Freight Trained (18 page)

She stopped speaking abruptly as he skidded off to the side of the road and slammed on the brakes.  His knuckles were white from the tight grip he had on the steering wheel.  He looked over at her, and she could tell he was beyond angry, he looked irate.

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

* * * * *

Cole jumped out of the truck and made his way around the hood to the passenger side.  He did not want to have this conversation while speeding down the highway at seventy miles per hour.  He didn't know why he was so angry other than the fact he and Abby didn't seem to be on the same page, and that pissed him the fuck off.  He yanked her door open.  "Get out."  She was too slow to react, so he reached across her, unclasping her seat belt before snagging her hand and pulling her from the truck.

"You're not planning on leaving me on the side of the road are you?" she asked with a nervous giggle, sounding as if she weren't one-hundred percent sure what his answer would be.  That pissed him off even more.

He backed her into the side of the truck bed, moving in so close, his head hovering over her, she had to tip her head way back to keep him in sight.  He knew the smile he gave her was menacing, he felt it in the sinister twist of his lips and saw it in the slight widening of Abby's eyes.  One hand gripped the edge of the truck bed while the other fisted the back of her hair, holding her head steady as his lips came crashing down on hers. 

It was not a gentle kiss.  His tongue didn't ask permission but forcefully pushed its way past her lips, plundering and taking what it wanted.  The soft, warm, velvety feel of her mouth nearly tipped him over the edge, and he bent her head back farther, gaining greater access while grinding his throbbing cock into her belly. 

Anger overriding his other senses, it took him a minute to realize she didn't fight him.  Her mouth compliantly surrendered to his onslaught while her hands clutched fistfuls of his T-shirt in a bid to hold on.  He gentled the kiss then.  Slowly savoring her heat and the tiny moans he extracted from her. 

When he finally had his anger under control, he ended the kiss, backing just far enough away to view all her features.  He watched her slowly open her eyes before he spoke.  "That feel together-together enough for you?"

She gave him a slow nod while staring at him looking dazed, her cheeks flushed and lips swollen from his kiss.  

"Good."  He nipped at her lips before soothing the bite with his tongue.  "Now, I don't want to hear any more bullshit about how something's not your business and in case you missed it, we are definitely together-together.  Okay?"

"Okay."  That one word in her sultry-as-fuck voice was enough to take away the last of his anger. 

"Let's go home.  I believe you owe me an orgasm."

She gave him a saucy grin.  "I believe I owe you two."

Chapter Fifteen

"Wait.  Stop!"  They were driving down their street, passing Abby's house, and Cole slammed on the brakes at her shouted announcement. 

She rolled down her window and stuck her head out, her body twisted, straining against the seat belt to get a better look behind her.  She turned back around, looking at Cole.  "My front door is wide open."

"What the fuck?"  He put the car in reverse, throwing his arm over the back of her seat and backed up, parking in front of her house.  "Stay here."

He jumped out of the truck before she could respond, but no way she was waiting in the truck knowing someone had broken into her house.  They'd been gone all day, the late afternoon sun low in the sky, and the break-in had probably happened sometime late the night before.  The odds were slim the intruders were still hanging around waiting for her to get home.

She caught up with Cole at her front door, placing a hand on his hip when she came up behind him.  He gave her an exasperated look over his shoulder.  "I thought I told you to wait in the truck."

"Oh, were you talking to me?  I thought you were talking to Lucky, as it was a command and all."  The noise he made sounded distinctly like a growl, and his look implied he might want to do her bodily harm.  She didn't want to stick around to find out.  Trying to squeeze herself past Cole to enter, he stopped her with a firm hand on her arm.

"Let me look around real quick.  Make sure no one's still here."

Abby rolled her eyes, knowing her earlier logic was sound and no one was in the house, but let Mr. Bossy have his way to spare herself the argument.  She was quickly learning it would be wise to save her battles for important issues and let him have his way with all the piddly stuff. 

While he was gone, she scanned the living room.  Other than the roses missing from the vase on the kitchen counter, nothing else seemed disturbed.  Cole returned less than a minute later, cell phone attached to his ear. 

His eyes found hers as he talked.  "Yeah, we'll be here."  He hung up, sticking the phone in his back pocket while approaching her and taking her hand.

"Who was that?"

"Sheriff.  Come on, I need to show you something."

He pulled her to her bedroom, and she stopped short in the doorway.  The petals from the missing flowers laid scattered along the floor and all over the bed.  But that's not what drew her eye.  A bottle of champagne and two wineglasses sat in the center of her bed.  What the heck? 

She went to take a step into the room, but Cole held her back.  "I don't want to disturb anything until the sheriff gets here."

"We need to get Lucky from the truck.  It's warm out there." 

Cole nodded and closed the bedroom door.  "I don't want him jumping up on the bed."

Abby giggled.  "I don't think he can.  I had to pick him up to put him in bed with me the other night."  Abby slapped a hand over her mouth, giving Cole wide, innocent eyes.

He scowled down at her, flinging an arm around her shoulders and steering her toward the front door.  "You're very lucky I choose to find you adorably cute when you disobey me, or you'd be very uncomfortable sitting for the next few days."

Abby looked at him in mock horror.  "Did you just threaten to spank me?"

"Darlin', I don't make threats."

They were sitting on the porch steps when the sheriff pulled up.  Lucky lay snoozing at the bottom of the steps tired after their long car ride.  It would be a perfect time
—
the late afternoon sun setting and a light breeze blowing, chasing away the heat
—
to sit on the porch, beer or wine in hand, relaxing and enjoying some peace at the end of the day.  But peace was far from Abby's mind and sadly, a glass of wine wasn't in her hand. 

"Cole.  Ms. O'Neal," the sheriff said, tipping his hat in greeting.

"Sheriff,"  Cole said, standing, offering his hand to help Abby to her feet.

"Please, call me Abby," she said, holding out her hand.  She wiggled her fingers.  "No barbecue sauce this time."

Sheriff Brody gave her a small smile while taking her hand.  "Cole tells me you had a break-in.  Mind if I look around?"

"No, please help yourself."  She did that stupid arm at the door gesture she seemed so famous for, internally cringing that Cole had to witness her awkwardness yet again.

"This the point of entry?" the sheriff asked when he reached the front door.

"Yes.  At least I think so," Abby said.  "The door was standing open when we arrived."

The Sheriff checked the door for prints before walking in the house.  Cole and Abby followed the sheriff inside, and after doing a quick scan of the living room, he went down the hall, stopping at her closed bedroom door.  "In here?" he asked, turning to Cole.

Cole made a grunting noise, and the sheriff opened the door.  He took out his phone and started snapping pictures while asking Abby the standard questions.  "You notice anyone paying special attention to you, Abby?"

The sheriff's back was to her as he leaned in close to get a shot of the champagne bottle in the center of the bed.  "No, not that I've noticed."

The sheriff must not have liked her quick response.  He looked over his shoulder at her before saying, "Really think about it for a minute."  He looked over at Cole, giving him a chin lift.  "You notice anyone looking at her longer than they should?"

Cole made another little grunting noise.  "Every guy that looks at her is looking too long."

The sheriff softly chuckled shaking his head.  He looked back at Abby.  "Notice anything unusual around the house or out of place besides this?" he asked, pointing to the bed.

Abby thought a minute before she answered this time.  "No.  Nothing."

The sheriff nodded and pulled a pair of latex gloves from his back pocket.  "Any weird phone calls from unknown numbers?  Hang-ups?"

Abby didn't have to think about that one.  Maggie was the only person who called her.  She hadn't even heard from her parents since she arrived.  "No."

Depositing each glass into a ziplock bag he'd pulled from yet another pocket, the sheriff said, "I'll take this stuff in and run it for prints.  You never know, we might get lucky, but I have a feeling they're gonna be clean." 

He left to deposit the evidence in his cruiser and came back meeting them on the porch steps.  "This one of the Frendrick's pups?" he asked, giving Lucky a scratch behind his ears. 

Cole responded with another grunt that had Abby wondering whether it was a new language she would need to learn.  She smiled at the sheriff after rolling her eyes at Cole.  "Yes, sheriff, his name's Lucky."

He absently nodded before spearing her with a very intense look.  "Take this seriously, Abby.  Be vigilant.  I don't want this to be a repeat..."  He closed his eyes and sighed heavily.  "Just don't let your guard down."

Abby knew he was thinking about the loss of his daughter six years ago.  "I won't.  I promise."

"Call me if anything else unusual happens.  Even anything small.  You never know what may be a clue."

"I will, Sheriff, and thank you."

Cole held out his hand, and the sheriff clasped it.  They did more a manly hand squeeze than an actual handshake.

They watched the sheriff drive off then Cole threw his arm around Abby's shoulders steering her into the house.  "Come on.  Let's grab some more of your shit.  You're staying with me again tonight."

With the feeling of violation at having a stranger in her house fresh on her mind, Abby had no problems with that plan.  She smiled up at Cole.  "Thanks."

He gave her a kiss on her forehead, his lips lingering a few seconds longer than the kiss warranted before saying, "Anytime, Darlin'."

* * * * *

Cole tried not to let his anger show as they locked up Abby's house, collected Lucky, and got in the car, but he was fucking irate.  Enraged that some asshole had set his sights on his girl, and he didn't know who he was or how to stop him.  Cole was a man of action.  He wanted to confront the little prick, put him in his place and tell him to leave Abby the fuck alone, but the guy was a coward, breaking into her house and leaving shit anonymously.  He felt impotent and for a man like him
—
a man that always wanted control of every situation
—
the feeling left a twist in his gut and a bad taste in his mouth. 

He felt a renewed surge of anger and forced himself to relax.  Relax his jaw muscles that currently had him grinding his teeth.  Relax his hold on the steering wheel that currently had his knuckles turning white.  The last thing he wanted was to upset Abby more than she already was.  Oh, she was trying to hide her true feelings from him as much as he was from her, but he saw it.  Had seen the unease in her eye at the realization that some stranger had invaded her space, her feeling of violation she hid behind a reassuring smile.  He wanted, no needed, to take that look away, remove the shadow of it from her eyes, but he couldn't fight something he didn't know, so he was helpless until the asshole made a mistake or made himself known. 

But the one thing he could do was protect Abby.  He didn't need to know who the asshole was to keep her safe.  He would keep her close.  His poor little mouse didn't know it yet, but he'd just made her stay in his house permanent.  He wouldn't allow that chickenshit fuck to get near her. 

Still deep in thought, he pulled into the garage, put the truck in park, and turned off the ignition.  They sat for a few minutes in silence, him staring out the front window until he felt her hand on his arm.  "You okay?"

He turned to look at her.  God, she was beautiful.  Soft, creamy skin, the red highlights in her hair, shining in the late afternoon sun coming through the open garage door, full, red lips, and her eyes, a blue so dark they almost looked purple staring at him now with such intensity, such trust.  He cleared his throat before uttering a raspy, "No, but I will be, after."

A cute little line settled between her eyes.  "After?"

He didn't say anything further.  Just got out of the truck, went around to her side, opening the door, and scooping up Lucky before taking her hand.  He led her into the house, putting the dog down after shutting the door.  In the kitchen, he filled Lucky's food bowl to keep him busy then went back to Abby, claiming her hand again and leading her up the stairs to his bedroom.