Their stare down ended when she capitulated. “Okay, say that it is true. Obviously there’s something between us. But it’s probably just…a physical anomaly. It doesn’t mean anything. We’re not compatible, obviously. If we were we wouldn’t argue so much.”
Earlier in his life, that might have wounded him. But he’d grown a thick shield around his heart since his Gillian days.
“Besides,” she added, “I decided to not do anything stupid. My close call, remember?”
“I remember. Never was clear on the reasons, though.”
Well,” she began warily. “If those guys find me, I might have to go somewhere else. I don’t want to put anyone else at risk.”
“What if that ‘anyone else’ decides he’s okay with that risk? I came down here, didn’t I? If I was afraid of risk, I’d be back in Lost Harbor fighting fires and ice storms. Oh wait. That’s risky too. Looks like I’m not afraid of risk.”
She laughed unwillingly.
“The question is, are you?” He drilled his gaze into her, giving her a preview of what things would be like in bed with his strength and her fire. Good God.
She tugged her lower lip between her teeth. “I don’t know…lately my most intimate relationships have been with flowers. Peonies, not penises. Then you come along like some kind of testosterone bomb. I’m not sure I know how to handle you.” She blinked at him, all innocence.
He threw his head back and roared with laughter. When he was done, he planted his forearms on the table and took her hands between his. “I’m not sure of a lot, but I’m one hundred percent sure that if anyone can handle me, it’s you. Of course, there’s only one way to find out.”
“That sounds like a challenge.”
“Oh, it is, babe. It one hundred percent is.”
Chapter Fifteen
Kate was quivering from head to toe by the time they got back to the hotel. Darius had make it perfectly clear where he stood and what he wanted. It was what she wanted too, with every fiber of her being.
But when she reached the room, she found a message on the hotel phone. Cotton and Bryant had been trying to reach her; apparently her cell phone had been off the entire time they’d been at dinner. She’d been so wrapped up in their conversation that she hadn’t even noticed the lack of texts or calls.
The phone call with the associate who’d be handling the deposition took over an hour. At some point, Darius disappeared into his room, and when she was done, she tiptoed to the door and peered in.
He lay sprawled on the bed in a twisted tangle of bed sheets and long limbs. A pillow lay across his chest, with an arm holding it in place. His other arm was flung to one side, palm up. A gentle snore floated across the room.
She found it endearing the way he was clinging to that pillow as if it was a Teddy bear. It made her think of what he’d said about his first marriage and how he’d been so crushed, but was told to “buck up.” Was that what happened to a guy who had a tender heart but happened to be born into a big rugged body?
Was anything left of that tender heart?
Even though he talked a cynical game, she had a feeling there was quite a bit left. There was a reason Lost Harbor had taken Chief Boone into their hearts. There was a reason he’d chosen the protective career of firefighter. There was a reason a hyper-wary kid like S.G. trusted him so much.
She tiptoed away from the door between their suites and headed for her own bed. With depo prep looming in the morning, she had no business fantasizing about a “challenge.”
Her prep took up all of the next day. The associate offered to come to her hotel suite for the session so she wouldn’t have to take any unnecessary risks. Since Darius wouldn’t be needed until dinnertime, he took off to check out Century City.
Kate found the prep excruciating. She wasn’t used to being on this end of the equation. She was used to asking the questions, not trying her best to answer them. After a couple of hours, a familiar pulse behind her eyes began to throb. She hadn’t had a migraine since she’d left LA; she’d nearly forgotten what they felt like.
After running through the kinds of questions they planned to ask her, the associate switched to playing opposing counsel and doing his utmost to trip her up. It was exhausting and when they finally called it a day, she could have cried with relief.
As soon as the associate was gone, she changed into her comfy clothes and guzzled a bottle of water as she looked out the sixteenth-floor window at the endless expanse of streets and buildings and freeways. She’d been one of those busy little bees buzzing around town. Fun times—stressful, but fun.
But something had shifted, and she wasn’t as excited to be back as she’d anticipated.
Pain behind her eyes sent her to the couch, where she draped a cool washcloth over her face. That was where she was when Darius returned. She lifted the cloth to peer at him and his overflowing load of shopping bags.
“I see you found the mall.”
“I went shop-ping. O.M.G.” His imitation of a tween girl made her laugh.
“Find any cowboy hats?”
“Hell no. You have to go to Texas for those. Got something for everyone on the crew, though. Couple things for my hockey team. A knife-holder for S.G..”
“You found a knife holder in the Century City mall?”
“Go figure.” He showed off the hot-pink leather holster. “She’s going to hate it. I had to do it.”
With a groan, she dropped the facecloth back into place. “You’re a weirdo.”
“How’d it go today?” He lowered himself next to her, as she braced for the effects of jostling on her head. But he was surprisingly gentle as he settled his big body beside her. “Tough day?”
“I’m trying to fend off a migraine. It’s the last thing I need right now.” She closed her eyes to bring back the darkness.
“What helps with that?”
She shrugged. “Darkness. Quiet. Sometimes the muscles in the back of my neck get so tight…”
“Say no more.” A big, warm hand settled on the back of her neck. His thumb pressed along the tendons. An instant long groan spilled from her mouth.
“That feels—”
“Shhh,” he murmured. “You need quiet, remember? I bet you’ve been talking all day.”
“Mmmm, hmmmm.” After that she followed his directions and held her tongue, losing herself in the soothing magic of his strokes. His fingers were so damn strong. The tightness in her tendons was no match for his gentle power, and slowly the tension eased.
From her experience, if she could head off a migraine before it really took hold, she might be able to sleep it away and not miss the next two days in a fog of agony. Deliberately she relaxed her jaw and her eyelids and any other muscle she had any control over. Calm, even breaths. Coolness. Darkness.
Think of peonies, not depos.
No, not even that. No thoughts. Thoughts hurt. They made her tense up and that made everything worse. Let all the thoughts evaporate like a cloud of mosquitoes. Let peace and calm spread from the back of her neck, from those commanding fingers, through her skull and along her face.