Work had sucked. She hated working the night shift, and she’d had seven straight days of it. Even though she’d talked to Hollywood every day, it wasn’t the same. They’d both been tired by the time she called when she got home and while she still loved talking to him, it was obvious the stress of the situation was getting to both of them.
So when she’d gotten home from work tonight and he’d been waiting, Kassie was more than excited. She’d thrown herself into his arms and finally felt her mood lift. She’d been walking around as if she was in a fog for the last week and a half, but Hollywood being in her space made her feel safe.
She couldn’t remember a time when she felt that way.
“So you’re going over around eleven to help your sister, right?” Hollywood asked from the other room.
“Yup. I’m going to the hair salon with her then we’ll go back to the house and get her makeup done. Blake is coming over around four so Mom and Dad can take pictures. They’ll go to eat, then head over to the hotel for the dance.”
“How is your dad handling the fact that he couldn’t get Blake over for dinner to properly intimidate before the dance?”
“Not well,” Kassie admitted. “He was pretty put out Blake had one excuse after another for why he couldn’t come over.”
“At least he’s coming to the house to pick Karina up,” Hollywood said.
“Yeah. Did your friend do the background check on him?” Hollywood had told her earlier that week he had a guy in Pennsylvania who would see what he could find out about Blake to try to put her mind at ease.
“He’s been really busy with some other stuff, but said he ran a preliminary check and nothing alarming came up. Blake Watson dropped out of high school when he was eighteen, he started a year late because of a fall birthday. He worked at a few dead-end jobs before re-enrolling at your sister’s high school.”
“Well, that’s something,” Kassie said. “What are you going to do tomorrow when I’m with Karina?”
“Me ’n Fish are going to hang out.”
“He seems nice,” Kassie observed.
“He is.”
“And he’s moving to Idaho, did I hear that right?” Kassie asked.
“Yup. He signed the paperwork this week.”
“Why Idaho?”
“Because it’s out of the way and has lots of space. He doesn’t do well with crowds. I think it’s gotten worse as time goes on. He’s seen a psychologist about it, but doesn’t think it’s doing much good. He’s stubborn and determined to work through his issues on his own.”
“That sucks,” Kassie said, looking down into her wine glass. “I hate that for him.”
“Me too,” Hollywood agreed. “You ready to eat?”
“Absolutely,” Kassie told him, standing up and wandering over to the small kitchen. “It smells awesome.”
Hollywood had apparently stopped at the grocery store before he’d arrived because he’d had all the ingredients to make stuffed green peppers with him. Kassie sat down at her small kitchen table and stared down at the dinner Hollywood had made.
“I’m impressed,” she told him honestly.
He shrugged. “It’s actually pretty easy to make. Brown the meat, season it, mix in some tomato sauce and some half-cooked rice. Core the peppers, stuff them with the meat mixture. Cover with more tomato sauce and cheese. Then bake.”
“Somehow, I don’t think it was that easy,” Kassie told him with a smile.
“It was my pleasure, sweetheart. I don’t think you’ve had a nice sit-down meal since last week with your parents.”
“No, but I’m guessing you haven’t either.”
“It’s no fun to cook for yourself,” he said.
Kassie swallowed. “No, it’s not,” she agreed.
Hollywood sat down next to her and put his hand on the table, palm up, obviously wanting her to put her hand in his.
Without thought she did, wanting to feel his skin against hers.
Hollywood closed his hand around hers and shook his head. “I can’t believe how cold your fingers always are.”
“It doesn’t even faze me anymore.”
Bringing his other hand up to cover hers, Hollywood said, “Well, it bothers me.” He chafed her fingers for a moment before saying, “It’s good to be here with you, Kass. Cooking. Talking. It seems so normal and right.”
“Yeah, it does.”
Hollywood picked up her hand and kissed the back of it before saying, “Dig in. You’ll have to let me know what you think.”
“It’s wonderful,” she said as she picked up her fork.
Hollywood laughed. “You haven’t even tried it.”
“I don’t have to. If it tastes half as good as it smells, it’s going to knock my socks off.”
And she was right. It was awesome.
* * *
At ten-thirty the next morning, Hollywood kissed Kassie as they stood in the entryway in her apartment. He held her loosely in his embrace when he forced himself to release her.
“You’ll call when you get there?”
She nodded. “When is the training thing supposed to start?”
They’d talked about it a bit last night before they’d put a movie in, but Kassie had been jumpy and nervous, so Hollywood had wanted to make her relax and not think about what was happening at the refuge.
“It’s already happening. Ghost and the others are down there now. Got there yesterday afternoon and set up. The other Delta team is also there, acting as the ‘bad guys.’”
“And you’ve worked with them before? They know what’s going on?”
“Yes, Kass. We train with them all the time and they know what’s going on.”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, obviously trying to get ahold of her emotions. “Do they have funny nicknames like you and your friends do?”
Hollywood smiled at her. “Our nicks aren’t funny.”
“Uh, yeah, they are,” Kassie informed him. “Truck? Beatle? Hollywood? Totally funny.”
“Trigger, Lefty, Oz, Grover, Lucky, Brain, and Doc,” Hollywood said.
“What?”
“Their nicks. Trigger, Lefty, Oz, Grover, Lucky, Brain, and Doc,” he repeated patiently.
Kassie giggled and shook her head. “Okay, I won’t say your names are funny again because theirs are hysterical.”
Glad he could make her smile, Hollywood leaned in and rested his forehead against her own. “I loved waking up with you in my arms, Kass.” He felt her melt against him.
“Yeah. Me too.”
“Want that. Every morning.”
“It’d be nice,” Kassie responded. “I’m sorry about your…err…problem this morning.”
Hollywood pulled back and teased, “You mean my rock-hard cock?”
“Hollywood!” Kassie protested, her eyes wide as she blushed.
He grinned. “I can’t believe you’re flustered about me saying the word cock after what we did last night.”
If possible she turned even redder. “It’s morning. I’m not out of my mind with lust, and you’re staring at me,” she defended herself.
“I like these games we’re playing.” Hollywood informed her of something she undoubtedly already knew. “Making you come with only my hands and mouth on your tits is something I wasn’t sure I could do, but thankfully you proved me wrong.”
“You’re just too good looking,” Kassie grumbled, wrinkling her nose. “It’s physically impossible for me not to come with you touching and kissing me.”
His smile grew. “You keep flattering me, I might get a big head.”
“You’ve already got a big…head,” Kassie told him, smirking.
Hollywood laughed and palmed the back of her head as he held her to him with an arm around her waist. “You’re amazing, Kassie Anderson. I can’t wait until this is all behind us and you give me all of you.”
“Me too, Hollywood. But…” Her eyes skittered away from his.
“Eyes on me, sweetheart. What
? I want you to always feel free to say anything to me.”
She looked up at him and ran her hands up and down his sides as she said, “If this somehow doesn’t end today and Dean doesn’t show up and he still wants me to get information to feed to him…do we still need to wait? I want you, Hollywood.”
“I’ve been trying not to rush you. I don’t want to push you into anything you’re not ready for. If you’re truly okay with us, then no, we’re not waiting. I might be bossy, but I’m not calling the shots in our relationship like a dictator, Kass.”
She smiled then. “Good. Because I’ve been going slowly for your sake, but I’m about done with that.”
Hollywood chuckled again. “Slowly, huh?”
“Yup, totally.”
Hollywood put pressure on her head and drew her into him. Her hands went to his back and she clutched his shirt as he kissed her. Kassie gave as good as she got, tilting her head to get a better angle. Her tongue dueled with his and by the time they pulled back, they were both breathing hard.
“Have fun with Karina today, sweetheart. Call when you’re on your way home.”
“I will. And you’ll let me know if you hear anything from the guys?”
“Of course. I want this done just as much as you do,” Hollywood told her. “Now go, before I haul you back to bed and you don’t get to spend the afternoon with your sister.”
“Thanks for being here,” Kassie said as she gathered her purse and opened her door.
“No place I’d rather be,” Hollywood told her.
“Later.”
“Later, sweetheart.”
Hollywood watched from the doorway until Kassie disappeared around the corner. Then he shut the door and put his head against it and closed his eyes. “Come on, Ghost. Call,” he murmured, then straightened and headed into Kassie’s apartment.
* * *
“Hollywood?” Kassie called after she opened her apartment door. It was five-thirty and she was ready to hang out on the couch and not deal with people for a while.
“Hey,” Hollywood said as he came around the corner of the hallway. He came straight to her and gave her a hug. He briefly kissed her lips and said, “You look beat.”
Ignoring his appropriate observation, Kassie asked, “You hear anything?”
“No.”
“Does that mean something went wrong?” she fretted.
“No. It just means nothing’s happened yet. Ghost called about two hours ago. He said they were going through different scenarios with the other Deltas like they would if they were really doing an exercise. They have scouts around the area and satellite surveillance shows a group of men about three miles away from their base camp. They’re there, and they’ll fall into the trap. We just have to give them time to do it. Okay?”
“I just want this to be done,” Kassie told him, aware of the whine in her tone and hating it.
“It will be,” Hollywood said resolutely.
“What smells so good?” Kassie asked, changing the subject.
“A roast. I found your slow cooker and put it in early this afternoon. I asked Fish to stop by the store and pick it up for me.”
“You’re always feeding me,” she told him.
“You complaining?” he retorted.
“No. Absolutely not. Feel free to feed me whenever you want.”
“I will.” Hollywood took her purse off her shoulder and placed it on the table near the door. Then he grabbed her hand and led her to the kitchen. “Sit. You want wine?”
“Yes, please.”
As he was pouring her a glass, Kassie asked, “How’s Fish? Ready to go to Idaho?”
“More than. Now that the house is his, he’s itching to leave.”
“I’m not holding him back, am I?” Kassie asked, worried she was keeping the man from doing what he wanted to.
“No. Don’t even go there. Fish doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to. He’s excited about his new house, but wouldn’t even think about leaving before this is done. He wouldn’t do that to you, and he definitely wouldn’t to me and the team.”
“I really like him.”
“Me too. Now, how about you stop telling me how much you like my friend and talk about how beautiful your sister looked instead. You got pictures?”
“Do I have pictures?” Kassie asked, her eyes lighting up. “I got pictures,” she told him. “And I hope you don’t mind spending three hours looking at them with me.”
He smiled, but it died with his next words. “And Blake? How were your parents with him?”
Kassie shrugged. “Okay. Not great, not awful. They were taken aback at how old he looked, but he laughingly showed them his driver’s license. He said he’d take care of Karina and treat her the way she deserved. By the end of the million and one pictures they’d taken, I think they’d thawed toward him.”
“Good,” Hollywood said, putting a plate on the table in front of her. It was piled high with tender beef on a hoagie roll. “Fish left about an hour ago and he’s tailing them to dinner then to the dance. Once she gets inside, he’ll hang out, keeping his eyes on the parking lot for Dean, just in case.”
Kassie nodded. “Karina said she’d shoot me a text when she got home.”
“Good.” The gleam was back in his eye when he said, “You wanna play spin the bottle tonight? Or seven minutes in heaven?”
She bit her lip and said, “I’ll do anything you wanna do, Hollywood.”
He didn’t reply, but merely smiled and dug into his dinner.
For the hundredth time, Kassie marveled that he was sitting at her table, eating food he’d cooked for her, and that she was the one who’d fall asleep held tight in his arms. She wasn’t exactly a troll, but knew she wasn’t in Hollywood’s league either. His nickname was Hollywood, for goodness sake. He was as good looking as any leading man she’d ever drooled over in the movies. And he was hers. It was about time good fortune came her way for once.
* * *
Kassie blinked.
She wasn’t sleeping well, even though Hollywood had done his best to help her relax. He knew she was too keyed up and anxious to play any games, so they’d simply lain together on her couch watching television while they’d waited to hear from Karina.
Finally, around twelve, he decided to move them into her bedroom. She’d gotten ready for bed, putting on an oversized T-shirt and sleep shorts, and Hollywood had stripped down to his boxers and a tight white T-shirt.
Every other time he’d slept in her bed, he’d worn a pair of sweats. This was the first time she’d seen so much of him and he was absolutely beautiful. She could see his six-pack under his shirt and the muscles in his thighs rippled as he climbed under the covers. He took her in his arms and his familiar scent worked its magic. Even though she hadn’t heard from Karina, she fell asleep, feeling safe and loved.
But something had woken her up. It took a moment for Kassie to remember the night before, but when she realized she’d fallen asleep without hearing from her sister, she turned her head to look at the nightstand.
She could see the faint glow from her phone letting her know she had a text. Kassie’s eyes went to her clock. It was four-thirty in the morning. She was going to kick Karina’s ass for worrying her so badly.
Sometime in the last couple of hours, Kassie had shifted away from Hollywood. He was lying on his back with one arm resting over his head. He was breathing heavily, obviously exhausted from whatever he’d been doing in the last week to keep watch over her and Karina.
Turning on her side slowly so as to not wake up Hollywood, Kassie grabbed her phone and pressed the button with her thumb to unlock it. She clicked on her text messages and the smile faded from her face as she saw the picture that had been sent from Karina’s phone.
It was her sister. She was sitting on the ground with a blindfold around her head. It was dark, but because of the flash used for the picture, Kassie could see her sister’s beautiful dress was ripped and filthy. She had dirt on her face and he
r hands were tied behind her back. There were a few scrub bushes to the right and left of her, but otherwise Kassie couldn’t make out any other details that would tell her where Karina was.
Her heartbeat immediately picked up as adrenaline shot through her body. Her first thought was to wake up Hollywood and have him take care of this for her, but as she turned, another text came in.
Karina: If u wnt 2 c her again, come now to the dizzy rooster on Sixth. Alone.
Kassie’s fingers flew across the screen as she replied.
Kassie: I want to talk to Karina.
Karina: No. She’s an hour away from being carried across the Mexico border. U don’t show, she’ll be gone forever. I’m sure she’ll love being fucked by banditos all day and night.
Kassie: No!
Karina: Then get your ass to the dizzy rooster. You got 20 min. if you bring your boyfriend, you’ll make your sister a whore.
Kassie: I’ll be there.
Kassie: Don’t hurt her.
Kassie: Hello?
“Fuck,” Kassie whispered. She slowly sat up and eased her legs off the side of the mattress. She knew she was doing the wrong thing, but couldn’t take the chance that whoever was texting her on Karina’s phone would do what he threatened. It certainly looked like Karina wasn’t around Austin. With the sand/dirt she was sitting on and the scrub bushes around her, she probably wasn’t in the immediate area.
It had been hours since she’d left for the dance. Time enough for someone to drive her south to the border.
Kassie’s hands shook as she grabbed a pair of jeans from the floor and carried them to the door of her room. She looked back once and hesitated. Hollywood was right where she’d last seen him. Dead to the world, sleeping peacefully.
She should wake him up.
She should ask him to deal with this for her.
He could help her.
But if she woke him, she’d essentially sign her sister’s death warrant.
Rescuing Kassie: Delta Force Heroes, Book 5 Page 21