Homeland Security (Defenders of Love Book 2) (9 page)

"Why does this keep happening?" she muttered as she reached for the door. Kaiden was right behind her, so close she could feel his breath against her ear.

"I don't know but I guarantee you this. It won't happen again."

Instant disappointment filled Katie. "Um, okay." Her hand was on the lock when Kaiden reached out and took it in his, turning her to face him.

"What I meant was, next time, nothing is going to stop us." He leaned down then and kissed her quick and hard but there was enough passion in that one brief encounter to set a whole new avalanche of longing free within her.

She grabbed her purse that had stayed on the floor of the toilet stall and reached up to smooth her hair.

Kaiden unlocked the door then and stepped through. Katie peeked out to see that the crowd had dispersed. Only a couple of firefighters remained. The one that had pulled her from the elevator eyed her with a knowing look as she exited the bathroom. Ignoring the burning in her cheeks, Katie moved to a small waiting area and stood there while Kaiden and the fireman spoke. A few seconds later he joined her.

"Ready?" he asked.

Katie nodded, having apparently lost the gift of speech once again. She let him lead her from the hospital, remaining quiet until they were back in his truck and exiting the parking lot.

"There's something I need to tell you. Promise me you won't freak out."

"I don't
freak out
," Katie replied.

"The fireman talked to the elevator repair guy…"

"Wow, they got on that quickly."

"Yeah. Well, it's a good thing too."

Katie nodded in agreement. "We don't want anyone else to get hurt."

"Katie, there's something you should know."

"What?"

"Someone tampered with the cables on the elevator. They were damaged."

"Please. It's an old building. They probably just wore out."

Kaiden hit the turn signal on the truck and pulled off the road into the lot of a fast food restaurant. When he turned to face her, his expression turned serious.

"What?" she asked, a little afraid to hear the answer.

"Someone tampered with them. They were cut most of the way through, the final part frayed as though it had been pulled apart but the rest was a clean cut. The perp even left the tool they used on top of the car."

"That's impossible. Why would anyone do that? Someone could have died…"

Kaiden didn't say anything. He turned to look out the windshield instead.

"Oh… that was the intent."

He nodded.

"And I was the intended?"

"It fits with the rest of the events over the past several hours."

"Why me?" Katie yelled, slamming both palms on the dashboard. "I don't understand.
Why me?"

"I don't know yet but we will find out. There has to be something in your relationship with Marks that makes you a target."

"I haven't spoken with him since we split. I thought he was having me followed but then your guys kidnapped me and I figured it was them. Maybe it was Nathan after all. I just don't know and I have no idea why."

"We will figure it out, I promise."

"Yeah, if I live long enough." Her laugh lacked any humor.

Kaiden pulled the truck back onto the road. "Let's go talk to my boss. Maybe he can give us something that will help."

She sighed. "Fine. We need to do something. I guess that's as good as anything."

"I'm not usually like that," she finally said twenty minutes later as they made their way down Virginia Beach Boulevard.

"Like what?" Kaiden squeezed her hand letting her know he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"You know, a wanton tramp who tries to rip guys' clothes off in public places."

"I should hope not. The only clothes I want you trying to rip off are mine. And maybe your own." He grinned and winked at her.

"I am not too sure but aren't you going to get in trouble for… because of me? I mean, aren't I some kind of prisoner or something in your investigation?" She tried to pull her hand away but he held tight lifting it to his lips and kissing the back of it.

"You aren't a prisoner. If anything you may have been a witness but now you are really a victim and it is my job to keep you safe until we are certain that no one is going to try to hurt you again."

"I'm sure you have gone above and beyond the call of duty, Agent James." She smiled slightly.

"I am a James. We never do anything we don't want to."

Chapter Nine

They didn't speak for a long while after that. Kaiden drove the truck back to his office in Norfolk. He needed to bring his boss up to speed on what had happened at the hospital and decide on a course of action for catching Nathan Marks. The part of Shore Drive that connected Virginia Beach to Norfolk was tree lined. The stunning colors of fall transported Kaiden back home to the mountains with his family. He stole a glance at Katie. She looked out the passenger door window. Katie's expression didn't give away her thoughts but he couldn't help but wonder if she too missed the stunning beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

"Maybe I should go back home when all this is over." His heart stuttered a little at her comment.

"It might be best not to make any major decisions just yet."

Give me time to convince you to stay.

"What do I have left here? My fiancé is a criminal and I can't go back to my job. I have nothing left." She sounded so sad he wanted to pull the truck over right there on the side of the road and take her in his arms. He resisted simply because he couldn't find a safe place to pull over.

"You have your beautiful apartment with that amazing view of the ocean."
You could have me too, if you wanted me.

"My apartment has been destroyed. I will never feel safe there again." She released a heavy sigh. Kaiden wished he knew the right thing to say but he had never been very good at the emotional stuff. For him, the last couple of days wouldn't have been the end of his world but a reason to change it. He looked at adversity as a challenge. Cara had never liked that about him and he couldn't understand why.

"I could help you find a new apartment. Maybe somewhere down here by the bay?" They were passing beautiful waterfront condos and homes that sat right on the Chesapeake Bay. The view would be as good if not better than what she had since they were out of the tourist area.

"Wonderful. But with no job, it wouldn't matter. I never should have moved here. It's time for me to go home."

Kaiden started to feel a little desperate. They had only just begun their relationship and now she talked about running away.

Relationship? You gotta be crazy, James. This is a case.

Okay, so maybe they were a long way from a relationship but he couldn't deny the chemistry between them. With all that electricity there had to be something more waiting to be discovered. He had loved Cara but she never made him burn with desire the way Katie seemed to simply by sitting in the same truck.

To be fair, Cara never showed him any real interest either. If he had to venture a guess she had been seeing that yahoo she was married to now long before their marriage had crumbled. Cara wanted to be an officer's wife and it didn't matter what branch of the service that officer worked in. He had long since suspected that she started her hunt for a new man the day after he'd left the Coast Guard.

"Why don't you hold off on making any rash decisions until we get this case wrapped up?"

"Yeah, sure. Okay," Katie replied unenthusiastically. "It's not like I have anything to rush home to either."

They rounded a curve and Kaiden headed to downtown Norfolk leaving the bay and its beauty behind them. He became more determined than ever to find Nathan Marks. Sure he wanted to wrap the case up but he wouldn't mind knocking the guy's lights out for hurting Katie the way he had.

"What is this place?" Katie asked as they pulled into one of the municipal parking lots.

"My office. The boss will want a rundown of what happened at the hospital."

"Do you have to tell him everything?" She glanced at him and he caught a quick glimpse of fear in her eyes.

He looked over and winked at her. "There are a few details I will likely leave out of my report."

"Good," she replied, obviously relieved. "After this morning at the hotel…"

"Nothing to worry about there. John Hunter might come across as a hard ass but he is as nice as they come. You will like him."

"It doesn't matter if I like him, as long as he doesn't throw me in prison."

Kaiden dissolved into a fit of laughter as he parked his truck and turned off the engine.

"What's so funny?" Katie demanded, her cheeks turning a deep crimson. He reached out and traced a line along the side of her face, ending at the place on her chin just below the center of her lips before opening his hand and resting his palm against her cheek.

"You are not going to prison," he managed between chuckles. "How can I make you understand that?"

She pulled away from him. "I don't know. Catch Nathan I guess."

"We will. It will just take a little time. If we don't do it right, his daddy and the fleet of Marks' attorneys will have him safely tucked away on some tropical island before the ink on the warrant for his arrest dries."

"I hate Nathan. In fact, I hate the entire Marks family. How could I have been so stupid?"

"Hey." He took her hand from her lap and held it, caressing the palm with his thumb. "We all make mistakes. Especially when it comes to love. Do you have any idea how many times I have kicked myself for leaving the hospital and not saying goodbye? I have dreamt of you every night for nearly a year. I also know what it feels like to have my heart broken."

"You do?"

Kaiden had turned to face her and now leaned back against the driver's side door. He released a heavy sigh. "Yes, I do. My ex-wife probably had more than one lover on the side during our marriage."

"I didn't know you were married. Is that why you didn't pursue anything between us when you were discharged?"

He nodded. "Exactly."

"Funny thing is if you hadn't taken off without a word when you were released, I never would have gotten serious with Nathan." Katie picked at an imaginary thread on her jeans. He watched her for a moment, mulling over her words in his mind before speaking again.

"So, what you are saying is that you felt the same way about me as I did about you?"

"That depends, how did you feel?"

"Like I wanted to get to know you better. Every time you touched me—to change a dressing, check a vital sign—I was afraid you would call for help from the way my heart raced. I'm surprised you couldn't hear the thumping in my chest. It's a wonder my blood pressure ever came up normal when you were around."

"Then I guess we felt the same way. I was afraid that I was breaking every rule of the Hippocratic Oath when I took care of you by enjoying it way too much." She offered a half smile but still didn't fully look him in the eye.

"I wish I had known. I'm no good at understanding women. That's what my ex always said. At our final appearance in divorce court, she said I deserve to be alone and that I would never find a woman that could put up with me the way she had put up with me." He remembered that day like it happened yesterday. The words had cut straight through his soul. "I had no idea that while I was loving her she was merely putting up with me."

"Nathan told me that no man would ever be able to stand being with me. I am not the kind of girl men want to…" her voice trailed off.

"That men want to…?" he prompted gently.

"Make love to," she whispered, her eyes closed. Kaiden watched as one tear fell from her left eye, traveled down her cheek and fell onto the leg of her jeans.

"All I've done for the last two days—several months actually—is think about making love to you."

Her head whipped up, shock in her lovely hazel eyes. He almost laughed out loud but caught himself. Laughing would absolutely be the worst thing he could do.

"Come on, Katie. After what keeps happening between us, you can't actually be surprised to hear that."

"I thought… well, I mean, it was… I was the one who keeps attacking you."

"In the elevator or bathroom maybe but I have done my fair share of the attacking." He offered up a grin. "Believe me, it was no hardship to have you on top of me in that elevator. If it was going down I was happy to have it happen with you right there."

Katie started giggling which soon lead to full on laughter. It became his turn to be confused.

"What's so funny?" he demanded.

"Gives new meaning to
Love in an Elevator
!" The lyrics of the
Aerosmith
song filled his head instantly and he joined her laughter.

"Yeah, I guess it does." They both broke out in a rendition of the chorus of the popular classic rock song, dissolving into another fit of laughter.

Katie finally leaned back against the truck seat and wiped the tears from her eyes. Happy tears, he thought to himself. Much better than the sad ones he had witnessed a few moments earlier. "We should probably get inside and take care of business."

"Yeah," Kaiden replied. "We probably should. We will continue this conversation later—maybe over dinner?"

Katie hesitated and then she nodded. "Okay. I mean, we gotta eat, right?"

"Right," Kaiden agreed with a smile. He opened the door and jumped down out of the truck. He jogged around the bed of the vehicle to open Katie's door where he ran right into her nearly knocking them both to the ground. Kaiden wrapped his arms around Katie to steady her. He didn't intend to kiss her there in the parking garage but somehow his lips found hers. She snaked her arms up around his neck, pulling him in closer. The passion between them mounted quickly. He marveled at the effect a simple kiss from her had on him.

He heard a sound and opened one eye to see a couple of young girls, probably college students standing across the way pointing and giggling. "We have an audience," he whispered against her lips.

Katie pulled back and looked up at him. He thought the pink in her cheeks made her look adorable but he knew she was embarrassed. "I did it again."

"Please, miss, it takes two to tango, you know? You and I, we were tangoing here and I've been a more than willing participant. In fact, I
love
to tango."

Kaiden adored the sound of her laughter. He loved kissing her and he was pretty sure he would love everything— and every inch—of her eventually. Just not there in the center of the municipal parking garage.

She looked up at him through slightly lowered lashes. Kaiden's chest tightened as much as his jeans when Katie smiled shyly. "I like to tango too."

He stroked her cheek gently with the pad of his thumb. "Good. Now stop doubting yourself. What I wouldn't give for two minutes alone with Mr. Nathan Marks. He had a lot of nerve saying so many terrible things to you and I feel the need to tell him so."

This time she looked him right in the eye and offered a wide smile. "I think you
should
have a word with him. If we can find him."
He still held Katie wrapped in his arms and as much as it pained him to do so, he stepped back. They really needed to get to the office. Taking her hand, and pleasantly surprised when she didn't pull it back, he started walking toward the stairs down to the street. "We will find him. I work for the United States government, remember? We have eyes everywhere!"

They both laughed. Being with Katie felt so right, even under the current circumstances. Nothing had felt this right in his life for a very long time.

***

Katie loved the warmth of Kaiden's hand around hers. She had forgotten how much she missed the simplicity of someone to hold hands with. Nathan wasn't a touchy feely kind of guy. He always made her feel bad for needing that sort of attention. Now she found herself caught in a limbo of attraction she didn't know how to handle. Nathan put her in a crazy situation—but not nearly as crazy as her feelings for the man beside her. It felt like no time at all had passed since he left the hospital. The simple act of holding hands had her heart racing, blood heating, and palms sweating. She felt thirteen with her first crush all over again.

Sure, the timing wasn't fabulous. She really needed to let things be between her and Kaiden since the whole terrorist thing wasn't resolved yet. Her mind knew what needed to be done but her heart wasn't having it. Not with Kaiden so close she got to touch him.

"I know Hunter came off as sort of a jerk this morning at the hotel but he really is a decent guy. He has always had my back—especially when my ex and I split. I was a wreck there for a while. Another boss would have told me to put up or shut up but Hunter sent me on vacation at my mother's place in the mountains. He was right on, sending me home. The Blue Ridge Mountains are like therapy for me. Not to mention my mom's place—quiet, secluded. Just what a man nursing a broken heart needed."

"She lives near the hospital then?"

"About forty five minutes up the side of a mountain actually. Down the end of an unmarked dirt road."

"That explains why you came in by helicopter that night."

Kaiden chuckled. "That and the fact that my mother's
friend
likes to play with his toys."

"How is your heart now?"

"Come again?"

"Your heart? Has it healed?"

Kaiden lifted her hand and brushed a kiss across the knuckles. "Perfectly."

They reached the ground floor and started down the sidewalk in the Waterside area of Norfolk. She could see how it got its name as they strolled a few hundred feet from the water to what seemed like another bland office building.