Arctic Fire (25 page)

“What’s so interesting about it?” She held her hands out and signaled in with her fingers. “Come on, come on, let’s have it.”

He’d wanted to confirm it in the hotel room, but hadn’t had a chance because she’d fallen asleep so quickly…which he liked. It meant she felt safe with him even though they’d just met.

“Oh, no,” he said innocently. “I didn’t mean to make it sound like that.”

When he’d come out of the bathroom after taking his shower, she’d been curled up on her bed asleep hugging a pillow, and he’d pulled the covers over her shoulders gently. Her long black hair was still wet—the low-budget place didn’t have hair dryers in the bathrooms—and he hadn’t wanted her to catch cold.

“I just think it would be cool to—” He stopped himself. “I just think it’s very cool. I really respect you for it.”

“That’s not what you were going to say.”

He laughed loudly. “What are you talking about? Yeah, it is.”

“Come on,” she encouraged in a half-friendly, half-aggravated tone. “Say what you were really going to say, Jack. I bet I’ve heard it before. I’ve probably heard every crack about female cops ever invented. Don’t be afraid.”

“It’s got nothing to do with being afraid.”

“You don’t have to worry about us getting off to a bad start.”

That sounded good to Jack. “Well, I’m glad because—”

“Because we already have.”

That didn’t. “What?
Why?
”

Maybe it was the near-death experience they’d shared last night that had him interested in her so fast, he figured, trying to be analytical about it. Maybe being shot at together was an aphrodisiac, so then maybe what he was feeling was just infatuation.

But as he glanced over at her something told him that what he was feeling wasn’t going to fade anytime soon. He was more taken by her every minute, but they hadn’t been shot at in a while. Karen was definitely something special.

“What did I do?” he pushed.

She looked at him like it was obvious. “It’s what you
didn’t
do, Jack.”

“What do you mean?”

“I had to push you out of that warehouse window last night. I mean, come on, who’s really wearing the pants in this relationship?”

He didn’t like his manhood being called out, but hearing that she thought they already had a relationship wasn’t a bad thing. “I didn’t even know we had a relation—”

“And let me tell you something,” she interrupted as she pointed at him. “Yeah, yeah, I was a cop, but I love being a woman too. I love wearing cute dresses and heels and doing my nails and dancing like crazy at a cool club. Tell those guys on the trading floor that.”

“Huh?”

“You know, all those animals you told me you work with in New York City.”

“We’re not animals,” he said indignantly.

“Blah, blah. I’ve seen the movies about you Wall Street guys. And I’ve read the books. You’re all blue bloods, but you’re Neanderthals while you’re on the trading floors.”

“We’re not all blue bloods either.”

“Look, I’m not some stubborn bitch who gets off arresting men and gets offended by guys who treat her like a woman. I love it when a guy holds a door for me or stands up when I get to the table. I love being treated like a woman.”

She reached out, grabbed the rearview mirror, turned it so she could see her face in it, and muttered angrily that despite brushing it out for fifteen minutes this morning, her hair still looked like a rat’s nest because she’d slept on it wet.

He grinned as she muttered. Her hair looked sexy like that—not bad.

“That’s how Charlie was,” she continued. “That was one of the things that really impressed me about him on our first date. His manners were so awesome.”

“I’ll remember that.” He would too.

“But what really impressed me was that it never stopped. He wasn’t just doing it on our first date to get my attention. He cared about me enough to keep doing it.” She hesitated. “I like being
pampered, but I can handle myself in the tough situations too. I want you to know that, Jack.”

“I think I’ve already seen you handle yourself in a tough—”

“So I’ll keep wearing pants when it’s the two of us if I have to,” she cut in again as she turned the mirror back in the general direction it had been facing before.

“No problem.” Jack adjusted the mirror so he could see out the rear window again.

“Charlie didn’t have a problem with me being a cop.”

“I don’t either.” He’d obviously hit a sensitive button on her personal remote.

In-charge women didn’t bother Jack at all. He liked a woman who knew what she wanted and went out and got it…as long as she could be sexy and romantic too. OK, so his standards were ridiculously high.

That, along with not being much into compromise, was probably why he’d never gotten permanently hooked. But he wasn’t like Troy either. He wasn’t a one-night-stand guy. He enjoyed getting to know a woman and having a serious relationship. He just hadn’t found a woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

Jack looked over at Karen for the hundredth time since they’d gotten in the car. Not yet, anyway.

“Not going to argue about it?” she asked curiously. “Not going to get all macho on me and tell me you didn’t really need me to push you out that window after all?”

“I definitely needed that push.”

“Amazing,” she said after a few moments, clearly impressed. “I’ve finally met a guy who admits to being scared of something.”

“Hey, I hate heights. They scare the crap out of me. They always have, and there’s nothing I can do about it.” He gestured at her. “At least I had you push me out, right?”

“Yeah,” she agreed softly, “you did.” She reached over and touched his arm reassuringly. “Hey, I was just kidding about our
start. I have liked it.” She let her hand linger on his arm. “I mean, it’s been kind of crazy,” she said with an overwhelmed expression. “I’ve gotta give you a big ‘A’ for creativity and excitement. That’s for sure. But I’ve got to go low in the safety category. The bullets were a bit much. A roller coaster would have been fine,” she said with a grin.

“We’re alive, aren’t we?”

“So far,” she murmured as her smile faded. “So, Jack, what were you going to say before about me being a cop?”

“I said what I had to say.”

“You can’t start something like that and not finish it.”

“I sure can.”

“Come on, I want to hear it.
I mean it.
”

“Don’t boss me.”

“I’m not. I would
never
do that.” She laughed loudly, making it abundantly clear with her sarcastic tone that she knew very well she was bossing him. “Now tell me,
damn it
.”

“OK, boss.”

“Now!”

He chuckled as he thought about whether or not to say it. He wanted to build that bridge to her quickly. He wanted her all-in as fast as he could get her there…so what the hell, he figured. “OK, OK. All I was going to say was that Baltimore seems like a good city to get arrested in now that I know you.”

Karen rolled her eyes. “Why, because now you figure the force is all full of little hotties and it might be fun getting booked by a good-looking chick? What? Is that what you guys yak about on the trading floor in the afternoon when things get slow?”

She had this sizzle about her he couldn’t resist. Those friendly eyes he’d spotted at the restaurant last night could flash red-hot quickly, but that was OK. She certainly wasn’t as vulnerable as he’d first thought. But those tears she’d cried for Charlie last night
had been genuine and heartfelt. That was obvious. She was tough, but it didn’t seem like her skin was that thick.

“All I was going to say,” Jack answered, “was that you seem like a really nice person, Karen. All the cops I’ve ever dealt with have been pricks, real hotheads.”

Jack had been arrested both times he’d put those guys in the hospital with broken jaws. But the cops hadn’t bothered to listen to how he’d been acting in self-defense either time. In fact, they’d told him to shut the hell up or they’d pile a resisting arrest onto the assault charge—which had been dropped quickly in both cases after witnesses had come forward and the facts had played out.

“But you aren’t.” He shrugged. “Maybe the police force you were on was better trained. That’s all I meant, Karen.”

“Oh.” She hesitated. “Well, don’t I feel like an idiot now?” she murmured apologetically. “Sorry, Jack. I guess I’m still a little sensitive about all those cracks I heard about being a woman cop.”

He raised an eyebrow as he looked over at her again. “You think?”

Hunter sat at the kitchen table of their small country house gazing at a wedding picture of Amy in her long white dress. She looked more beautiful to him this morning than she ever had.

She didn’t turn heads when she walked into a room, but she wasn’t unattractive either. She was plain. That was the best way to describe her.

But that was fine with Hunter, because on the inside Amy was the most beautiful person he’d ever known. She’d do almost anything for anyone, and she cared so very deeply for any child who was in trouble in any way. And that was why he really cared about her. Because of her innate and uncompromising affection
for human life and her desire to solve everyone’s problems no matter who they were.

Hunter put the wedding picture down and picked up a photograph of Jack and himself together on a fishing trip out on Long Island Sound. They had their arms around each other’s shoulders, and Jack was giving the camera one of those big, charismatic smiles he rarely gave anyone or anything. If he only understood how contagious that smile was and the confidence it engendered, he’d give it a lot more often, Hunter figured. But Jack still had so many issues, so many demons inside himself left to conquer. And most of them were born of still being so intimidated by Troy.

Hunter shook his head. Jack didn’t need to be intimidated by anyone anymore—even Troy. He’d become his own very fine person over the last few years. Hunter had seen the progression from the front row and tried to help Jack see it too with as many psychological mirrors as he could find. But it hadn’t worked. Maybe Jack never would see himself as that capable, confident person he’d become. Maybe that was the sad truth. And, perhaps, in an awful way, Troy’s death had put a cover on that possibility forever. As Hunter had overheard Jack whisper to himself at the memorial service, how was he supposed to compete with his younger brother now?

They’d been friends for a long time, and now Hunter understood why Jack had acted so mysteriously at the bar the other night. He wasn’t going to Florida for the winter to pick up some stupid bartending job. Based on what Hunter had been through in the last thirty-six hours, Jack was into something very dangerous. Though what that was, Hunter had no idea.

All Hunter knew for sure was that the little man who’d demanded information about Jack, used the clear plastic bag as his torture weapon of choice, and ultimately had Amy kidnapped was one serious motherfucker. Hunter had seen the evil in his eyes, and it had terrified him on a level he’d never even known
he was capable of experiencing. The man was a predator and that was all. He knew no other way. Even more frightening, he obviously didn’t
want
to know any other way.

Hunter placed the picture of Jack down beside the picture of Amy and took turns staring at their faces. He had to make a terrible choice between the two people who meant the most to him in the world. That little man had called early this morning and made him listen to Amy scream for help in the background, so he didn’t have much time to decide. He had to make his choice very soon.

Jack had been his best friend for fifteen years, and he’d proven his loyalty time and time again.

Amy was his wife, and he loved her dearly.

He glanced at the cell phone lying on the table beside Jack’s picture. There was one missed call registering on the tiny screen.

“My God,” he whispered. “Somebody help me.”