Chapter Eight #2
So, there is a heart under all that difficult piss and vinegar she likes to throw my way. Something in my chest snaps into place and warms, something that I have been ignoring since I met her.
Rolling her head in my direction again, she stares at me. “What is it with you and the staring? Don’t you know it’s rude to stare?” She snaps her fingers. “Oh yeah. They teach you that at FBI school, don’t they?”
I smile and nod my head. “They do teach us that, right before they teach us how to stay silent so the other person will break and talk first.”
She actually laughs, it’s a beautiful sound, and nods in agreement. “I knew it.”
With a small breath, she says, “Agent?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you just here for protocol? Or do you really think someone is after me?”
I look over her features, she’s been putting on a show of not being scared, but she really is. “The hope is that if I’m here, we don’t have to find out.”
Her eyes are locked on mine as she considers what I said. After a few moments, she nods and lets her head roll back to center as she looks up again. “Okay.”
Sometime in the night, an ear-piercing scream jolts me out of sleep, and I grab my gun and run to the hall. The bedroom door flies open, and Kinley falls flat on her ass, her bare legs and feet sliding on the hardwood, and scrambles backward like a crab away from her door.
Her eyes are wide with terror, and the panic is making her hands and feet work against each other.
Moving quick, I stoop and grab her around her ribcage and pull her back to my front. At first, she fights me, her hands clawing at my arm and her heels kicking my legs. Turning sideways to move her away from the room, I look through the door and only catch a shadow of a body going out the window.
Her sharp elbow slams into my side, and a silent “Oof” escapes my lips from the sting between two ribs.
Moving my mouth close to her ear, I walk toward the living room and softly say, “Hey, it’s me. I’ve got ya.”
She stops fighting me, and her body sags against me. Her hands are now hanging onto my arm like a lifeline.
Setting her on her feet by the couch, I step in front of her and cup her chin, my other hand down at my side, holding my gun. “Stay right here, I need to see if I can catch him.”
Fingernails dig into my skin when she clamps her hands around my arm while frantically shaking her head. “No! No, you can’t leave me.” In the dim light, her eyes dart around the room before coming back to me. “Please don’t leave me here alone.”
One of her hands fists the material of my t-shirt on my chest, and she’s pulling me closer to her to stop me from leaving. She’s strong for such a small thing.
Fuck!
“Okay, okay, okay.” I whisper and wrap my arm around her body to pull her into me. Her other hand claws my front until she pulls enough material into her fist and hangs on to me for dear life. “Shhh, I’m not going anywhere.”
Her breaths are coming hard and fast, and her forehead is pressed against my chest, her hands holding the fabric of my shirt like jail bars.
The smell of jasmine floats all around me, and I tighten my grip on her body while setting my chin on her head.
Tucking my gun into the back of my sweatpants, I wrap my other arm around her and hold her until her breathing calms.
“Baby, I have to check the outside of the house. I need to make sure it’s safe.” He’s long gone by now.
Her head shakes against my chest. “If you go out there, I’m going with you. I’m not letting you leave me here alone.”
Softly grasping her shoulders, I force her to move back and look up at me. “Is there a room without a window?”
Her eyebrows come down, and she looks at my chin as if she’s processing the question like a math equation. “Uhm, yeah, the closet.”
I squat in front of her to get eye level with her. “Grab your phone and lock yourself in the closet. Call Mason and tell him what I’m doing. Okay? Can you do that?”
“My phone’s in the bedroom. Will you come with me, please?” Her eyes are pleading, her hands still fisting my shirt.
“Yes, come on.” Letting go of her, I grab one of her hands and pull her behind me.
She has a death grip on my hand, and her other hand is wrapped around my bicep. Her body is pressed against my back, the warmth of her soaking into my shirt.
Flipping on her bedroom light, I look around the room; the air smells like her, but it’s empty. I point at a door. “Closet?”
Poking her head around my side, she nods as she looks around the room and, not letting go of my hand, she steps toward the bed, while watching the window the whole time, and grabs her phone before darting back behind me.
I push the window closed and lock it and then turn to open the closet door. Facing her, I ask, “What are you supposed to do?”
Her eyes are still darting around the room, going back to the window. “Uhm.” She looks at me, and my chest squeezes when I see the fear in her eyes in the bright light. “Lock the closet door and call Mason. Tell him what you’re doing.”
“Good girl.” I’m not sure where the urge comes from, it just happens without much thought, but I grab her around her nape and pull her close to kiss the top of her head before I urge her into the closet.
As I’m pushing the door closed, she turns and puts her hand on the door. “You won’t leave me, will you?”
I give her a reassuring smile and a wink. “Not a chance.”