Chapter 23
Storm pushed her legs into a pair of thin sweatpants. She dressed in a hurry. She would go downstairs and look for Harlan. Taking a walk. Why did he need to take a walk at night? Had their time together turned him off so much he couldn’t even stay in the room? What had him walking at all hours? She would get to the bottom of it if it killed her.
At the very least, he should have left her a note and not left her alone. He had made such a stink about not answering the door earlier today, so why would he leave her alone without telling her that he had to go out?
She wanted to be sick. He wanted to get away from here. His reason couldn’t be anything else. She had embarrassed herself and maybe him too. She had been too desperate for him to please her.
She pulled the door open and stopped dead.
“Hey.” A classically handsome big man with a vibrant smile turned to her. He wore a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. His muscles had muscles. “You must be Storm. I’m Kian Fox, Harlan’s buddy.” He stuck out a hand.
“Hello.” She hesitated, then took his firm grip in hers. “How do I know you are who you say you are?”
Kian dug his wallet out of his front pocket. He pulled out a driver’s license and his Navy ID card and handed them to her. She would have no way to know if either were fake, but she doubted they were. Harlan had spoken of his teammates. She’d already heard him talk with Waylen. She handed the items back.
“What are you doing here?”
“Harlan asked me to hang out while he went for a walk,” he said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“He called you to stand guard?” Harlan wanted to keep her from whatever he was doing. It could be for her safety, but how would she know the truth?
“It’s not the first time, believe me. Is everything okay? Do you need something?”
“I need to speak to Harlan.” She tried to step around him, but Kian blocked her path.
“I’m sorry. I can’t let you leave. He’ll kick my ass if I do. He should be back shortly. You’ll be more comfortable waiting inside.”
“I will do no such thing. Did he say where on the resort he was going?” She wanted to ask Kian why he felt as if Harlan needed to walk all night long, but she didn’t know how much Harlan had revealed about the two of them.
“He didn’t. Sorry. Harlan isn’t much for talking when he isn’t in the mood. But if you need anything at all, I can get it for you.” He flashed that charming smile again. She suspected women liked that smile.
“I’m perfectly capable of getting what I need by myself, thank you.”
“Uh… I can’t let you do that. I’m under strict orders to make sure you stay in the room until Harlan returns.” At least he had the decency to appear sheepish, but this man was one of Harlan’s teammates. It was an act. This man was probably a skilled special ops officer like Harlan.
“Strict orders from Harlan? What am I, a prisoner?” Anger churned in her belly.
“Oh, no. Definitely not that. In fact, the opposite of that. Harlan likes you. I can tell. He’s trying to protect you.”
She didn’t know what to make of his declaration of Harlan’s possible feelings for her. This Kian could tell that Harlan liked her. She would like to trust him. He did know Harlan far better than she did.
“I can’t believe this is happening. You won’t tell me where he is, and I can’t go find him. That sounds like being held prisoner to me.”
Kian scratched at his neck. “I could call him and get an ETA, if that helps.”
She opened her mouth to argue that she didn’t need him to place calls for her, but snapped it shut.
“I’m here. No calls necessary.” Harlan hurried down the hall toward them. He had heard some of what they had said.
Her heart swelled at the sight of him coming toward her. She wanted to stay mad but couldn’t. He hadn’t left her alone. He had come back to her.
“Hey, man,” Kian said with a fist bump.
But Harlan did not reach for her in any way. She fought the urge to throw her arms around his neck.
Harlan returned the friendly gesture to Kian. “Thanks for hanging around.” Then he finally turned to her. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She was anything but. That conversation could not happen in front of Harlan’s friend. She was too private a person for that. Harlan nodded with the stern face of a stranger. He hadn’t shown any of the warmth he’d shown her in bed. Did he too think their affair was none of Kian’s business? It wasn’t, but she didn’t appreciate the cold way he looked at her.
He turned back to Kian. “Any suspicious activity?”
“All quiet. No movement of any kind. Subject secure the whole time.”
“Subject? Is that me?” She looked between the two men. No one answered her. She was nothing more than a problem to be solved.
“You need anything else before I go?” Kian said to Harlan, ignoring her question.
“Get some sleep, but can you stay close?”
“Just shout, and I’ll come running.”
Harlan patted Kian on the shoulder. “I appreciate it.”
“You’d do the same for me. Storm, nice to meet you. Take good care of my brother, okay?”
She could only nod. Anger had paralyzed her tongue. Kian jogged down the hall toward the elevator.
Harlan held her gaze. “I’m sorry. I had to get out.”
“You’re going to have to tell me why.” She turned for the room and hoped he would follow.
The door closed and the lock clicked into place. She turned to Harlan, still standing close to the door. His lips pressed into a thin line.
“It’s not you,” he said.
She threw up her hands to stop the pummeling of his next words. What a fool she had been.
“Oh, please. Spare me the it’s not you, it’s me speech. I’m too old for that. Tell me the truth.” She would force him to tell her how he really felt even if hearing it meant it would tear her in two.
Harlan took a step toward her. “That wasn’t what I was going to say.”
She took a step back. “What were you going to say, then?”
“All right, I was going to say some of that, but I’m not trying to end this thing between us. I don’t understand what’s happening. I needed to think.”
She knew what was happening. Her heart had run miles ahead of her head without consulting it for logic and reason.
When she was around him, her insides calmed like the quiet ocean. Maybe it was because of his size or the confident way he walked, assertive and cocky. Maybe it was because of his knowledge of how to handle people. Or it was everything, including the way he could turn her body to liquid and give her an orgasm that vibrated in her soul.
Underneath that secure exterior, an electric current rolled off him and she wanted to be a part of it. And God, when he touched her, she wanted it to go on and on.
“And while you were out there wandering around, what did you discover about this thing between us?” She had to know what he was really thinking. If he was already prepared to walk away from her without giving them a try, she needed to put the brakes on and save herself from heartbreak.
He came closer again and laced his fingers through hers. This time she didn’t run from him. She couldn’t. Just taking a step back had been too much. He had snuck in and attached himself to her. She would never be able to go back to her life without him in it. Such a foolish way to think about this whole mess. They weren’t a mess, but she was. He might not want to be involved with all her baggage.
“You are like no other woman I’ve been with. You’re someone I believe I could love, if you’ll give me the time. I don’t want to scare you away with my feelings that are so new and possibly unrealistic for you. And I’m scared as hell that you’ll laugh at me because you don’t feel anything for me.” His skin was warm and that heat traveled up her arm and settled in her chest.
The earnestness in his eyes nearly knocked her over. She could dive into those eyes and never come back. He had to be telling the truth. Her gut bloomed with elation at the idea of a chance with Harlan. She had come to Hawaii to escape, and she might have found something she never would have expected.
“I would never laugh at you. But I need to know where you were tonight. If we have a chance at all, we can’t hide anything from each other even if telling could hurt. I’d rather hurt with the truth than be at peace with a lie.”
He pushed her hair off her shoulder. “I went to speak with your father.”
“In the middle of the night?”
“I couldn’t sleep. I was having confusing thoughts about us. You have me behaving in ways that are not like me. I wanted to understand what I was feeling. But I also needed to speak with Kenneth to get a sense of what he knows.”
“Do you know what you’re feeling for me?”
“I think so.” He smiled.
“And does my father know anything?” They could dive into their feelings for each other more, but she had to know what her father knew about the person who had tried to poison her.
“He knows plenty, Storm. He knows who poisoned you.”