Lightning lit up the room and within seconds another loud boom of thunder sounded. “Storms aren’t supposed to happen in June,” she replied as ridiculous tears filled her eyes.
“Simone, is there anything I can do?” he asked softly.
“Make it stop.” She released a small, anxious laugh.
He smiled at her with a gentleness that touched her. “I wish I could make it stop just for you.” He scooted over close to her and put his arm around her shoulders. “Does this help?” he murmured.
“It does. I don’t know why I’m this way about storms. It’s just so silly, but I can’t help it.” Thunder once again sounded and she snuggled deeper into his side. The warmth of him helped. The very scent of him calmed her just a little bit more than it should.
As the storm raged outside, Brad began to talk about the pets he’d had as a child. There had been a goldfish called Rudy and a frog named Sam. He’d had a hamster named Harry and a dog named Bo.
“One morning I woke up and Rudy was floating belly-up. My mom explained to me that Rudy’s soul had gone to Heaven and so we had a little funeral and then flushed him down the toilet.”
His voice was so deep and soothing as she listened to him and focused on watching the flames dance in the fireplace. Eventually the thunder and lightning stopped, but still she lingered in his half embrace.
“You do realize I’ve just been talking nonsense. There really was no hamster named Harry or a dog named Bo. However, there was a goldfish and a frog,” he said.
“What happened to the frog?” she asked.
“I’d caught him in our backyard. I kept him in a box for about two weeks and then my mother told me the frog had told her he was very sad living in a box and that I needed to release him back into the wild.”
“So Mr. Frog had a happy ending,” she murmured softly.
“Definitely,” he replied just as softly.
Everything about Brad at the moment was stirring something inside her. The warmth of his breath in her hair, the perfect way she fit against him...everything about him combined and created a storm of desire for him inside her.
She knew she should move away from him. It was dangerous to linger in his warm body heat and in the heady scent of him. She just needed to stand up, call it a day and go straight to bed.
“Brad...” She raised her face and gazed up at him. She wasn’t even sure what she intended to say. But his face was intimately close to hers and his eyes held a flame that half stole her breath away.
“Simone,” he whispered softly.
She knew if she leaned into him, he would kiss her...and she would kiss him back. And then she would want more...and more from him. Instead of leaning into him, she jumped up from the sofa. “I... I think it’s time for me to head to bed. I’m completely exhausted.”
He cleared his throat and stood as well. “The storm seems to have passed, so you should sleep well.”
“Then I’ll just say thank you and good-night.” She went into the bedroom, sank down on the edge of the bed and drew a couple of deep breaths. The storm outside might be over, but a storm inside her continued to rage on.
All day long she had been far too conscious of him. Even when she’d gotten an attitude with him, he hadn’t held it against her. He was appealing on so many levels and her desire for him was off the charts.
However, she didn’t want just a quick tumble in the sheets with a man she knew was all wrong for her. He wasn’t her happily-ever-after and she didn’t want her heart to get hurt by her making a foolish mistake.
She had a man who wanted to kill her, but right now she felt the real danger to her was from FBI agent Brad Howard.
* * *
Leo cursed at the rain as he rode the motorcycle that Rob Garner had provided for him. Well, in truth it wasn’t Rob himself who had made it possible. Rather, it had been one of Rob’s cousins who apparently wasn’t on the authorities’ watch list.
The bike had been waiting for him, all tagged and legal, and the GPS system Leo had picked up now told him exactly where Simone Colton and her “bodyguard” had gone. It had been so easy to put a tracker on his car when it had been parked in front of Simone’s house.
A rifle was fastened to the side of the bike and the saddlebags held not only Leo’s clothes, but also a tiny tent and a revolver. Oh, yes, good old Rob had made it easy for Leo.
Rob Garner was rabid about the psychology college professor. He wanted her dead and he had made sure Leo had all the tools he needed to accomplish that goal.
Leo’s payoff would be enough money so he could hire a private plane to get him out of the country. What Rob didn’t know was Leo would have happily killed her for free.
He was about two hours out from where the FBI agent’s car had been stopped for the past night and day. Leo would find a place to hole up, wait for the rain to stop, and then he’d fulfill Rob’s wish.
Despite the rain that drenched him and the possibility of eating bugs, Leo threw back his head and laughed with the anticipation of taking another life. Hell, if he was lucky, he’d not only kill her but also the FBI agent who was with her.
Chapter 8
For the next three days it rained continuously. Brad now stood at the window and peered outside. It was going to be another gloomy day, but at least it wasn’t raining at the moment. He turned from the window and sat down on the sofa. It was early and Simone wasn’t up yet.
Simone. She’d become a sizzle in his blood, a flame that burned hotter and hotter with each minute he spent with her. The night of the thunderstorm, he’d almost kissed her. God, he’d wanted to take her lips with his and kiss her until they were both completely breathless.
He’d thought he’d seen a moment in her eyes where she would have welcomed his kiss, but then she’d jumped up and run to bed. Still, he wanted her more than he’d ever wanted a woman before.
During the last three rainy days, they’d each played games on their phones and then had spent the time playing endless games of chess and cards.
He’d found her a worthy adversary. She was as competitive as him, and both a gracious winner and loser. She was quick-witted and their senses of humor were alike. She challenged him intellectually and he found that totally hot. In fact, he found everything about her totally hot.
In another lifetime he would have vigorously pursued her. But they were stuck in this lifetime, where having a sexual relationship, where having any kind of a relationship other than a professional one, would be all wrong.
His role was to be her protector, and through this ordeal of staying together in such an intimate environment, he hoped they would walk away from this cabin as friends and she would be safe to pursue the life she wanted.
He had given her the spare revolver he’d brought with him and they had gone over everything she needed to know to use it. He felt confident in her ability.
There had still been no breakthroughs on the case. Leo remained on the loose and Jared still wasn’t talking. The entire case was basically at a standstill. Brad had no idea how long it would be before he thought it was safe for Simone to go back home, but he knew they couldn’t stay holed up here forever.
However, it was far too early in the game to be thinking about heading back to Chicago. He roused himself from the sofa, poured himself a cup of the freshly brewed coffee and then pulled some breakfast sausage links out of the freezer to cook. Breakfast today would be the sausage and pancakes.
He and Simone had fallen into an easy routine. He cooked breakfast and she took care of lunch, usually sandwiches, and then he made dinner. He cleaned up after breakfast, she cleaned up after lunch and then after dinner they took care of washing and drying the dishes together.
Maybe today if it remained dry, they could get out of the cabin for a little while and go for a short walk. Maybe the fresh air would cool his simmer of desire for her, but he se
riously doubted it.
By the time the sausage was finished cooking, her bedroom door opened and she stepped out. Clad in a pair of yellow-and-white-striped capris and a yellow blouse, she looked bright and beautiful. But he didn’t say a word to her as she beelined to the coffeepot, poured herself a cup and then sat at the table. He had definitely come to respect the time it took for her to fully wake up in the mornings and be ready to socialize.
He placed the bottle of pancake syrup, the butter and a platter of the sausage links in the center of the table and then began to make the pancakes. When he had a stack of five made, he carried them to the table and sat across from her.
“Good morning,” she finally said and offered him a small smile.
“Back at you,” he replied with a smile of his own. “You look as bright as a ray of sunshine this morning.”
“Thank you.” She served herself two of the sausage links and two pancakes. “Just so you know, pancakes are my most favorite of breakfast foods.” She slathered them with butter and then poured a liberal amount of syrup over them.
“Hmm, I’ll have to keep that in mind.” He served himself. “Looks like the rain has stopped, so maybe later we could take a walk and get some fresh air.”
“That would be great. Maybe if we find a dry enough spot, I could put together a little picnic for lunch,” she replied. She licked a drop of shiny syrup off her bottom lip and Brad felt the earth tilt as a fiery heat filled him. Oh, he wanted to be that dollop of syrup that lingered on her lip. He wanted to reach across the table and slowly lick it off.
“Brad?” She looked at him expectantly. She must have asked him something, but damned if he knew what it was.
“I’m sorry?”
“I asked if you thought we could actually find any dry ground out there today,” she replied.
“To be honest, I doubt it. The ground has to be really saturated after all the rain that has fallen. I checked the news earlier and there is historic flooding happening all over the place.”
Her eyes darkened. “But we’re okay here, right?”
“Right. Even though the river is practically outside our front door, the riverbed is so deep we don’t have to worry about it flooding,” he assured her.
“That’s good, but I feel sorry for anyone the flooding affects.”
“I just hope the rain is finished for good. It’s definitely time for some days of sunshine.” At least if it stopped raining, he could spend more time outside, where the air didn’t smell like her, where her nearness wasn’t torturing him every single minute of every single day.
After breakfast they settled in on the sofa. “Do you want to play a game?” he asked.
“Not really,” she replied. “I’m kind of gamed out after the last three days. When do you think we can go outside?”
“I’d say we need to give it a couple more hours of drying out. Maybe after lunch?”
“A picnic sounded good, but maybe I’ll plan on tomorrow when things are definitely drier,” she said.
A silence rose up between them. She stared into the fireplace that now held nothing but ashes, and he gazed at her. He wondered if he would ever tire of looking at her, of admiring the length of her lashes and the soft curve of her jaw, the sparkling blue of her eyes and the shape of her generous mouth.
“I’m sorry things are so boring,” he finally said to break the silence.
She turned her head and cast him an impish grin. “I haven’t found it too boring beating you at almost every game of gin rummy.”
He laughed. “That was low. I’ll concede that the cards fell in your favor.”
“How dare you blame it on card luck when it was my awesome intelligence that won those games.”
He looked at her more seriously. “That’s important to you, isn’t it? For people to know you’re smart,” he observed.
She immediately frowned thoughtfully. “I’m certainly sorry if I come off as arrogant or some kind of way.”
“You don’t,” he assured her. “I’ve just noticed you get a bit defensive when it comes to you being a smart woman.”
She released a deep sigh. “Maybe you’re right. I’m in a male-dominated college world where woman professors are sometimes undermined and overlooked, and in my last relationship my partner often went out of his way to make me feel dumb. So, maybe I’ve been overcompensating since then.”
“That was definitely uncool of him. So, how long were you with him?”
“A little over six months,” she replied.
“Why were you with him as long as you were?”
She stared at him as if he’d just asked her what life was like on Mars. “I don’t know. I guess I was hoping somehow that he would change but, in the end, that didn’t happen and the whole relationship was just a waste of my time and his.”
“So, if you could build yourself the perfect man, what would he be like?” He wasn’t sure why, but her answer seemed incredibly important to him.
“My perfect man would appreciate my intelligence and not try to demean it. He would want the same things as me...a monogamous marriage and a couple of children. I just want a man who loves me and who wants to build a healthy, happy marriage that lasts a lifetime.”
“That doesn’t sound like too much to ask,” he replied.
“What about you? What is the perfect woman for you?” She looked at him curiously.
“I would want a strong woman who respected my job and that sometimes my hours are crazy. I’d like an intelligent woman who enjoys deep conversations. I, too, would want a monogamous marriage and I’d be open to having children.” He wondered if she realized they’d just described each other. “I really hope you find what you’re looking for, Simone.”
She smiled. “And I hope the same for you. So, tell me about the woman who almost got you to the altar.”
“Her name was Patty and I was introduced to her through a mutual friend. She was a barista at a coffee shop and we hit it off right from the very beginning.”
“What was she like?” Simone asked.
He frowned. “She was pretty...but kind of loud and brassy. Initially I kind of overlooked those qualities about her because she could also be quite charming and kindhearted.”
“How long were you with her?”
“A little over a year. We fought a lot, mostly about my job. She was pressuring me to quit and find another career.”
“And yet you asked her to marry you,” Simone said with a quizzical gaze.
“I did. I didn’t believe she was really serious about me quitting my job and she was pressuring me to put a ring on it. But once we got engaged, our fighting grew worse. She was angry with me all the time. If I missed a dinner or a social night out because of my work, she’d punish me for days.”
“Were you in love with her?” Simone asked softly.
He smiled. “I was, but like you with your professor, I kept hoping she would change. I wanted out, but I didn’t want to hurt her. Ultimately she broke up with me because I refused to quit my job and we both got on with our separate lives.”
“I would never ask a man to quit his job, just like I wouldn’t be with a man who asked me to quit mine,” she said.
Just looking at Simone right now, any thought of Patty was nothing more than a distant memory. He wanted to pull Simone into his arms and feel her body close to his. He wanted to kiss her over and over again. He wanted to make sweet, hot love to her. Instead, he jumped up off the sofa and went to the window.
“I don’t think we’re going to see any sunshine today,” he said, although the weather was the last thing on his mind.
“Maybe tomorrow,” she replied.
He drew in several deep breaths and released them slowly in an effort to get all inappropriate thoughts about Simone out of his head. Even though it didn’t completely work, he turned around and rejoi
ned her on the sofa.
Thankfully the conversation was much lighter after that. They talked and laughed about childhood antics and humorous workplace events. He loved laughing with her. There were times it was easy for him to forget that they were here for a reason and not just as a couple enjoying time spent together in a cozy cabin.
But he had to remember why they were here. He’d been in contact with Russ every night concerning the case. Everyone was frustrated by the lack of information concerning Leo’s whereabouts. There hadn’t even been any sightings of him or clues as to where he might be coming in over the TIPS line.
“So, tell me more about your family,” he said. “I’ve met all of them, but I don’t know too much about them.”
Her features immediately brightened. “You know January is a social worker. She’s passionate about trying to protect the children she’s assigned to. She’s engaged to Sean Stafford.”
“Who is a homicide detective with Chicago PD,” Brad added. “He seems like a great guy and he’s definitely a good cop.”
“I’m just glad they’re so happy. Then you know Tatum has the restaurant and now is dating Cruz Medina.”
He nodded. “Another good detective. And you’re really close with your cousins, right?”
“We grew up with them right next door and it was like they were our siblings. Carly has finally gotten together with the man she was meant to be with, a man she thought was dead.”
Brad listened with interest as she told him about Micha Harrison, a special forces army lieutenant who had nearly lost his life in service to his country. He’d been Carly’s fiancé before he’d been hurt and he’d believed it was in Carly’s best interest to believe him dead.
“But he couldn’t stay away from her. He started following her and watching her and finally she caught him,” Simone continued. “And now they’re getting their chance at the happiness they both deserve. I think it’s all quite romantic.”
“And then you have two male cousins. I’ve had some conversations with Heath and I know he’s temporarily running Colton Connections. He seems like a real stand-up kind of guy,” Brad said.
Colton 911--Guardian in the Storm Page 11