Chapter 12
LANDON
After the SWAT team left, he pulled Willa into his arms as he closed the door. “Have I said how amazing you are?”
“Not in the last few hours, but-”
He kissed her, gently pressing her against the wall beside the door. She deepened the kiss when she opened her mouth under his.
She moaned and he felt the vibration against his tongue. His hands moved to her back and he held her close with one hand high between her shoulder blades and the other against her lower back.
He wasn’t sure if she was ready to feel his erection pressing against her belly, but she arched against him and there was no way that she was going to miss it.
Her eyes popped open and he looked down at her, hoping to see her feelings in her eyes.
He didn’t need to.
“Landon?”
“Yeah?”
She drew in a deep breath and melted against him. “Is that-”
Her house phone rang and she shook her head.
“You’re not going to answer it?”
She shook her head, her hands moving up toward his shoulders. “Not planning to.”
It rang again and then the answering machine clicked on.
“SORRY I’M NOT AVAILABLE. LEAVE A MESSAGE.”
“Willa? This is your grandfather-”
Landon’s immediate thought was that her grandfather had a camera in the house and was trying to cock block him.
“OH! I was supposed to ask you about going out to dinner with him tonight.”
“Dinner? Uh. Okay.”
She gave him a wincing smile and picked up the phone. “Gramps?”
Willa grinned and he knew that her grandfather was probably happy at her softer endearment toward him.
“Oh? You can’t? Oh. No, I completely understand. Life in law enforcement, yes, gramps. No problem. I’ll let Landon know that he’s supposed to take me out. What?”
Landon frowned as Willa turned away from him.
“Grandfather! What? He’s going to think that this is some kind of order! What? Ha! Of course it is. You can’t force him to take me out. Right. A gift. Thanks, gramps. Really. Ugh. Okay, bye!”
When she turned around, she gave him a hesitant smile.
“Well, my gramps wants you to take me out on his dime.”
“What?” No, he understood her comments while she was on the phone. “I can afford to take you out to dinner.”
“And he knows that, but the reservations that he made can’t be canceled. He’s got an in with the chef and it’ll be paid for on his account.”
She sighed. “I know it wasn’t what you had in mind, but do you want to go to dinner with me?”
“The answer to that question,” he told her, “will always be yes. I’m not at all comfortable with your grandfather paying for it. But I can deal with it as long as you let me take you out dancing afterward.”
He saw her hesitate.
“What’s wrong?”
A light rosy color warmed her cheeks. “I was hoping we could just stay in and…” She bit into her lower lip. “You know.”
He smiled at that. “There’s nothing saying we can’t come back here and… you know. Your grandfather said the reservation can’t be canceled and I know that you’d enjoy the food and the dancing. I think it might be a great idea for tonight. If you’re still up for the rest, I know I’ll be up for it.”
She nodded. “Okay. But I need to change my clothes.”
“Me too,” he agreed. “I’ll go and get my change of clothes from the car and I’ll change after you’re ready.”
“Landon?”
He smiled back at her. “Yeah, Willa?”
“Why don’t you just bring your garment bag in here and put it in my closet.”
He wasn’t sure if she meant that or if she was just trying to be nice.
“You keep having to go out to your car for more clothes. Missus Rivera probably thinks that you’re slowly moving in. Might as well make her jaw drop.”
He laughed. “I’m not so sure that she’d be all that surprised. The last time I went out to the SUV for another change of clothes, she gave me a big thumbs up from her kitchen window.”
Willa hid her face in her hands. “Oh joy. Go ahead and get your clothes, I’m jumping in the shower.”
WILLA
Thank goodness that there were no mirrors in the shower. She felt like… she had no idea what she felt like.
She had all but invited Landon to move in. She’d just told him to bring in his bag.
Before, when he had to go out and get his clothes if he was keeping his ‘home’ different from hers, but having him leave his clothes in her closet? Well, that was a new step.
Why wasn’t it bothering her more?
She blew out a breath and made quick work of her shower, but before she reached out to shut down the water, she stopped and reached for her razor on the shelf.
She’d basically told Landon that she didn’t want to go dancing because she’d rather stay at home and… and make. Love.
Or maybe he would see it more as having sex.
Either idea had her heart pounding in her chest and with a nod she picked up her shaving cream bottle and put some of it in her hand.
If she was going to invite him into her bed, she was definitely going to shave her legs.
Willa heard her closet door slide open and she bit her bottom lip.
It’s like I’m all grown up with a man in my home.
She laughed at herself and almost snorted. Instead it came out like a sneeze.
“You okay in there?”
“I’m okay, but I’m not sure if I’m of sound mind.”
“Oh, so you know what it’s like in my job.”
“Really?” She lifted her leg up on the bench in the shower. “How so?”
“Some days I’m wondering if there’s a rhyme or reason to the work we do. There are so many people out there who act like they’re above the law. Growing up in and around law enforcement, I grew up with a set of rules that were passed down to me.
“First and foremost, to follow the law. When I hear people telling law enforcement officers that they don’t have to listen to orders, that they don’t have to follow the same rules that you and I do. It feels like I’ve fallen into some kind of wacky alternative universe.”
She finished with one leg and continued on with the other. “Like falling down the rabbit hole, but instead of ending up in Wonderland you find yourself in a darker version of it. I don’t think I could do what you do.”
He laughed. “Willa, I hate to break it to you, but you are doing what I’m doing.”
“Huh,” she chuckled, “I guess I am. Maybe that’s why my grandfather is so worried and made an end run around me to start the task force. He saw that I was treading into your territory. I guess that it didn’t seem like I was that far over the line.”
“You’re not, but we’ll be there to help if things go sideways.”
“Like when I was stupid enough to go to that man’s house?”She knew she had to focus so she turned her leg while she worked on the area near the bend in her leg.
“Do you mind me asking why that wasn’t in the information that your grandfather put in the dossier?”
She lifted the razor from her skin, determined not to draw blood. “I don’t know. You could have asked my grandfather if we’rehaving dinner with him tonight. Maybe he didn’t want to doom the task force by saying that I’d been stupid enough to go to that man’s house.”
“I doubt that would have doomed it.”
“It might have in my grandfather’s eyes. I just don’t know. He wasn’t at the scene but I’m sure he talked to the officers that were there. Who knows what they said.” She shivered even though the water was still as warm as she liked it. “Anyway, I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”
She tried to hurry up so that he could have the shower and, “damn!”
She nicked herself.
“Willa?”
“I’m fine. I’m fine!” She grumbled at herself under her breath. Washing off the blood she didn’t see much of a cut.
She’d have time to put a Band-Aid on it after she got out of the shower, and she knew she had a dress in her closet that would cover the bandage. Since she had all of one dress, she knew it pretty well.
Finishing up, she put the razor back up and swept her hands over her leg to make sure that all of the shaving cream was gone.
“Okay. I think you’ve got some warm water left.” She turned off the water and wiped herself down, ignoring the sting of the cut she’d made on her leg.
Wrapping the large bath towel around her body she opened the shower curtain and froze.
Landon was standing there with a towel in his hands. “Step out.”
“What?”
“Step out onto the mat, Willa.”
She gave him a little smile and holding the towel to her chest she stepped out onto the mat in front of him.
She was very aware of the fact that she was standing in front of Landon in just a towel.
Earlier she’d been ready to take him to bed and at that time she was fully dressed. Now that all she had on was a towel wrapped around herself, she knew that she was nearly naked in front of him.
Why wasn’t she afraid?
“I thought I’d help you with your hair.”
She blinked at him, surprised at the offer.
“I’ve discovered that I’m fascinated by your hair.”
“Really?”
He nodded and reached his hands out. He rubbed the towel over her hair and although Willa was still worried about how it might work, those thoughts disappeared in just a few moments.
He had gentle hands and as he rubbed the towel over her hair, she felt comforted, cared for.
What was it about this man that made her feel like she could just melt against him and never let go?
The light from the fixture above the sink fell on her face and she felt him move around behind her.
He worked on the ends of her hair and the motion tugged at her hair. It didn’t hurt, but she felt something stirring inside her. His touch was magic. Every time she felt his skin against hers, she couldn’t help but crave more.
Now, with his hands and towel working the water out of her hair, the slight pull on her scalp pulled her breath out of her lungs with each tug. Her nipples tightened and the added friction from her towel sent chills all over her skin.
“There,” his voice was soft, almost hushed as the towel and his hands disappeared, “I think that’s dry.”
She bit into her lip, chasing the slight sting she’d felt against her scalp.
Willa couldn’t imagine ever asking Landon to wrap his hand around hair like that when they were… Then again, she had no idea what she would do when they actually slept with each other.
Landon moved around until he was looking in her eyes again. He had the towel over his shoulder so he could lean in and cup her face in his hands. “Every time I see you, Willa. Every moment that we’re together, you just keep getting more and more beautiful in my eyes. I can barely resist touching you.”
“Later,” she breathed out a sigh, “later you won’t have to resist, Landon. I’m going to touch you, too.”
His eyes closed and the breath he drew into his lungs shook him just the way he shook her. “Now I know we have to go dancing after dinner.”
She was just about to stamp her foot like a toddler when he spoke again.
“I’m going to need to take some time before I kiss you again, Willa. If I were to do it now, I’m pretty sure I’d embarrass myself.”
She wanted to tell him he was wrong, but what did she know?
“Then you better get ready,” she managed a hopeful smile, “because I’m ready to get out of here… for now.”
LANDON
Dinner must have been great, but all he could do was look at Willa and talk to her. Sure, he ate the meal in front of him, but it wasn’t until they got to the bar that he started to relax and breathe.
The bar was crawling with people, but he didn’t worry about having Willa out in the open with the number of local LEOs and firefighters around the room. If anything happened. They’d be covered from every direction.
It also didn’t hurt that he could grab a beer. He wasn’t putting Willa in any danger.
She ordered one too and sat down on the stool that he offered her at the table.
He could tell that she was a little nervous. The people around the table easily welcomed her but she didn’t know any of them except for himself. He’d sent a text to Hayden to see if she would join them with her husband, Boone.
It didn’t take long for Willa to relax into the flow of energy of the bar. The music was great and the packed dance floor was a testament to that. She turned to look at him and he leaned in to hear her as she spoke.
“I thought we came here to dance.”
He laughed at her eager tone and the sparkle in her eyes.
“We did.” He brushed a kiss along her cheek. “But my skills are a little limited. I’m waiting for the right song.”
She nodded and crooked her finger so he’d come in closer.
He leaned in and she took his face in her hands and pressed a kiss to his lips. When she pulled back, she brought him closer so she could speak near his ear.
“I’m dying to see your moves.”
“Well, I’m not going dancing by myself,” he told her. “You’re getting out on that floor with me.”
She laughed and snapped, mouthing AW SHUCKS.
He leaned back in so she could hear him. “I want to see you dancing too. Hoping to hold you close.”
She nodded and settled back on the barstool, taking little sips from her beer.
A couple of the firefighters from Station Seven rolled in and dragged a couple of tables over to turn their area into an island. Landon didn’t know them all by name, but the men introduced themselves.
Cowboy, Abe, and Caddo made easy conversation with Willa, but once they heard that Willa was waiting to dance, Abe was on his feet. He moved closer to Willa’s seat. “What song do you want?”
She turned and looked at him, shrugging. “What kind of dance do you want?”
Landon leaned closer to the firefighter. “Hoping for a two-step. I don’t want to fall on my face in front of the lady here.”
Abe nodded approvingly. “I’ll go talk to the DJ.”
Landon reached for his wallet to get tip money, but Abe waved it off. “The DJ owes me one. I can get him to play a two-step. I bet a bunch of people in this crowd would like to get out on the floor with their ladies.”
He leaned in toward Willa. “What about a slow song after that? I think Landon will be good for two in a row.”
She smiled. “As long as I don’t stomp on his feet.”
Abe shook his head, chuckling. “You barely weigh a thing.” Then to prove it, Abe lifted her off of her stool and set her back down. “Yep. Hardly anything. I’ll go talk to the DJ, but make sure you two are ready to dance.” He winked and disappeared into the crowd.”
Cowboy leaned over and said something to Willa, but Landon couldn’t hear it.
She shook her head and leaned in to say something back.
When Cowboy sat back, he had his hands clasped over his heart and a comical frown on his lips.
Landon decided that as long as Willa was smiling, he wouldn’t care about what Cowboy had said.
But when the song blaring over the speakers ended and another song started, Landon moved around in front of Willa and held out his hand.
She took it with a smile and hopped off of the stool.
He looked at Cowboy specifically and asked him to watch Willa’s drink while they were on the dance floor.
Cowboy waved them off, mouthing OF COURSE.
By the time, Landon found a decent space on the floor the lyrics were starting and he recognized the song.
He pulled Willa into his arms and smiled at her. “You know how to two-step?”
She nodded. “We learned in school.”
“I bet you were a good student.”
“We’ll see.”
As Tim McGraw started singing the chorus, they moved into one of the circles moving around the dance floor. Willa was indeed a good student. They moved around the floor easily together and he even managed to spin her around from time to time until they were both smiling ear to ear.
If there was any doubt in his mind, as he held her in his arms, rocking and stepping on the dance floor, he knew without a doubt he was head over heels for this woman.
He must have done something right in his life that she ended up back in his life. They moved together as if they’d been dancing together for years instead of just a single song.
“I love dancing!” Willa’s head tipped back and she laughed, full of joy.
“I love you,” he said the words softly, knowing that she couldn’t hear it. He just wanted to say it to see if his voice would crack, but it didn’t. It only cemented his feelings and bolstered his desire to admit it to her soon. He just wasn’t sure if she’d be happy to hear it.
Attraction wasn’t the same thing and he didn’t want to scare her or make her feel like he was pushing her in that direction. He wanted her to be sure before she said it to him.
The way that the crowd was moving, Landon had to turn them toward the DJ booth at the far side of the floor so that they wouldn’t run into people who were walking around the edge. They turned and he spun her outso that her skirt swished out around her legs.
Just as he tugged on her hand to pull her back, something red spilled over her shoulder.
Willa gasped and let go of his hand to brush at the liquid on her skin.
Landon was there in a second moving her hands away from her skin so he could take a look at it.
“Hold still, honey. Let me look.”
Willa was panicking but she held still and let him move her hands away.
He swept his fingertip through the liquid and lifted it to his nose.
A single sniff told him what he needed to know.
“It’s wine,” he told her. “Red wine.”
WILLA
Red wine.
Someone spilled red wine on her.
She was okay. It was wine. That’s all.
For a moment she’d thought that it was blood coursing down her chest. It was warm and sticky which didn’t help matters.
She heard Landon tell her that it was wine, but it didn’t make any sense.
Then again, she told herself, it was a mistake.
An accident.
It didn’t have to make sense.
Things just happened.
“I…” She lifted her chin and looked at him with an attempt at a smile on her lips. “I need to wash this off.”
“Do you want to do it here? We could go back to your house or mine. We could wash it off there.”
“I just want to get some wet paper towels and wipe it off.”
She could tell that he was worried and she was really grateful for it. “I want to dance more, too.”
That helped things. He smiled even more. “Okay. You want me to walk you to the restroom?”
Willa waved him off. “I’m good. Besides, I don’t think they’d let you in the restroom with me.”
Landon’s eyes darkened as he looked at her. “I’d like to see them try and stop me.”
“Whoa there, Cowboy.” She put her hand on his chest. “I’ll be fine. This place is filled with law enforcement and firefighters. I doubt any of them are going to hurt me.”
He nodded and gave her hand a squeeze. “You have your phone?”
She shook her head. “I left it on the table with the guys. I won’t be far away.”
He leaned in and gave her a kiss on her cheek. “Okay. I’ll wait for you at the table.”
Willa nodded. “I love the way you kiss me like that.”
Landon felt his heart swell in his chest.
No, she hadn’t said that she loved him, but it was close enough that his heart didn’t know the difference.
She walked away toward the restrooms, but he didn’t move just yet. He waited until she disappeared into the hall and then he turned back toward the table.
Just before he got there, he lifted his hand to rub against the back of his neck. It was an odd feeling for him. Like someone touching the back of his neck.
Maybe even someone watching him.
Landon stopped short of the table and turned in a slow circle to see if there was someone watching him. When he finished that full turn, he tried to shake it off, but it didn’t work. He was still struggling to put aside the strange feeling that someone had been watching him from the crowd.
The longer it continued on, the more he worried.
He was just about to head toward the restroom and check on Willa when Hayden arrived at the table.
“Hey, Landon.” She leaned up against the table and greeted everyone else at the massive table-island. When she turned back to Landon, he was still worried.
“Where’s Willa?”
“She’s in the restroom,” he lifted his chin in the direction of the hall on the other side of the dance floor. “Someone spilled wine on her when we were dancing.”
“Oh, that sounds,” she shuddered. “I wouldn’t want that to happen. You want me to go in and check on her.”
Landon hesitated. “She said she’d be okay.”
Hayden nodded, smiling at him. “And you’re taking her at her word. You’re a good man, Landon.”
He rolled his eyes at her. “I don’t want to treat her like she’s…”
“Not able to take care of herself. I get it. Strong women don’t like that.”
“And you speak from experience.”
She nodded. “Absolutely.” She grinned as she gave her husband a kiss when he brought their drinks to the table. “I’ll go and check on her if she’s not back in a few minutes.”
“Thanks,” he let out a breath and smiled. “That’s great, Hayden.”
“Anytime.”
He turned back to watching the dance floor, but because he was interested in it, but because he was watching the hallway for Willa to come back.
WILLA
Standing at the sink, Willa felt horrible for using so many paper towels as she cleaned herself off.
The wine didn’t leave much in the way of color on her skin, but it had soaked into her dress and down to her bra. She didn’t want to take that off to soak it in the sink. That would take too long.
Instead, she just wet some towels to clean off her skin and then handfuls of towels, a few at a time, to dry off her dress to the touch. She was nearly done when the restroom door opened up. A beautiful young woman in a halter top and Daisy Dukes came in. Willa realized in a moment that they were likely the same age, or close to it. She smiled when the other woman made eye contact.
The other woman didn’t echo the gesture. She just stepped up to the sink and opened her lipstick to apply some to her lips.
Willa moved aside to give the other woman more room and got what she hoped were her final paper towels and turned her chin to the side so she could make sure that there wasn’t anything sticky on her skin.
“Oh my god.”
Willa didn’t react at first. Who knew what the other woman was talking about.
“What the fuck happened to your neck?”
Willa froze in front of the mirror, the paper towel pressed against her collar bone. “I’m sorry?”
“That scar… It’s disgusting!”
Willa didn’t know what to say in response. She wanted to say something smart. Something witty, but deep down inside she knew that she had nothing to say.
Her scar had healed over the years, but she’d never decided to spend money on it to have plastic surgery done. It wasn’t something she ever thought she needed.
“So was it some kind of accident?”
Willa dropped the paper towels from her hand into the trash can.
“Come on, you can tell me,” the woman insisted, reaching into her skinny bag that she wore across her body. “Look I have this great concealer. I mean it probably won’t cover the whole scar, but it would definitely make it harder to see. Here, why don’t you try some?”
Willa turned away from the woman’s outstretched hand. “I don’t want any, thanks.”
“Come on, try it. Anything would help that… that thing on your neck.”
Willa was done turning away and she was done listening to this woman’s helpful hints and sour comments.
“I don’t think you want me to use your make-up,” Willa deadpanned.
“It doesn’t matter to me,” the woman shrugged, “I’m just trying to help.”
“Well, you shouldn’t share your makeup with someone who has a contagious skin rash like I do.”
The expression on her face went from frustration, to confusion, and then horror. “That’s a rash?”
Willa shrugged. “That’s what the doctor said, but who knows?” She shrugged and held out her hand. “You know, I think I will try your makeup.”
“Fuck no!” She threw her makeup into her bag and backed away from Willa. “I can’t believe you want to try my make up.”
“I was just trying to help,” Willa smiled as the woman yanked the door open and ran out into the hallway.
Willa felt bad for a moment. She hoped that what she’d said to the woman wouldn’t get Landon in trouble since he’d brought her to the bar, but she just couldn’t let her continue yammering at her. She knew she had a scar, why were people pointing it out to her like she didn’t know it was there?
Sighing, she knew she’d been in the restroom long enough. She tidied up the counter and headed for the door.
There was no one in the hallway, so she moved to the edge of the crowd and regretted telling Landon that she’d meet him back at the table. If she’d asked him to wait for her near the restrooms, then she could have explained to him about the scene in the restroom and get his opinion before heading back into the main room.
It was going to be too loud for her to explain at the table.
Willa drew in a deep breath and put her shoulders back. She was just going to have to pull up her big girl panties and head into the room to get to Landon. She was done for the night and wanted to go home.
She took a step into the room and had to avoid someone’s outthrown arm, and when she stepped to the side to move around, motion in the crowd caught her eye.
Willa turned her head to see if it was Landon making his way through the crowd.
But the face looking back at her came out of a nightmare.
It was him!
The man who’d killed Kimmy.
The man who’d tried to kill her years ago was in the bar.
She watched as he disappeared into the churning mass of customers.
“Landon?”
Logic said he couldn’t hear her.
Her mind knew that there wasn’t a chance that he’d be close enough to see her, but Willa knew that she couldn’t move from her spot in the hallway. If she did. If she tried to make it through the crowd, she might walk right into him.
God.
Part of her had hoped that he was dead.
But he wasn’t.
He was there.
Close enough to see her.
Close enough to know that she saw him too.
God.
She stepped back into the hall and bumped into the wall behind her. A soft squeak of fear burst from her lips and she stumbled backward until she felt the restroom door give way.
Willa managed to keep on her feet, but as soon as she was in the restroom, she shoved the door with both hands and closed it, locking it before she fell down on her knees.