Chapter Twenty
––––––––
R eeling mentally and emotionally, she hurriedly packed up the few things she’d taken out of her bag earlier, grabbed her bat, and made her way down the hall. TJ was waiting with the rifle case and several bags at his feet. He must have had them prepacked and stored in a closet somewhere. “Stay here while I check outside.”
He slipped out the back door off the kitchen and returned a few minutes later. “All good. But stay behind me on the way to the garage.”
Despite his assurance, she still felt horribly exposed when she stepped out of the house, staying on him like a shadow as they hurried through the darkness into the detached garage. He threw their stuff into the backseat of her car, hit the remote to open the garage door and pulled out onto the street. He waved at a man standing out front of the house, she guessed a DEA agent on guard duty, but kept the headlights off until they were halfway down the hill toward town.
“Where are we going?” she asked finally, hating that he wasn’t telling her anything. He was constantly checking his mirrors like he expected someone to be following them.
“Dunno yet, but it’s safer to keep moving for now.”
She hated this. The uncertainty. “Does Cassie know we’re moving?”
“CPS will tell her in the morning.”
Technically, it was morning already, but Bristol bit back the other questions crowding her mind and turned her head to look out her window. It was the middle of the night. Crimson Point was quiet and still, the half-moon shining across the ocean, catching on the crests of the endless lines of whitecaps rolling into shore.
Normally the view would soothe her, but between the earlier attack and this constant, electrical awareness of TJ that was getting worse instead of better, she felt more agitated than ever. How was this her life now?
They had just reached the waterfront when TJ’s phone buzzed in his lap. He grabbed it, glanced at the message, and handed it to her. “Search up the address when it comes through.”
Another message appeared moments later. She put the address into her car’s GPS and enlarged the map. “It’s on the southern edge of the town, east of the coastal highway. Looks like a...townhouse complex?”
“Condo. It’ll be more secure.”
“Did the DEA set this up?”
“CPS. But the DEA approved it. Tell them ETA fifteen minutes.”
She sent the message and received an immediate response. “Parking spot two-nineteen under the building.” She gave him the gate code.
They didn’t speak for the rest of the drive, and she was too tired to try to force a conversation anyway. When they arrived at the building, TJ turned into the underground parking. Beckett and another man she didn’t recognize were waiting for them by the elevator.
“Been an eventful night for you, huh,” Beckett said when she got out to grab her stuff from the back. “But I heard you put the bat to good use after all.”
“Laid him out with one swing,” TJ said before she could answer, getting his own gear from the other side.
“I put another dent in it,” she said to be funny, even though nothing about this was remotely funny.
Beckett chuckled and indicated the man beside him. Tall, broad-shouldered, with golden brown hair and amazing aqua eyes. “This is Jase. He’ll take you up and show you the place, but we just took a look and everything’s secure. Nothing in town’s open this time of night, so we just grabbed what we had from our kitchens and brought it over.”
“If you guys need something else, I can get it for you when the stores open later,” Jase said.
“We just finished construction and didn’t have time to finish staging yet, so the furnishings are pretty bare,” Beckett added.
“Is Walter with you?” Bristol asked.
“Yeah,” he said, seeming surprised by the abrupt change in subject.
“Can I see him?” She needed some normalcy right now. Something happy. And animals were always the best medicine. They didn’t judge or ask questions.
“Sure, he’s in the truck.”
She followed him over to the pickup and waited while Beckett opened the rear right passenger door. A furry little head popped up, droopy eyes half closed from being woken in the middle of his sleep, but his long, feathery tail thumped gently against the edge of his bed in greeting.
Oh, he was the most adorable old guy. “Hello, Walter.”
Walter got up with a weary grunt and turned his oddly shaped little body around so he was facing her. She leaned inside to stroke his head, felt the unexpected prick of tears when he licked the back of her hand. His breath was terrible, but she didn’t care. “You are the sweetest thing.” God, why was she on the verge of crying again? She was safe.
“He’s a good boy,” Beckett said from behind her.
Okay. Get it together. Back to reality. “Thank you,” she said, kissing the top of Walter’s fluffy bedhead. When she straightened and turned around, Beckett had a slight smile on his normally hard face. “I really needed that.”
“Walter’s happy to oblige, anytime.” He reached past her, ruffled the top of the dog’s head.
When she looked past him, she found TJ watching her from next to the elevator. She felt the impact of his gaze right down to her core, and an answering heat bloomed in all the right places.
Or all the wrong ones.
They thanked Beckett again and got into the elevator. Jase rode up with them to show them the unit, but by the time they got there, her entire body was humming with an almost electrical awareness of TJ. Need and arousal pulsed through her, and the harder she tried to suppress it, the stronger it got. Until her skin felt so sensitive she could hardly stand it.
That brief, forbidden kiss earlier had changed something inside her, and now she couldn’t shut it off.
“It’s only one bedroom, but it’s still peak tourist season, so we’re running low on inventory right now,” Jase said as he let them in.
The strong smell of new paint hit her first. The unit was small but the light buttercream paint on the walls made it seem larger and airier. Everything looked brand new and spotless, but the space was practically bare, with just a sofa and TV in the living room, and the made-up queen bed in the bedroom.
“Towels and whatever are in the bathroom.”
“This is great, thanks,” TJ said to Jase, standing a step ahead of her. She took the opportunity to eye the breadth of his shoulders. Imagined running her hands over his bare back, tracing all the muscles. Digging her fingers deep into them while his weight pressed her into a flat surface.
She pushed out a breath, tried to shake off those thoughts and the growing ache building inside her.
After explaining the security system, Jase left them. TJ locked the door behind him.
When he turned around to face her, her insides tightened painfully. “You take the bed,” he told her, expression unreadable.
But she knew his indifference was a mask. She’d seen the cracks in his facade earlier tonight. For all he pretended otherwise, she knew she wasn’t the only one fighting the pull between them.
She stood in the bedroom doorway as he walked past her to the couch in the tiny living room and started making up a bed there.
Bristol watched him, deep in thought. She had an important decision to make.
Tonight had shaken her false sense of security, had shown her just how uncertain life could be. TJ had protected her. Had comforted her.
He had also lived a life of severe deprivation on the streets for too long. He’d gone without human kindness or contact for too long, and she was sure that included any emotional connection with a woman.
The fact was, she wanted him. And she was pretty sure he wanted her too, much as he seemed determined to fight it. So even if it was completely out of character, she was going to have to be the one to make a move.
A heady surge of feminine power rolled over her as she walked up behind him. As if sensing her presence, he stilled, the blanket in his hands. He stood motionless, the air around them crackling with latent anticipation.
It was now or never.
Dredging up every last bit of courage she possessed, she stepped around in front of him. Her gaze found and held his as she brought her hands up to settle on his shoulders. She couldn’t resist sinking her fingers into the thick muscles there. Testing the power of him. Reveling in it while her pulse went crazy.
His dark eyes stayed locked on hers. “Don’t,” he warned, his voice low. But the fire blazing there belied what had just come out of his mouth.
The heat between them intensified, igniting a delicious throb between her legs. And something in her enjoyed seeing him like this. Watching him fight the attraction and being able to push his buttons, seeing how far she could go until he snapped.
TJ didn’t move, but the muscles under her hands were locked tight as she slowly skimmed them down to his collarbones, to the first button holding his flannel shirt together.
Staring up at him in the taut silence, she undid the first one.
The muscles in his jaw bunched.
She skimmed her fingertips over warm skin covering the thick pad of muscle on his chest. He drew in a sharp breath, his gaze dropping to her mouth.
Bristol slid her hands lower, arousal pumping hot and sweet through her veins. She paused for a moment, just long enough to let him wonder whether she would continue or not before slowly undoing the next button.
Then another. And another, until most of his muscular chest was bared to her gaze. Gorgeous and masculine and begging to be explored.
Holding the worn, soft edges of the shirt in her hands, she leaned in and kissed the center of his chest. Couldn’t resist the urge to give a naughty stroke of her tongue right over his pounding heart.
A low growl sounded in his chest. Pure triumph shot through her when he plunged his hands into her hair, twisted her face up, and brought his mouth down on hers.