Operation: Endurance

by Christi Snow

  When she was breathing normally again—at least as normally as she could right now—he drew her away from his chest. “I know your throat has to be killing you. I’m gonna go make you some hot tea. Come into the kitchen when you’re ready.”

  “Thanks, Chris that sounds good.” She watched him with wary eyes and he wondered what exactly was going through her head.

  * * *

  Julie ducked into the kitchen, feeling more than a little embarrassed for practically mauling Chris in her bedroom. What had she been thinking? He was here to help. She couldn’t push anything more on him, especially now when she knew she wasn’t at her most attractive. Gah, so humiliating.

  As she slid into the barstool at the breakfast counter, he pushed a teacup across to her with the teabag steeping. “I added a bit of honey to it, too. It might help to soothe your throat.”

  “Thanks.” She glanced up at him and was confused by the extremely focused look he gave her. “What?” She checked to make sure her robe was still closed and that she wasn’t flashing him, but couldn’t see any reason for that stare.

  His voice was low when he said, “I’m sorry about earlier. I thought you were still asleep and was just surprised that you weren’t and then I saw the tattoo.”

  The blood drained from her face. He’d seen her tattoo. Panic swirled through her and she pulled her robe tighter. She’d just been so flustered to have him in her room when she was pretty much naked. But he couldn’t have seen all the detail on it from the doorway, right? She tried to brush it off. “Don’t worry about it. No harm done.”

  He continued to stare at her. “A purple butterfly? That just seems like maybe it might mean something.”

  It meant everything. Everything she’d found and then lost. That butterfly was the symbol of all her shattered dreams. She shook her head mutely. “No, I just thought it was pretty.”

  He lifted a single eyebrow at her. It was obvious he didn’t believe her, but he didn’t push it.

  Instead, he said, “I talked to Colton earlier. They’d like us all to come over for dinner tomorrow night when Jake and Cassie get home from their honeymoon. Do you think you’ll feel up for it?”

  She pulled at her greasy hair. Maybe by tomorrow, she’d have the energy to take a full shower and wash it herself. “That should be fine. Dr. Shelby told me to take off all this week, so I don’t have anything on the agenda except to sleep, read books, and catch up on movies. A couple of hours over at our friend’s place sitting on the couch should be do-able.” She gave a self-deprecating chuckle.

  “Okay, good. Why don’t you go make yourself comfortable on your couch right now and I’ll see what I can do about making us some dinner.”

  Chapter 25She came home from the hospital today, but her neighbor, Chris, had barely left her side. What kind of neighbor was that attentive? He didn’t like it, not at all. She belonged to him, just like Jocelyn had.

  He’d watched them all evening through the glass sliding door. They moved around the house together like they were married, him waiting on her, digging through her cupboards, sitting on the couch together watching TV. It wasn’t right for them to play house like this.

  Julie’s backyard had lots of big bushes that made observing them perfect so the odds of them catching him were practically non-existent.

  He’d watched Julie go to bed through the windows and then the guy left a little while later. The neighbor went over to his house about thirty minutes ago. Now everything seemed quiet within both houses. He slid the copy of Julie’s key out of his pocket, thankful he had the forethought to copy it when he had the chance to slide it out of her office a couple of months ago.

  The door opened with a quiet click. He turned the knob very slowly, opened the door an inch, and then waited a heartbeat to make sure nothing moved within. Everything was quiet. He slid in the door and then closed it just as quietly. His heart racing, he stood there with his back to the door while his eyes adjusted to the dark. There was a light on above the stove in the kitchen and another lit further down the hall. He knew that light was coming from Julie’s bathroom. He’d seen it when he was outside watching earlier.

  He crept down the hall, listening for any sounds that might warn him of getting caught. All was quiet. Finally, he made it, her bedroom. She was asleep in her bed, just like the angel she was. He stood and watched her while she slept. Her breathing was still a little ragged. Anger thrummed through his system. He’d told her to take care of herself. She’d come so close to ruining everything. He clenched his fists against the red emotion bursting through his system. He could control this.

  Gently he pulled back the covers from where they covered her chest. She wore a simple t-shirt, but even that looked incredibly sexy pulled tight over her glorious breasts. They rose and fell with her breaths. His arousal, which had been simmering as he’d watched her through the window all evening, punched through to harden his dick to steel. He was so close to her. He could even smell her sweet scent. He closed his eyes and savored the fact. The temptation was there to take her now, but no, it wasn’t time. He rubbed his fingertips together, scant inches from her skin.

  He wouldn’t give over to the emotion, at least not yet. The time would come and then he could channel all those feelings of anger, frustration, and sadness that threatened to overwhelm him. Breathing deep, he slowly regained enough control so he could enjoy the vision in front of him.

  A click reverberated from the living room. What was that? His gaze flew to the doorway and he heard the unmistakable sound of someone entering the house. He rushed over to her closet, pulling the door behind him so he could peer out the crack.

  The neighbor walked in the room, his hair wet and dripping on his collar. He must have just gone home to shower. Seething, he watched as that man stood there and observed her while she slept. The neighbor had no right to invade her privacy this way. Anger pulsed. With her asleep, the guy let his emotion show. Pure love showed in his eyes while he watched her.

  No, no, no. This isn’t the way this was supposed to go. He wasn’t allowed to look at her like that. She was one of his special ones— like Jocelyn. She couldn’t belong to him. Once again the red swam into his vision. He could go out and kill the guy right now like he deserved, but that would ruin everything. He had to be smart about this, for Jocelyn’s sake.

  Julie lay there, still sleeping, blissfully unaware. Her hair was soft and dark like Jocelyn’s had been. He imagined running his fingers through it….remembering. Jocelyn had always liked it when he played with her hair and he’d loved playing with it.

  The sound of the bedroom door snapping shut interrupted his reverie. The neighbor had left the room. He’d gotten distracted which made him sloppy. Not acceptable. None of this was acceptable, most especially not having that man here looking at Julie like she belonged to him. The man had ignored his warnings and now he’d have to pay.

  He slowly opened the closet door and listened. From the rattling in the kitchen, the man was making himself at home in Julie’s house. He would not allow this man to interfere with his plans for Julie. Creeping to her side, he leaned down to inhale her luscious aroma.

  It was time to leave, but first he needed something. He searched the floor of her room, but even sick, she had everything organized, neat. Inspiration struck and he peered back into the closet. Yes. There in the corner was a basket filled with her dirty laundry. Quickly he pulled out his pocket pen light so he could see what he was looking at, and then he located two pairs of her panties. Lifting them to his nose, he closed his eyes with the ecstasy. She was his, but not yet.

  He tiptoed back into the room, turning the blinds as he went so he’d be able to see her from all the angles as she moved about. Then he quietly unlocked the French doors in her bedroom and let himself out onto the patio. Here again, the bushes were perfect. He slid in amongst the branches of one so he could still see her head resting beautifully on her pillow. The aroma of her lingered in his nostrils. The adrenaline pulsed from t
he danger of his adventure.

  But as he lifted the panties, he knew success was his, now and in the future. Sliding one pair into his pocket to savor later, he took the other pair and rubbed them up against his pulsing erection. He slid down the zipper of his jeans and considered how it would feel when he finally slid into her. His dick throbbed and pulsed, heavy with need for her. It didn’t take long for him to reach completion, emptying into the folds of her panties.

  Soon. He’d have her soon. He just had to be patient. As he zipped back up, he began plotting. First, the neighbor would have to be taken care of, once and for all.

  Chapter 26Chris opened the truck door for Julie. She’d been quiet most of the day, withdrawn. They hadn’t had anything going on for the afternoon. She’d sent him home around lunchtime, telling him it was ridiculous for him to hover over her just to watch her read on the couch. Reluctantly, he’d given in when she promised to text if she needed anything. Of course, that meant he didn’t hear from her all day. When he’d gone over there to check on her an hour before they needed to leave to go to the dinner party, her found her completely ready. Her exhaustion was palpable. The effort of getting ready had taken its toll on her so much he couldn’t even bring himself to berate her for not calling him to help.

  But no more. He wasn’t going to sit by and let her get sick again. He planned to actually move in to her place tonight. No more going back over to his house for little things like showers. She’d just earned herself a new roommate; she just didn’t realize it yet. He’d save that little tidbit for on the way home tonight. No reason to have a fight before their evening out.

  As he gave her his hand to help her out of the truck, he noticed her hands were freezing. The temperatures had been moderate for West Texas in mid-May when they normally would already be pushing up toward the century mark, but it certainly wasn’t anywhere even close to chilly out here. He examined her face and kept hold of her hand. “Are you okay? Your hand’s cold.”

  When she directed her hazel eyes at him, he was struck by the golden flecks reflecting the evening sunlight filtering into the parking garage. Their gazes met and held. Something inside him melted. This woman meant so much to him. Why had things gone so wrong between them?

  “I’m fine,” she said, her voice quiet with an unspoken emotion.

  He stood there for a moment, refusing to relinquish his grasp on her hand as he examined her, looking for the truth in her words. Finally, he nodded, threaded his fingers through hers and tugged her toward the elevators up to Colton and Penelope’s loft apartment.

  Penelope answered Chris’s knock on their door. The glow on her face told him that she was feeling much better today than the last time he’d seen her.

  She gave him a grin before she drew Julie in for a hug. “How are you feeling? I hope this isn’t too much too soon for you.” She pulled Julie out of Chris’s hand and dragged her toward the couch. “I have a place reserved for you here for the rest of the night. You’re not to get up and do anything that one of us can do for you.”

  Julie tried to protest, but Penelope wouldn’t hear of it.

  He trailed behind them, smiling at Penelope. Watching her take care of Julie proved without a doubt she would make a wonderful mother. Colton stepped in from the balcony outside. “Hey guys. I hope you brought your appetites. We have steaks, baked potatoes, and vegetable skewers going on the grill.”

  “Steaks?” Chris asked, looking over at Penelope, who was a vegetarian.

  She smiled. “Don’t worry. There’s no way he’d ever let me starve. There’s a vegetarian chili to go on top of my baked potato.”

  “If you’re eating chili, you must be feeling better.” Chris studied her, but the circles that had been present under her eyes the last time he’d seen her had diminished. If anything, she truly looked like pregnancy was good for her. She had a pink in her cheeks and a happy glow about her.

  “Yeah, the morning sickness has relented for the last couple of days. I figure Junior’s hungry so my stomach is letting me eat.” Penelope lovingly patted her still-flat tummy. “Have you talked to Cassie yet?”

  Chris nodded. “She called right after they landed to let me know they’d arrived, but Jake’s mom picked them up and wanted to hear all the stories about their trip so she just said we’d chat tonight. Regardless, it sounds like they had a good time.”

  “Was there ever any doubt?” Colton asked.

  “No,” Chris shook his head ruefully, “not really. They’re always happy as long as they’re together and I’m sure a European backdrop just enhanced that.” Jake and Cassie had traveled to Austria for their honeymoon.

  Penelope started toward the kitchen. “Can I get you all something to drink?”

  “Just water for me,” Julie answered.

  “I’ll take a beer.” Chris followed her into the kitchen before turning back to Colton and glancing down at the bottle in his hand that looked to be empty. “Do you need a fresh one?”

  About an hour later, Chris watched Julie laugh with Penelope on the couch.

  Cassie walked up to stand beside him. “Is she really okay?”

  “She will be. I’ll make sure of it this time.”

  “Is that why you’ve been watching her so closely all night? Are you trying to make sure she doesn’t overdo or is something else going on?”

  He tore his gaze from Julie to look at his twin. He’d never been able to hide things from her. The fact he’d managed to go this long without her realizing his feelings for Julie was a testament to how wrapped she’d been in first his recovery and then in setting up a life with Jake. “I care about her, Cassie. A lot. But there are reasons why it won’t work between us. First and foremost, she’s still grieving the death of a man that she loved. I won’t take advantage of that grief now.”

  “I’m not sure she was as in love with Aaron as you may think. You may want to ask her about him.”

  Chris started shaking his head. “No, I don’t want to know. I realize that’s awful of me, because I’m supposed to be her friend and support her on things like this, but I can’t hear the details, Cass. I just can’t.”

  “Hey,” she tugged him into an embrace, “that’s okay. Have faith it will work out if it’s meant to be, okay? I have a good feeling.” She looked back over at Julie with a calculating look in her eye.

  “Cass, stay out of it, okay? There are things you don’t know. If it’s truly meant to be, we’ll work it out, but first we have to get her healthy again. I’ve never been as scared as I was this week when I found her collapsed in her house.”

  “I’m so sorry I didn’t realize how sick she was. I feel awful because I knew she’d been putting in way too many hours on the wedding and then with the increase in her self-defense classes, it’s no wonder she ended up in the hospital. I should have seen it coming.”

  “She’s good at keeping things hidden.” He thought back to the butterfly tattoo on her back and then Rachel’s emphatic plea to him to keep her from making lists. “I think she hides a lot more from us than any of us realize. If nothing else, I hope to change that over the next few weeks.”

  “Can I have your attention please?” Their attention was redirected when Colton stood up and drew Penelope into his embrace in front of the brick wall filled with bookcases. He stepped behind her so his arms reached around and caressed her belly. Chris smiled. This was it, the real reason why they were all here tonight. He squeezed Cassie’s shoulder. They’d been a family of just the three of them for so long.

  Colton smiled at them. “Although we were anxious to see Jake and Cassie after their honeymoon, that’s not the real reason we brought you all here. Penelope and I have a little announcement to make ourselves.” Colton gestured to Cassie. “We’ve been so blessed. First you added Jake to our family, although honestly that was just a formality as he’s always been a part of the family. But I’m happy to report that Penelope has agreed to be my wife.”

  Cassie started to surge forward with congratul
ations, but Chris held her still and whispered in her ear, “Wait just a moment. Let him finish.”

  Colton looked a little sheepish. “But Penelope isn’t the only new member that we’re going to be adding to our family.”

  Cassie caught on as her gaze flew to Colton’s protective hands wrapped around Penelope’s tummy. She squealed and then ran to them to hug them both. “Seriously? When? How? Never mind, oh God, don’t answer that. I know the answer to that one.”

  With an eyebrow raised, Colton glanced over at Jake. “I’d hope so or else I’d be really worried about what you all have been doing for the last week.”

  “Looking at the beauty of the Austrian Alps, of course,” was Jake’s droll response.

  Cassie turned to smirk at him, but as she glanced over the rest of the guests, her eyebrows lifted and she placed both her hands on her hips. “Okay, why the hell does no one else in this room look surprised at this announcement?” She turned her accusing glare to Colton, who tried to look innocent.

  “We didn’t want to pull the attention from your wedding.”

  “Colton Todd Robertson! Are you telling me that everyone in this room has known about this, but no one chose to share it with me?” She glared at each person individually in the room, but by the time she made it back to Penelope, she smiled as she approached her slowly reaching out to softly touch her tummy.

  “You have a little Robertson in here?” Chris could hear the tears in her voice as she touched her and the lump in his throat grew.

  Penelope nodded, the tears flowing down her face.

  Cassie gasped. “Oh my God. It all makes sense now. Why you were so damn teary before the wedding. You have baby hormones, don’t you?”

  Penelope nodded. “Please forgive us for not telling you earlier.”

  “You’re the mother of my new niece or nephew. That makes you exempt. You are beautiful and perfect. My brother, on the other hand, will have to work to make up for this.” Her words sounded fierce, but her smile said otherwise.