Читать книгу Triggered - Elle James - Страница 8

Ben stared down at the woman, her long wavy strawberry-blond hair lying in damp ringlets against the wood floor. Wrapped only in a fluffy white towel, she looked like a fallen angel, her creamy smooth skin begging to be touched, the towel riding up her shapely thighs.

“You’re staring.” The woman blinked up at him, her fingers pulling the edges of the towel together over her chest. She tried to sit up, pressed a hand to the back of her head and sank back. “Must have hit harder than I thought.”

“I’ll call for an ambulance.”

She shook her head and winced. “No. I’ll be all right, just give me a minute.” One arm rose to cover her eyes. The top edge of the towel slipped lower over the swell of her breasts, capturing Ben’s attention.

He really needed to focus on the situation, not the female lying almost naked at his feet, which proved hard when the woman had a great figure and very touchable skin. A pang of guilt and sadness knotted his gut. He hadn’t felt like touching a woman in more than two years. Not since…“Any idea what the guy was after?”

“None,” she answered, the arm dropping to her side. “I’m just glad he’s gone and you’re here. I’m Kate Langsdon.” She held out a hand, a frown denting her pretty brow. “What took you so long?”

“I just got the assignment an hour ago.”

“Well, Mr. Harding, I’m glad you came when you did. Any later and…” She shrugged and tried to sit up again. “I have to get up.”

“You should stay put and let me call an ambulance.”

“No, I have to get upstairs.”

“Why the rush?”

“I just need to.” She sat up, swayed and started to fall back. “Damn it, I can’t be dizzy.”

“Pigheaded woman.” Ben caught her before her head hit the floor.

“Stubborn man,” she whispered.

He scooped her into his arms and lifted her off the floor.

She tensed, her arm automatically circling his shoulder. “You don’t have to carry me. I’m perfectly capable of standing on my own two feet.”

“Not with a knot on your head and a crazy determination to get upstairs.”

“Give me a minute and I’ll argue this point.” Her uninjured cheek lying against his chest belied her ability to put up much of a resistance. Her free hand struggled to keep the towel in place.

Ben ignored her protest and carried her up the stairs. “Which room?”

She sighed. “Last one on the landing. And really, I can get there on my own.”

“No need. From what Hank told me, I’m the hired hand, here to help rebuild a ranch and protect its owner.”

“Hank’s words?”

“Right.” His lips twisted, a frown creasing his forehead. “Let me do my job.”

She chuckled, a smile curling her lips, making her face shine even with the nasty bruise turning her cheek purple. “Somehow, I don’t think carrying a woman to her bedroom is part of the job description.” The smile faded. “But thanks.”

For a brief moment the sun had shone in the woman’s face, tugging at a place Ben thought buried for good with his wife and daughter. He shook the thought from his head and turned left on the landing.

When they crossed the threshold into the room, the woman twisted in his arms, her gaze darting toward the closet.

The door was open, blankets spilled from inside, some half-dragged out on the floor. “Let me down.” She pushed against his arm, her nails digging into his skin.

“I will, but I’m not dropping you.”

“Let me down.” She shoved harder.

He lowered her feet to the floor, his arm remaining around her waist.

She stood for a moment, swaying, and then lunged for the closet, her eyes wide, her face tense. “Lily?” Her voice was strained, desperate.

“Who’s Lily?” he asked.

Kate didn’t answer as she dove into the back of the closet, rifling through blankets. When her face appeared at the edge of the closet door, it was pale and pinched. “Lily?” She leaped to her feet and nearly fell on her face.

Ben was there to catch her, his arms crushing her against his chest. “Who’s Lily?”

“Mommy?” A tiny voice called out from the bathroom. “Mommy?”

Kate’s head came up and she fought her way out of Ben’s arms, dropping to her knees in front of a little girl with a mass of golden-red curls very much like her mother’s drying wispy locks. She stood silhouetted against the light streaming from the bathroom, like an angel descended from heaven.

“Oh, Lily.” Kate hugged the child to her.

Sweet Jesus. Hank hadn’t said anything about a little girl. Ben stood like stone, his feet rooted to the floor, unable to move, forgetting how to breathe.

The little girl was about the age of Sarah before she’d been murdered. Though his Sarah was as different from Lily as night and day, they were about the same size and age.

Before Sarah had been killed. She’d been four years old. She would have been six now, if a man Ben had captured and had subsequently been released on a technicality hadn’t targeted Ben and his family.

Ben hadn’t been home when his wife and daughter had been brutally stabbed to death. Had he been, he’d have killed the murderer with his bare hands, just like he’d killed the man who’d murdered fifteen-year-old Angelica Garza.

Seeing Kate Langsdon on the floor holding the little girl in her arms brought back too many painful memories. Ben’s feet moved one at a time as he backed toward the door. With his heart lodged in his throat, he couldn’t breathe or think. His gut told him to run as far from Kate and Lily Langsdon as he could get.

Before he reached the door, the curly-haired angel noticed him for the first time. “Mommy, who’s that man?”

Kate eased her hold on her daughter and looked up at Ben, the fear of a few moments ago still evident in her pale face. “That’s Mr. Harding. He’s the man who came to help us on the ranch.”

“Are you going to help my mommy?” she asked, her gaze open, direct, piercing the wall wrapped tightly around Ben’s heart.

He yearned to run and keep running until the child’s trusting eyes were erased from his mind. But he knew he couldn’t leave this little girl and her mother when the intruder he’d chased off earlier might return.

“Yes, ma’am. I’m here to help your mommy.” He nearly choked on mommy. His daughter had called his wife Mommy. His daughter had looked at him with complete trust, as if he could never let her down.

But he had. He hadn’t been there when she’d needed him most. He had been all about the job, bringing in the bad guys. He’d never taken into account that the ones that got off might come back to haunt him. Until it was too late.

Kate’s eyes narrowed. “Are you okay?”

No. Ben’s gaze went from Lily to Kate. For a tough cop, used to facing down danger on the streets of Austin, he was more terrified of these two women than any criminal he’d ever confronted. “I’m fine.” He cleared his throat. “I’ll just bed down in the barn.”

“No.” Kate stood and swayed, her hand on her daughter’s shoulder.

Before he could think through his actions, Ben was there, steadying her with a hand under her elbow, the other around her waist.

“Stay here. In the house.” She leaned into him for a moment. When she’d steadied, she pulled away and looked up into his face. “Please.”

Her green eyes pleaded with him, her hand on his arm burning a path through his defenses. How he wanted to leave, but couldn’t. Despite his vow to never care again, he’d proved over and over he just couldn’t honor that vow after all. Killing the high-powered child murderer was evidence. Damn Kate and Lily for making him care. “I’ll stay on two conditions.”

Her shoulders straightened. “Anything.”

He scooped up the gun she’d dropped earlier and handed it to her. “First, put this away, take it to a pawnshop or learn to use it.”

She took the gun from him, keeping her body between the gun and her daughter’s curious eyes. “Check. I’ll learn to use it.” Her chin tipped upward. “And the second one?”

His gaze swept over her, taking in the smooth lines of her shoulders, the gentle swell of her breasts and the curve of her thighs peeking out from under the terry cloth. If he had any hope of staying neutral in this situation, he had to put distance between himself and Kate. She was too damned attractive.

He forced an uninterested rise of his brows. “If I’m going to get any work done around here, you have to keep your clothes on around me.”

Kate gasped, hugging the towel closer, her cheeks flaming red.

“I’ll be on the couch downstairs.” He stepped out into the hallway and closed the door between them with a firm click.

Kate stared at the barrier between them for a long moment, stunned at the cowboy’s abrupt words and departure. “As if I planned to be standing in front of him in nothing but a towel,” she mumbled.

“Mommy, why was I in the closet?” Lily’s hand slipped into hers and tugged, dragging Kate’s mind back to what was important. Her daughter.

She scrambled for an answer that wouldn’t scare her small daughter. “I thought it might be fun to pretend to be camped in a cave in the mountains.”

Lily tipped her head to the side as if debating whether or not she believed Kate’s lie. Then she smiled and pulled Kate toward the closet. “Will you camp in the cave with me, Mommy?”

“Oh, baby, I don’t think so. I’m pretty tired and bed sounds more comfortable. You can sleep in the closet, if you want.”

Lily stared from the bed to the closet and yawned, her eyelids sagging. “No, I’m tired, too. Maybe tomorrow.”

Kate grabbed the blankets from the floor and flung them across the bed as best she could, tucking Lily in on the side away from the door.

As she pulled out a pair of pajamas that would fully cover her body, she thought of Ben Harding’s condition. A spark of defiance shot through her and she replaced the pajamas in the drawer, reaching for the filmy light blue baby-doll nightgown she’d bought one hot, impulsive day in Houston.

She slipped the silky garment over her head, letting the towel drop to the floor, and recalled the feeling of being held in Ben’s strong arms as he effortlessly carried her up the stairs to her bedroom. Her skin sizzled where his hands had been beneath her thighs and very nearly touching the side of her breast.

Now that she had time to think beyond defending her life, she realized the cowboy Hank had sent was everything a girl could dream of—tall, dark and handsome. Add a brooding, mysterious look in his blue eyes and he was devastatingly appealing.

She hadn’t felt like this since…before her husband, Troy, had been killed in Afghanistan, a month before she’d delivered Lily. Four years ago. A wave of guilt washed over her for thinking such thoughts about a man who wasn’t her husband. But, then, Troy had been dead a long time, she hadn’t. The man downstairs had triggered a strong physical response she thought she’d never feel again.

Kate sucked in a deep breath and let it out, the tips of her nipples tight little points poking at the sheer fabric of the nightgown. She reached for the hem, telling herself that wearing the gown was asking for trouble.

Her hands stopped before they could lift it over her head. Who was she kidding? The man wasn’t interested in her any more than she should be interested in him. He was there as the hired help. Hank had promised protection for her and Lily until they could figure out who was responsible for the break-in in Houston and now at the Flying K Ranch.

As she lay down on the sheets, her thoughts drifted to the man sleeping on the couch downstairs. He’d had a strange look in his eyes when he’d seen Lily. His brows had furrowed into a fierce frown, scary in its intensity. It hadn’t looked like an angry frown so much as one of great pain and sorrow. What would cause such a look on a man’s face?

She didn’t know. In fact, Kate didn’t know much of anything about her hired gun. Hell, she didn’t know anything about Hank Derringer for that matter. This area was rumored to have a big drug cartel influence. Had she asked for help from one of the local mafia?

Kate lay staring at the ceiling, wondering what she’d done by bringing Lily here. Not that she’d been any safer in Houston. Not after her apartment had been ransacked.

A yawn nearly dislocated her jaw, forcing Kate to give up trying to make sense of all that had happened. Tomorrow she’d ask the questions burning in her mind. Who the hell was Ben Harding and what kind of hired hands did Hank Derringer provide? Even more importantly, did he have any hired hands that were a little older and less attractive?

Kate rolled over and punched her pillow before settling down. Her bruised cheek reminded her of the intruder and her near miss with death. She reached out and looped her arm over her daughter, pulling her close. If anything happened to Lily, she’d never forgive herself.

Tomorrow she’d start her search for answers.