Chapter 28
Ryan watched Matti sleep. He’d been doing that since he woke up.
She’d made a comment when talking about her family on their way home last night that Kelly was the pretty one.
Kelly was extremely pretty, and if he was meeting the two sisters together for the first time, his eyes would have been drawn to Kelly.
But now, to him, Matti was the prettier one.
She had a quiet beauty that revealed itself in subtle ways. The way she crinkled her nose when she laughed, the way her eyes sparkled when she talked about something she was passionate about, like her job and the children under her care. She was special, and he wanted her in his life.
He gently brushed a stray lock of hair away from her face, marveling at how peaceful she looked in her sleep.
It was moments like these that made him grateful for the unexpected turn his life had taken since meeting her.
As the morning sun began to filter through the curtains, he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.
She stirred slightly, a small smile playing on her lips as she slowly woke up.
“Good morning,” he whispered, his heart overflowing with affection for the woman lying beside him.
Her eyes fluttered open, and when she smiled at him, all sleepy-eyed and wild curls around her face, a word shimmered in his mind.
Love. He hadn’t been looking for it, but now that he thought he’d found it, he was ready to embrace it.
She wasn’t.
He knew that, and although he wished otherwise, he wasn’t discouraged. She liked him, desired him, enjoyed being with him, but something was holding her back. He just had to figure out what so he could tear down that wall she’d erected.
“Morning,” she said, then yawned. “What time is it?”
“It’s early. Why don’t you go back to sleep for a bit while I scrounge up some breakfast? I’ll let you know when it’s ready.”
“I won’t say no to that.” She yawned again. “Sorry, but someone kept me up past my bedtime.”
He grinned. “That would be me, and I’m not sorry.
” He gave her a quick kiss, then after putting on his boxer briefs, he left her to sleep.
While waiting for his coffee cup to fill, he pulled up the security video from overnight.
The cameras were motion activated, so he didn’t have to scan through hours of footage.
Not expecting to find anything, he gasped at seeing a man dressed all in black appear in the backyard.
With Matti’s brothers’ help, they’d also installed motion-activated floodlights, and when they came on, the man froze. He had what looked like a crowbar in his hand. Ryan looked at the time stamp. 3:17.
The man stared at the house, then he glanced behind him, and then back at the house. Ryan had the impression that the man was debating continuing on or leaving, and after a minute, he spun and jogged away.
What if they hadn’t installed those cameras and floodlights? The man would have broken into her house again. Ryan sent the video to Wyatt, and a minute later, his phone chimed, Wyatt’s name on the screen.
“You look at it?” he said on answering.
“Hold on a sec.”
Ryan could hear him talking to someone but couldn’t make out the words.
“I’m back. Yeah, I watched it.”
“Was that a crowbar in his hand? I couldn’t quite tell.”
“It was. Listen, something’s come to my attention, and I need to talk to my captain. Let me get back to you after I talk to him.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“It’s definitely disturbing.”
Ryan was already disturbed enough without adding more to worry about. “Maybe I should take Matti and Sam away for a while.”
“Maybe. I’ll stop by in an hour or two and we’ll talk.”
He set his phone on the counter after finishing the conversation.
Any appetite he’d had was gone now, but making breakfast would be something to do while he waited for Wyatt.
He’d get a gun if he knew how to shoot. As a doctor whose job it was to save lives, owning a gun just seemed wrong.
But he’d shoot to kill if it meant protecting Matti and Sam.
“Who were you talking to?” Matti asked.
He turned from the refrigerator with a carton of eggs in his hand. “Your brother.” There was nothing sexier than Matti fresh from bed with all those wild curls and wearing a silky white camisole and what she called boy shorts.
“I have four of those creatures. Which one?”
“Wyatt. And since you’re going to ask why, this.” He picked up his phone and brought up the video.
“This was last night?” she said when the short clip ended.
“Yes. Wyatt’s going to come over shortly. He said he wanted to talk to his captain first.”
“I really hate living like this, looking over my shoulder and jumping at shadows.”
He wasn’t badass like her brothers, and it worried him that if those men managed to get to her or Sam he wouldn’t have the skills to protect them.
If something happened to either one of them, he didn’t think he would be able to deal with it.
All the more reason to take them away for a while. “Scrambled eggs okay?”
She shrugged. “After seeing that video, I’m not really hungry.”
“I’m not either.”
“Put the eggs away.” She handed him the cup of coffee he’d made and forgotten about. “Coffee and Pop-Tarts works for me.” She frowned. “If Sam hasn’t stolen them all.”
“We know his hiding place, so we can raid his stash if necessary.”
“Nope, he’ll have a new place now, a harder-to-find one.”
“Guess I have a lot to learn about kids. Did you or your siblings hide food?”
“No need to. One thing I can say about my parents, there was always plenty of food, even with four boys who had bottomless stomachs.” She opened the pantry door. “Ah, there are the Pop-Tarts. Good boy, Sam.”
“I’ve never had a Pop-Tart.”
Her eyes widened. “Seriously? How can you go… How old are you?”
“Thirty-one.”
“How can you go that long without ever having at least one?”
“I knew at a very young age that I wanted to be a doctor and thought doctors should eat healthy.”
“And you never changed your mind? Wanted to be a fireman or a cop? Run away to the circus?”
He laughed at that last one. “Nope. I’m guessing you did want to run away to the circus?”
“All the time. I was the youngest of six. By the time I came along, I kind of got lost in the crowd. Sometime when we’re at Mom’s I’ll show you the family album.
Cal’s the oldest and there are tons of pictures of him.
All the cute ones like bare bottom on a blanket, missing his front teeth, blah, blah, blah.
Then came Kelly and there are a lot of pictures of her.
Wyatt was next, and there are pictures of him.
Not as many as Kelly, but they’re there.
Then the twins, and I guess Mom thought twins were totally cute, so they actually have more photos than Wyatt.
By the time I was born, it was hardly worth noting,”
Did he detect hurt in her voice? He supposed it would feel like you weren’t important enough to document your life if everyone but you had plenty of photos. He picked up his phone and brought up the camera. “Smile.”
“What are you doing?”
“Taking your picture.”
She crossed her eyes and stuck her tongue out, making him laugh. “Real mature there, sunshine.”
“Fine.” She gave him a big smile as she cocked a hip, going for a sexy pose.
He snapped several, but the first one—tongue out and eyes crossed—was his favorite. It was just her.
“Here you go, breakfast of champs.” She handed him a toasted Pop-Tart.
“Not sure about this.” He took a bite. “Kind of like eating cardboard, but edible.” He wasn’t going to go out and stock up on the things.
“So, why were you so determined to be a doctor?”
“I was with my mom in the grocery store, and a man in front of us suddenly grabbed at his chest and fell down. My mother yelled for someone to come help. I remember thinking that I wanted her to do something, but she just stood there, not knowing what to do. A woman ran up to him and said she was a doctor, and she started mashing on his chest. I know now that she was doing CPR.”
“How old were you?”
“Eight. When the EMTs got there, they took over, and one of them told the doctor woman that she’d kept him alive.
I couldn’t stop thinking about that doctor saving the man’s life, like she was a hero, you know?
I decided if that ever happened again, I didn’t want to feel helpless, so I started going to the library and getting medical books.
The more I read and studied, the more I fell in love with medicine.
And that’s why I wanted to be a doctor.”
“That’s amazing, how that one event changed your life and you were only eight years old. Do you know what happened to the man? If he did survive in the end?”
“No, but I always wondered. I like to think he made it.”
“Is that why you chose the emergency room? So you could save lives.”
“Well, a doctor saves lives whatever their field is, but I like the excitement of trauma medicine. Granted most of the emergency room patients aren’t in a life threatening condition, but I love that part of it, too.”
“You were really good with Sam, and I expect that’s how you are with everyone you take care of.”
“I try.” He finished the last of his coffee, then rinsed the cup before putting it in the dishwasher.
“You want another Pop-Tart?”
“No. I’m one and done with those things.” He stepped to her. “You’re all the sugar I want.”
“You say the sweetest things.”
“How’s this for sweet?” He lifted his hands to her cheeks, then covered her mouth with his, and when she opened for him, he slid his tongue over hers, tasting her. He could exist off her sweetness for the rest of his life. Like an addict craving a fix, he craved her.
“Bed,” he murmured against her lips.
“Your wrist,” she said when he scooped her up.
“Is fine. Barely hurts.”
He was halfway through the living room when Wyatt walked in.
“Oh, hell.” Wyatt covered his eyes. “Put some clothes on, people.”
“I’m going to take away his key,” Matti muttered.
“Great idea.” He grinned at Wyatt, who was peeking between his fingers. “Knock next time, man.”
“You can count on it.”
Too bad that what promised to be an awesome morning loving on Matti was going to be ruined with talk of Sam’s mean men.