39. West
CHAPTER 39
WEST
I’ve never fallen for anyone—at least not as far deep as I have with Sydney. She’s consuming my every thought and dictating every move I make. I didn’t know it was possible to fall in love so fast.
Because that’s exactly what this is. I already can’t imagine my life before her. I have one hand tangled in her soft hair. The other is resting on her hip. She smells like raspberries and vanilla. She kisses the same way she does everything else: wholeheartedly.
I used to laugh at people who told me stories about knowing the love of their lives early on.
I’m not going to be able to laugh at them anymore. Fletcher will never let me live this down. Because Sydney? She’s it. And I’m scared if I stop kissing her, she’ll slip away, and I won’t have a chance to convince her that I care.
Eventually, we both have to pull back for air and take deep, shaky breaths in unison.
She’s standing there looking as dazed as I feel. “I—” She stops and clears her throat. “I wasn’t sure you felt anything for me.”
“How about now?”
She pretends to think about it. “I guess it’s safe to say we spark something together.”
Now I want to throttle her. “Something?” I mimic her tone.
She looks up at me with a soft smile. “I know what I feel, but I don’t know if you know what you feel.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” My voice cracks on the question.
“I don’t want you confusing Stockholm syndrome with real feelings.”
I stare at her. Of all the things she could have said in this moment, I never would have suspected it would be that.
“I practically forced my way into your life, took over everything, sunk your boat so now you’re stuck with me, and you’re even stuck sleeping with me.” She sighs. “I want this to be real and for this to mean something to you too, not something I’ve forced on you.”
I pull her tight against me. “Do you know what I do when I don’t want to be somewhere?”
She shakes her head.
“I walk away. I’ve had a lot of opportunities to walk away from you. And I haven’t. What does that tell you?”
Before she can answer me there’s a pounding on the door.
“What are you doing to my translator in there?” Bodie yells at me.
Sydney bites her lip to keep from laughing. I’d like to reach through the door and smack somebody. But I guess he’s right. We have things we need to do. Too bad I’d rather stay in here and keep kissing Sydney.
I reach behind me and flip the lock, yanking the door open quickly. Bodie stumbles forward a step as though he had been prepared to pound on the door again.
He stands up and straightens his shirt as he looks back and forth between us. “Everything all right here, Sydney?”
She nods and I notice she makes zero effort to step out of my arms. I tighten my hold on her just a fraction.
Gracen pokes her head around the corner. “Aha! So that’s the way it is. Bodie thought so.”
Bodie leans against the door frame and smiles lazily at me as he folds his arms across his chest. “So what are your intentions here?”
“You think you’re going to play big brother on this one?” I ask, incredulously. Sydney bristles.
“I like her. And I don’t want anyone to hurt her,” Bodie says with a shrug.
“I’ve got a newsflash for you Bodie,” I say dryly. “If anyone did something she didn’t like, Sydney would handle it herself just fine.”
Bodie’s eyes shoot up at that. “Really?” Now he sounds intrigued.
“What’d you do?” Gracen asks her with a grin.
Sydney just looks at me with a warm look in her eyes. It makes me want to close the door and pick up where we left off.
“Don’t you two have somewhere you need to be?” I ask.
“Yes, in fact, that’s what we were discussing while you two were busy canoodling in here,” Bodie explains.
Sydney finally steps out of my embrace, but I take solace in the fact that she grabs my hand. My hand . Somebody grab the smelling salts; I, West Turner, am about to have heart palpitations because a girl is holding my hand.
Get a grip, West .
I follow her out into the main room, wrapping my hand around hers. “You didn’t happen to figure anything out, did you?”
“We need to go to the ports again. We think the numbers are pier numbers. If we find old shipping containers, we should be able to determine which ones have been stored for a few years.”
I say, “The cargo manifesto is at least three years old.”
Gracen nods. “That would make sense.”
“Do ports simply hold cargo containers indefinitely?” Sydney asks.
It’s a good question. Having never worked in a port town or had to deal with customs I’m not sure I have a good answer.
“Anyone will do anything if you offer the right price,” Gracen says with a smirk.
“Touché. So which pier should we go search first?” Sydney asks.
Bodie and Gracen face each other and share a knowing look.
Crew and Lucky have synchronized coughing.
Sydney’s eyes are ping-ponging back and forth between every face in the room. They stay on mine. “What’s going on?”
I shrug. “It beats me; I was busy in the bathroom.”
She blushes at that, and I like knowing I left an impression on her. I’d hate to be forgettable—especially since I have Stockholm syndrom. Good grief where does she come up with these ideas?
“What we’re trying to say,” Bodie starts.
“-is that we don’t want you killed,” Crew finishes for him.
“Well, that makes all of us agree,” Sydney shoots back.
Lucky shakes his head. “We all think you need to stay out of sight.”
Sydney looks at Gracen, who nods in agreement, albeit with a sympathetic look on her face. “It’s too hard to protect you out in the open, especially if they’ve already found you guys at Half Moon Bay.”
Sydney turns to glare at me. “You can’t possibly agree with this. I thought you said I was capable of protecting myself!”
“No one can protect themselves from a bullet in the back of the head,” I helpfully point out.
Sydney stands up and starts pacing. “You all can’t just bench me on this.”
She lifts her fists as she stomps back and forth in a glorious, tiny fury. “I can take care of myself just fine. You can’t leave me behind.”
“It has nothing to do with your skills,” I try to placate her.
“He’s right,” Gracen adds. “The mafia aren’t going to pause and ask if you’d like a fair fight. You’re the surviving witness to a murder. You have the power to put them away in prison and possibly open a further investigation into the whole operation.”
Sydney stops and stares at Gracen, who’s making some kind of weird face. They both stare at each other and then nod in synchronized motions. Oh boy . Two women capable of reading each other’s minds. Is there anything more dangerous? They’ll take over the world by noon tomorrow, I’m sure of it.
“I still don’t like it,” Sydney says.
“I’m sorry,” Gracen replies.
Sydney pivots on me. “You. I trusted you.”
“And you still should. I’ll keep you alive.”
“I’m capable.”
“I know that,” I reply calmly as everyone else in the room stands to leave. “You can’t be an open target, though.”
Sydney narrows her eyes at me as I stand up, grabbing my ball cap from the nightstand and turning to follow the other four out.
Crew gives Sydney a jaunty wave, Lucky gives her a friendly pat on the shoulder, and Bodie gives her a sheepish shrug.
She’s unimpressed with any of the overtures.
“Do you give me your word you won’t sneak out?”
Sydney folds her arms across her chest and glares at me, staying stubbornly silent. Little wretch.
I reach for her, pulling her into my arms. “Promise me you’ll stay. I’d hate to have to handcuff you to the bathroom door.”
She stomps on my foot but those stained running shoes don’t make a dent in my work boots. I make a move like I’m going to drag her into the bathroom. It’s a bluff that I can’t follow through with. I don’t even have a set of handcuffs on me, but I’m not about to tell her that.
“Fine!” She says with a little shriek as she tries to get her feet underneath her. Her hands clutch my biceps. “You dirty?—”
I grin down at her. “Careful, we have company.” I jerk my head toward Gracen, who’s still standing by the door.
“You are going to keep me updated,” Sydney says with the most adorable growl—because I’m becoming the guy who loves everything about her. Even her anger.
“I promise. I’ll let you know what we learn, and I’ll even Facetime you if we need to open any cargo containers.”
Her face softens at that. “Okay. Thank you.”
I press a quick kiss against her forehead because I can’t resist.
“Wait,” she says a little breathlessly as she rests a hand on my chest. “You don’t have my number yet.”
“Ironic, that, don’t you think?” I ask with a wink.
“We’ve been together every moment the last few days.” She looks up at me with wide eyes. “It feels like we’ve known each other forever, doesn’t it?”
I pull her close again. Because, why not? “I’ve gotten used to having you around.”
“Wow, such romantic words,” she says with a wry look on her face.
“Hmmm, you want romantic? How about, you stormed into my life and made yourself a permanent spot there?”
“Meh, maybe I simply made my spot there as a public menace. How do I know you don’t say that to all the girls?”
“Because there aren’t other girls,” I admit.
She straightens at that. “You’re kidding. No girlfriends?”
“I wouldn’t be kissing you if there were.”
“No dates?”
“I gave up wasting my time.”
“Are we going to go on a date?”
“The second we take care of this mess,” I promise.
She frowns still. “But first I’m going to find out about those past girlfriends.”
Gracen clears her throat from by the door. I’d nearly forgot she was still there. I guess I won’t have to bare my heart and soul to Sydney right now after all.
“We’ll be back soon,” I promise as I walk toward the door. Gracen hugs Sydney before we walk out the door, and I can hear a soft whisper. A slip of paper passes from Gracen’s hand to Sydney’s. Sydney glances at me and blushes and now I have to wonder what Gracen was telling her.