Читать книгу The Men In Uniform Collection - Barbara McMahon - Страница 40

BOONE STOOD BY HER BED, watching Christie sleep. He’d swallowed a couple of aspirin, which had taken the edge off, but he still hurt, though not as much as looking at her. Christ, her mouth was open, her hair was a mess and she looked too pale and thin to deny the stress she’d been under, but he thought she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

This was it. Yeah, they still had to find out about her bank accounts, and make sure there were no complications over at the prick’s house, but it was over. He’d be leaving, going back to the business of scraping out a living and doing his damndest to out those bastards who’d tried to kill the team. Before this, before Christie, taking them down was all he cared about. Now he just wished he’d never been in the service at all.

Other men could look back at a woman as the great heartbreak of their life. For Boone, it was the army. He’d given the service his heart, his soul, his body. And it had betrayed him in every way a man can be betrayed.

Until he’d gone to Kosovo, he’d had an exemplary record. Delta had recruited him, and they’d competed with the SEALs to win him. He and Nate had gone head-to-head, and they’d kicked everyone else’s ass. It had been great.

It had gone to hell so quickly. One assignment. It had looked like a cakewalk up front. Then they’d met Tam, and she’d shown them exactly who they were working for. A government agency that was unconnected to the army or Delta Force, funded as an offshoot of the CIA. They had no compunction about breaking the law, about subverting the principles of the Constitution or international treaties. They’d turned Nate’s unit into assassins for profit, and lied with every word out of their corrupt mouths.

The moment of discovery had been their last free moment.

Boone had gone home, met his father in secret, hoping for counsel, for support. His dad, the Major, had slapped him across the face and told him not to come home again.

Since then, he’d lived every day as if it would be his last, and not particularly cared. Yeah, he wanted justice, but mostly he wanted to rest. He wanted to get a regular job, maybe doing some high-tech security, maybe open a store in a quiet part of Tennessee.

Mostly, though, he wanted Christie. If things were different, he’d like to take her to his hometown, show her around. She’d like it there, in the mountains. So would Milo. That dog wouldn’t know what to do when he saw some of those homegrown squirrels.

Christie shifted on the bed, her arm moving closer to her pillow. It ached, wanting her. Knowing that it might be years before he could come out of hiding. That it might be forever.

Just his luck he’d finally found someone he could love, when there was no hope of doing a damn thing about it.

“Hey.”

He smiled at the soft, fuzzy voice, still half in sleep. “Hey, yourself.”

“What time is it?”

“Almost eight.”

“In the morning, right?”

He nodded. “There’s someone here who wants to see you.”

She sniffed and fought a yawn. “Can it wait till I brush my teeth?”

“I don’t think he cares.” Boone turned and patted his leg. Milo, tail wagging hard, came down the hall, his nails clacking on the hardwood.

Christie sat up, her smile so beautiful it made Boone’s chest hurt, and when Milo jumped onto the bed, she hugged him so hard he almost fell right back down again.

Boone had to leave, to turn away from her. She’d come on out when she was ready, and they’d take off. He’d called Larry to find out where he was with the IRS business, but he’d only gotten the machine. Seth was going to stop by later, after they’d finished their search at Dan Paterson’s house.

Kate had called an hour ago. Dan’s place was a suburban one-story in Santa Monica, and the preliminary search hadn’t turned up squat. No electronics, no mention of Christie, nothing. They’d all agreed that made no sense, so they were digging deeper.

As he passed the living room, his gaze went to the bare patch Seth had cut out of the carpet. If they couldn’t make the replacement seamless, they’d take out the whole damn thing and put in a new one. That wouldn’t happen until tomorrow, though. First things first, but damn, Boone wanted to get Christie back to her rightful life as soon as possible.

Already, they’d removed most of the surveillance equipment. He wanted Seth to go through the house again, though, to make sure nothing was left behind. Then he wanted to change her locks and replace the bedroom window. They’d found the crawl space, where Dan had waited to spring his trap. He’d had earphones and a small monitor down there, which Seth had taken with him. Before he’d left, they’d nailed the access doors shut both inside and outside the house.

Everything was coming together, and once her finances were back in order, she’d be fine. She could work again, have her friends back in her life, see her parents. Her nightmare would be over.

“Boone?”

He turned to see her standing by the bathroom door, holding a bundle of clean clothes. “Yeah?”

“How about whipping me up one of your wonder shakes for breakfast.”

He grinned. “No cookies? No ice cream?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Perish the thought. And double up on that wheat germ, would you?” She laughed as she closed the door behind her.

His smile faded as he went into the kitchen. For the thousandth time, he cursed the bastards who’d stolen his life, and swore, once more, that he’d have his revenge.

CHRISTIE STOOD IN THE SHOWER with the water hitting her in all the right places. She should have felt great. So much had gone right last night. Yeah, finding out the bastard was Dan was disturbing on a lot of levels, but the bottom line was, it was over. No more hiding in the corners. No more terror at the sound of a ringing phone. But…

No more Boone.

She hadn’t known him long enough to feel this crappy about losing him.

He was going to leave, and she was going to have…what? Yeah, her life back. Hopefully her money back. No job, but that was okay, because she could get another job. A better job. And she’d have her friends again. So, yes, it would all be good. Great. Empty.

Maybe it was for the best. Clearly her choice in men sucked. When she thought about Dan…Jesus. As she washed her hair, she considered her relationship with him. He hadn’t seemed weird. In fact, he’d seemed really normal, except for all the questions. That should have tipped her off, right? Him wanting to know everything about her family, about her work? But he was a psychologist, for God’s sake. It made no sense.

She didn’t want to think about it anymore. What she needed most was to sleep for a month, to gain back her strength and her perspective.

WHEN SHE GOT TO THE KITCHEN, Boone was at the table staring at the wall, holding a big tumbler of breakfast smoothie and idly playing with Milo. Aside from his ugly bruises, which ironically, made him look even more ruggedly handsome, he seemed deflated. As if now that the thrill of the hunt was over, he had no rudder, no purpose. She understood that, a little more acutely than she wished.

It was anticlimactic in a way. All this focus on catching a demon, and he’d turned out to be an asshole in a demon suit. Despite the truth, she still had a hard time associating the Dan she’d dated with the stalker. The cruelty was so much larger than the man. He’d delighted in her torment. A man who’d purportedly helped people get over pain and suffering.

She’d have preferred sending him away to prison, if not a psychiatric hospital, but he’d taken away their choice. It would take time for her to recover from the entire ordeal, and, she realized, it would take Big, Bad Delta-Force Guy a while, too.

Although she’d have sworn she didn’t have a nurturing bone in her body, seeing him so sad and so banged-up made her want to cook him chicken soup and put him to bed. She had no chicken, so that was out. But the bed part? That had possibilities. One more for the road. A last goodbye.

Oh, that made her chest hurt. Despite his tendency to be a pain in the ass, having Boone around had been illuminating. And not just the sex. He thought she was strong. Capable. A fighter. No one had ever told her that before. She’d been her only cheering section when it came to facing the hard stuff. But these last few days, Boone had been her champion. She flushed at the thought, but it was true.

“You gonna stand there and stare at me, or come drink your breakfast?”

“You can’t truly be snarky when you’re talking about a health drink, you know.”

“I can be snarky about anything.”

To Milo’s delight, she joined them at the table, petting him lavishly for surviving yet another tranquilizing episode. Boone seemed pleased, too, although his smile was crooked from the swelling.

She drank some of her drink, surprised yet again that it didn’t taste like swill. When she put it down, she pushed back her still-damp hair. “So, we go to see the hacker guy now?”

Boone shook his head. “He’s not home. Seth is gonna stop by later today.”

“Which leaves us with what?”

“We should replace that bedroom window. And do another sweep of the house for bugs.”

“Ah, another typical, what is it, Tuesday?”

His head quirked to the side. “I don’t know.”

“Weird, huh? It feels like we’ve been in an alternate universe.”

“Actually, it hasn’t been all that different from the rest of my life. Better company, but that’s about it.”

“Oh, God. I didn’t think. I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault. I’m just grateful that you don’t have to go through it anymore. What are you going to do about work?”

“It depends on the cash situation. I still have to pay the mortgage, you know?”

“If anyone can get the IRS off your back, it’s Larry. I still want to know how the doctor had the connections in the first place.”

“You think he wasn’t really a psychologist, don’t you?”

“I don’t think that’s all he was.”

She drank some more, and so did he. Across the street, a gardener mowed the lawn. For the first time in ages, Christie opened the blinds all the way. She saw her own sadly neglected front yard, her mailbox—which she hadn’t checked in too long—the sky, clouds. It all seemed so normal, so prosaic. And Boone couldn’t have any of it. “Why do you stay?” she asked, turning to him. “Why not leave the country? Get a new name, a new start?”

“They stole my life from me. I can’t let that go.”

“They have money and power and resources you can’t possibly match. I admire your principles, but how are you going to get them?”

“We just have to get the right kind of proof, and get it to the right people.”

“You make it sound so simple.”

“It is simple. It’s just not easy.”

She nodded. “I don’t have any way of saying thank you.”

“Sure you do,” he said, smiling that crooked smile.

“You just did.”

“Cute. But not close. You saved my life.”

“Actually, you saved mine. That flashlight move was downright brilliant.”

She sat back, awash with pride. “Wow, it was, wasn’t it?”

“Yep. You were magnificent.”

Her cheeks heated, but not entirely because of his compliment. “I didn’t take the safety off.”

He shrugged. “It all worked out in the end.”

“I suppose so. I’m almost afraid to ask, but what did Seth do with him?”

“Better you don’t know.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Don’t think about that,” he said. “We did what we had to do. You’re safe now, and that’s what’s important.”

She got up, not sure what to do with herself. Her gaze fell on the missing carpet, but that upset her more. “Can we do something?” she asked. “Get that window maybe?”

“Sure.” Boone got up and took both their glasses to the sink. He rinsed them out and put them in the drainer.

She looked him over, all the way up and down his long body. She liked him in those jeans. They were old and worn in a great way. No holes, just paler denim that covered that gorgeous butt to perfection. His shirt, also denim, did nice things to his back, to his wide expanse of shoulder. Altogether a wonderful package, but frankly, she liked him better without the wrapping.

“You want to grab your purse?”

“No,” she said, walking over to him, wishing his mouth weren’t so bruised. She touched his cheek as she studied his face. She’d remember him without the scars. Such a great face. Fabulous green eyes. Everything about him pleased her. Well, maybe not the way he shopped.

“What are you smiling about?”

She shrugged. “Happy thoughts.”

“Good. You deserve happiness.”

“So do you.”

“I’m happy right now,” he said, his hand slipping around her waist. “With you.” He bent and kissed her.

She parted her lips, conscious of how gently they had to proceed. He was hurt, and she was aching at the thought of saying goodbye. So gentle was good.

He hissed once, then changed his angle, and his tongue had to do all the work. That was okay with her. They kissed like that, standing by the kitchen, until her shoulders relaxed and her limbs got wobbly. He ran his hands over her back and down, cupping her rear and pulling her tight where she felt him hard and thick.

A moan and a squeeze, and he stepped back. Again, that smile, that sad little bruised grin, and he took her hand to lead her down the hall, into the bedroom.

The undressing wasn’t theatrical at all. Just hurried. He was naked first, all the way down to his long, elegant feet.

She still had her panties on, a sea foam green thong that cost more than a decent pair of shoes, which, from the look on his face, was worth every cent.

“Oh, my God,” he said. He looked up into her eyes, and she saw such helplessness there, such bewildered loss.

“Boone, honey, what is it?” She closed in on him, not at all sure what was happening.

“You’re so amazing.”

She fought a smile because the way he said it was pained. “Thank you?”

He touched her hair. Petted her, actually, and then his splayed hand spanned her neck as he pulled her close. She nestled right in the crook of his neck, inhaling his warm scent, still unsure what had gotten him so upset. “Boone? Want to tell me what’s wrong?”

He shook his head. She knew this because she felt his jaw touch the top of her head.

“Please?”

“You know that once we finish here, once the window is fixed and the money situation is straightened out, I have to leave.”

“You live in Pasadena. It’s not that far.” She knew it wasn’t that simple. That when he left, he would leave for good, but she couldn’t…Not yet.

“Right,” he said. “Pasadena. Nice town. Except on New Year’s Day.”

“You don’t go to the parade?”

“I don’t go to anything.”

The hand that wasn’t petting her hair was rubbing big circles on her back. It was the most soothing, wonderful feeling in the world. Meltingly sensuous, made more so by the contrast of his soft palm and calloused fingertips. He was right. It wasn’t fair, not in any way. This man, he was something. The way she felt about him was so different from anything she’d experienced before. It was too fast, of course. No doubt about it at all. But it was true, nonetheless. He had touched her. Changed her. All she wanted in this life she had back was to know him better. To learn him.

“It’s crap, Christie. What they’ve left us. It’s not just me. There are five of us, and we don’t go to things. We don’t see our parents. We pay cash for everything, but that’s not much because we might have to leave in the middle of the night with the clothes on our backs, so what’s the point of buying things? We don’t date, because wouldn’t it be just our luck to have someone try to kill us over a nice prime rib.”

“You’ll stop them,” she said, pulling back, meeting his eyes. Well, his one eye. “You will. But not today. Today, you’re going to make love to me. For a long, long time. Then, we’re going to finish the cookies, and make love again. Deal?”

He closed his eye and rested his forehead against hers. “Deal.”

She pulled his hands down to the top of her thong. He took it from there.