by Barb Han
“What do you have to apologize for?” As far as she thought he’d saved her life again.
“That was my fault. Those men were after me, not you.”
Kinsley’s head would’ve been spinning if she hadn’t had the day she’d just had.
The helicopter pilot saluted Gabriel, who returned the gesture. If she understood the situation correctly a terror cell was after her and some other dudes with guns were after Gabriel.
The man who’d just saved them with a helicopter at the last second was pulling away and he’d dropped them in the middle of nowhere.
Kinsley started laughing. It was a giggle that rolled up her chest and neck, and then out. The absurdity of her life made her laugh harder. Gabriel didn’t look enthused. So, that made her laugh even more. Her stomach started hurting but she laughed anyway.
“What’s so funny?”
“Well, let’s see my ex-boyfriend from high school who I haven’t seen in…like…fourteen years showed up in the nick of time to rescue me from a terror cell because of a book I wrote that was supposed to get me out of the office and into the world again after my parents died. And then while he’s busy rescuing me a group of…” She looked to him for an answer.
“European cartel members,” he supplied.
“Right, of course.” That really cracked her up. When she could slow down and finally breathe again, she said, “Crazed Europeans show up with assault rifles and based on the way you walked across that floor in the kitchen…a bomb?” She held his gaze as more giggles bubbled up and out.
He nodded, confirming her fear. He also confirmed they’d make it out alive.
“And then a guy in a helicopter shows up and we make a run for it,” she paused for dramatic effect, “somehow make it. And, guess what? Against all probability…we’re alive.”
He stared at her while she laughed some more. She couldn’t help it. If this day hadn’t been so completely frightening it would be funny.
“Come on. Don’t be so stone faced. This is crazy. We’re alive. There were so many bullets and we don’t have a scratch on us.”
And then she saw his shirt. The blood. Suddenly, nothing was funny anymore.
Chapter 9
“You’re hurt.” Kinsley gasped.
“It’s a scratch,” Gabriel dismissed her.
“I don’t care what anybody says about you, Gabriel Cooper. You’ve become a bona fide bad-ass,” she stated.
Thankfully, he cracked a smile. If he still had a sense of humor, then maybe he wasn’t lying about not being badly hurt. Seeing blood on him had sent her panic sensor into overdrive.
“At last. Stone Face shows some emotion,” she said only half-teasing.
“In my job, emotions get you killed.”
“Well that’s a buzz killer if ever I heard one,” she retorted. She contemplated that for a few seconds. His world sounded lonely. A little voice in the back of her head seemed all too ready to call bullshit on her. Who was she to judge his life, his choices when hers was just as alone, just as lonely? He’d thrown himself into his job just as she had. Granted, his came with knives and guns while hers involved books and lectures. The end result was the same. Neither made room for people.
Ever since her parents died junior year of college Kinsley had spiraled. Losing Gabriel and then her parents a few short years later had been an emotional blow from which she’d never quite recovered. It had happened in college and she’d buried herself in her books rather than deal with the pain. She’d never really gotten over Gabriel. Losing the only two people who’d cared about her had knocked the wind out of her. Lainey had She’d closed herself off
His face broke out in a wide smile and a burst of pride swelled in her chest for being the one to put it there. “What’s next?”
As far as she could see there wasn’t much going on out here in the woods. She had no idea where they’d been dropped. They could be in Louisiana swamp country for all she knew. The thought of alligators being around really got her riled up. She was most definitely not a nature girl. She involuntarily shivered at the thought of mosquitos the size of her hand.
“We hike.”
“You’re kidding, right?” There was no way she was going to stay outside all night unprotected from God only knew what.
“Based on your reaction I wish I was.” He let out a belly laugh and this time his sense of humor didn’t make her smile.
But then she thought about the bullets being shot at her and the fact that not only did a terror cell want her, but some European mob was after Gabriel. Being out in the wild with no one around for miles suddenly didn’t sound like the worst thing that could happen to her.
“Fine. Where do we start?” She motioned toward her right. East? Who knew? Kinsley wasn’t exactly a nature girl.
Gabriel’s smirk wasn’t making her feel any better, either. He might be a bona-fide bad-ass but he was also a smart-ass. Come to think of it he also had a sweet ass that she didn’t want to be thinking about right now.
She took in a breath. “Which way?”
“Right this way.” Gabriel walked the opposite direction of where she was standing.
Kinsley spun around. “Okay,” she said under her breath. No one would ever accuse her of having a solid sense of direction.
At least it wasn’t cold outside. She hated cold.
“How are you enjoying the walking?” Gabriel said.
“Not so much. Why? You got a better idea?” she quipped. [what is she doing for shoes?] At least no one would find them out there. Of course, they could get lost and die and no one would find their bodies. Yes, she was being dramatic. What could she say? It had been a day.
“Depends.”
“Are you teasing me, Gabriel?” Before she could ask again, he pushed through trees and revealed a four-wheeler.
“How about this?” He held up keys in his palm.
“Are you kidding me?” She swatted his arm, hand meeting steel. “Ouch. When did you start working out so much?”
He chuckled, a low rumble from deep in his chest.
“Military has a way of putting muscle on a kid,” he said.
“So I noticed.” She shook her hand, trying to shake off the pain.
“Are you okay?” The amusement was gone from his voice, replaced with concern.
“Yeah, I will be,” she stated.
In a surprise move, he turned toward her and took her hand in his. He brought it up to his mouth and kissed it tenderly for such a rough and tumble guy. He’d always been that way, the perfect mix of tenderness and masculinity. Make no mistake about it, Gabriel could hold his own with anyone. He’d been like that in high school, too. Only that wasn’t what had drawn her to him. Although, being capable of taking care of himself and anyone around him was a draw.
He slid onto the four-wheeler and she settled in behind him, wrapping her arms around his chest and clasping her fingers.
Kinsley had never been allowed to do much for herself or test her wings. One of the things she’d admired most about Gabriel was that he knew himself inside and out. He knew how far he could go in pretty much every situation. It had been him that had wanted to wait for sex. He’d said that he’d never be able to handle losing her if they went down that round. He’d been more experienced than her then. He’d known what it was like while she’d only fantasized about it.
Would he always pull away from her?
Because after the heat in that kiss a very large part of her wanted—needed?—to experience what sex with Gabriel would be like. She’d told herself that was the reason she felt so much heat between them anytime he was within reaching distance.
She leaned her cheek against his broad back as he climbed over brush and wound through the woods. A strange piece of her felt like she’d come home and maybe it was just that she’d been locked inside a windowless office for years on end, working, studying. The last twenty-four hours had been the scariest of her life but they were also the first time she’d really felt alive
in longer than she could remember. Too long.
When this was over, and she could only pray that it would be soon and she’d be alive to tell about it, she resolved to change a few things in her life. She could feel the changes building inside her but she wasn’t quite sure what they meant just yet. A sabbatical from work seemed too temporary and, besides, she’d have to build a case for one. A vacation wouldn’t begin to cover the time she needed to reset.
A thought struck but she immediately dismissed it. There was no way she could quit her job, not after she’d worked so hard to get where she was. The thing about it was that there was supposed to be a moment at least when she’d felt like she made it. Don’t get her wrong, she was thrilled at graduation but the feeling didn’t last.
For the past decade she’d had this niggling feeling that there had to be more in life. Okay, to be fair, not this. She couldn’t imagine a life on the run from people who wanted to kill her. She’d never really been the husband and two-point-five kids type. Kinsley couldn’t imagine losing herself in the same way her mother had. Ellen McGregor had once been a promising law student. Her mother had married first year and then became pregnant with Kinsley and made the decision to drop out.
All of which would’ve been fine if Ellen McGregor had wanted to do those things. The best Kinsley could figure was that her mother had given into pressure from her family to dedicate herself to raising her child.
Ellen’s misery hidden underneath a forced smile became evident to Kinsley by the time she was a teenager. Their relationship had never taken seed and Kinsley had had a first-row seat to her mother’s drinking binges. No matter how much Ellen had been provoked during fights with Kinsley’s father the woman never had an emotional outburst.
Would it have changed anything if she had?
Gabriel had noticed how quiet Kinsley had been since he’d stopped off at the log cabin. “This place is pretty rustic.”
“Does it have a working bathroom?” she asked, eyes bright.
“That it does.” Joking around with her earlier had been a break in the tension threatening to choke them both. “And it’s even indoors.”
“That’s a relief.” She sounded tired. Even so, hearing her voice again caused his chest to squeeze. Muscle memory had him wanting to pull her against his chest again. Kissing her had been a mistake earlier.
They’d grown up and grown into two different people. They were no longer those lovesick kids who would lay awake most of the night waiting to see each other again.
Looking back, loving Kinsley had been his salvation throughout the last years of high school. That was most likely the pull she still had, unresolved feelings or some psycho mumbo-jumbo like that.
Seeing her now, knowing that she’d never intentionally cut off communication all those years ago made him want things he couldn’t. And not just because The Russian wouldn’t stop until Gabriel was dead. The man would take away anything and anyone important to Gabriel.
Unlocking the door, he stepped aside to allow her into the cabin. It was a safe place to hide but he wished he could put her up in a better spot. She deserved better than a twin bed in the corner of the room and a couple of lawn chairs for seats.
Gabriel flipped on the light.
“It’s small but it’s so much better than sleeping outside,” she said.
Gabriel dropped his rucksack. “Sleeping bag is inside. It should get you through the night.”
Kinsley walked into the middle of the room, put her hands on her hips and then spun around to face him. “Where are you going to sleep?”
He motioned toward one of the chairs.
“No. I can’t let you do that. You were shot—”
“Not your call. And I already told you it’s a scra—”
“I shouldn’t have believed you before.” She moved to his rucksack and dropped down to her knees. She blinked up at him. “You have an emergency kit in this thing?”
“Yeah, but—”
“No arguments. You’re still bleeding a little bit, Gabriel,” she said. “Take your shirt off and let me see how bad it really is.”
One of Gabriel’s strengths in life was knowing when to walk away and knowing when to fight. This was not the time to break out the guns.
Gabriel crossed his arms and grabbed the hem of his shirt. He smirked. “I’d rather be taking this off for a different reason.”
“Watch it, wise guy.” She dug around in his rucksack until she located his emergency kit. It was hard to miss considering it was bright orange with white lettering.
Kinsley pulled out the case and looked up at him with a big smile.
“Sit.”
“I can bark, too, if you’re looking to know all my tricks,” he quipped as he took the nearest seat. He could’ve sworn her eyes took in his naked chest.
God it felt good to talk to Kinsley again, to joke around with her. He missed the easy way they had with each other when they were kids. They’d had to keep their relationship on the down-low from teachers and her parents—something he’d never agreed with. It had taught him that he would never hide from anyone again.
Kinsley wasn’t embarrassed to be in a relationship with him. Her parents, especially her mother, kept a tight rein on Kinsley and they didn’t approve of her dating anyone because a boy could distract her from trying to get into the best college.
As much as Gabriel had understood the reasoning, he’d never felt good about sneaking around. And then her father had found out over Christmas break senior year. Her college applications were in and Gabriel had given forced her hand.
Her parents had been stiffer than corpses when he’d stopped by. He’d insisted on being there when she told them. He’d wanted to see their reactions for himself and he didn’t want her to shoulder being yelled at by herself if that was the route Mr. McGregor decided to take.
A burning sensation shocked him out of his revelry. “Damn. That stings.”
“Sorry.” She positioned herself in between his thighs to get a closer look.
Gabriel forced his gaze away from her pink lips. Besides, it was her hands that he needed to keep an eye on anyway.
“I’m sorry, Gabriel.” She looked up at him and he could see the hesitation in her eyes.
“It’s doesn’t hurt that much,” he reassured.
“I’m not talking about your wound, which is a lot worse than you let on by the way.” She wagged her finger like she was scolding a school kid. It shouldn’t be sexy but, hey, this was Kinsley and she would always have a special place in his heart.
“Then I’m confused.”
“The past. I believed what everyone said—”
“I didn’t give you evidence to the contrary,” he quickly added.
She shrugged as she looked up at him. “I don’t know. Maybe I should’ve known you better than that. Trusted you more.”
“The same could be said for me.” There was a lot of truth to those statements. He’d licked his wounds like a lovesick pup rather than trust that anyone could love him, especially someone like Kinsley. Damn. Was that true? He couldn’t argue the facts. Spelling them out like that made them all that much more real.
“Either way, I’m sorry.”
He reached out and pushed a tendril of her wheat-colored hair out of her eye. “Don’t be. We were kids. We both made mistakes. I never should’ve put us in that position in the first place.” He trailed his finger along the scar on her jawline. “I did this to you. I deserved so much worse than living without you for the past fourteen years.”
Kinsley inched closer to him.
It would be a mistake to keep touching her, to kiss her.
And yet stopping he didn’t have the willpower to stop.
“Is this such a good idea?” he whispered, his lips against hers.
“No, which is exactly why we should do it,” Kinsley said.
Chapter 10
Gabriel’s cell buzzed in his pocket. He wanted to forget about it, to forget it ever existed. Ignorin
g it could be bad for their health, so he didn’t.
He fished his cell from his pocket and checked the screen. The message came from Jaden and there was a whole helluvu lot of relief at having his buddies to back Gabriel. No one cared about him more than Jaden and Daniel.
Stay low and report in if you can. All is quiet for now. Got info on Justified. Growing threat. Taking over Europe.
Gabriel exhaled as he revealed the message to Kinsley.
“There’s so much I don’t know about you anymore,” she said.
“I’m the same person—”
She blew out a sharp breath.
“Okay, maybe not the exact same. I’ve grown up,” he said.
“I can see that, Gabriel.” Her gaze darted over his chest.
A slow smile spread across his face when her cheeks flushed. He couldn’t help himself. He tucked it away as quickly as he could.
“Kinsley, you’ve changed, too. You were beautiful before but now—”
“Stop it. You’ll embarrass me.” She went back to work, focusing on cleaning up the blood on the skin covering his third rib underneath his left arm. “And you’re still bleeding a little. Maybe we should get you to an ER.”
“We can field dress it.” He double-checked to make sure he wasn’t overestimating his healing abilities. “It’s really not that bad.”
She ran her finger along the scars on his torso and then his shoulder. “Do I want to know how you managed to get all these?”
“Couldn’t tell you if you asked,” he admitted.
“Couldn’t or wouldn’t?”
“There a difference?” he asked.
“There is to me.” She was right. He wanted to give her something about him, about the life he’d lead. He couldn’t offer specifics but he could tell her something.
Looking into her eyes he could see that she needed to feel like she knew him again. Her life had turned upside down in a matter of hours and she was on the run with a virtual stranger, except that she did know him.