’ll let myself in.”
“Got it,” she said with a mock salute. “I’m hiding out. I can’t be seen or heard.”
His eyebrows lowered. He needed her to take this seriously. “Look, I’ll have Sherry find you more clothing. Maybe you could give me a list of your sizes, down to your underwear.” His gaze went to her breasts, which he knew were free beneath the t-shirt. “No use being shy. I’ll get you what you need.”
Her blush spread across her cheeks. But her mouth was curving. “And if I need tampons?”
Running the hat in a circle, he winced. “Good lord, you had to go there.”
Her snicker matched the light of mischief in her eyes. “You’re not the one blushing here.”
He shook his head, a grin tugging at his mouth. “You’ve gotta be beat. You want to eat, or go straight to bed?”
“Bed,” she said, and her shoulders drooped.
“Don’t get scared by the sounds this old house makes. The stairs creak, the wind whistles through some of the boards on the open walls, but I’m here for the duration.” He jutted his chin. “You won’t be alone. I’ll protect you, Carina.”
Carina wondered if it was possible to melt into a puddle. She thought she might be doing that right now. She’d never met a guy who said things like that. Who put himself before her. “Will your girlfriend be okay with this? With me staying here?”
His eyebrows drew together. “I don’t have a girlfriend. Shed my wife six months back. Haven’t been looking for one, either.”
He shed his wife? Not quite sure what he meant, she guessed his wife hadn’t disappeared the same way Joey’s exes did. And if a happy warmth spread throughout her at the news he wasn’t taken, well she’d put that down to the fact he’d saved her. Didn’t women always fall for their rescuers? She gave herself a mental shake. She was not falling for him, because she wouldn’t be here long. “Thanks for everything.”
“I’ll get those sheets.”
“Don’t,” she said. “I’m too tired to care. I’ll change them in the morning.” Besides, she wanted to crawl between his sheets and find out how he smelled. Gross as that might have sounded if she’d said it aloud, she was curious.
“All right.” He backed toward the doorway.
She raised a hand to warn him, but he bumped into the frame and quickly turned and left.
She grinned, thinking that maybe she was affecting him as much as he affected her. Nice to know she wasn’t alone in that, either.
Cain called himself every kind of fool as he escaped down the stairway. Why the thought of Carina sleeping on his sheets pleased him, he didn’t really know. But he was getting hard just thinking about her sleeping between the sheets he’d used, in her t-shirt, or possibly nude.
Fuck, he’d thought it. Now, the picture he drew in his mind wouldn’t fade away.
So, she was pretty. He’d had pretty. She was feminine and curvy in all the right places—again, he’d gone there, done that. She wasn’t from around here, and that fact should be the one he held on to, because in a few days, maybe even tomorrow, she’d be gone. With that thought foremost in his mind, he decided to take a turn around the yard. Give her time to use the bathroom and settle for the night. And for his dick to relax.
Outside, the full moon provided him ample light to circle the house. He gazed into the windows, just to see
whether light from the hallway or the kitchen could be seen from the ground. His gaze strayed to the upper floor and his bedroom. Hers now. She’d turned off the bedroom light, but the bathroom light was on. No hint of feminine silhouette could be seen.
His cell phone chirped in his pocket. He drew it out and scraped the screen. “Tank, any sign of the boyfriend?”
“None. All’s quiet. The fire’s out, but the chief’s keeping watch to make sure there aren’t any flare-ups.”
“That’s good.”
“You get her bedded down for the night?”
Cain grunted at his word choice. Parts that needed to relax were stirring again. “Well, I didn’t stay to tuck her in.”
His friend chuckled. “She’s not Susan, but it looks like she’s got bigger issues. Just as well not to get involved.”
Cain didn’t answer. He was not discussing with Tank any attraction he felt for the woman sleeping in his bed. “Who’s patrolling tonight?”
“Perez is pulling a double. Him and Conway will keep an eye out. Sheriff said there’s nothing specific to pin the arson on the boyfriend. And without you seeing him inside the Viper, we don’t really have anything we can hold him on, should we pick him up. Would have helped if you’d gotten a look at his plates.”
“I was too busy trying to keep us both alive.”
“Just sayin’. Don’t guess you’re gonna get much sleep. Want me to drop by tomorrow to keep watch while you get some shut-eye?”
“Sounds like a plan.” He rang off, and then made another circle around the house. When he entered the mudroom, he pulled off his boots. He heard footsteps in the kitchen. Quickly, he walked to the doorway and peered around the frame.
Carina stood before the open door of the refrigerator, wearing one of his t-shirts. She was pulling down the back hem to cover her bottom as she reached into the back.
Cain thought he ought to warn her he was there, but then she bent again, and he got a glimpse of the bottom of her ass and froze. Under his shirt, she was nude. Not wanting to embarrass her, he stayed in the shadows, waiting for her to move away before he made some noise to let her know he was there.