Chapter 9 #2
“What are you doing here?” I managed to ask as I forced my gaze from Tate and focused on putting the rifle back in the bag of weapons I’d been putting in my truck.
I tried to keep my breathing even as I heard Tate approach me.
When he didn’t answer me, I made myself turn to face him and saw that he was less than a foot from me…
it would be so easy to draw him forward into my arms. I wondered if he would come willingly.
I suspected he was gay based on the encounter he’d had with the man the night I’d broken into his apartment, but I could have read that situation wrong.
After all, Tate hadn’t seemed to be enjoying the man’s attentions.
And his physical reactions to me when I’d pulled him against me at Seth and Ro nan’s house, as well as in the hotel room the night we’d driven up to Seattle from California, could have just been fear on his part.
“Why?” was all Tate asked, his eyes searching mine out.
A shiver went through his body and I wondered if it was because of the cool night air or something else.
He was wearing the same jeans he typically wore and I was glad to see they actually looked like they fit him better now.
And while he still looked tired and a little too pale, he didn’t have the same gauntness he’d had when we’d first met.
I ignored his question simply because I didn’t want to answer it…because none of the answers I had were easy ones.
“How did you find me?”
I employed an online postal services company to receive my mail since I didn’t spend enough time at the house in Rocky Point to pick up my mail on a regular basis, so I’d used my virtual post office box address for the hospital paperwork.
“Ronan gave me your address.”
Irritation went through me because I’d never told Ronan about this place and I certainly hadn’t given him the address. Which meant he’d used alternative means to locate me.
I pushed past Tate, ignoring the rush of sensation that went through me when our bodies briefly connected. I strode into the garage and began searching through the cabinet where I stored my weapons.
“So you’re going after them by yourself?” I heard Tate say behind me.
“Go home, Tate,” I said without looking at him. “Go be with your son,” I added as I carried a couple of clips over to my work table and began adding bullets to the first one.
“What about our deal?”
I put down the clip I’d been loading and turned to face him. “You and I both know it was never a deal,” I finally said. I ended up grabbing the clip again so I could keep loading it because I didn’t trust myself enough to have my hands free when Tate was once again within reaching distance.
Tate appeared agitated as he glanced around the empty, well-lit garage. “They won’t talk to you,” he eventually said. “They’re all afraid of Buck.”
“Then I’ll make sure they’re more afraid of me.”
I turned back around to the work table and reached for the second clip. But then Tate was whirling me around, and to my surprise, he actually shoved me back against the work table, his hands fisted in my shirt. “Please don’t do this,” he whispered.
They were the last words I expected to hear.
Tate’s hands relaxed enough to release my shirt, but instead of pulling them away, he opened them so they were flat on my chest and I barely kept it together as the heat burned through the thin fabric of my shirt.
He stared at his hands for a moment and then lifted his eyes to meet mine.
I saw the flash of heat go through them and I wondered if he saw the same thing in my gaze.
I nearly groaned when his tongue flicked out to moisten his lips and then he was pulling his hands away from my chest, the tips pressing into me for the briefest of moments before he stepped back.
At least I had my answer about whether his physical reactions to me had been about fear or something else.
Anger and frustration consumed me as I grabbed the clips and the box of bullets and strode back to my truck. Tate hadn’t moved when I returned to the garage and began closing up the nearly empty gun cabinet.
“I know you came to the hospital every night.”
I stilled, but didn’t turn to face him. I tried to lock the cabinet, but my fingers wouldn’t cooperate.
“One of the nurses mentioned it when I told her Ronan and Seth would be staying with Matty because I had to leave for a few days.”
“What the hell do you want, Tate?” I ground out as I jammed the lock closed and turned to face him. “I fucked up,” I snapped. “I know that! I’m trying to do the right thing here!”
“Just tell me why,” Tate said softly.
I bit out a curse and strode past him, grabbing his upper arm as I went.
I pulled him out of the garage and hit the button on my way out.
I nearly dragged him to his car, but he didn’t fight me.
I reached for the door handle on the driver’s side, but he got between me and the door and wrapped his hand around my wrist to stop me from opening it.
I let out a harsh breath as he moved forward just enough so that our bodies were touching.
I felt Tate’s free hand settle on my waist and I closed my eyes as a wave of need crashed over me.
“Tell me,” Tate whispered, his mouth dangerously close to my ear.
I could have told him a lot of things; things that were all some version of the truth.
But as I felt his body heat seep into me and his soft lips press against the skin just below my ear, I couldn’t do anything but tell him the truth I’d been denying from the moment I’d realized he wasn’t one of the men I was hunting.
“I didn’t want to hurt you anymore.”
Tate let out a long breath, like he’d been holding it, and the sensation skittered over my flesh where his mouth was still touching me.
At some point I’d wrapped my arm around his waist…
to hold him there, to be able to pull him closer, I wasn’t really sure why.
All I knew was that his body fit mine perfectly and instead of feeling strange or unnatural, it just felt… right.
“I’m coming with you,” he finally said.
I sighed and forced myself to push back from him.
I missed the contact immediately, but I made myself take a few more steps back, widening the distance between us.
“Go home, Tate. Take care of Matty,” I said firmly.
“When things settle down, Ronan can help you start over. Don’t worry about the money-”
“I’m not doing this for the money,” Tate interrupted. I waited for him to say more, but he didn’t. I shook my head and went to my truck to close the door.
“Matty wanted you to have this,” I heard Tate say from behind me. I turned around and felt my heart lurch at the sight of the Spiderman doll he was holding out to me. I took it and studied the faded patches of paint. “He said he could help you fight the bad guys.”
A chuckle escaped my lips and I lifted my eyes to study Tate who was standing tensely in front of me, his arms hanging loosely by his sides, the hands fisted. “I’ll follow you to Lulling,” was all he said and I knew by his determined expression that he meant it.
A mix of emotions went through me as we stared at each other.
There was no denying that Tate could give me the information I needed to help make my search easier.
But even the idea of spending the next several days in such close proximity to him was playing havoc with my senses. “What about Matty?” I finally asked.
“Tonight was his last round of chemo for this phase. He has to stay in the hospital for the next three weeks so that his immune system can recover, then he can go home for a week before we start the whole process over again. Ronan and Seth are amazing with him and when I told Matty that you needed my help, he gave me Spiderman to give to you.” Tate let out a little laugh.
“I guess since I’m not a superhero, he figured you could use all the help you could get. ”
I knew Tate’s last statement was meant to lighten the mood, but I couldn’t bring myself to laugh or even smile.
Instead, I closed the distance between us and put my hand at the back of his neck to hold him still.
He sucked in a breath as I dropped my mouth near his, but I bypassed his lips and moved my mouth to his ear.
“You’re a hero every fucking day, Tate,” I said softly. “Don’t ever forget that.”
And with that, I released him and moved past him. “Come on in,” I said as I started for the darkened house. “We leave in a few hours.”