by B. J Daniels
She looked over at him. It was her undoing. She felt a rush of emotions that threatened to drown her. Tears sprang to her eyes, blurring his face. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out.
His expression seemed to crumble as he put an arm around her and pulled her into him. She leaned her head against his shoulder and sobbed out the words, “I’m so sorry. I don’t want to get you killed.”
He held her tighter. “You won’t. I’ve been living on borrowed time for years now. None of this is your fault.”
She shook her head. “This is not what I wanted.” She choked on the last of her sobs and pulled back to look at him. “If I’d known that I could be jeopardizing your life—”
“No,” he said and did the last thing she was expecting. He kissed her. Suddenly his mouth was on hers, and he was wrapping her in his arms as if he never wanted to let her go.
* * *
JON DIDN’T THINK he’d ever known the power of a kiss. Because he hadn’t kissed the right woman? Or because he couldn’t remember kissing this one? He felt a jolt that rocketed through him, stunning him, leaving him shaken. Hadn’t he warned himself about getting too close to this woman? He hadn’t planned to kiss her—far from it. But he’d looked into her beautiful green eyes shimmering with unshed tears, and he’d lost it.
For so long, he’d told himself that he was content. That his hermit lifestyle was enough. Until she’d walked into his workshop. Even when he tried not to, he would remember looking up and seeing her silhouetted against the snowstorm outside. He’d caught his breath, feeling a punch to his chest. At the time, he’d told himself that she’d caught him by surprise, startling him. The surge in his pulse, the quickening beat of his heart, all had been nothing more than a reminder that he’d let his guard down, something he couldn’t do if he hoped to go on living.
But had he really cared about going on living before she’d walked into his woodshop? Wasn’t he merely existing at that point? He couldn’t recall the last time he’d actually felt alive. Until Kate.
This woman was the catalyst that had jarred him out of that mere existence and dragged him back into life. Kate and her stories about her beloved husband and her two precious daughters had made him yearn for a life he’d never known, even as he told himself she wasn’t talking about him. Even as he told himself it was too late for him even if she was.
She had made him feel, even made him hope, both dangerous for a man like him with a past like his. She’d upended his life even as he’d told himself that the best thing he could do was give the woman a wide berth for both of their sakes. But he hadn’t been able to do that once he’d realized that she was in trouble.
Now, he looked into all that green and knew there would be no coming back from this kiss. “Katie.” His voice broke as he pulled her to him, deepening the kiss as they clung to each other. What he felt was beyond need. He had to have this woman, knew his life would be worthless without her. The raging heat of that knowledge raced through his veins, stronger than desire, hotter than the passion that caught fire between them.
* * *
KATE KISSED HIM knowing that this was the way it was always supposed to be—whether this man was Danny or not. He was the man she wanted desperately as he trailed kisses down her throat and then lifted the hem of the T-shirt as he nuzzled her breasts. Her nipples ached, her center turning molten as if it had been years since she’d made love.
Shoving the fabric aside, his breath hot against her skin until he found the hard point of one breast, then the other. She groaned, arching against his mouth, wanting more, needing more, desperate with that need as she flung off the comforter and Jon took off her T-shirt and threw it aside. She got his shirt off, stripping away the material to press her bare, scalding flesh against his. It took her breath away as he cupped her bottom and pulled her onto his lap.
He kissed her, breathless as he pressed her against him. She shifted to push down his jeans as he tugged her panties down, and then she was sitting on him again. He entered her, his gaze locked with hers. She threw her head back as she rode him. He took one of her nipples between his teeth, rolling her off him, to pin her to the couch. They were both breathing hard as he thrust inside her, taking her higher and higher until she let out a cry, digging her fingers into his strong back.
Jon collapsed onto her for a moment before rolling to the side and pulling her close. “Katie,” he breathed against the hollow of her neck.
She closed her eyes, tears leaking out. He’d found his way to her.
The knock at the door made them both jerk around. They shared a startled questioning look for a moment before they heard the knock again. A male voice on the other side of the door called, “Room service.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
COLLIN COULDN’T SIT STILL. He paced the floor, waiting to hear what was happening at the hotel. The worst part was that he had no idea what Gerald had told his men to do. Not kill Kate. They needed Kate. Couldn’t really kill Jon—at least not in front of Kate, otherwise they would lose their leverage.
So, why was he so nervous? Because he’d lost his leverage with Kate’s daughter. He’d heard it in his Eric’s voice. So he was screwed back in Texas as well as in Canada. He feared things could get worse. But once he had enough money he could sneak into Mexico and get lost on some beach until the money ran out.
“Stop pacing,” Gerald finally snapped. “You’re driving me crazy.”
From the look in the man’s eyes, that was a dangerous thing to do. “I’m not good at waiting.”
“Then take the car down to the body shop.” Gerald told him the address. “The walk back should do you good.”
“What do I tell them?” he asked.
“Nothing. Just leave them the keys and walk back. It’s a couple of miles. You could use the fresh air.”
Collin nodded, thinking here he was again, sticking his neck out while Gerald stayed safe here. The woman at the dress shop would be able to pick him out in a lineup. Same with the mechanic at the body shop. Is that the way Gerald was planning it? Or was Collin just getting paranoid?
He couldn’t help but think about Kate as he drove. She and Jon Harper had spent the rest of the night and morning together. Jealousy reared its ugly, green head. Collin didn’t want the man touching her. He reminded himself that Jon had been trying to push Kate away. Had that changed? He reminded himself that she was still wearing his engagement ring. Or at least she had been before Jon Harper had whisked her away in the middle of the night.
For all he knew, the two had spent the rest of the night screwing. He ground his teeth at the thought. He hoped that whoever was delivering their “room service” hurt them both.
* * *
JON QUICKLY GOT up off the couch and pulled on his clothes, signaling for Kate to go get dressed. She hurriedly picked up her panties and his T-shirt and scurried from the room.
He stepped to the door, tucking his shirt in and zipping up his jeans as he went. He hadn’t expected the interruption. The last thing he’d wanted to do was let Kate out of his arms. The knock had sent his pulse hammering because for a while he’d forgotten how much danger they were in.
“Room service,” a young male voice called again, this time the voice wavering a little.
“We didn’t order room service,” Jon called through the door, all his senses on alert. He glanced back at the weapon he’d brought up from the truck. He’d left it on the end table next to the couch.
“It’s complimentary for the honeymoon suite,” the young man in the hallway said.
Jon glanced into the bedroom. Kate had gotten dressed. She was standing looking at him, looking as worried as he felt. He could see the rise and fall of her breasts, remember them pressed against his chest only moments ago.
“Give it to someone else. We don’t need it.”
Silence, then, “I’m sorry, but I can’t
do that. Can I just leave it, please?”
Jon heard that slight waver in the young man’s voice. Fear. And not fear that he would lose his job if this honeymoon breakfast wasn’t delivered.
Jon motioned Kate back as he dove for his gun on the end table and the door suddenly banged open. As he grabbed the weapon and spun back around, a metal tray filled with dishes crashed into him. Behind the tray was the young hotel personnel, his eyes wide and frightened. Behind him, a hulking man wearing a ski mask charged into the room, gun drawn.
Jon saw the barrel of the man’s gun clip the back of the employee’s head. The young man went down in the pile of food and broken dishes. Jon had tried to dodge the tray and the hotel employee but failed. Knocked off-balance, he had stumbled back, colliding with the couch to the cacophony of breaking dishes mixing with Kate’s scream.
The man in the ski mask shoved his way in, kicking the door closed behind him. Kate had grabbed a buffet lamp from the entrance table, and she swung it, catching enough of the hulking man’s head to make it bloom with blood.
Before Jon could get off a shot, the masked man had grabbed Kate and was now using her like a human shield as he pressed the barrel end of his weapon to her temple. The weapon had been equipped with a silencer.
It had all happened in a matter of seconds. The hotel employee lay unmoving, facedown on the floor, a knot forming on the back of his skull. After all the racket, the room fell deathly silent for a few moments before the man motioned for Jon to drop his weapon.
He’d already taken in the situation and knew he wasn’t going to get a clean shot—not with the man holding Kate in front of him.
“Do it or I’ll kill her,” the man said gruffly.
He looked into Kate’s wide green eyes, nodded and slowly dropped the gun to the floor, stepping back from it and keeping his hands where the man could see them.
“Now, here is what we’re going to do,” the man said in a low voice. “You do as I say, and Kate gets to live. Otherwise, I kill you both, and him, too,” he said, pointing to the employee on the floor. “If he isn’t already dead.”
* * *
“THE CAR IS READY,” Gerald announced as he came into the kitchen where Collin was making himself a sandwich. The refrigerator had been stocked with food apparently, while he’d taken the car down to the garage and walked all the way back. He noticed there was a lot more beer. He would have loved one but didn’t want to push it.
He finished making his sandwich. “So, what happened at the hotel?” He’d been dying to know. There could have been a shoot-out. Everyone could be dead. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but then again, he was suffering from lack of sleep and a general fear that gnawed at his insides day and night.
“Our body-shop man found something interesting on the car,” Gerald continued, ignoring Collin’s question. A sharpness to the man’s tone caught his attention. “You said you found a tracking device and destroyed it?”
“I did. I can show it to you. It’s probably still in the garage where I smashed it.” He started to head for the garage, but Gerald waved him back.
“Our man found a second tracking device. Which might explain how Jon Harper found you so easily.”
Collin swore. He hadn’t even thought to check for a second one. Who put two tracking devices on a vehicle? Jon Harper. The cop. Not the friggin’ carpenter.
“I...” He closed his mouth since he had no excuse. He’d messed up again. He didn’t want to think about what would happen when he did it a third time.
“As for the hotel...” Gerald was studying him closely.
He took a bite of his sandwich, pretending he hadn’t been on needles and pins waiting for word.
“What do you care?” the boss asked, narrowing his eyes at him.
Collin chewed and quickly swallowed. “I just want to know. Crossing the border with Kate will make it easier than without her. She did great on the way into Canada. She—” He broke off, realizing at the same time Gerald obviously did that he didn’t want her to be dead anymore than he wanted her to be with Jon Harper.
“You do realize that you’re going to have to take care of her when this is all over,” Gerald said. “You can’t let her live.”
“I know.” In truth, none of this was going down as he’d envisioned it. Had he actually thought Kate would join him in his misadventures? He sure as hell hadn’t planned to have the rental car break down in Buckhorn, Montana, the home of carpenter Jon Harper, ex-cop and possible husband to his fiancée.
Since then, he’d been winging it. But he knew Gerald was right. Kate couldn’t be freed anymore than Jon Harper could. Both would go to the authorities straight as a bullet. He gritted his teeth at the thought of how stubborn they both could be. Jon Harper had come to Canada to save a woman he supposedly didn’t know from Adam. And Kate...she’d gone with a complete stranger after he’d crawled in her window. The thought made him wince like biting down hard on a rotten tooth.
But could he kill her? He’d done a lot of illegal and immoral things in his life. Murder wasn’t one of them. And this was Kate. Maybe he didn’t love her like a man should love a woman, but he’d wanted her. He’d needed her. Unfortunately, both were still true.
“I’ll take care of it,” he snapped. “So, are you going to tell me what’s going on at the hotel or not?” he asked, tired of Gerald keeping him in the dark.
The front door opened, making them both turn. Collin saw Jon Harper first, then Kate and the man behind her with the gun. Kate’s gaze met his. If looks could kill, he’d be a smoldering heap on the floor. Yeah, he thought, I’d be able to kill her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“TAKE HIM DOWN into the basement and tie him up.”
Collin realized that Gerald was talking to him. “Why me?”
“Phil will stay up here with Kate to make sure you don’t have any trouble with Mr. Harper,” Gerald continued. “Everything you need is in here.” He handed him a paper sack from some hardware store.
Collin took the sack and glanced at the closed door the man indicated. He didn’t want to do this. He had a thing about damp, dark places. He felt sweat break out and trickle down his spine. “Gerald—”
“Just do it,” the man snapped.
The last thing he wanted was to go down there. But Collin knew he had little choice. He could just imagine the men’s reaction if he told them about his claustrophobia or his anxiety attacks. After they quit laughing, he’d be lucky if they didn’t tie him up in the basement.
He pulled his gun, motioned for Jon to open the door and go down the steep steps first. A single bulb hung from the ceiling at the bottom of the stairway. The dim light exposed an expanse of cold concrete, stacked boxes, several old washing machines in various stages of dying, along with a lot of other junk and debris. The smell rushed up the stairs, gagging him with the musty damp stench of it.
It was exactly the kind of place Collin abhorred. He felt a shudder as he followed Jon down the stairs. At the bottom, he opened the sack and saw a length of cotton rope and several rounds of duct tape.
In the corner, he spotted a straight-backed wooden chair. “Pull that over here,” he ordered Jon. For a moment, he thought the man wasn’t going to comply. But slowly, the carpenter limped into the corner and drew the chair out into the light. It did Collin good to see that the carpenter wasn’t as tough as he had pretended to be. “Sit.”
“You know you don’t have to tie me up,” Jon said in his gravelly, low voice. It felt eerie down here in the circle of light from the overhead bulb. Beyond the dim light, dark-shadowed shapes hunkered in the corners. “You have Kate. I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize her life.”
“You already have,” Collin snapped.
“I just wanted to get her away from you before you dragged her into something that could get you both killed,” Jon said quietly. He sounded so mea
sured. Another reason Kate had fallen for this man. There was something solid about him, honorable, trustworthy. Hell, the man sounded like a damned Eagle Scout. All of that, too, wouldn’t be wasted on Kate.
“Shut up.” Collin shoved him down onto the chair. Jon almost went over backward but caught himself. His brown eyes darkened. “Just know, if you let anything happen to her, I will hunt you down and kill you. And I think by now you realize that I’m serious.”
The way he said it, quietly as if talking about the weather, Collin felt a chill run the length of his spine. He fought the urge to shoot the man and get it over with. Instead, he tucked the gun into the waist of his jeans and ripped off a long piece of duct tape. Grabbing the man’s wrists, he forced them together as he began to wrap the tape around them as quickly as possible. He could feel the darkness of the basement as if it was creeping up behind him.
He could also feel Jon’s eyes on him. The man’s declaration hadn’t been a threat. It had been a promise. It was why Collin couldn’t have Jon out there hunting him down. He’d make that phone call the first chance he got.
That’s if Gerald didn’t kill Jon the moment he and Kate left.
Either way, coming after Kate was going to cost Jon his life.
* * *
KATE SAW COLLIN’S expression when he rushed back up the stairs. He was pale, sweating and visibly shaking. Had he hurt Jon? Killed him? She took a step toward him but was stopped by the man she’d heard referred to as Gerald. Her heart was pounding. She grabbed Collin’s arm. “If you hurt him—”
He jerked free of her hold. “Don’t touch me. I’m tired of being threatened.”
“He didn’t hurt Jon,” Gerald quickly assured her. “Isn’t that right, Collin?”
He nodded, and she caught his eye. She stared daggers at him, hating him with a passion she hadn’t known possible. Collin had gotten her into this, but she’d been the one to drag Jon in. She’d never forgive Collin. But it would kill her if something happened to Jon because of her.