Shaking his head at the turn his frivolous thoughts had taken, Abel yawned and glanced toward the clock. The late movie that Ice had invited Patience to see was due to let out any minute. Oh, he knew it was probably an innocent little trip, designed to get Patience’s mind off the myriad of crap currently flying around her family, but it still smarted that she’d agreed to go out with Ice.
He supposed he had it coming; forbidding his Hellion earlier in the evening from joining Ice tonight hadn’t exactly been his brightest move. But, damn it all, he hadn’t been thinking clearly. Since he’d learned she was pregnant with his children, all his thoughts had been clouded where Patience McKinnon was concerned. And Diego and Ice’s combined interest in his woman wasn’t helping anything. Abel nearly groaned as he remembered the stubborn set of her chin and the dangerous gleam that had been in her sparkling blue eyes when he’d stupidly tried to ban Patience from going out without him tonight, and he could still hear that fucker, Ice, laughing at him.
Sue him. He’d never been good at sharing his favorite things. Everybody knew it. Especially Patience. But had she cared? Hell, no! She’d simply ignored him, reached over and covered Ice’s hand and told that bastard that she’d love to go anywhere with him.
Abel was fairly certain a blood vessel had blown in his eye at that point.
Not bothering to turn on any lights, Abel collapsed in a heap of exhaustion on the surprisingly comfortable, old sofa Patience had in the portion of the loft designated as a living area. He stared into the darkness, wondering how in the hell he was supposed to fix his most recent fuck-up.
No, wait, he silently reflected while he lifted a hand and absently loosened the tie around his neck.
Maybe instead of attempting to repair the latest in a very long line of serious missteps, he should concentrate his efforts on righting the biggest of those screw-ups.
Of course, selecting which one of his many mistakes with Patience would be the winner in that category could be quite the challenge. He certainly had a huge selection from which to choose. And while the Hellion he loved might believe that his biggest blunder to date would be knocking her up with his kids, he knew differently.
Toeing off his black loafers, Abel smiled faintly as he flexed his toes against the thick scatter rug under his socked feet. No, his unborn babies were, bar none, the best thing he’d ever done in his life. He believed it now, and he’d believe it sixty years from now. So would his Hellion; she just didn’t know it yet. While Patience might have her doubts, Abel could see that his children were not accidents or mistakes. They were God-given gifts.
No, his hugest mistake was made three months ago when he failed to make Patience understand exactly how hard he had fallen for her and how much he wanted them to be together. He’d foolishly thought he’d give her some time to wrap her mind around the concept of a ‘them’. He’d been arrogant; he’d thought he had time to woo her slowly and methodically. Instead, life – like it often did- chucked a curveball at their heads in the form of Angela Hastings.
“Fucking bitch,” Abel muttered aloud, his hand forming a fist where it rested against the arm of the couch. He knew it was wrong to speak ill of the dead, but he figured the Almighty would forgive him a few unkind words. Especially since he was trying to help find her killer.
If somebody had asked him a week ago if he’d care when his ex-fiancé finally kicked the bucket, he’d have laughed his ass off. But look at him now… he’d spent his entire day watching Zeke question (and sometimes interrogate) potential suspects.
And he did this not because he particularly cared for Angie anymore. No, on the contrary, before she’d bit it, she’d tried to royally fuck up as many lives as she could…. And that alone made him wanna give her killer a pat on the back. He was helping Zeke because most of those primary suspects… they were his friends!
Even now he could feel his temperature rising as he ruminated on all the pandemonium Angie had caused over the course of her most recent trip back to Paradise.
The most disturbing thing to note was that even in death, she still managed to cause trouble for him.
And even more confounding than that?
The fact that he’d further complicated things between him and Patience by acting like his interest in Angela had been rekindled in an effort to crack the woman he actually loved out of her tough-as-nails Abel-proofed shell!
See, his mistakes abounded, multiplying like rabbits in the hot spring.
Hanging his head, Abel pinched the bridge of his nose and inhaled deeply, Patience’s sweet, familiar scent teasing his senses and calling out to him as he sat surrounded by her things. Jesus, but he wished she’d walk back through the door so that he could get started on rectifying some of the messes he’d made.
And he knew exactly where he’d begin, too.
He’d start off with clearing up this fool-assed assumption he’d overheard her making to one of her sisters this afternoon when he’d heard her say he was only interested in starting something up with her because he’d gotten her pregnant. That was horseshit of the smelliest variety, and if she actually believed that nonsense and wasn’t just throwing it up as a shield, then he knew that was the first issue he needed to resolve with her tonight. Their babies were bonuses, but he’d still want Patience without them. He’d take her any way he could have her, and the fact that she doubted that for a second gutted him deep.
Then again, he realized that he hadn’t yet given her a reason to believe otherwise.
He intended on fixing that, too… if she ever brought her ass back where it belonged, that was.
Reaching for one of the throw pillows at the end of the couch, he caught one in his hand and stuffed it behind his head, settling in to wait out his infuriating pain-in-the-ass. Leaning his head back, Abel closed his eyes, slowly relaxing after a long day spent listening to interviews of people that mostly wanted Angie more dead than alive.
Not that he could blame them; he definitely would have counted himself among that number. Hell, he’d even endured his own sit-down with Zeke. Thankfully, in spite of her decidedly ornery nature, Patience had still managed to validate his alibi with a minimum of coercion on his part. After all, he’d been sharing her bed although he very much doubted she remembered him slipping between the sheets with her.
Didn’t matter, though.
He’d woken up exactly where he wanted to wake up next to the only woman he wanted in the world beside him.
And he’d wake the same way tomorrow, too, if he had anything to say about it.
He wasn’t sure how long he sat there in the dark. Twenty, maybe thirty minutes, at least. But finally, he heard the dull thud of footsteps coming up the stairs and the sound of Patience’s light laughter filtering through the closed doors. Narrowing his eyes on the entrance to her loft, he reminded himself that killing Ice Monroe, a bona fide American hero compliments of his Green Beret status in the United States Army, would be wrong. If he came through that door behind Patience, though, he wasn’t quite sure he’d be able to control his reaction.
Staying quiet, he held his breath and listened as he heard Patience’s key enter the lock; and something undeniable inside him loosened when he heard her thank Ice for the movie and a lovely evening. She wasn’t inviting him in for a nightcap. No, instead, she wished him a good night and quietly let herself into her loft.
He kept still, watching as she tossed her keys toward the entryway table and haphazardly kicked off her shoes toward the platform where her bed was housed. Abel sat in silence as Patience hummed an off key tune and slowly moved to her closet in the dark while she wriggled out of her skintight jeans. Keeping his eyes glued to her admittedly amazing body, he saw her pull out an oversized orange tee-shirt from the depths of her closet and… – wait, no freaking way! That was his oversized University of Tennessee shirt she had in her hot little hand. He frowned as she slipped it over her head. He knew she’d stolen it when she’d stayed with him after she’d been shot. Oh, she’d den
ied it passionately, but now he saw the proof draped lovingly over her very sexy curves. That’s when he decided that silence wasn’t always golden.
Clearing his throat, he murmured, “Nice shirt. Had it long?”
Patience screamed, swiveling around to face him on her toes as she grabbed the first thing in her reach. Unfortunately for Abel, it was a clock radio… the old-fashioned heavy kind that packed one hell of a punch when thrown. And as her makeshift weapon went sailing at his head, he knew it was gonna leave a hell of a mark. This suspicion was further substantiated when it connected with his skull and a loud crack echoed through the room.
“Son of a bitch!” Abel groaned, his hand automatically flying to his forehead as the alarm clock dropped on his foot with a clatter. Clapping one hand over his eye as blood dripped down his face and hopping on one foot as his toe throbbed, he was nearly blinded as his attacker lunged toward the wall and flipped the light switch.
“Abel?!” Patience shouted, staring in horror at the man now dripping drops of bright red blood in front of her as she pressed one hand to the tiny baby bump that seemed to have appeared overnight. “What the hell are you doing here?” she screeched, her eyes blazing as she stared at her would-be prowler. “I could have killed you, you idiot!”
Catching sight of the woman who’d just handed him his ass in his peripheral vision, Abel bit back a curse. He was an uninvited guest that had surprised her in her own home and insulting her probably wouldn’t buy him any goodwill, but damn….his injuries smarted. “You almost DID kill me, Hellion! And I got in the usual way… with a key that I might have creatively borrowed from a mutual friend,” he managed to growl, finally putting a little weight back on his sore foot as Patience threw a dish towel at him that again nailed him in the face.
“Bullshit,” Patience snapped, glaring at him with eyes that promised retribution in its purest form. “You rifled through Maggie’s desk and stole the key that I gave her for emergencies!”
Catching the yellow drying towel midair, he lifted the makeshift bandage to the still bleeding wound on his head. “And is that the defense you’ll employ for attempting to murder me with a clock! Excuse me, but I don’t think it’s necessary for you to commit a heinous assault on the father of your unborn children when all I wanted to do was check on you? You could have killed me, woman,” he charged, holding the rag to his head with one hand and pointing at the now very broken pieces of her clock radio with the other. “That thing should be classified as a deadly weapon, and I’m fairly certain I can make a charge of attempted murder stick!”
“Oh, puh-lease,” Patience snorted, offering him a scathing look of contempt. “You’re here to spy on me and Ice. You thought he might be here tonight so you broke into my apartment and set up camp. I’m not stupid, Abel.”
“I didn’t break in; I had a key,” Abel corrected, perhaps a bit petulantly. “You make it sound like I’m a stalker or something,” he grumbled, still dabbing beads of blood from his forehead.
“If the ski mask fits,” Patience returned sweetly, marching toward her refrigerator and jerking open the freezer. Reaching in and pulling out the ice tray, she looked at her intruder over her shoulder. “Sit down before you get blood all over the floor and I have to mop at midnight,” she ordered, gesturing toward the tiny dining room table sitting by the window. It only held room for two people, but since she was single, that wasn’t a problem most of the time. Locating a zip lock bag, she filled it with ice cubes and carried it over to him. Reaching for the bloody towel, she didn’t even bother with thoughts of saving it. She simply tossed it into the open trash can.
“That could have easily been washed; you didn’t need to throw it away…a little elbow grease and…,” Abel began to point out, wincing as Patience plunked the ice pack on his forehead.
“Oh, Abel,” Patience replied with a long-suffering sigh as she sat on the only other chair available at the table, “When will you learn that some things just can’t be saved and others just aren’t worth the effort?”
“I’m an optimist,” he returned, winking at her. “See, I still think there’s hope for us.”
Patience scoffed, shaking her head as her gaze drifted out the window. “You’re delusional,” she stated softly, unwilling to meet his eyes. “Maybe I gave you a concussion,” she mused though she sounded decidedly unworried by the prospect. “Want me to call you an ambulance?” she asked dryly.
Abel’s lips twitched. “Are you saying that you wouldn’t offer me a ride? C’mon, now, darlin’. You were the one that put me in this shape,” he alleged pointedly.
Patience huffed. “You really are gonna cause me to catch a case of the crabbies tonight, Counsellor. I didn’t do anything wrong, Asshat,” she continued, rising from her chair as she shook her head. “You, however, could be charged with breaking and entering,” she warned before turning away from him.
Abel quickly tossed his ice pack onto the scarred wood table. Catching Patience’s wrist in his hand before she could get away, Abel gave her arm a gentle tug and tumbled her into his lap –which, it had to be said- is where he’d wanted her all along. “I think it’s time we talked, don’t you?” he asked against her ear.
Ignoring his question, Patience strained in Abel’s lap. “Let me up, Jackass. I mean it. Let me up!”
Merely tightening his arm around her torso in response, Abel chuckled. “Not on your life, Hellion. There’s no telling what damage you’d inflict on me if I turn you loose. As it is, I’m probably gonna have a pretty scar above my eye to commemorate this evening. Lucky for me, chicks seem to dig scars.”
“Not this chick. I think scars suck,” Patience retorted, still struggling against him. “And when I get free of you, you’re gonna have more than a scar to mark the occasion, Abel. You’ll have a tombstone and everything!”
Grunting when her pointy little elbow found his sternum and jabbed him for what he felt sure was just spite, Abel tried again to soothe her – preferably before she rendered him incapable of fathering any more children with her. “Patience, honey, just be a good girl and settle down for five minutes. Then, we can have a nice, little chat and I’ll let you get ready for bed.” He was careful not to say he’d leave. Oh, no. He had no intention of going anywhere tonight, but he needed her to quieten enough to have a rational conversation with him. Groaning when Patience wiggled again, the curve of her ass rotating against his dick, Abel growled, “Keep working that shapely tail against my lap, Hellion, and you and I are gonna talk about the first thing that pops up,” he shared on a rasp, bucking his hips against her rear end to illustrate just exactly what he meant as he prayed he didn’t embarrass himself like a horny teenager. Damn, but he missed her lush little body, he thought as he heard her gasp and still almost instantly against him.
Patience’s body slumped against him as she ceded this particular battle. Abel was smart enough to know that the war wasn’t won, but at least she’d stopped fighting him for the moment. “What do you want, Abel?” he heard her snap impatiently. “The sooner you tell me, the faster I can tell you ‘no’ and throw you out of my home and I can go to sleep. In case you missed the news, I’m hauling around a couple of squatters in my womb. It tends to tire a gal out,” she complained, shifting on his legs as she settled more deeply into the curve of his body as she made herself comfortable on top of him.
Moving his hand around her waist, he cupped her tiny bump and pressed his lips to her shoulder. “Maybe you should spend more time resting and less time driving me crazy,” he mumbled against the cotton fabric of his shirt.
“Drivin’ you crazy?” Patience echoed, turning her head slightly to catch his eyes. “I went to a movie, Abel.”
“You went on a date, Patience,” Abel corrected, his grey eyes narrowing on her. “Do you really think that’s gonna make the father of your children happy?”
Patience made a sound of disbelief. “You have got to be joking! Do you actually think I care if you approve of my choice in company? Newsfla
sh! I don’t!”
“I noticed,” Abel growled, his arms tightening around the woman in his arms compulsively, pulling her closer to him almost as if a reflex. “You ‘bout done torturing me with that bullshit yet, woman? I really hope so since you’re gonna get a good man – a man I happen to like – killed if you keep playing these games with me. Put Ice Monroe in the friend zone, Patience, or I will,” he threatened.
“I…you…if you think….I just can’t believe…” Patience gaped, unable to form a full sentence as her face flushed with anger.
“Come on….can I buy a vowel?” Abel goaded her, grinning as she finally squealed like a banshee.
Suddenly, Patience froze in his lap, her eyes wide on his face as the vein in her forehead bulged. He briefly wondered if he was watchin’ her have a stroke, but before Abel could speak, Patience lifted her face to the ceiling and began to pray aloud. “Lord, it’s me again. Patience McKinnon. Honor wanted me to try to preemptively pray every time I felt like I was gonna commit a big ole sin, so here I go! I’ve tried to keep to the Christian path, Father! But this…. this… sinner that you have sent into my life, Lord - He’s pushed me off it yet again! First he coaxed me into his wicked bed with his Serpent’s tongue and got me in a family way and now, Lord, he’s channeling his dark arts and tryin’ to incite me to mayhem! So, I’m gonna need you to shine your mercy down upon us both. Preferably before I break one of the Ten Commandments. And, please Heavenly Father, forgive me for all the sins I’m about to commit. He really is a much worse Christian than me and he had it comin’! In His name, Amen.”
And as Patience turned in his lap and lunged for his throat, Abel knew he’d found his own little slice of heaven right here on Earth.
Ready, Willing and Abel (Passion in Paradise: The Men of the McKinnon Sisters Book 3) Page 23