Dangerous Times (5 page)

“
Don’t worry about it. Look, if it’s easier, I’ll get one of my other guys out here and you won’t have to even see me.” Not what he wanted, but if he was adding to her stress, he’d do it even if it killed him.

She stared up at him and finally dropped her hands. “No.”

Her soft voice drew him in.

Stepping closer, she put a hand on his chest. “I don’t know why, but I trust you, Shawn.”

Letting out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, he covered her hand with his. “I’m a very trustworthy person.” He smiled down at her.

Shaking her head, she laughed softly at that. “Yeah, you are.”

“
Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

She gave another single shoulder shrug and chewed on her lip, which had his attention swinging to firmly land on her sexy little mouth. Which then led to remembering how soft they were, and her exotic taste. Not good, right then.

“
Maybe later,” she finally said. “Just not with anyone in earshot.”

It took him a while to figure out what she meant and then he remembered Vincent. “We came in separate vehicles, so I can stay after we’re done if you want.”

“
I’d like that. I’ll even feed you,” she offered, smiling.

Damn his dirty mind for heading straight for the gutter. Wrenching it back to the moment, he smiled at her. “You don’t have to cook, Tamara.”

“
Who the hell said I was cooking?” she asked, giving him an offended look.

He burst out laughing. He couldn’t help it. She just looked so damned put out. “Okay, so you’re not cooking?” he asked.

“
I didn’t say that,” she smiled, batting her lashes at him.

“
And now, I’m confused. So, I’m going to start doing my checklist and you do, well, whatever you’re doing or not doing for dinner.”

“
Good plan,” she said, waving him off. “Go, do your thing, I’ll be down here plotting if you need me.”

“
Oh, darling.” He smiled slowly. “Not the thing to say right now.” He chuckled and got the hell out of there before he did something idiotic.

Chapter Five

Vincent and Shawn were consummate professionals. They stayed out of her way entirely and did their thing. When they were done, they’d reconvened to go over her system and general security.

Overall, her system was great, according to Vincent, anyway. He said he had a few updates he wanted to do, but they were quick and easy to install and not even a major panic. Shawn had been happy with everything as well.

Which made Tamara quite happy in turn. She’d seen Vincent off, but hadn’t missed his speculative look. That was something Shawn would have to deal with later, not her. Hopefully.

Dinner had gone over well. She’d actually cooked. She could cook, but didn’t usually have the time to, or the inclination. It sucked to make a meal for only one person. She’d kept it simple, steaks and some salad. He’d dug in and had been rather pleased with her simple offerings, so score one for her.

Now they were sitting in her living room, relaxing and drinking the last of the wine. She felt incredibly nervous for some reason, and she just couldn’t put her finger on it. They’d talked about nothing important the entire time, but she knew she’d have to talk about...
him.

Sighing, she swirled the wine still in her glass around before looking over at Shawn. “You’ve been pretty careful to avoid asking me anything about why I’m doing this.”

“
Figured if you wanted to talk about it, you would. Besides, Rhonda did give me all the highlights.” Leaning forward, he put his glass down and then turned so he was facing her more. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to, Tamara.”

“
I know,” she whispered. “I don’t know why this is so hard, considering I told you pretty much my entire life story before.”

“
Yeah well, we were…” he cut himself off with a choking noise.

“
We were what?” she frowned. And then it hit her. They’d been naked at the time. Closing her eyes, she put a hand over her suddenly hot face. “Right, that. Uh, yeah.” She laughed softly.

“
Yeah, that,” he chuckled. Then he sighed. “I tried to find you. Your note pretty much drove me insane for months. But...”

Tamara peeked through her fingers and saw him shrug.

“
I’d disappeared for all intents and purposes,” she supplied. “Having a cop for a friend definitely has its benefits. She helped me to vanish so that he and his
friends
couldn’t come after me. Hell, she had a ring of cops around me each time I had to be in court.”

“
I’m glad she kept you safe,” he told her, his tone gentle. “And even though I’m extremely glad to have found you, or you found me, I really wish it was under better circumstances.”

“
Ditto,” she said. Sighing, she turned on the sofa and looked at him. “This is probably the worst time ever to mention this but...” She scrunched up her nose. “I missed you, Shawn. I really did have plans to track you down again after our night together if, well, if things had gone better in my life than they did.”

He shifted around to face her, their knees bumping lightly. “I should have looked harder. I didn’t, because I didn’t want Robyn, my partner, to give me any grief over using resources to track down a woman. She likely would have understood though, especially given the lengths she’d gone to for her man before they hooked up officially. But still...” he shrugged.

“
Didn’t want to admit you couldn’t handle a little slip of girl without pulling out the big guns?” she asked, a smile tugging on her lips.

“
Listen here, smarty pants.” Rolling his eyes, Shawn nodded. “But, yeah, more or less.”

Giving into the urge, Tamara reached out to touch his hand, getting her fingers instantly caught by his larger and rougher ones. “I wish you had,” she admitted quietly. “I probably shouldn’t say that. It’s selfish, but I thought of you so much. Hell.” She laughed. “I have no idea what I’m trying to say.”

“
Just say it,” he encouraged. “No judgements here. Spit it out. It’s the past, Tamara, but I’d still like to know.”

Taking a deep breath, she nodded. Might as well admit it. “I wanted you there after the surgery, holding my hand and stroking my hair like you had that night. I felt safe with you, even though we’d only just met, and I needed to feel that again. Especially with my entire life being torn apart and reshaped, because the ex couldn’t understand that he wasn’t in control of my life and never would be.”

Stopping to pull in a deep breath, she nearly whimpered when he changed the hold he had on her hand. She found herself leaning closer to him as he laced their fingers and gave them a squeeze. It did give her the strength to admit her many wishes from back then.

“
I needed someone to hold me in the dark as I relieved his attack, over and over. Someone to reassure me by being there, even if nothing was said. But what I really wanted was to have you there when the nightmares started,” she whispered.

“
I’m here now, Tamara,” he whispered, his voice rough with emotion.

“
I know and I’m glad,” she said, lifting her head to look at him. Shaking her head, she smiled. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t just dump this stuff on you.”

He tugged on her hand and pulled her in closer, sliding his arm around her. “I don’t mind. And I did ask, mainly because I want to know everything about you, Tamara. Your life, what’s in your head and what your dreams are.”

Wiggling in closer, she pressed her cheek to his chest. He was just as warm and solid as she remembered. And, because it felt right, she slid her arms around him. Pressing her hands to the length of his back she let out a shudder and relaxed.

His arms tightened around her and held her close, one hand stroking her hair.

Closing her eyes, Tamara enjoyed the feeling. She’d missed having Shawn holding her as he was now. One night had ruined her for other men for the rest of her life.

Turning her face slightly, she rubbed her nose to his shirt and inhaled. Sandalwood and man. God, she’d missed his scent. She could literally stay right here forever. Not exactly feasible of course, but that didn’t mean her heart was willing to listen to logic.

“
Tamara, you okay?” She loved the slight rumble in his voice that she could hear when she was close to his chest. She could feel the vibrations through his body into hers.

Nodding, she inhaled once more and lifted her head. “Yeah, I’m good. Just thinking,” she said.

“
What about?” he asked his expression curious.

“
You,” she admitted easily. She thought about him a lot, more now that he was back in her life, even if it was only temporary.

His lips curled into a grin and one of his eyebrows lifted. “Oh? What about me?” he asked.

Rolling her eyes, she put her cheek back on his chest and sighed, everything feeling absolutely right in that moment. “Just how much I’ve missed having you holding me.” Not the whole truth of course. But the man had a big enough ego already, no need for her to help it get into an even larger state.

“
Well, I have to admit something too, then.”

Squeezing him closer she smiled. “All right, what is it?”

“
I’ve missed having you in my arms. I’ve wanted to have you back in my arms for the last three years. So, if you don’t mind, I’m just going to hang onto you for a little longer.”

Shaking her head, Tamara looked up at him again. “I definitely do not mind, not at all.”

“
Good,” he said.

Then he let go. Just when she was going to ask what he was doing, he moved her into his lap.
Oh, much better
, she thought with a grin. Nuzzling his throat, she relaxed into him again as his arms wound around her once more.

His heat, and the feel of his thumb rubbing her arm, soon lulled her to sleep.

Chapter Six

One month later…

Putting a hand on her lower back, Shawn escorted Tamara toward the front doors of the little, out of the way and yet “very chic” gallery. She had a show there, all her own works, and she was nervous. He could feel the little vibrations coming off her spine where his hand rested.

Opening the door, he smiled down at her. She looked fucking amazing. Her hair was up in a twist, with little chunks in lazy curls around her face and at the nape of her neck. Her dress was dark blue, the same color of her eyes, and was a tight sheath that covered her from her neck to mid-thigh. Tall silver heels, a grouping of silver bracelets, and her little clutch in silver gave her a bedazzled look.

All he wanted to do was strip that dress off her and fuck her hard and fast.

But he’d wanted to do that, fuck her that was, since they’d reconnected.

He’d spent every extra hour he could with her, often staying at her house until the wee hours before heading home. He wasn’t pressuring her into a relationship, not with all that was on her plate. But he also needed to be around her.

Not just because of her psycho ex, but because he wanted to be with her. She made everything so much...better.

Following her into the main room of the gallery, Shawn stopped and looked around. The lighting was soft, with more direct spot lights highlighting each of her photos on the wall.

There was already quite a grouping of people inside, including several of the C&M employees. They were all dressed as civilians and mingling with everyone else. Only two, Trent and Pauline looked like security. Ear buds, obvious bulges under their arms, and just their demeanor screamed undercover.

Shaking his head slightly, he followed Tamara over to the gallery’s owner. She spoke to the man for a while, chatting and complimenting him on how everything looked. When she was done, they went to the bar.

“
White wine, please,” she requested of the bartender.

“
Glass of sprite with a lime twist and a mint leaf,” he said.

That earned him a look from Tamara.

“
I’m technically on duty.”

“
Right, sorry,” she said, her cheeks taking on a pretty pink glow.

Smiling, he shrugged and wrapped his arm around her waist. “Don’t worry about it.” Winking, he nodded his thanks to the bartender as he handed over their drinks.

Once they’d each taken a sip, Shawn nudged her back out into the room. “So, tell me all about your photos.”

She shot him a look, but she took him at his word. One by one, she led him along, telling him about each of the photos. He found that, while the photos were amazing and stunning, listening to her was what held him riveted. She had such passion in her voice about each picture that he looked at her more than the images she’d captured.

“
Why are you staring at me?” she asked when they were about halfway done.

“
I’m not staring,” he said, grinning.

“
You are definitely staring and it’s a little disconcerting.”

“
I’m admiring you, way different from staring.”

“
You’re staring.” Lifting her wine glass, she took a small sip, her eyes laughing at him over the rim.

“
Admiring,” he countered, taking a sip of his pop as his gaze roamed the room. He got the all-clear signals from the team, so he looked back to her.