Chapter Sixteen
Sixteen
“Quit fussing,” Charlie scolded. “It looks good on you.”
“I’m not really a hoodie guy,” he complained for the hundredth time since she’d grabbed it off the rack at Target and held it up to his chest. “I run hot.” He tugged at the neckline, also for the hundredth time, as if that would magically create more room for his admittedly thick neck.
“Yeah, you do. Are you more of a bare-chest-beneath-bunker-gear type of guy then?” she asked with put-on innocence.
He shot her a glare but quit yanking at the sweatshirt.
“We’re almost to the hotel,” she said, feeling bad for him. She of all people knew what it was like to be stuffed into something that didn’t fit. “You can take it off then. In fact, you’re welcome to take everything off.”
“If you’re trying to distract me, then it’s working.” His voice dropped to a deep grumble that did fun and interesting things to her insides.
“Once all this is over, want to go on vacation somewhere?”
“Yes.”
He didn’t even hesitate, his definite answer smooshing all the doubts that she hadn’t even realized had snuck into her mind. “Excellent. Where should we go?”
“Anywhere with a bed and a lock on the door.” His stare was so hot she was surprised it didn’t burn her skin. “The bed’s optional.”
She shivered in anticipation. “Let’s just stay at the hotel then. That way, we won’t waste time traveling.”
“Yeah.” He sent her another one of those smoldering glances that sent her stomach butterflies into a tizzy. “Let’s do that.”
Kieran parked on the street a block from the hotel, and Charlie’s pulse, which had already been pounding thanks to Kieran’s impossible hotness, ramped up to a faster rhythm. She felt the familiar rush of adrenaline racing through her, and she sent him a wild grin.
“Ready?” he asked, his hand on the door handle.
“Always.”
Opening her door, she jumped out of the truck. Once she and Kieran had closed their respective doors, a deep silence fell. The night was too quiet, as if it were holding its breath. Kieran joined her on the sidewalk, and they walked toward the hotel door, close enough that their arms were brushing.
Charlie loved having him next to her. She’d always prided herself on her independence, on the fact that she didn’t need anyone to help her bring in skips or get her out of tight spots.
The time she’d spent with Kieran showed her that, although she didn’t need anyone with her, she wanted him there.
In fact, his presence made her adventures even better.
Catching his hand, she gave it a squeeze. “I like you.”
He gave one of his usual snarly choke-laughs. “I thought you loved me. Have I been downgraded?”
“Nah.” She gave a laugh not because anything was funny, but because she was happy. “It’s easy to love someone. It’s harder to actually like them.”
“That makes no sen—” He broke off with a grunt as a dark shape hit his solar plexus, taking him down in a rough tackle.
Charlie took a step toward him, rage surging through her at the sight of three people piling on top of Kieran’s fallen form.
Before she could start kicking some asses, someone hit her from behind, and she went down.
Hands patted her down, ignoring her struggles, as at least two others held her face down on the sidewalk.
“Turn her,” someone commanded, making Charlie grit her teeth. That voice was familiar—she’d known it her entire life—and even though she knew well that Jane chose money over her own daughters, it felt like a kick in the stomach to have it confirmed yet again.
The hands holding her down flipped her over onto her back, and Charlie kicked out at Jane, who barely managed to dodge in time. Tassie and Bones were the ones holding her down, and Charlie felt a strange sense of betrayal, as if the fortune hunters had broken the rules by teaming up with Jane.
“Lachlan, Dave,” Jane yelled. “Get over here and help hold her down.”
“We’re a little busy…with this guy,” Lachlan answered, his voice breathless with exertion. Charlie felt a grim satisfaction that Kieran wasn’t making it easy on them, and that thought made her redouble her struggles.
“Hold still, Charlotte,” her mom ordered, sounding annoyed as she dug into Charlie’s cargo pockets.
Charlie’s laugh came out as a gasp as she tried to knee her mom in the face, making Jane jerk back out of range. “Why should I make robbing me easier?”
Jane tsked. “Robbing you? I’m just taking back my property. You had no right to take it in the first place. Ah!” She made a sound of triumph as she yanked the grocery bag out of Charlie’s pocket. She took a quick look inside before climbing to her feet. “Got it. Knock them out.”
Bones grabbed double fistfuls of Charlie’s shirt, lifting her upper body off the sidewalk.
“Can’t believe I was rooting for you and Rhys,” Charlie sighed in her best not surprised, just disappointed tone.
Bones hesitated, turning her face away slightly as she said sheepishly, “It’s just that we’d really like to buy a house, and Denver real estate prices right now are outrageous.”
“Do it,” Jane snapped, and Bones shoved Charlie down, cracking her head against the sidewalk.
Her head spinning from the blow, Charlie resisted the urge to struggle—and her even greater urge to tell Bones her rationale for joining the evil team was ridiculous—and forced her muscles to go limp. Bones gave her upper body a shake. When Charlie remained boneless, she dropped her and stood.
“She’s out,” Bones announced as Charlie tried very hard not to move.
“The big guy is too.”
Charlie’s fingers twitched as worry swamped her.
Was Kieran really unconscious—or, even worse, dead?
Everything inside her wanted to quit pretending to be knocked out and go to him, to take his pulse and check his injuries.
It was wrong for the giant to have fallen—Kieran seemed invincible, as if his constant scowl armored him, protecting him from anything that might hurt a mere mortal.
The thought made her want to laugh, relaxing her slightly. The guy wasn’t a superhero. She’d become the very smitten kitten she would’ve mocked before meeting Kieran.
Car doors slammed, but her field of vision was limited to what she could see through barely cracked open eyes and a limply lolling head.
All she could see were a few pairs of booted feet walking away.
She listened instead, waiting until more car doors closed and engine rumbles had faded away into nothingness.
After what felt like an hour of silence—but was probably closer to four minutes—she opened her eyes a little more and took a surreptitious look around. When all she saw was Kieran’s crumpled form, she couldn’t stay down a second longer.
Rolling to her feet, she hurried over to his side.
“You better be acting,” she threatened, hating the slight shake in her voice.
“Otherwise, I’m going to kick your ass. Well, I’ll probably call for an ambulance, wait for you to be discharged from the hospital, check to make sure that you’re feeling up to an ass-kicking, and then kick your ass, but you’ll be sorry for scaring me eventually. ”
His huge form began to shake, which sent a dart of panic through her. Is he having a seizure?
His eyes opened and he sat up, grinning.
No on the seizure, she realized as relief swamped her. He’s just laughing.
“How’s your head?” she asked, not even able to be annoyed with him for laughing at her rambling threat. She was just too happy he was conscious and, by all appearances, uninjured.
That brought a return of his scowl as he massaged the back of his skull. “Sore, but it takes a harder hit than that to knock me out. How’s yours?” His hand dropped to his side as he stood, his gaze raking over her with an intensity that made her stomach turn to mush for all sorts of lovely reasons.
“Samesies.” She cautiously did a full-body stretch, checking in with all her body parts now that she’d been reassured that Kieran was fine. “A few bruises and scrapes, but they’re kind of a big bunch of wimps.”
The whine of a small car engine grew louder, and they both whirled to face the sound. Fifi pulled her car up to the curb next to them, Bennett in the front passenger seat, and rolled down her window.
“Get in, losers,” Fifi said, her face lit up with the excitement of a chase. “We’re going Mom hunting.”
Charlie gave a whoop and ran around to the other side of the car so she could climb into the seat behind Bennett. Kieran got into the back seat beside her. “GPS’s working then?”
“Like a dream,” Fifi said as Bennett held up his phone as if to provide evidence.
On the map on his screen, an orange dot moved steadily down a road heading out of Rosehill, one that eventually led to the highway that could take their quarry either east toward Denver or west toward Grand Junction.
First, though, it would take Jane right through downtown Simpson.
Charlie didn’t even have her door closed all the way before Fifi hit the accelerator and the car shot forward. Turning her head, Charlie met Kieran’s gaze and grinned at him, adrenaline spiking. This was it. They had one last chance to capture Jane and save their home.
When Kieran smiled back at her, she suddenly felt invincible, as if she were the superhero. Of course they were going to bring in Jane.
How could they fail?
Kieran grabbed her hand. “I love you. Marry me.”
She gave a snorted laugh that would’ve been embarrassing if joy hadn’t filled her so completely, leaving no room for any other emotion. “Is that a command, Kiki?”
“Yes.” The corner of his mouth twitched up. “One you have to obey.”
“Mm-hmm.” It was extremely hard to hold on to her skeptical expression when everything inside her wanted to squeal and scream all the yeses and throw her arms around him and never let him go. “What is this word? Obey?”
A laugh escaped before he locked down his scowl again. “Fine. Marry me?”
Smothering her inner squealer, she raised her eyebrows.
He gave an exaggerated sigh. “Please.”