by M J Adams
“Did you have something else?” he asked, the warm wash of his breath setting something inside her on fire.
She did touch him then, just a brushing of her fingertips along his cheek, tracing his strong jaw. “Will you stay?”
He didn’t miss a beat when he said, “Of course,” and moved all the way inside the room with her. He closed the door—which didn’t lock on the inside or the outside—and squeezed past her as she let her hand drop back to her side.
“I’ll keep my back turned if you want to go back to what you were sleeping in before.” He already had his back to her as he stood in front of the couch, arranging the pillows there.
Cora didn’t take off the only clothes she’d brought with her from California—the ones she’d been wearing when Max had shown up in that black SUV. She simply kicked off the slippers and got back in bed. “I’m ready.”
Isaac turned and went to her closet without looking at her. He pulled down a blanket from the top shelf and went back to the couch. Cora had not slept with another human being so close in a while, but she quite liked the way Isaac’s breathing filled the air around her.
When she woke, light streamed through the window in the ceiling. It meant she’d missed the early-morning run Isaac had invited her to go on to “get her curves back.” Cora ran her hands down her body from shoulder to waist, and she had indeed lost quite a bit of roundness in those areas.
She moved over to the mirror hanging above the dresser and looked at herself. Really looked. Her cheekbones poked out, and her eyes sunk in. Her hair had been falling out for months, and as she raked her fingers through it, it felt like dirty silk as it came away.
Repulsed by her own image, she turned away, tears gathering in her eyes. She thought of her parents, her sister. She’d been forced to cut off all contact with them once she’d said, “I do,” and she wondered what they thought had happened to her.
Did they ever try to contact her? Could she contact them?
A rap landed on her door, and she spun toward it. “Who is it?”
“Max.”
“Come in.” She sat on the edge of the bed, still wearing her yoga pants and the tank top she’d had on while dog walking days ago.
Max entered her room, and Cora pressed one hand over her stomach. “Are you okay?” he asked, striding forward, his black boots clomping on the wood floor.
“I went to the kitchen in the middle of the night,” she said, glancing at him. “I may have eaten too much.”
Max’s eyes softened. He indicated the bed. “Can I sit by you?”
“Of course.” She didn’t need to make room for him, as the bed was huge, but she inched toward the end of it anyway as he settled beside her.
“Maybe you need an extra day to acclimate,” he said.
“Isaac said I had to start training today.”
“You don’t have to do anything,” he said. “We modify our plans based on your needs.”
Cora glanced toward the door as if Luke or Isaac would appear and contradict him. They’d have everything rehearsed yesterday, but today didn’t seem so mechanical. “I’d like an extra day then.”
“Sure,” he said. “Do you just want to rest? Watch a movie? Get some food?”
“Can we go out to eat?” Hope lifted through her. “I used to love to go to lunch with my girlfriends.”
His eyebrows went up, and Cora backtracked. “I mean, you’re not my girlfriend.” But…he was the closest thing she had to a friend. Besides Isaac and Luke, who should come too. Taking back some of her control, she added, “But we are friends.”
“We can’t leave the property,” he said. “I believe Luke told you that.”
“You guys have everything memorized,” she said. “So you know Luke told me that.”
Max’s lips twitched. “I like you, Cora. You’re smart.” He folded his arms and let his grin come out. “We can order something in, if you’d like.”
“Yes,” she said. “What are my choices?”
“You tell me what you want, and I’ll make it happen.”
Cora cocked her head at him, the warmth from his body almost intoxicating. Rich never stood close to her. The only time she was allowed out was for a party or to walk the dogs. He claimed she bought her own food, and if she didn’t have any, it was because she didn’t make enough money.
“Pizza,” she said. “I haven’t had pizza in so long.” Her mouth watered just thinking about the spicy marinara sauce, pepperoni, olives, sausage. She drew in a breath and swallowed her saliva. “Supreme. Everything on it.”
“Everything?”
“Okay, not everything.” She gave a light laugh, surprised she still knew how to do so. She named all the toppings she wanted, and Max pulled out a cell phone and started tapping. He didn’t make a call. Didn’t utter a word. She peered over his arm to see what he was doing.
“You can order on your phone now?”
“Yeah,” he said, tilting it toward her. “It’s slick. Easy. I don’t have to talk to anyone.”
“You don’t like talking to people,” she stated instead of asked.
“I mean, not if I don’t have to.”
“You’re talking to me.”
Max shrugged, the corners of his mouth twitching with the hint of a smile. “Exceptions to every rule, I suppose. You want to go sit on the front steps while we wait for the pizza?”
“Yes,” she said. “Will it be long?”
“Twenty minutes.”
“Will you answer my questions?”
“As many as I can.”
With that, Cora went with him out of the room and down the stairs. They passed several people, and Max spoke to a few of them. Everyone looked at him with a slight edge of reverence, almost like he ran the entire Academy. They went past the rec room and the small chapel Luke had showed her and right out the front doors.
They creaked like no one had used them in a very long time, and Max keyed in a code to lock them behind him as she settled on the top step.
The sun shone down on the steps, as they faced east and it wasn’t quite noon yet. Cora rubbed her hands up and down her arms anyway, trying to get warmed up.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“Parkwood, Colorado,” he said, sitting beside her. He had much longer legs, and his feet went down to an extra step.
“Do I have to stay in Colorado?”
“We relocate people all over North America.”
“To Canada?”
“Yes,” he said, glancing at her. “Are you interested in Canada?”
“Not particularly,” she said. “It’s really cold there.”
He chuckled. “Yes, it is.”
“Do you run this place?”
He chuckled, the sound gaining momentum until it was full-blown laughter.
She couldn’t keep a smile off her face. “I’ll take that as a no.”
“No,” he said. “I retired from the Army Rangers a few years ago and was recruited to come here.”
“Because of your special skill set,” she said, once again not asking.
“Right.” He looked at her, and he had the kind of eyes a woman could get lost in. Easily lost, until she was drowning and could only get out with his help.
Cora blinked, sure the attraction bubbling in her stomach couldn’t be real. She’d vowed never to feel anything for another man. If she could only get away from Rich, that was.
And now she was away from Rich.
Max cleared his throat and looked away. “I’m thinking you might be my last job.” His voice barely registered in her ears.
“Yeah? Why’s that?”
“It’s a tough job,” he said. “I’m thinking I might try something more normal.” He shrugged and picked at something on his pants. “Be part of a normal society. I’ve never really done that, so.”
Without thinking, she put her hand on his knee. “You and me both.” She smiled at him, pleased at the zing moving up her arm and the way he grinned back at her.
And she definitely knew she was attracted to Max.
Chapter 6
Max
Max wasn’t sure why his tongue was so loose. With Cora at his side and her hand on his leg, he seemed to be saying everything that had ever crossed his mind. He told her about his decade in the Army Rangers, his time in the Army before that, and his four years here at Parkwood.
Little things. Simple things he’d done and places he’d been. Nothing too serious. Nothing terribly deep. But he finally finished with, “So maybe I’d like to buy a house and go to the grocery store myself. That kind of stuff.”
“Ever been married?”
“No,” he said firmly, shaking his head. “I’m not interested in marriage.”
“Really?” Cora turned fully toward him, her blue eyes flashing fire at him. “Why not? That’s normal life, Max.”
“Your marriage was normal life? No, thanks.” He regretted the words the moment they left his mouth. “I mean, Cora. I’m sorry.” He watched her retreat in less than a second, her eyelids fluttering as she looked away from him and that hand sliding off his knee.
Idiot, he chastised himself. This was why he didn’t chat with his charges. But there was something about Cora that was different than the other twelve women he, Luke, and Isaac had helped.
“My mother married four men before I turned eighteen,” he said, drawing her attention back to him. “Each was a bigger loser than the last. They hit her. They hit me. Stole from us.” He shook his head, his memories thick now that he’d let them out of the back of his mind.
“My dad’s not much better. Before I came here, he was marrying for the fifth time—second time to the same woman. Not my mother.” Max wished he didn’t sound so bitter. “Maybe I’m a bit jaded as to the sanctity of marriage. But I know it’s not for me.”
Cora looped her arm through his, and Max really, really liked the rush of adrenaline that filled his chest at the simple touch. It was almost erotic, the way his heart pounded with the feminine touch, the slow, drawn-out way their eyes met and wouldn’t let go.
In any other situation, Max might’ve leaned down and kissed her. That was what people did in moments like these.
But he didn’t, and his phone dinged at him, breaking the moment. “Pizza’s here,” he said, standing and getting his pulse back to where it should be. “I’ll go grab it.”
“They aren’t bringing it?” she asked.
“No one gets past the front gate without the right credentials.”
“Right,” she said. “Luke told me that. Even I have them.”
“Yeah.” Max started jogging away from her, calling over his shoulder, “Be right back.” He could use the physical activity to drive his hormones back where they belonged.
She was his charge, and while he’d entertained romantic feelings for one other charge, he absolutely could not act on them. She’d only be in his life for another couple of weeks, and then he was going to tie up all loose ends on the fifteen women he’d helped over the years and get out of this business.
His heart couldn’t take it anymore. He craved normalcy, maybe a job at a bank or a law office, where he could pay his bills and watch game shows in the evening. He could pretend he didn’t know about the horrible things people endured in war, love, and marriage. Maybe get a dog.
“Maybe Texas,” he muttered to himself as he paid for the pizza at the gate, saluted to Jillian, who manned the booth, and headed back to the Academy so he could eat lunch with Cora.
“Let’s start,” Max said later that afternoon. He’d saved enough food for Isaac and Luke, and they were currently chomping their way through the second pizza he’d bought. “Cora, have you had any time to think about a spot to relocate? We can start with regions.” He pulled down a map of North America as if she needed it.
Isaac rolled his eyes, his classic reaction to the map, and Luke leaned over and took another piece of pizza from the middle of the table in the conference room. It was across the hall from Cora’s room, and sometimes Max would come here to watch TV when he just needed to be alone.
“Somewhere warm,” she said, and Max could’ve guessed that.
“So not the Pacific Northwest,” he said, “Or the Rocky Mountains. Or anywhere north of say, Oklahoma.” He pointed and swept his hand along the bottom third of the map. “You can’t go back to California. But Arizona to Florida is open.”
“Arizona to Florida,” Cora repeated.
Max wished Luke would stop stuffing his face and contribute. He was really good at pinpointing a place for their charges, and all Max knew how to do was stand at the front like a dolt.
He finally clued in to Max’s glare, startling as he did. “You don’t want Arizona or New Mexico,” he said, jumping to his feet. “It’s boiling hot there. I mean, boiling.” He crossed his fingers over those two states. “Texas is nice, Cora. You’d like it there.” He looked at the other states on the map. “Georgia, Florida, yeah, I can see you there.” He grinned at her and then Max like he’d achieved world peace.
Max worked not to roll his eyes. The pizza had been a bad idea all around. Luke and Isaac were acting like they needed another day to be ready for Cora too, and he couldn’t stop thinking about Isaac’s declaration last night that this would probably be his last mission.
They hadn’t said anything more about it, because Isaac stayed up half the night with the dogs and the people in the kitchen, finally grabbing a few hours of sleep before he hit the pavement for his morning run.
Max hadn’t actually seen him since he’d walked out of the room last night to take the dogs outside to use the bathroom.
Maybe they were all thinking about life after this. Life after they got Cora off and settled into her new existence.
“Guys, let’s do this later,” he said, and that got everyone’s attention. Mas never deviated from the schedule once they got rolling. Max didn’t allow exceptions to rules, no matter what he’d said.
“What?” Isaac asked, sitting up straighter and throwing a look at Luke.
“We’re here,” Luke said, stuffing the last bite of pizza in his mouth.
Cora looked around at all of them, concern and confusion in her gaze. Those gorgeous eyes. Yes, Max really needed to get out of here today. Get his head back on straight. Figure out how to stop thinking about Cora—a charge.
“I—”
“Max said I could have a day to just settle in,” Cora said, interrupting him, her eyes locked onto his. “Let’s go put a movie on and just relax.” She looked around at all of them again. “Please?”
“Cora,” he said, but he didn’t know what to say next. Which was fine, because when Max didn’t know what to say, Isaac did. And when that didn’t work, Luke could pick up the slack. Always. They’d been like this from the moment Isaac had shown up with Luke in tow. They’d been the perfect team since then, thinking the same, working together seamlessly, and sharing everything with one another.
“I promise I’ll pick somewhere first thing tomorrow.”
“Right after you go running with me,” Isaac said, getting up and extending his hand toward her. She put her hand in his, and Max watched them walk out of the conference room.
“Okay,” Luke said, staring after them. “What is going on?” He pierced Max with a look that meant business. “First you guys are saying you want to leave Parkwood, and now he’s holding her hand?”
Max waited for the jealousy to come, but strangely, it didn’t. “I’m sure it’s nothing. You know how friendly Isaac is.”
“No,” Luke said, getting up and picking up another piece of pizza. “I’m the friendly one. I’m the touchy-feely one. You’re the Secret Service dude no one crosses. He’s the tough one with a soft side.” Luke took a bite of food and lifted his eyebrows. “So what is going on?”
Max sighed and shook his head. His emotions were all over the place, and he wasn’t sure even how to classify them. “I wish I knew, Luke. I wish I knew.”
The next morning,
they congregated in the conference room again, and this time Cora had a list of cities. “Miami, Savanah, Houston, Austin, or San Antonio.” She looked around. “Or New Orleans.”
“Nope,” Isaac said without a blink or even a beat of silence.
Cora spun toward him. “Nope? Which one?”
“All of them,” he said. “They’re all too big.”
Max was more than happy to let him take the lead on this. They’d had a great afternoon together, Cora sandwiched between him and Isaac. She didn’t touch either one of them, and it had taken several minutes for the tension between them to dissipate. But it had, and they’d eaten dinner with everyone in the Academy and Cora had excused herself to her room.
Isaac didn’t stay with her like he did the first night. She didn’t go down to the kitchen either. She didn’t run with him, and Luke had finally gone in to wake her up for this meeting.
She was finally wearing something besides what Max had found her in, and while the clothes weren’t a perfect fit, they accentuated the shape of her hips well enough to remind him she was a woman.
A woman now arguing with Isaac about the size of the city where she could live.
“Smaller is better,” he said. “It’s so much easier to make friends, and Cora, you’ll need friends. People don’t ask as many questions.”
“Are you kidding?” she asked. “Everyone in a small town knows everyone else. They’re so nosy.”
“Your backstory will be flawless,” Isaac said without even a hint of emotion.
Cora looked at Max for help, but he couldn’t argue with Isaac. “He’s right, Cora,” he said quietly.
She turned to Luke, who never got involved until it was time to pour on the “friendliness” and provide a listening ear—until he bent her in the direction they needed her to go.
“Luke,” she said, almost a whine.
“Look,” he said, getting up from his seat and moving to the one next to her. He covered her hands—and the list of cities she’d prepared—with both of his hands. Cora didn’t even flinch, which was a good sign. She wouldn’t be jumpy around people. She could have a man touch her. Surprising, given everything her husband had put her through.