Chapter 14 #2
I did want him to. The realization carried more than a need for company after a difficult meeting.
I wanted the steady reassurance of his presence, the safety I felt when he occupied the same room, and the quiet intimacy of being near him after everyone else stopped watching.
I wanted to know what another kiss might become without Charlie, the brothers, or an approaching emergency interrupting us.
That desire frightened me enough that I nearly withdrew my hand.
Remedy noticed the change in my breathing.
“We can sit in the kitchen,” he said. “Drink coffee, talk, or say nothing. I’m not expecting anything else.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
The question was gentle, but it asked for honesty.
“I’m trying.”
He nodded. “That’s enough.”
The conference-room door opened before either of us could say more. Bishop stood in the doorway holding two jackets and wearing an expression that revealed nothing about how much he might have overheard.
“Toxic wants you both to use the side exit,” he said. “Cipher’s checking a vehicle near the main road, and nobody wants Sunshine visible from the front lot.”
The calm warning pulled us back into the night waiting beyond the room.
Remedy released my hand only long enough to stand and take the jackets. “Anything serious?”
“Probably a volunteer’s husband waiting in the wrong place, but we’re verifying before anyone moves.”
Bishop handed me my coat, then glanced toward the paper badge still pinned to my sweater.
“Commander Pickles approved the plan?”
“He delegated.”
“Good leadership.”
I smiled despite the tension.
Bishop looked toward Remedy. “Daisy has Charlie upstairs. She’s already asleep.”
“Any trouble?”
“She argued that royal bears don’t have bedtimes, but Daisy won.”
“Barely.”
“Always.”
Bishop stepped aside to let us pass, but as Remedy entered the hallway, he rested one hand lightly against my arm.
“You did well tonight,” he said.
The praise made me uncomfortable enough that I nearly dismissed it. Then I remembered the conversation about usefulness and forced myself to accept the kindness without turning it into debt.
“Thank you.”
His quiet smile suggested he understood how difficult those two words had been.
The clubhouse had nearly emptied by the time we reached the side corridor. Mace and Steel were already outside checking the parking area, while Lilith stood near the back door with a pistol secured beneath her jacket and no trace of humor in her expression. She looked toward me as we approached.
“You good?”
“I think so.”
“That answer counts.”
She pushed open the door and checked the narrow path leading toward Remedy’s truck. “Clear.”
Cold air met us outside. The rain had stopped completely, leaving the pavement shining beneath the security lights while water dripped from the surrounding trees.
Remedy walked close beside me without touching until we reached the passenger door, then paused with one hand resting against the handle.
“You still want me to stay?”
“Yes.”
No hesitation remained this time.
His eyes held mine for a long moment before he opened the door.
The drive back to Harbor House passed beneath a silence that felt heavier than our usual quiet, though not because either of us regretted the decision.
I watched dark trees slide beyond the window while Remedy kept one hand on the wheel and the other resting near the center console.
Twice I considered reaching for him. Twice fear stopped me before I could move.
He seemed to notice the struggle without looking directly at me.
“You can,” he said.
I turned toward him. “Can what?”
“Whatever you keep thinking about doing.”
Heat climbed into my cheeks.
“You don’t know what I’m thinking.”
“No, but you’ve looked at my hand six times.”
“I have not.”
“Seven now.”
The smile in his voice eased the last of my hesitation. I placed my hand over his where it rested near the console, and his fingers turned beneath mine immediately.
“There,” he said.
“There what?”
“You look less worried.”
“I’m still worried.”
“Less.”
I looked down at our hands illuminated by the faint dashboard light. “You notice too much.”
“I’ve been told.”
The security lights surrounding Harbor House appeared through the trees several minutes later.
Two unfamiliar vehicles occupied the driveway, both belonging to off-duty sheriff’s deputies arranged by Carson, and patched brothers stood beneath the porch roof while rainwater dripped behind them.
No one approached as Remedy drove past. They recognized his truck and returned their attention to the property line.
The building looked safe.
More importantly, it looked defended.
Inside, the farmhouse had settled into nighttime quiet.
Most residents remained in their rooms, though soft conversation drifted from the common area where Melissa and Lark sat with several women who had been too anxious to sleep.
Remedy spoke briefly with the guards near the entrance before accompanying me toward the kitchen.
The room was dark except for the light above the stove. Someone had left a plate of cookies beneath a glass cover, and a note in Daisy’s handwriting rested beside the coffee pot.
For emergencies. Cookies count.
Remedy read it over my shoulder.
“She knows us too well.”
“She knows everyone too well.”
He reached for the cabinet, but I caught his wrist lightly.
“No coffee.”
He looked surprised. “Why?”
“It’s almost ten.”
“That’s early.”
“For people who sleep.”
“I sleep.”
“Occasionally.”
He smiled. “Tea?”
“That sounds safer.”
We moved around the kitchen together with the same easy rhythm we had found washing dishes weeks earlier.
I filled the kettle while Remedy found mugs, and neither of us needed to ask where anything belonged.
The ordinary familiarity of the routine softened the lingering fear from the meeting.
Outside, guards watched the darkness. Inside, water heated on the stove while a good man stood close enough that his shoulder occasionally brushed mine.