by Maddie Wade
As he drove towards the furniture store, he tried to sort his thoughts into something that made sense. He’d watched as his teammates fell in love—Alex and Evelyn, Blake and Pax. He’d been a witness as Reid succumbed to Callie, had laughed when Liam fell for the Princess and been happy for every single one of them. But he hadn’t quite understood the dynamic of it. The attraction he got, but not what made one person know without any doubt that they would die for another, that their life would be forever changed if that person was no longer with them.
Now he felt a semblance of understanding because he had the sneaky suspicion it was happening to him. Pulling into the car park, he helped Autumn put Maggie in the pram, and walked beside her as they browsed the store. He happily walked beside them as Autumn looked around, admiring the different collections before they got to the bedroom section.
“Well, what is it you want?” Autumn swept a hand at the different beds in front of them. Wooden and metal frames, divans, even one with a spot for a TV in it.
Mitch tipped his head to her. “Which do you like?”
Autumn gave it some thought before she moved to sit on one of the divans. It was a double in the lower price range. “This one works. It has storage and the price is good.”
Mitch had got what he needed from that and made a decision. Autumn wanted storage and she’d get it but not with a cheap, shitty bed and certainly not a double. If he had his way, he’d be sharing that bed with her, and he needed a king size.
Twenty minutes later they were back in the car.
“You didn’t need to buy the most expensive bed, Mitch.”
He glanced at her, his eyebrow raised. “No, but I wanted too.”
“Thank you. It was kind.”
“Not kind, honey. If I have my way, we’ll be sharing it before long.” He knew honesty was the best option for this woman. To be anything less would make her feel cheated or conned, and he didn’t want that.
Her mouth dropped open in an O. “Do you always just tell it like it is?”
Mitch shrugged. “What’s the point in hiding it. I like you, Autumn. I want you in my bed.”
“And what if I don’t want that?” Her voice had lost the teasing tone, and he heard the wariness creep in as they pulled into the drive at home.
Switching off the engine, he unbuckled and twisted to her, noting the vulnerability in her pretty brown eyes. “Autumn, I like you. You’re fun, sexy, cute and I’m drawn to you like I’ve never been to anyone before, but if you don’t want that, then nothing happens. You carry on being my tenant and I continue to be your landlord and maybe your friend if you’ll let me.” Mitch took her hand, rubbing the silky soft skin with his thumb. “But I think you like me too.”
“I do, but I have so much baggage, Mitch. I’m not sure I can offer you anything other than friendship, and not because I don’t want to, I do. I feel this connection too, but you don’t know me, and I can’t share some things with you and I may never be able to.”
He took her warning, trying to decide if he should tell her he knew about the witness protection and knowing she’d never forgive him for lying to her. “Let’s go inside and finish this conversation.” Without waiting, he got out of the car and crossed to get Maggie as Autumn sat seemingly shocked at his sudden change.
When they got inside, he moved straight towards her apartment, waiting at the door as she unlocked it. Autumn shed her jacket, dropping it on the arm of the chair as she took Maggie and laid her on her mat.
Mitch took a seat and patted the chair. “Come here, Autumn.” He watched her pace for a minute before she sat beside him, her hands in her lap. “I know you’re in witness protection.”
He heard her indrawn breath and grasped her hand as he saw her pulse begin to hammer in her neck, the blood leaving her face.
“How?”
“The company I work for isn’t your average security company. We have access to data that most don’t. They ran your background check and Will, our boss stroke tech guru, told me.”
“I’m going to be sick.”
She rushed to her feet and was running to the bathroom before he could stop her. He followed her to the bathroom and saw her on her knees over the toilet bowl. Crouching, he took her braids in his hand, holding them away from her face. He felt terrible to have done this to her, but he knew the cost of lies and deception. Look at what it had done to Gunner. His brow tightened at the thought of his former teammate.
Autumn stood and turned to the sink. “Give me a sec.”
She waved him off, and he moved back into the living room to see Maggie playing happily on the floor with her mobile over her head. She really was a good baby. Without the pram, it would’ve been difficult to know she was there today.
He watched as Autumn’s eyes flickered to him before she looked away when she entered the lounge. Moving past him she went to the kitchen and put the counter between them. He guessed it was her way of putting up a mental barrier. He knew she wasn’t scared of him, or she wouldn’t leave her baby on the floor near him.
Autumn Roberts gave away far more than she realised, her guard having lowered around him the last couple of weeks.
“I don’t know the details, Autumn, but we needed to know who’d be living here because of the jobs we do. I want you to share with me what happened if and when you’re ready, but it makes no difference to the way I feel.”
“You can’t say that. The people who want me dead are dangerous. They could hurt you if we got involved. It’s bad enough knowing I brought Maggie into this nightmare but you too, I can’t.”
Mitch crossed the space quickly, moving close so he could touch her. His hands reached for her arms, and he felt her shiver. “I’m dangerous, Autumn. My friends are all lethal. If anyone can keep you safe, it’s us. Tell me or don’t, but whatever you do, don’t make the decision for me.”
“I’m scared.”
He pulled her shaking body to his chest then and held her tight, wanting her to feel safe in his arms. He knew he’d just lied to her. He did want to know, he was desperate to find out so he knew what they might face, but he also wanted her to trust him enough to share it. “I know, honey. Let me help you.”
Autumn tipped her head up to look at him through eyes wet with tears. “What if I can’t talk about it? Every time I think I’m free it drags me back under. I’m not sure I can open that wound again.”
“Then we deal. I like you for who you are now. I want the future, not the past.”
“I can’t promise you that.”
“Then give me the now.”
He swept her hair back from her face giving her time to answer. He saw the war playing out in her head as she wore her emotions on her face for him.
“I’d like that.”
“Good. Now can I kiss you?” At that moment, Maggie let out a wail and Autumn smirked as he groaned. “Guess not.”
Mitch let her go, feeling lighter than he had in ages.
Chapter Seven
Hitting send on the uploaded manuscript, Autumn leaned back with a relieved sigh. That was the last of the editing done for the one and only job she’d managed to get this week, but it paid well enough, and everyone had to start somewhere. Rubbing her aching neck from hours bent over a laptop, she stood and walked to the window. It was a beautiful sunny day in May, and she wanted to spend the afternoon in the garden with Maggie.
Like her, Maggie loved the fresh air, and she had some borders to plant thanks to Mitch allowing her to treat the garden as her own. Pouring a glass of water, she took a sip as she considered the last three weeks. He’d shocked her with his revelation, but after she’d gotten over the surprise and fear, it had been a relief.
Hiding was hard work, especially for someone like her who was open and expressed her feelings on her face. Autumn was reassured that she was safe with Mitch after putting in a call to her contact at the National Crime Agency. Having been in Hereford five weeks now she’d spoken with the person on the local force who’d be
her new protection point of contact, and they were happy with her set up and entirely up to date on her case.
Her frustration though was with Mitch, and how slow he was taking things. He’d kissed her, but that was it, and she’d wondered if perhaps he was worried about her being a widow and still mourning her husband. He couldn’t be more wrong, her love for Terrell had died the night she’d found out about his illegal activities, although their problems had begun a long time before that.
A cry from the monitor had her setting her glass down with a smile and turning to get Maggie from her bed. The past was where it belonged, and now she had to concentrate on her and her daughter’s future.
A short time later with a blanket lying on the grass, Autumn was planting a shrubbery border along with the lawn that would offer colour almost year-round. Mitch has told her gardening wasn’t his thing and said she could do whatever she liked with it. He’d drawn the line at letting her pay for it though, and they’d argued about that until he’d kissed her, and she’d forgotten everything but the taste of him. The man could kiss like the very devil until her brain was mush and her body was screaming for more.
With the sun warm on her back, it was hard not to be happy, the smile pulling at her lips felt rusty as if it had been too long since she’d really smiled, but she was optimistic, cautiously so, but she felt hope for the first time in a long while. Where things might go with her sexy landlord she had no idea, but she was enjoying being with him and the easy friendship they’d developed to go with whatever else was happening between them. If it turned out to be just friendship then so be it, although she knew it would be mind-blowing to have sex with a man like Mitch. Something told her he’d know exactly how to find the places on her body that made her moan with pleasure.
Autumn glanced up as the man in question ambled towards her, his easy stride long and loose and at odds with the coiled power in him that never seemed to leave. Even when they were alone she sensed it.
“Hey, want some help?”
Autumn looked up at him from under her hand, as she shielded her eyes from the afternoon sun. “I thought you hated gardening.”
Mitch crouched so that she could see him without the sun at his back, his face inches from hers. “I do, but I like being around you.”
Autumn smiled, her heart warming at his words. “Were you always such a charmer?”
Mitch gave her a lopsided grin as he winked. “From the day I was born.”
“Arrogant.”
His face moved in closer, the look in his eye devilish, making her feel almost dizzy with desire for him.
“Is it arrogant if it’s true?”
She grasped his dark green tee with a muddy hand and pulled his lips closer. “Yes, but apparently I like it.”
He smiled against her lips before kissing, her softly. It was languorous and lazy, just like the early summer day stretching before her. A moan of pleasure slipped past her lips as he kissed his way towards the pulse at her neck.
“Fucking perfect.”
Mitch pulled back, and she swayed, dazed by the feeling he evoked in her.
Leaving her, Mitch fell to his knees beside her daughter, who was now having fun rolling onto her back. Her little hands came up, a smile on her face as she tried to grab for Mitch.
“Hello, gorgeous, how are you today?”
Autumn loved the way he included her baby in every interaction; he’d even changed a diaper, albeit reluctantly and with gagging noises.
“How come you call her gorgeous and me honey?”
Mitch glanced at her as he played bicycle with her daughter’s legs making her belly laugh. He cocked his head, squinting against the sun. “She’s gorgeous and you, well, you smell like honeysuckle. Every time I think of you, the scent comes to mind.”
Autumn loved that he thought of her enough to give her a nickname, knew she was growing more and more attached to this man.
“I like that,” she said simply.
“So, tell me what to do?”
He grabbed a trowel and held it aloft like a weapon as she showed him how to dig a trough for her to plant the small shrubs. Autumn could so easily imagine him as law enforcement. He’d told her he’d worked for SO19 as a sniper and now his job was as the weapons expert at the company where he worked. He hadn’t told her much else, just that they did a little of this and that for the government.
Autumn had tried to guess when she was alone with her thoughts, but too often her imaginings ended up like a blockbuster movie, with espionage, black ops, and government cover-ups, so she’d given up. Her mum had always told her that her wild imagination would get her into trouble. How ironic was it that it was the safe job, the steady husband, that had been her downfall.
“What’s wrong?”
Autumn jumped at Mitch’s voice so close and twisted to find him sitting beside her, his worried gaze on her face. She didn’t want to lie to him, but she didn’t know how much she should tell him either. She shrugged. “Just thinking about my family.”
His hand came up to tug her across him, her ass in his lap as he bandied his arms around her. “You miss them.”
It was a statement rather than a question, but she nodded anyway. “I do. We were always close, especially me and my younger brother. He was ten years younger than me. My mum had me when she was fifteen, so we were close too, even though we were totally different.” She stopped, not sure what else she could reveal without breaking the rules.
“How about you tell me about them without telling me any identifiers? That way you won’t break any rules.”
Autumn angled her head to look up at him. His dark eyes were alight with understanding, even as his brows pinched in a frown. Reaching up, she smoothed the offending frown before stroking her hand down his stubbly cheek. “How do you always know what I’m thinking?”
It was something she’d wondered before. He often anticipated what she might say or do, and it was a little unsettling to know he knew her so well, and yet he didn’t know her past.
Mitch pressed a kiss to her temple, before resting his cheek against her head. “Fuck if I know, Autumn, but from the second I laid eyes on you something happened here.” He rubbed his hand over his chest, brushing against her arm. “I’ve seen it happen to others, but I’ve never had this kind of thing happen to me. I feel as if I know you deep in my soul, as if I can anticipate your thoughts. Does that sound weird?”
Autumn shook her head. “No, I feel it too, this comfort with a person that’s so natural it’s as if you’ve known them your whole life. I felt it the first time I held Maggie. Like she’d always been part of my life, and yet it was all so new.”
They were silent for a few moments until Maggie drew their attention away with her cries.
“She needs feeding.” Autumn lifted Maggie and quickly settled herself on the warm grass, lifted her shirt discreetly, and let her daughter feed. Mitch was sitting with his long legs in front of him, body braced on his arms behind him, watching her.
She wriggled self-consciously. “What?”
“Nothing really, I’ve just never realised the beauty of a feeding mother until you. It’s so calming to witness the pure love between a mother and her child.”
“It is, and it’s not something you can ever explain until you become a parent, but it’s fierce the love you have for them. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her, not a single thing on this planet. She’s the only person I’ve felt that with.” Autumn knew she was revealing more than perhaps she should but couldn’t stop the honesty.
“What about her father?”
Autumn looked away at the question, knowing it was so complicated, almost impossible to pick apart but wanting to tell Mitch the truth. “We met in college, got together almost straight away. We became study partners and fell in love. Got jobs together and then got married. It was perfect, we were perfect.”
Autumn sighed. “Or at least I thought we were and then cracks started to show. He was staying out later, making calls
late at night. I thought he was having an affair and confronted him.”
Autumn went to say his name and bit it back. “He was absolutely adamant he wasn’t and assured me it was work, even showed me the call log to the office. I believed him, and we started trying for a baby.” Autumn glanced down at Maggie and couldn’t regret that part in the slightest.
“Things were great, and then I found several discrepancies at work. I can’t explain more without giving you the details, but I discovered he was breaking the law in a big way. I confronted him, and he broke down and told me he was in deep and it was too late to back out. I begged him to run away with me, but I think secretly he’d grown to love the power he had and the cash, and ultimately, he chose that over me.”
“His loss.”
Autumn stared into space, lost in her memories of that time. Every time she let her mind go there it hurt, but today with Mitch beside her, it hurt less. “Yes, and now he’s dead, so it makes no difference. He can’t hurt us now.”
Mitch didn’t fish for more details, and she was grateful for that, knowing she didn’t have the energy to fight him after opening up like that.
“Wanna grab an ice cream?” Mitch’s eyes twinkled as he leaned forward and kissed her neck. “Or do you want to make out?”
“Can’t we do both?”
“Fucking hell.” His deep voice rumbled against her sensitive skin, and she shivered.
As they drove towards the ‘world’s best ice cream shop’ according to Mitch, the window open and the cool airbrushing her skin, she smiled. Her life was good, better than good, it was great. A lovely home, a man who she was really beginning to care about by her side, who treated her and Maggie like gold, and more importantly she was safe. It was a thought that would bite her on her ass just seconds later when her phone rang, and her world rocked again.