01 Cade (3 page)

His mouth tightened. “What part of witness protection don’t you understand?”

She sighed. “Then how about you go to the grocery store?”

“And leave you alone?” he asked incredulously. “I don’t think so.”

Riley folded her arms. “They call it a safe house because it’s safe, right? And you said yourself that I’m not in danger, so why can’t I stay here while you run to the store?” she demanded. “It’s not going to take you any more than thirty minutes, tops. I’ll be fine.”

When Cade made no reply, she took that to mean he was giving the whole thing some thought, so she added, “You won’t like me when I’m grumpy. Trust me.”

He shook his head with a sigh. “Okay, I’ll go to the store,” he agreed. “But only if you promise to stay put.”

She made a show of looking around. “Where would I go?” she said.

Cade gave her an annoyed look. “Just do it, okay?” he told her. “I’ll be back in thirty minutes.”

Riley followed him to the door, quickening her steps to keep up with his long strides. “Aren’t you going to ask me what I want?” she said.

He turned to face her. “I was just going to get some peanut butter and a loaf of bread.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but then changed her mind. Cade had agreed to go shopping for her; she supposed she should at least be gracious. And besides, she did like peanut butter. “Okay,” she said. “But make sure the peanut butter is the reduced-fat kind. And that the bread is one-hundred percent whole wheat.”

Cade’s mouth tightened, but he said nothing.

“Oh, and get some skim milk, too,” she added as he turned the doorknob. “And yogurt. Maybe a box of cereal, too. Anything that’s whole-grain.” She paused. “And some fruit and vegetables.”

He lifted a brow. “Anything else?” he asked dryly.

She thought a moment. “Chocolate,” she said, and then added, “Maybe you should write all that down.”

“I got it.” He opened the door. “Remember, stay put. And don’t open the door to anyone.”

After Cade had left, Riley considered unpacking, but then decided it would just be easier to live out of her suitcase. Wishing she’d remembered to bring a book or two with her, she went into the living room and grabbed the remote from the coffee table. Flopping down onto the couch, she turned on the television.

Surfing through the channels didn’t take her long since the house was only set up with basic cable. Darn it, she thought. She should have asked Cade to stop at the video store on the corner and get some movies while he was out. Then again, maybe it was a good idea that she hadn’t. He’d probably come back with a bunch of action movies that had lots of stuff blowing up and no real story. Still, watching a movie or two would have helped to pass the time.

Suddenly, an idea came to her. Why not go to the video store herself?

Because Cade told you to stay put, a little voice in her head reminded her.

He’d also told her that she wasn’t in any danger, Riley pointed out. And besides, it was only a short walk to the video store. She’d seen on in the strip mall down the street. Come to think of it, there was a bookstore, too. She could grab a couple of videos and some books, and still be back well before Cade. And if he didn’t like it, well, then that was tough. He might be able to drag her off and uproot her whole life all over again, but that didn’t mean she had to be bored the whole time they were at the safe house.

Her mind made up, Riley turned off the television, picked up her purse, and started for the door.

Cade was pretty sure it wasn’t procedure to leave Riley alone at the safe house while he went food shopping, but it had seemed easier than listening to her complain all night. Besides, as much as he hated to admit it, she had been right. They couldn’t eat pizza the whole time they were there. Besides, it hadn’t taken more than thirty minutes to run to the store and back. And in reality, she was right about something else, too. Even if procedure dictated that they move her again, she wasn’t really in any danger. So, this run to the grocery store wasn’t that bigo f a deal.

Pulling into the driveway, Cade shut off the engine and grabbed the two grocery bags full of food from the backseat. As he neared the house, he shifted them to one arm so that he could use his free hand to punch in the entry code on the keypad beside the door.

Riley was standing in the living room when he walked in, and she turned at his entrance. His gaze immediately locked on the DVD’s in her hand, and his eyes narrowed.

“Where the hell did you get those?” he demanded.

She set them down on the coffee table. “From the video store on the corner,” she said.

Ignoring the scowl he gave her, Riley took one of the bags from him and walked into the kitchen to put it down on the counter.

Cade followed. “You went out to the video store after I told you to stay put?” He put the bag he was carrying down on the counter beside hers with a thud. “I didn’t spank you hard enough before, did I?”

Riley whirled around, her face flushed with embarrassment at the mention of the spanking he’d given her. “I don’t know what the big deal is!” she snapped. “You said that the SUV was nothing, so I’m not in any danger. Or were you wrong about that?”

Cade clenched his jaw. “I said that the SUV was probably nothing,” he corrected. “But that doesn’t mean I want you traipsing around all over town, completely disregarding everything I tell you.”

She folded her arms to glare up at him. “I didn’t go traipsing around all over town. I only went to the video store on the corner,” she protested, and then, turning back to the bag of groceries, mumbled, “I won’t do it again.”

“Damn right you won’t!”

Biting back a retort, Riley reached into the bag, only to let out a gasp of surprise as Cade’s hand closed over her arm.

“What...?” she started to say, but the words trailed off as he marched her over to the kitchen table and the straight-backed chairs there. Her eyes went wide as she realized what he intended. “Oh, no you don’t!” she told him.

Riley tried to hang back, but Cade had already sat down and was pulling her over his knee. She tried to resist, but it did no good. He was way too strong for her. That didn’t stop her from flailing and kicking at him, but within moments, she was staring down at the linoleum floor, her bottom in the air and his hand on her back.

“Dammit!” she yelled, beating her fist against his muscular thigh. “Let me go!”

“Not until you and I come to an understanding!” Cade told her. “Because if you don’t start doing what I tell you, then this cute, little ass of yours is going to be sore the entire time we’re stuck here.”

For some ridiculous reason, Riley felt herself blushing at his words, but before she could open her mouth to say something rude in return, he brought his hand down hard on her jean-clad bottom.

“Owwwww!” she yelped.

But the sound was lost as another resounding smack echoed throughout the kitchen. Having just gotten spanked a few hours earlier, her bottom was already beginning to sting, and Riley squirmed as he brought his hand down over and over.

“Owwwww!” she protested. “You can...owwwww!...stop now! I already...owwwww!...told you I wouldn’t...owwwww!...go to...owwwww!...the stupid video store again!”

“Somehow, I don’t really believe your promises. So, this is to make sure you think twice before you go anywhere without my permission again!” he told her in between spanks. “Going to that video store was foolhardy and dangerous. No one may be after you now, but if someone did manage to find you through those dumbass birthday cards, then they could track you by that damn video-rental card of yours. But you didn’t think of that, did you? Of course not! Because you’re too busy telling me I don’t know how to do my damn job!”

Between her protesting and the sound his hand made as it smacked down on her ass over and over, Riley barely heard half of what Cade said, but when he paused a moment later to ask her if she understood, she nodded her head emphatically.

“Yes, yes, yes!” she told him.

She thought that after that he was done, but then he continued to rain hard smacks down all over her bottom.

“Hey!” she protested. “I said I understood!”

“Good,” he said, bringing his hand down again. “Now that we have that part take care of, I want you to give me your solemn word that you won’t go anywhere without my permission?”

She nodded her head vigorously. Right then, her bottom was stinging so much that she thought she probably would have agreed to just about anything.

“I didn’t hear you,” Cade insisted, giving her a particular hard smack right on her sit-spot.

Riley blinked at both how hard the spank was, and at what he obviously expected her to say. He actually wanted her to say the words out loud? She’d thought that being put over his knee for a spanking was the ultimate in embarrassment, but this was even more humiliating!

When she continued to hesitate, he prompted her with another hard smack, this time to both her cheeks. “I don’t think I’m getting through to you,” he told her. “Maybe you can’t feel the full effect of the spanking through the jeans. Maybe I should pull them down.”

Her eyes went wide at that. “Nooooooo!” she cried, her face turning bright red. “Okay, okay! I promise that I won’t go anywhere without your permission! Are you satisfied now, you jerk?!”

Riley regretted the words as soon as they were out of her mouth. Though she really did think Cade was a jerk, calling him one while in her present position probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do, and she held her breath as she waited for him to start spanking her again. But to her surprise, he took her arm and put her back on her feet.

She immediately reached around with both hands to cup her throbbing ass cheeks, only to gasp. If anything, they seemed to sting even more now that he had stopped spanking her. And that threat to pull down her jeans had been unbelievable! He really was a brute, she thought.

After the spanking Cade had just given her, Riley had been sure there would be marks on her bottom, but when she stormed off to the bathroom afterward, she was surprised to see that there weren’t any. Her bottom was really pink, though, she thought as she gazed at her rosy ass cheeks in the mirror above the sink. And, she found out a moment later when she reached back with one hand to rub, it was tender to the touch, too.

She couldn’t believe that Cade had spanked her again. And for something as stupid as going to the video store, too! Like someone was really going to track her down using her video-rental card! That wasn’t even logical! Well, one thing was for sure, when she got settled in her new place, wherever that was, she was going to call his boss and tell the man that Cade Cutler was completely out of control! She’d pull out her cell phone and call his boss right then, but the knowledge that she was going to be stuck with this guy a little while longer made her realize that wouldn’t be a very good idea. But she’d get him in the long run, she promised herself Pleased at the idea of getting back at the Marshal for manhandling her, Riley allowed herself a small smile as she wiggled her jeans over her hips and buttoned them. She had never realized that denim was so rough until the material rubbed against her tender bottom. Ouch!

Though part of her would rather have spent the rest of the night in the bathroom rather than have to face Cade again, the other part of her refused to be intimidated by him. So, after checking her reflection in the mirror, she tucked her long, blond hair behind her ear and walked out of the room.

Cade was standing at the counter pouring milk into two large glasses when she walked into the kitchen a few minutes later, and he looked up at her entrance. He had taken off his suit jacket and rolled his sleeves up to reveal nicely-muscled forearms. Oh yeah, she thought. He might be a jerk, but he was a good looking one. He should definitely be modeling instead of working in law enforcement.

“I made you something to eat,” he said, glancing at the table.

Riley’s gaze went to the peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches on the table. For a moment, she considered telling him to take sandwich and shove it, but at the sight of food, her stomach began to growl loudly, and she wisely decided to give in to her hunger and eat instead. Murmuring a soft, “thank you,” she pulled out a chair and sat down, wincing a little as her bottom touched the seat.

At least he had remembered to get whole-wheat bread, she thought as she slid the plate closer to her. And skim milk, too, she noticed as he opened the fridge to put the plastic container on the shelf.

Closing the door, Cade picked up the two glasses and walked over to the table. Setting one of them down in front of Riley, he pulled out the chair across from her and sat down.

They ate in silence, the hum of the refrigerator the only sound in the room.

“So,” Cade said after several long minutes. “How did you get into the Witness Protection Program?”

Riley looked up in surprise, taken aback not so much by the question, but by the fact that the Marshal was actually bothering to talk to her. As she sipped her skim milk, she considered that maybe he was trying to makeup for being such a jerk earlier. “I testified against a mobster,” she answered.

Cade’s mouth quirked. “I figured that much,” he said. “I was referring to the particulars. I didn’t really have time to read the whole file before I came over to your apartment.”

She said nothing for a moment, not sure if she felt like having a conversation with the man that had given her not one, but two spankings that day. Then she decided, why not? It was either that or sit there in silence for the rest of the night. And it had been a long time since she’d been able to talk to anyone about it.

“I was a stockbroker at a Manhattan investment firm,” she explained, setting down her glass and sitting back in her chair. “I was working late one night when I heard my boss talking to some men in his office. It wasn’t odd for him to be in the office at that time of night, but it was kind of unusual for a client to have an appointment that late, so being a little curious, I wandered down the hall to hear what they were talking about.” She let out a sigh.

“I wish now that I hadn’t.”

Cade waited for her to continue, and when she didn’t, he prompted her. “What did you hear?”

She chewed on her lower lip, remembering. “They were talking about laundering money,” she said. “Apparently, my boss had been in bed with the mob for years.”

“And they realized you were listening in on their conversation and came after you?” Cade surmised.

Riley shook her head. “Actually, they had no idea I had heard anything at all. They didn’t even know I was there,” she said. “Being the upstanding citizen that I am, I decided to go to the cops and tell them what I’d heard. It never occurred to me that I would have any further involvement. But the next day, the FBI showed up at my apartment wanting me to go undercover for them.”

Cade was stunned by that. He’d been surprised enough when Riley had said she’d been a stockbroker, but hearing that she had gone undercover for the Feds was something he would never have thought someone like her would do. After how careless she’d been with keeping her identity a secret, he had to admit, he’d thought her a rather dim bulb. He supposed that he was going to have to reassess his opinion of her. At least in some ways.

Across the table from him, Riley ran her hand through her long hair, pushing it back from her face. “If I had known then that my whole life would get turned upside down and I would end up in the Witness Protection Program, I never would have done it,” she said. “But at the time, it sounded exciting, so the FBI didn’t have to work too hard to persuade me to wear a wire for them.” Her lips curved into a small smile. “I was really naïve back then, and I got caught up in the whole spy thing, thinking I was saving the world.” Her smile faded. “But after the FBI got all the evidence they needed, the real world came crashing down. When they showed up at my door with U.S. Marshals and told me about the Witness Protection Program, I finally realized what I had gotten myself into. I lost my job and my friends, and I haven’t seen my family since then. Plus, I’ve been moved all over the place and forced to live under a different assumed identity every time. I think it’s enough to make anyone wonder if it had been worth it.”

Cade frowned. He had never really thought about what people in the Witness Protection Program gave up. He knew how close he was to his family, though. If someone told him that he could never talk to, or see them again, he might not go along with it any better than Riley had. That thought almost made him regret yelling at her earlier about being in contact with her family. He probably would have done the same thing.

For a moment, she looked so forlorn and alone sitting there that he had resist the urge to reach across the table and cover her hand with his. “What you did, going up against the mob, took a lot of courage,” he told her quietly instead.

She regarded him in silence for a long moment, her blue eyes sad. “Maybe,” she agreed. “But it was also stupid.”

Cade felt like telling her that it hadn’t been stupid. It had been brave and unselfish. But he didn’t think she really wanted to hear something like that, particularly not when she was feeling so down, so instead, he said nothing.

Pushing her chair back, Riley picked up her half-full glass of milk and went into the living room, leaving Cade alone at the table. He sat there, watching as she picked up one of the movies, popped it into the DVD player, and then sat down on the couch, kicked off her shoes, and curled her legs under her.

With a sigh, Cade pushed back his chair and got to his feet. Picking up their empty plates, he rinsed them off, and then set them in the rack to dry before grabbing his glass of milk from the table and going into the living room.

The movies Riley had picked out were standard chick flicks, all sappy story and no action, and Cade was bored senseless by them. But since there was little else to entertain him, he sat on the couch and watched them with her.

Sitting through two of them was almost more than he could take, however, and he was relieved when Riley finally announced that she was going to bed after the second one.

Grabbing the remote from the coffee table, Cade flipped through the channels disinterestedly. He should probably go to bed, too, he thought. Despite the fact that the house had two bedrooms, he had decided that he would sleep on the couch downstairs. He supposed it was silly really, since Riley wasn’t in any danger, but it was standard procedure and he thought he should probably follow the book regardless of the threat.

Before he turned in for the night, Cade did a sweep of the house, checking all the doors and windows to make sure they were locked, as well as pushing aside the curtains to take a look outside. Except for the occasional car driving by, it was quiet.

Cade was just about to let the curtain on the living room window fall back into place when he noticed a dark SUV coming up the street. His eyes narrowed as it approached, but though the vehicle slowed a little as it passed the house, it didn’t stop, and he felt himself relax as it drove off. A lot of people drove dark SUV’s, he told himself.

The ground floor secure, Cade turned away from the window and headed upstairs to check on Riley before going to bed himself. The door to the bedroom on the right had been left slightly ajar, and he could see the soft glow of light through the opening.

Not wanting to wake Riley if she were asleep, Cade didn’t knock on the door, but instead, quietly pushed it open just enough to poke his head in. If she were still up, no doubt she’d have a few choice words for him about barging in on her, he thought.

But to his surprise, Riley was sound asleep. It turned out that the light wasn’t coming from the bedroom at all, but from one in the adjoining bathroom, which she had left on. That made sense, he thought. As scared and paranoid as she was, she probably always slept with a light on.

In the soft glow, Cade could see her slender form outlined beneath the covers. She was curled up in a ball with the blanket tucked up under her chin, and to his surprise, the image touched his heart. She looked so vulnerable, he thought. And at the same time, very sexy.

Abruptly, Cade was reminded of the spanking he’d given her earlier that evening. Though he had been really angry at how stupid she had been, he suddenly felt badly about putting her over his knee again. Then again, she had deserved it, he told himself. If someone really were after her, they would have had the perfect opportunity to grab her the moment she had stepped foot outside the safe house. Even so, she’d had a pretty hard time of it lately, he reminded himself, so maybe he should cut her a break.

And yet, even as he decided that spanking her again might have been a little overboard, there was a part of him that was secretly pleased Riley had given him a reason to do it. Standing there now, with her looking so sexy, he could admit that he had enjoyed spanking her. When he had put her over his knee the first time back at her apartment, Cade been too intent on what he was doing to pay much attention her ass. And though he’d been no less angry with Riley when he’d spanked her when he’d come back from the store, he had found himself taking the time to admire her curves while she’d been wiggling around on his lap. No doubt about it, her ass was amazing! Well-rounded enough to fill out her jeans nicely, but still firm enough to show that she definitely worked out. He could just imagine what she’d look like under those jeans.

Too bad she hadn’t given him a reason to pull them down, he thought. Then again, it was probably just as well, because he would have had a really hard time concentrating on actually spanking her. He was getting hard just thinking about it.

Cade swore under his breath and backed out of the bedroom. Get a grip on yourself, man! You’re a U.S. Marshal, not just some guy looking for a hot lay! It was his job to protect Riley Barnett, not bed her.

Annoyed with himself for even having those thoughts, Cade went back downstairs and checked the doors one more time. Emptying his pockets, he dumped everything including his cell phone onto the coffee table. Then he slid his gun holster from his belt and set it down on the table as well.

Sitting down, he lie back on the couch and, pillowing his head on his arms, closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep.

But thoughts of the beautiful Riley Barnett sleeping just upstairs kept him awake long into the night.

Cade was still asleep when his cell phone rang the next morning. Immediately reaching for it, he flipped it open and held it to his ear.

“Cutler,” he said.

“It’s Conner.” The man’s voice was gruff in his ear. “Everything going well?”

Cade couldn’t help but notice that the Deputy Chief didn’t actually wait for him to reply before continuing.

“Riley Barnett’s a low priority, so it’ll take us a little while to find a more permanent place to put her,” the other man said. “The bean counters really don’t like the idea of spending the money to move her again when there’s no definitive threat. I know that you could give a crap about that, but nevertheless, it means that you’ll be stuck with her for awhile longer.”

“How much longer?” Cade asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

Conner sighed. “I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe a week or more. You have a problem with that?”

Cade’s jaw tightened, but he knew better than to voice his displeasure to the Deputy Chief. The man would only take that to mean that he couldn’t do the job. “No problem, Sir,” he told his boss.

Conner grunted, obviously expecting Cade to complain, and surprised when he hadn’t. “Good,” he said curtly.

“I’ll be in touch.”

Cade flipped his phone closed with a sigh. A week or more at the safe house with Riley, he thought. God, that was going to feel like forever. He wondered how many chick flicks that would equate to.

A thought suddenly occurred to him then. He didn’t have any clothes with him. Hell, he didn’t even have a toothbrush. He was going to have to go back to his apartment, he realized. Which posed a problem of a different kind; he couldn’t leave Riley at the safe house while he went all the way back to Seattle. Who knew what kind of trouble she would get into if he did? Of course, if he had another Marshal backing him up on this like he was supposed to, it wouldn’t be a problem, he thought. But he didn’t. He was completely on his own, which meant that he’d have no choice but to take her with him. It wasn’t exactly procedure, but what else could he do?