Leaning back in her chair, she stretched her neck, hoping to relieve some of the tension building in her shoulders. The sound of the intercom calling for a doctor filled her ears. Shala closed her eyes, and instead of thinking about her past, or even Sky’s past, she tried to remember the different photographs she’d taken in the last few days. What could she have caught on film that had brought this on?
Someone’s hand moved between her tightened palms. She popped her eyes open. Sky sat in the empty chair next to her. Her heart swelled at the sight of him, and she had to fight to keep from hugging him. Not so much to hug the stubborn and difficult man he’d grown to be, but the boy she knew he’d been.
He stared at her, looking almost as guilty as when he’d faced Sal. “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “Christ. I completely forgot.” He took her left hand in his.
“Forgot what?”
“Your aversion to hospitals. You okay?”
“I’m fine.”
He ran a finger over her cheek. “No, you’re not. Come on, let’s take a walk.”
Pulling her up, he laced his fingers through hers and led her across the room. Shala didn’t have any will to deny him the touch. Not just because she needed it, but because she felt he needed it, too.
Jose lay in bed, fighting his headache and berating himself for everything he’d done since he crossed the Precious city line. When he heard Sky and the others leave, he picked himself up and went in search of a pain reliever and clothes.
He found some aspirin in the cabinet and a box of his old clothes in a closet. The jeans felt a little loose; he’d obviously lost a few pounds living the city lifestyle. The room in his jeans was a good thing, since he’d be going commando. There’d been no underwear in the boxed clothes, but that wasn’t altogether a bad thing, because he had at least seven fire-ant blisters on his family jewels.
Finally armed with clothes that weren’t pink, feminine, and didn’t smell like Maria, he almost felt human. Almost. Sitting down to make a few calls, he rang the hospital to check with the nurses about his dad. Next, he contacted his insurance company, and then Ramon’s Service and Wrecking Company. Ramon was an old high-school buddy from a few houses down who now owned and ran one of the two mechanic shops in town.
Sky had already called and asked them to bring in Jose’s car. Leave it to Sky to take care of things. Jose knew he should be appreciative—and damn it, he was—but his foster brother’s ability to always do the right thing made him feel inadequate.
“Who’s going to be driving the wrecker?” Jose asked.
Ramon paused. “I am, as soon as my other employee comes in.”
“Is there any way you could swing by Dad’s place and give me a lift to the hospital?”
“You bet,” Ramon said. “How is Redfoot? Mom told me this morning that he caught some guy breaking in and got hurt.”
“Yeah. According to the nurses on his floor, he’s doing fine. They said he’ll probably come home today.” Jose had yet to actually talk to his dad, preferring to do that in person. He knew he was procrastinating, but his dad never failed to mention his moving back home, and Jose never failed to feel guilty. With Redfoot hurt, his guilt would reach new heights.
“I’m glad he’s okay. I’m sure Sky is going to catch the bastard.”
Jose pressed a hand to his throbbing temple. “Yeah, that’s Sky for you.”
“Did you hear about Jessie getting shot?” Ramon asked. “You know Sal and she got married last year. He’s crazy about her, too. I know he’s in a world of hurt right now.”
Jose remembered her. She’d always been vibrant. “Didn’t know they got married, but I heard about the shooting. I hope she’s okay.”
“Me, too. I just can’t believe this shit is happening here. Did you bring some of that big-city crime with you?”
“I hope not.” Jose’s mind shifted gears, and he wondered about the blonde with Sky. Who was she? He’d made a complete jackass of himself in front of her. Reaching up, he touched his nose. Damn, she could kick. “Hey, is Sky seeing anyone?” he asked. “He was here this morning with a blonde.”
Ramon’s laugh spilled out of the phone receiver. “Funny you ask. My sister dropped by this morning with a wild-ass story about him staying at Sal’s hotel with the tourism specialist that’s in town—the one Redfoot claims is his soul mate. Not that I blame Sky for going after her. She’s wet-dream material. I saw her at the powwow. She brought her camera in and took a picture, and Sky yanked it right out of her hands. Then, damn it, he goes and gets lucky with her!”
“Sky’s soul mate?” Jose scoffed. “He beds and leaves ’em.”
“Yeah. Though from what my sister said, he’s got a problem with the bedding part. Supposedly he was talking to the blonde about erectile dysfunction.”
“Sky?” Jose chuckled. Was it terrible of him to take pleasure in the almighty Police Chief Gomez having trouble getting it up? Yeah, it was terrible, but it soothed his ego just a bit.
“Yeah, Sky. But you know how those rumors go. It probably doesn’t have a lick of truth. Next we’ll hear he’s into cross-dressing.”
No, that will be me, Jose thought dispiritedly.
“Hey, Jimmy’s here. I’ll be over there in about ten minutes.”
Jose hung up the phone and went to collect Maria’s robe to toss in the washer. It was the least he could do. But when he walked by her room, he stopped and stared at the bed. He recalled how she’d looked last night: soft, sexy, unchanged.
But no. She had changed. She used to look at him with so much affection. Damn it, he still loved her. Was she serious about this new guy? Did he stand a chance of winning her back? Hell, was winning her back even the right thing? Had two years changed anything? Was she still determined to stay in Precious? He was still determined to leave.
Wasn’t he?
Sky, his heart swimming in guilt, entered the elevator with Shala. How in God’s name had he forgotten her issue with hospitals? Sure, he had a hundred things on his mind, but if anyone could understand how difficult this was for her, it was him. To this day, the smell of smoke turned him inside out.
The doors to the elevator closed and low classical music filled the space. He recalled seeing Shala sitting there in that chair, apart from everyone else, and again he’d been hit by her vulnerability—and by his need to make it disappear.
He gave her good hand a squeeze, hoping she understood she wasn’t alone. “Seriously, I’m sorry. I should have remembered.”
She stepped in front of him and rested her hand on his chest. The touch, completely innocent, sparked a sensation that bordered on pain.
“You don’t have to do this. You can stay with your friends. I’m doing okay. I’m dealing with it.”
Without thinking, he cupped the back of her head and brought his mouth to hers. They’d barely touched lips when she tilted her head back. Her big blue eyes blinked up at him.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“It seemed like a good idea to me,” he said, aware that her hand remained on his chest. The pain had faded, and now the touch was simply warm, comforting, and he found himself wishing that he could feel her fingers on his skin.
She shook her head. “I could name ten reasons why it’s a bad idea. For starters, I’m just in town for a while and…” She rattled on, and he heard something about an ex-husband before he stopped listening. The moment a woman started talking about her ex, he shut off.
“Shh.” He pressed a finger to her lips.
She kept talking. Those sweet lips moved against his finger. God help him, she really was a jabberer. He really didn’t like jabbering woman. But that didn’t stop him from wanting her.
“Shala?”
“What?” She inhaled deeply as if she’d forgotten to breathe.
“Stop talking.”
She didn’t listen but went right back to jabbering. When she mentioned her ex again, which he had no desire to hear about, he noticed two things. First, th
e elevator wasn’t moving. They obviously hadn’t hit a button. Not that he minded. He could and would use it to his advantage. Second, while she worked awfully hard telling him they shouldn’t kiss, her eyes told him just the opposite. Added was the fact that her sweet palm remained against his chest.
“Shala?” He tapped his finger on her ever-moving lips.
“What?” she asked again, but didn’t wait for him to answer before starting another sequence of jabbering.
“Would you please? Just…shut up and kiss me.” He leaned down and claimed her mouth again. He could taste the toothpaste she’d used this morning. And he tasted more: he tasted her. Intoxicating. Like good wine or ripe, exotic fruit. Something to be savored.
She didn’t resist this time. The kiss wasn’t meant to be pure lust, and it wasn’t. It was soft. It was giving. And it was more intimate than he wanted to admit.
Not that lust didn’t enter into it.
He slipped his tongue into her mouth and she moaned. Her breasts, soft mounds of flesh, pushed against his chest right above where she kept her hand. Her nipples were hard, begging for attention. He felt himself thickening. Yet lust still placed second in what was happening here. Sky didn’t even completely understand it, but the experience had something to do with wanting to help her, to soothe her, to chase away the nightmare he knew existed in her head about her parents and about hospitals.
A deep clearing of a throat sounded. Since Shala’s lips were occupied, as were as his own, it had to be from someone else. How he’d missed the sound of the elevator door opening, he didn’t know. Yet now they had company, so he had to pull away. And he would. In just…one…more…second.
Okay, two seconds.
Pulling back, he was rewarded by Shala’s sweet weight falling against him. He smiled. There was nothing like knowing you’d turned a woman’s knees to jelly. He took her by the shoulders to steady her before focusing on the uninvited guest.
It was the frowning, stern face of a balding man that watched them through the open elevator doors. Shocked but refusing to be intimidated, Sky nodded. “Mayor Johnson.”
Shala didn’t bounce back as quickly. Her eyes widened with panic. Her mouth, swollen from his kiss, opened, but when no words came out, she closed it. Then she opened it again. Then she closed it.
Words finally spilled out, not that they made much sense. “Hi…I was…Sky and I were…I mean, Mr. Gomez and I were…We were—”
Knowing Shala could go on babbling for a good ten minutes, and God only knew what excuse she might produce for them kissing, Sky intervened. “Have you and Ms. Winters been officially introduced yet?”
The mayor glared at Sky before seeming to come to his senses. “Only on the phone.”
Sky watched Shala and the mayor shake hands. Then the mayor’s all-consuming frown was again aimed at him. “Can I have a minute of your time, Chief Gomez?” he asked.
“Just one,” Sky insisted.
“What the hell are you doing?” the mayor seethed in the first second of his minute. He had only a minute—Sky was timing him.
Sky glanced from his watch to Shala, who was standing beside the elevators a good thirty feet behind him, looking as if she wished to fade into the hospital’s white walls. He needed to get her out of here. Or kiss her again. Then she’d forget her embarrassment. The second option was more appealing.
Sure, kissing her might appear inappropriate to some, but he’d kissed her for the same reason he’d hugged Maria: to give comfort.
“Do you have something to say, Mayor? Because your time is running out.” Sky tapped his watch. Phillip would be calling soon.
“Do I have something to say?” he bellowed, then lowered his voice. “You have an attempted murder, three breaking-and-enterings, one attempted burglary, one attempted vehicular homicide, an important tourism specialist—who is our last chance at saving this town—and what are you doing? Playing kissy-kissy with her in the elevator.”
Sky frowned. “As I already told you on the phone, I have Pete and Ricardo standing guard at the crime scene. The Texas Rangers are on their way. I have the gun that was found last night waiting to be checked for prints.” He motioned down the hall toward the waiting room. “The woman in that operating room is my friend, and as soon as I get the update on her condition, I’m going to be combing though Shala’s images again, trying to figure out why this is happening.”
The mayor started to bluster, but Sky checked his watch again and kept talking. “I’ve secured a place for Shala to stay in case this asshole comes after her again. I’ve spent the last twelve hours running around town dealing with all the crap that you just pointed out, while also trying to keep her safe. Unlike you, I haven’t been playing golf with a bunch of buddies, claiming to have a family emergency while you’re supposed to be working. Still, if you have comments about how I do my job, I’ll be happy to listen to them later. But my personal life is…personal.”
“You can’t be…seeing a victim. It’s against policy.”
“Thing is, I was seeing her before she became a victim. Now, if you want me to resign…?”
“Seeing her before? She’s only been here two days.”
“I work fast,” he said. “But as I said, if you want—”
“No.” The mayor groaned, but Sky knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t back down completely. “You’re good at your job—that’s why I hired you. But Ms. Winters is…Damn it, Sky, you’re going to mess this up for us. Your ‘love ’em and leave ’em’ ways are going turn us into a ghost town. We don’t need you breaking her heart and then—”
“Your minute’s up. I’m taking her out for fresh air. I’ll be right outside the hospital if you need me.”
He started back toward Shala with the mayor’s warning, along with a few of his own, echoing inside his head. However, one look at Shala and the warning faded. They were adults, damn it!
“Am I fired?” she asked as they stepped back into the elevator.
“Hell, no.” Sky pushed the down button. “He’s just jealous that it wasn’t him in the elevator. He’s been drooling over that photograph of you in your bathing suit with your essay on kayaking since he hired you.”
“You’re joking.” She looked appalled.
“Nope,” Sky answered truthfully. “He even printed it out. Not that I blame him. My printer is broken or I’d have done the same.” Smiling, Sky brushed a strand of hair from her cheek.
She caught his hand. “Don’t even think about kissing me again.”
The elevator doors opened. With a hand on her back, he ushered her out. “I don’t think either of us can forget about it.”
“Watch me,” she said.
“I will.” He fitted his palm to the soft curve of her waist. “Watching you is one of my favorite pastimes.”
Her pace slowed. He gave her a little nudge, leading her outside through the hospital’s automatic doors. While it was only nine in the morning, the heat radiating from the pavement promised the day would see record highs. Sky gave the parking lot a once-over, looking for black sedans. There weren’t any.
His cell rang, and he checked the number, worried it was the mayor. “It’s Maria,” he told Shala, and his gut tightened. Keeping one arm around her, he answered the call. “Please tell me it’s good news.”
“She’s out of surgery. The doctor said it looks good.”
“Thank God!” The weight in his chest faded. He smiled at Shala, who smiled back. “I’m going to grab a breakfast sandwich from the deli,” he told Maria. “See if anyone else needs anything and I’ll bring it up.”
“Why don’t you bring a dozen doughnuts?” Maria said. “Oh. Have you told Redfoot about Jessie yet?”
“No. Didn’t want to worry him. But speaking of Redfoot, I’m going to have to meet someone in a little while, so can you get him home?”
“You bet. See you in a few minutes.”
“So, Jessie’s going to be okay?” Shala asked when Sky hung up.
&nbs
p; “Doctor said it looks good.” He nudged her forward again. “Come on, there’s a diner across the street that sells breakfast sandwiches. You hardly ate yesterday; I’m sure you’re starved.” He glanced at his watch. “Unfortunately, we’re going to have to wolf them down. I need to get you situated and going through those images while I meet the Texas Rangers at the crime scene. They’re going to want to take the camera, so I need copies on my computer before they get here.”
“Get me situated where?” she asked.
“A friend of mine, military and an ex-cop, lives a couple miles from my place. He’ll be keeping an eye on you while I work.”
She frowned. “Do you really think that’s necessary?”
He arched an eyebrow. “Don’t start.” Although she continued to frown, he saw her mentally throw in the towel, so he promised, “He’s a good guy.”
At the sidewalk, and between the sounds of birds and chatting people, he heard a car’s engine revving. Turning, he saw a silver SUV barreling right at them.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Shala saw Sky turn, and then she felt him swing around, hard and fast. His forearm, thick and corded with muscle, smacked right across her abdomen. It knocked the air from her lungs and hurled her several feet off the ground and across the sidewalk. Her back slammed against the ground before she felt another blow—something heavy smacked on top of her, then rolled off. Wait. Not an it—a he. Sky rolled off of her.
The roar of an engine rang in her ears, followed by the squeal of tires. The smell of exhaust made her aware of how close the car had come to hitting her. She gasped for air, but the oxygen wouldn’t travel down her throat.
Sky was scrambling to his feet and pulling something from inside his shirt. A gun. He pointed but didn’t shoot. “God damn son of a bitch!”
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