GetOn (9 page)

“You know pacing isn’t going to make it any better, don’t
you? If it did, you’d have been better three days ago.”

Garrett didn’t stop pacing at Mia’s remark. He didn’t even
glare at her. He’d stopped
that
two days ago.

She crossed her ankles, being careful not to smudge her
still-tacky emerald toenail polish. After all, it was too beautiful here on
Garrett’s screened-in deck to watch the man pace and not enjoy it somehow.
There was only so much back and forth a girl could take and not go crazy. It
was like watching tennis, but without any of the grunting.

Mia kinda liked the grunting.

“Trent will call at some point, you said. So walking back
and forth a zillion times helps that how?”

Garrett blew out an exasperated breath as he rounded the
large elephant ear plant for about the twentieth time that afternoon. “It
doesn’t. But it helps me burn nervous energy, so I’ll keep doing it.”

Mia rolled her eyes. The last few days with Garrett had been
wonderful, with this single glaring exception. He was more than on pins and
needles; he was on fucking pointy live wires. Every few hours he’d come out
here and pace, or stare into the dense woods behind the house with a thoughtful
expression.

Last time, Mia had brought the radio and danced up and down
the length of the deck as he paced. He hadn’t been thrilled. Or even laughed.

“Hey,” she said, patting the empty space on the wicker seat
beside her. “You could come sit down for a few minutes. I’ll only bite if you
ask nicely.”

That, at least, got a little chuckle.

“Come on—if you’re not chicken.”

He shook his head but he came anyway, sitting beside her and
putting his arm around her shoulders. She settled in close to his chest, loving
how his heart thumped under her ear. There’d been a lot of
this
over the
last few days too, but not nearly enough to satisfy her.

“I’m sorry,” Garrett said, running his fingers through her
hair. She sighed with pleasure as he massaged her scalp. “I’m not normally this
wound up.”

“Now
I’m
sorry.” Mia rubbed his thigh gently, his
soft jeans catching slightly on the rough edge of her fingernail. “Is there
anything I can do?”

“No.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “No,
actually, you’ve kept me from running myself crazy over the past few days.”

“This is you not crazy? Jesus Christ.”

He pulled a curl playfully. “Yeah. Smart-ass.”

She looked up at his face. He was staring straight ahead
again, as if the answer to all life’s problems was hidden somewhere in those
woods, just beyond his vision. “Then what is it?”

He sighed. “It’s guilt.”

“But you haven’t done anything wrong. Well, other than last
night. That was cruel and unusual punishment.”

“That was consensual. You never said your safe word.”

She pursed her lips. “Doesn’t mean it’s not cruel. You were
saying…guilty for what?”

“I cost us a lead. A potentially good one.” Garrett’s voice
wasn’t playful anymore. “I made a rookie mistake, and I could have put myself
and the other guys in danger. These aren’t amateurs we’re playing around with,
Mia. These are dangerous people. They’re used to killing people who get in
their way, and nobody knows that more than me.” He thumped his chest. “I set up
the rules for the safety of these guys who are helping me, and I broke them.
They’re helping me catch Ford, and I’m acting like a loose cannon who can’t be
trusted.”

“Hey,” Mia said, pressing her hand against his cheek. She
turned his face so he was forced to look into her eyes. “You made a mistake. It
happens. You can’t just let it eat you up, and that’s what you’ve been doing
for the last few days. Trent and the other guys will forgive you.”

He closed his eyes. “I can’t ask them to.”

“You don’t have to. They will.” She pulled his face to hers,
and their kiss was slow, languid, full of
something
but more than
passion. They’d made love so many times over the past several days that their
bodies did more than lust. They felt. And now Mia wanted to know what. She
pulled back slightly, breaking their kiss, but she never stopped touching his
face. They were so close, their mouths only inches apart.

Inches too far, but she needed that space, just for this
moment.

“I…” She stopped, the words swelling in her throat. Maybe
too soon. Change it up, something else. “Garrett. I think something is…well, I
care a lot about you.”

The corner of his lips turned up. “Really? Is that why you
hogged all the covers last night?”

“Shut up, asshole, I’m trying to be serious here.” She
whispered the words without venom. “I care about you.”

The wicker beneath them creaked as Garrett turned toward
her. His eyes were serious now. “I know. Sorry, I…” He glanced away, as if he
couldn’t bear to look into her eyes while he said the words. “I care about you
too.”

Mia looked straight ahead. The words lay between them, heavy
and real and imbued with meaning that she didn’t quite understand. His fingers
laced through hers, his large hand warm against her palm. The leaves of the
large water oak nearest the deck waved in the early fall breeze, that kiss of
cool promising that fall was just around the corner. Sunlight danced in front
of them, and Mia wondered if she stretched out their entwined hands, would the
light would cover them too.

They stayed that way, hand in hand, for a long time. Not
saying anything more, because nothing more needed to be said. Just sitting and
watching the trees sway.

When a cloud passed over the sun and the trees fell into
shadow, Garrett gently released her hand and stood.

“I should call Trent. You okay here?”

“Actually,” Mia stood too, after checking to make sure her
toenail polish was definitely dry. It was. “I need to check on something. Do
you mind if I use your computer?”

“No, that’s fine.” Garrett led her to the little office off
the back hallway. He powered up his MacBook and typed the login information.
“It’s good to go.”

“Thanks.” Mia glanced up at him, wondering why she felt so
shy all of a sudden. It wasn’t like her to feel this way, small and delicate
and really kind of exposed. He pressed a gentle kiss across her lips then left
the room.

“What the hell, girl?” Mia whispered to herself as she sat
in the black office chair. The leather rubbed against legs left bare by her
short shorts. As she typed the URL for her banking website, she looked around
his office.

It was clean, tasteful, like everything else in his house.
The desk was made of cherry or mahogany, some kind of dark wood. Books lined a
heavy shelf behind her and natural light poured in from the long bank of
windows. A silver picture frame caught her eye, and she picked it up from its
home on the third shelf of the bookcase.

It was a woman, eyes shut as she bent double in laughter,
long blonde hair flying around her like a cloud. Mia’s thumb rubbed over the
glass.

“Priscilla.”

The answer was spoken aloud, even though she hadn’t meant
to. Carefully, a deep sense of worry nagging in her gut, she put the picture
back. She didn’t expect Garrett to ever feel about
her
the same way he’d
felt about the woman he’d lost, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be jealous of
the dead woman’s place in Garrett’s heart.

Mia snorted. What a prize she was.

She typed in her login credentials. This wouldn’t take a
minute, she just wanted to check and make sure—

“Shit.”

The number was still the same in the little block labeled
“balance”. Wincing, she checked her recent history.

Nope, no direct deposit from Drama Tattoo. Her last
paycheck, and she’d been stiffed.

She should be panicking. She should be calling Jules to
demand her last paycheck. Instead, she was going to do what she’d done for the
past week. Ignore her own problems and be with Garrett.

Clicking the “close” button at the top corner of the window,
Mia sighed. She’d have to face reality at some point. She needed a job, and her
apartment couldn’t stay empty forever. Being here with Garrett was amazing, but
it wasn’t sustainable. She glanced at Priscilla’s picture.

“You don’t know how good you had it.”

As Garrett left Mia in the office, he wondered what the fuck
was up with his goddamn head.

His steps echoed down the hallway. Why he’d put on his boots
this morning, he wasn’t sure. It wasn’t as if Trent had called him with
anything in the past few days.

In the kitchen, Garrett yanked open a cabinet door and
pulled out a glass. He ran some water from the filtered tap at the sink and
took a healthy swig. Staring out across his front lawn and into the private
woods beyond, he considered the situation.

Normally he’d never have consented to let the guys come up
with alternatives on their own. They were good, but none of them had the
experience with this stuff that he did. So why had he laid down and taken this
particular punishment?

Garrett narrowed his brows as his fingers tightened around
the glass. The guilt, for one. And Mia, for the other.

God, the past few days with her had been incredible. She was
adventurous, responsive, fiery, funny. Something about her drove him crazy and
simultaneously drew him toward her. Like she was a blazing forest fire and he
was a brainless moth. Or she was a magnet and his entire body was shiny like
the Tin Man. It had been incredible, infuriating and wonderful, all at the same
time.

Draining the last of the water, Garrett placed the glass in
the sink. But enough was enough. He couldn’t hide here with Mia, especially considering
what he’d told her this morning.

Cared for her. Huh. That really didn’t cover it. He couldn’t
get enough of her. On more than one occasion he’d caught himself daydreaming
about the places he’d like to take her when this business with Ford was done.
That was a little bit more than “cared”.

Garrett grimaced as he stalked toward the living room where
he’d left his cell. He had to get out of this headspace. Ford was out there,
and Priscilla needed justice. Or, if he was honest with himself, he had more
guilt to absolve.

If he wanted to move forward with his life—and for the
moment, he was pretty certain he did—he had to finish this chapter. It wouldn’t
be pretty, but then again, until recently, nothing in his life was.

Garrett put one hand on his hip as he tapped Trent’s number.
His friend answered on the third ring.

“Hey, Garrett.”

“T.” Garrett moved in front of the window. “Haven’t heard
from you in a while. Wanted to check and see how things are going.”

Trent’s voice was a little stiff, cagey. “Fine, actually.
Just fine. Reg has done some great hacking, and I think we’ve got enough
information that we don’t need Floyd. We’ve found some replacement leads.
Quentin’s contact has a direct link with one of them.”

“Great.” Despite the positive news, a feeling of tightness
was blooming across Garrett’s chest. He rubbed at it subconsciously, his eyes
tracking across the woods. “I can be there in just a few minutes. We can go
over—”

“Garrett, it’s not going to happen like that.”

Garrett narrowed his brows. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that the guys and I have been talking and…” Garrett
could almost see Trent’s apologetic but unrelenting expression. “I don’t think
you’re in the right position to handle this right now.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Garrett stalked across the
room, nervous energy firing in his blood. “You think I’m just going to sit here
and let you guys put yourselves in danger?”

“You’re going to have to. We’re not sharing any information.
You put
yourself
in danger, Garrett. If they’d caught you, don’t you
think you’d be dead right now? And if you were, what if Quentin went looking
for you? We all could have been jeopardized, and everything we’ve worked for in
the last three years would have fallen down the drain.”

Garrett stopped his frantic pacing and sank onto the suede
couch. God help him, Trent was right. It hadn’t just been a thoughtless stunt.
It had nearly cost them everything.

“I’m not saying forever, I’m saying a few more days to get
your head on straight. Lord knows we need your help, but right now I’m still
not convinced you’re thinking clearly.”

Self-anger was so easy to misdirect, and Garrett had had
enough of feeling like this.

“Listen, Trent. I have
always
trusted you, never
doubted you. And now you think you can just freeze me out?” Before Garrett knew
what was happening, his voice had escalated to a yell. “I built this goddamn
team! This is, and always has been,
my
mission. I’ve needed your help,
and god knows it’s been critical, but you’re forgetting one simple thing.”

Garrett gripped the phone so hard his knuckles cracked.

“Ford’s life is
mine
. There’s only so much you can do
without me.”

Trent went silent for a moment. Movement in the doorway drew
Garrett’s glance. Mia stood there, her brow furrowed in concern and her arms
crossed over her middle.

“You’ve got to get your head on straight first, man. You’re
not pissed at me and you know it. It was stupid, yeah. But until you get over
it, we can’t move forward.”

The line went dead. Garrett dropped the phone onto the couch
and stood.

Anger pounded through Garrett’s veins like a drug. He felt
like punching the goddamn wall.

“Garrett?” Mia stepped into the living room. “Are you okay?”

“No. Trent’s icing me out.”

“He’s right, you know. You’ve got to get over what happened.
And your team is good. Let them handle it for a while. Or don’t you trust
them?”

“Of course I do! I wouldn’t let them help me if I didn’t
think they could handle it! What do you think I am, an idiot?”