Kissed Blind (A Hot Pursuit Novel Book 2) (17 page)

“I’ll do whatever I have to do to keep you safe, even if it’s putting myself in harm’s way. Hasn’t that ever happened before?”

“Being abducted and shot at?”

I laughed. “No, I mean, something more on the dangerous side with your fans.”

“No. I’ve had a few overzealous run-ins before, but I’d yet to be shot at until now.”

I grimaced, and a wave of guilt hit me like a thunderbolt. “I’m sorry for what happened.”

He screwed the cap off his water bottle and squinted.

“For letting them take you I mean. I wish I knew what happened, but one minute I was watching you and the next I was in the back of the car being driven to the hospital.”

He took a drink and exhaled. “I saw them when it was already too late. They came at you from behind. You didn’t stand a chance. Then they shot something into my neck. I have a foggy image in my mind of you on the ground before I passed out.”

“Where’d they come from?”

“I have no idea. They were just there when I stood up.”

“Did you see anything else? Or remember anything else?”

“No, when I came to, I was disoriented and strapped to the chair. That’s about it. I faded in and out. I tried getting away once, but you can probably tell it didn’t work out so well for me.” He pointed to his bruised lip and eye.

“It was two on one?” I shrugged.

“Yeah, you’d think from all the training I’ve done, I would have had a little more success, but I’ll just say I wasn’t prepared for that situation. It was a helluva blow to my ego.”

“Coming from the girl who has trained extensively for things exactly like this, they still took me down, so both of our egos have taken a hit.”

“Well, I don’t blame you, so no apology needed.” He spooned a few more bites into his mouth. “The world is full of crazy people, and when you’re in the public eye, you become a magnet for them.”

“I think we can safely say they’re not a threat to you anymore.”

His smile fell, and his eyes grew heavy with sadness. “I hope I won’t have to worry about them anymore.”

“I was just talking to Vance when you came down. The man closest to us was killed, and I’m still waiting for an update about the second, but you don’t have reason to worry anymore. You can finish up your film here and go back to your normal life in California.”

He half smiled. “My life is anything but normal. Trust me.”

“You’re probably right.” He’d come to the bottom of his bowl of soup. “Was that enough?”

“Plenty for now. Thanks.” His eyes drooped as he stood from the table.

I grabbed his bowl and mine. “Go have a seat on the couch. I’ll take care of this.” I washed all the dishes and put everything back in its place. When I looked into the other room, Oliver’s head was tilted back against the wall; he’d fallen asleep. I covered him with a blanket and snuggled into the chair across from him. It was late, and I needed rest too.

.              .              .

I awoke to the sound of running water. It was light out, but the sun was still rising. I found Oliver in the kitchen drinking from a glass. His shirt was wrinkled, and his hair was ruffled.

“Good morning,” I said, trying to fix my hair.

He set his glass down and leaned against the steel edge of the sink. “Morning.”

“How’d you sleep?” 

“Pretty well. I liked waking up and finding you across from me. You were curled up like a cat. It was pretty cute.” His finger tenderly grazed the injured part of his lip.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve slept in a chair. I can say I’ve had better rests than last night’s. How’re you feeling?”

“Stomach is good and the rest isn’t bad.” His eyes raked over me from head to toe.

“Good,” I said, suddenly lightheaded and rested my backside on the table. “Oh, I’m not sure if I mentioned it last night or not, but Vance called Camille and told her you were safe here with me.”

He lifted his brows. “I bet she loved that.” When my face fell, he chuckled. “I’m only kidding. I’m sure it’s fine.”

“Oh, okay, good.”

“But, is everything else all right? I heard a little of your conversation last night when I came down from the shower. I was going to ask you after you finished cleaning up dinner but I fell asleep.” He came a few steps closer. “Will you both be in hot water for what you did?”

“I’m not sure.” I grimaced. “We might have a few questions to answer later. What we did was… unorthodox.”

He furrowed his brow. “I heard you say something about money?”

I looked down at my hands and chose my words wisely. “Right… the men who’d taken you were trying to extort money from Camille to get you back.”

He grunted his acknowledgement and closed the distance between us, placing his hands on my shoulders. “I’ll make sure nothing happens to your jobs. Don’t worry about it, okay?”

“I have to worry about it.” My eyes rose to meet his, and his gaze raked lazily from my neck to my shoulders. I took a deep breath when his eyes landed on my chest.

“After everything you did for me yesterday, I’ll see to it that you have a job at the end of the day. I guarantee it.” He took my hands in his, and a surge of energy shot up my arms. “Diana?”

“Hmm?”

“I know this is going to sound like a line, but I dreamt about you last night. I’m completely enamored with you.”

I flushed, and my pulse skittered.
This
had to be a dream. It had to be some crazy manifestation in my brain. I needed coffee or something. One thing was for certain though, I had to move. “Maybe we should put some ice on your eye.” I stepped out of his hold and toward the fridge, but he caught my shoulder. He stepped in front of me, and I backed up against the counter.

“There’s no sense in doing that now. It’s too late.” His voice was a low growl, and the heat of his body radiated through me.

“Won’t they be mad when you get on set?” My voice was shakier than I would have liked, and I struggled to speak louder than a hushed whisper.

“Less for makeup to do.” His lips softened and parted as his tongue roved between his teeth. He stroked the skin under my eye, his touch foreign but alluring. “Now your eyes, however, hold a unique beauty that no makeup could improve.”

“Oliver?” He answered me with a glance from his one perfect, exquisitely radiant eye. I studied his face. A man who’d kissed Hollywood’s top leading ladies and faked it with all of them wasn’t faking it with me. He wanted me, really wanted me, but it couldn’t happen. “You want to watch some TV?”

The corners of his mouth tipped into a smile. “No.”

I had to move before something happened that couldn’t be undone. I wiggled free from his hold, ignoring his answer, and walked toward the other room. “I know it’s not the Hilton, but this place has cable at least.” I’d almost made it to the couch before he grabbed my hand, knocking me off balance. I sat on the upholstered arm, and he stepped between my knees.

He rested both hands on my shoulders. “Other women pale in comparison to you. They’re all nipped and tucked, pumped full of silicone and Botox, willing to do the unthinkable to claw their way to the top. But that’s not you. You do the unimaginable and throw yourself in the face of danger to save someone. Who does that?” He leaned in, and his breath teased my lips. “You are a complete mystery to me.”

I closed my eyes and nearly lost myself. I bent my head down, halting what almost was, and put my hands to his chest. “I can’t do this.”

His surprise was unmistakable in the tilt of his head and in the slight twitch in his eye. What woman would have the strength tell him no? Not many, maybe not even me. As I searched his face, his body, his anything for something that could turn me off, I came up empty. I still wondered what it would be like to kiss the man most women only dreamed about. I’d watched him make love to other women and had seen how his body moved in the throes of passion, acting or not, I’d seen it. He’d shown me nearly every inch of himself. He’d made me think. He’d made me feel. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t fantasized about him—I definitely had—and here he was with an offer almost too good to refuse.

“Why?” The rejection in his voice cut me like a knife.

“Because I work for you, you’re married, and I’m in a relationship.”

“If you think for one second Camille has been faithful to me all these years, she’s fooled you just like she’s fooled the rest of the world. It’s Hollywood. It’s all smoke and mirrors.” His eyes clouded with the raw sores of an aching heart. “But you… there’s nothing fake about you. I can touch you and feel you, the real you. It’s the realness of you that’s irresistible. I’ve wondered what it would be like to kiss you from the day I met you.”

“You did?” I thanked God I was sitting.

He took my face in his hands, and I rose up to meet him. Any desire to stop him vanished like the shadow of a cloud on a sunny day. Everything that was ceased to be the moment his lips met mine.

My back rested against the wall, and he pressed his body into me. I was kissing a dream and wasn’t ready to wake up, so I closed my eyes tighter. His fingers twined into my hair, and the smell of his soap and sweat against my skin was intoxicating. My brain was in a delicious fog. His hands rose under my shirt, hot against my skin. His teeth raked over my earlobe, making the roof of my mouth tingle. I tilted my head and let him learn my body.

“I want you more than anyone else. Tell me you want me like I want you,” he breathed into my ear.

Those words. Gabe’s face flashed before my eyes. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I can’t…” I pushed him off. “Do this.” I covered my mouth and ducked down out of the cage he’d created around me. I backed away. “Please, it’s not you.”

He rested against the wall and ran his hands through his hair. “I can’t remember the last time someone gave me the ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ speech.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “You have no idea how flattered I am. You are incredible and working for you has been amazing. But I just can’t do this.”

A wooden board creaked outside on the porch and movement caught my eye. My heart stopped when I saw Gabe staring back at me
.

Nineteen

“Gabe?” I gaped through one of the long panes of glass on either side of the front door. As I walked toward him, he backed away. By the time I opened the door, he was already halfway to his car. I prayed he hadn’t seen what had happened with Oliver. “What’re you doing here? How’d you know where I was?”

He stopped and faced me. “I followed you last night.”

“You followed me? Why the hell did you follow me?” I placed my hands on my hips.

“I wanted to know where you were.”

“Why?”

“Because I did.”

“That’s a lie. It’s because you didn’t trust me.”

“Yeah.” He snorted. “Looks like I had reason not to.”

My heart plummeted, and he continued walking to his car.

“Stop walking away. Where are you going?”

He whipped around and planted his feet wide. The veins and muscles in his neck bulged as he clenched his fists. “Please, I’m intruding on your plans. Why don’t you go back to what you were doing?”

“Gabe…” I choked on the images he’d seen. “Nothing happened.”

“
That
wasn’t nothing.” He yanked his car door twice before realizing it was locked. He hit the button on his remote several times.

“Stop, please.” I ran after him and grabbed his shoulder. “Don’t go. I’m sorry. He kissed me, but I stopped him. It didn’t mean anything.”

He shrugged off my poisonous touch and laughed. “It meant everything. After all we’ve been through and all the lectures I’ve gotten from you: ‘Nothing is going on between me and Vance. You have to trust me.’ ‘I know my job is dangerous, but trust me.’ I see where my trust has gotten me. How many times has this happened with Vance?”

“Never! Never.” My heart was in my throat. He’d never believe me. One careless mistake had made everything else a lie.

“I bet the two of you just laugh when you talk about me behind my back, don’t you? And now this… with him!” He pointed toward the door. “What a joke.”

“We don’t sit around and laugh about you. Nothing is or has been going on between me and Vance.”

“I don’t believe you,” he said through gritted teeth. “After all that crap with the guy you were with months ago, I looked past it and have never brought it up, not once.” He shook a finger in my face. “I’m speechless. Speechless!”

My pulse soared higher. “That was different and you know it. This didn’t mean anything. He’s been through a lot—you have to understand where his head was.”

His nostrils flared. “I don’t care what he’s been through. He doesn’t care or respect relationships, clearly. I’m sure his wife would love to hear about this.” He jerked his head back and gasped. “Did he even know about me? I bet you forgot to mention it, huh?”

My throat began to cramp. “I told him about you.” 

He let out a disgusted splutter. “I don’t know if that’s better or worse. You should be embarrassed, ashamed of yourself.”

“I am. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Your sorry means nothing.” He looked over my shoulder to Oliver who stood in the open doorway. “She’s all yours. I’m through with her. Just be careful, you can’t trust her. You’re last movie sucked by the way.” He slid into his seat and slammed the door.  

“Gabe!” I called after him, but he sped away, never looking back.

I was deaf to the world around me and only heard the blood coursing through my veins. An arm was over my shoulder, pulling me back into the house. I stumbled and turned, barely able to peel my eyes off the road. Oliver led me into the house and sat me on the couch.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to say.” He placed a hand on my knee and squeezed.

I forced a smile and pulled my leg away. “It’s fine. Gabe flies off the handle all the time. Once he cools down, I can explain.”

“Maybe I could talk to him for you? I feel terrible. I should have never pushed.”

“No.” I laughed and pretended for both our sakes. “It’ll be fine.” I tucked my loose hair behind my ears. “Anyway, I should work on getting you back home.”

He nodded. “Sure.”

.              .              .

The next hour flew by in a blur. I ironed out the details of getting Oliver home, called Greyson and updated him, and kept my mind occupied. A shit storm was coming my way from what Vance and I had done. We were expected in Cavanaugh’s office as soon as I got Oliver back to his apartment and once Vance was cleared by the police.

By late morning, I was dropping Oliver off at his door. We stood out in the hallway, and I stared at the bright red door that would take him home.

He placed a hand on the doorknob but stopped and faced me. “I’m truly sorry,” he said, keeping his voice soft and low.

“It’s fine.”

“No, it isn’t. I can see by the way you’re acting. You know I study people for a living, their mannerisms, their speech patterns, body language. Everything about you right now tells me something other than fine.”

I laughed. “Well, there are a lot of things I have left to take care of and most of them are going to be unpleasant.”

He gave me a consolatory smile and nodded. “Right, well, I’m going to go in and face my firing squad.”

I squinted. “Firing squad? What’s that mean?”

He shook his head. “Nothing. Go on. I know you have a lot to take care of.”

“I’ll see you Monday morning, hopefully.”

“You will. See you then.”

I called Vance when I got in the car and waited until I saw him pull into B&B’s parking lot. He met me halfway between his car and mine.

“How bad is this going to be?” I asked.

“It’s going to be fine. Cavanaugh is definitely pissed, but our client is alive because of us. He can’t argue with that.” We started our walk to the doors, and he draped an arm over my shoulder. “You did good. A total badass in there and you had my back. No matter what situation we’re put in, we’re unstoppable.”

“Yeah.” I snorted.

He stopped me right outside the doors. “Something up you need to talk about?”

I looked into the depths of his eyes and couldn’t bring myself to tell him what I’d let happen with Oliver given all the grief I’d given him over Cici. “No. I’m fine. It’s just been a crazy few hours, you know? My head is swimming with this, that, and the other.”

“I got you. Come on, let’s get this over with.”

We walked through the doors into B&B headquarters. Just inside the lobby Miss Red came out of one of the locker rooms. She carried her bucket of cleaning supplies and wore a big walking cast on one of her legs.

“Hey, Miss Red,” I said. “I thought I told you to stop cleaning in here on the weekends by yourself after what happened last time.”

“Hey, baby.” She smiled and waved off what I’d said. “You think something like that’s gonna happen to an old lady like me twice? Nah, baby, not a chance. I think Jesus is keepin’ a closer eye on me these days.” She glanced upward, and her cherry red curls bobbed.

“Yeah? What’s up with the new accessory?” Vance asked, looking down at her boot.

“One of my grandbabies left a toy truck out in my living room, and I tripped over the thing. Just twisted my ankle is all. Barely hurts, but you know them doctors—they always gotta put their two cents in.” She winked. “I gotta wear this for a few weeks then I’ll be good as new. Whatch y’all doin’ here today? You ain’t dressed for workin’ out.”

“We have a quick meeting upstairs then we’ll be outta here,” I answered.

“Well you best be getting’ on then. I know they don’t like to be kept waitin’ upstairs. I’m just about finished here myself.”

“Take care, Miss Red.” Vance smiled. “Be sure to put your feet up when you get home.”

“That’ll only slow me down, baby.” She put in some ear buds and hummed as she walked into the gym.

Upstairs, Vance knocked on Cavanaugh’s door, and we walked in. Cavanaugh sat with his head in his hand filling out an incident report. When he saw us, he smacked his pen down on his desk.

“Sit.”

“Yes, sir,” we said in unison.

“What the hell happened last night? I’ve already talked to you.” He pointed to Vance, and then turned his finger on me. “But now I’m ready to hear what you have to say. You breached protocol, and I’m disappointed with how you’ve both handled the situation.”

My armpits were already saturated. I swallowed, took a deep breath, and then presented the situation as I recalled it, finishing up where I took Oliver to the safe house.

“We have pretty clear cut guidelines to handling situations like this, don’t we?” His eyes darted back and forth between mine and Vance’s.

“Yes, sir,” Vance answered. “But everything happened so quickly there wasn’t time to check in. Our client’s safety was our top priority. It was afterhours so we did what we thought we had to do.”

“Yeah, you told me that already.” He exhaled an angry breath through his nostrils. “We have two dead bodies. Have you been cleared by Cincinnati PD? I can’t believe you dragged Rivas into this.” He shook his head at me.

“Yes, sir. They understand what we walked into,” Vance answered.

“And the client? He’s safe and sound?” He turned his glare on me.

“Yes, he’s back at home and resting. We had a long night, but aside from a couple of bumps and bruises, he was mostly unharmed.”

“Mostly? So the client was injured?”

“Sir, I was knocked unconscious, and when Oliver was in custody of the abductors, he was roughed up a little, but nothing major.”

“Christ, what a disaster.” He shuffled through the papers on his desk and handed each of us a packet. “Both of you go to your desks and fill these out.”

“And that’s it?” I asked.

He laughed. “No, that’s hardly it. You both are going to be under review when this job is over. You’ll finish this assignment out, go to California like the client has requested, and then we’ll discuss the next step. Now, get out of here so I can finish this and go home.” As we left his office, he grumbled about being there on a Saturday morning.

Vance and I filled out our incident reports at our desks. My heartbeat slowed to a normal rhythm by the time I’d gotten to the end, but the queasy feeling in my stomach remained. I did a mental inventory of my pantry and fridge—I was going to need to stop at the supermarket to load up on all the wrong things if I was ever going to get through this weekend.

We handed in our reports, and outside, I tossed the keys to Vance. “Drive me home, will ya?”

He looked down at the keys with surprise. “Really, that easy?”

“I don’t have any fight left in me today. I’m exhausted.”

He unlocked the car and drove me home. I opened the door at the curb and was getting ready to get out when Vance stopped me. “Hey.”

“What?” I said, without looking at him. I just wanted to get inside my apartment and forget about the last twenty-four hours.

“Look at me.”

I sighed and slipped back into my seat. I stared blankly through the windshield. I felt like a zombie.

“Thanks for everything. I know you did what you did for me and you didn’t have to. I know you’re wrestling with some things inside your head right now.”

I nodded. “I am.”

“Look, I want you to know, if it comes down to it, I’ll tell Cavanaugh everything and I’ll quit. I won’t let you go down over this.”

“I could have said no. It’s not all your fault.”

He tilted his head and stared at me with his puppy eyes.

“Stop looking at me like that.” I smiled. “I could have said no.”

His lashes fluttered like a butterfly’s wings.

“You have problems,” I said through a laugh.

He nodded.

“Okay, I’m going inside.” I checked the time on the dashboard clock. “Some people are coming by with clothes for me to try on in a couple of hours, and I have some things I need to take care of before they get here.”

Vance chimed in before I closed the door. “See you tomorrow. Around noon?”

Oh God, lunch at Vance’s parents’ house. Gabe was supposed to go with me. I forced a smile. “I’ll be there.”

I hauled my body inside my apartment and collapsed on my bed. I called Gabe a few times, but the phone didn’t even ring; it went straight to voicemail. I didn’t know what I would have said if he had answered anyway. I showered and took a trip to the store to load my shelves.

As I walked the aisles, I imagined over and over what Gabe had seen, staring through the panes of glass. He’d watched me kiss Oliver and saw Oliver kissing the every loving hell out of me. The thought of seeing Gabe doing something similar made me nauseous. There are some things that just can’t be undone.

I stopped at the little wine shop up the street from the market and picked out an expensive bottle of Italian wine. I’d lie to Vance’s mother and tell her Gabe was called away on business but insisted I bring a great bottle from his cellar. It cost almost a hundred dollars, and normally I would have choked on that price tag, but not this time. The money Camille was going to give me would cover it, and then I tried to think of ways I could spend it as quickly as possible. If I saw it in my bank account, it would remind me of what I’d done. Maybe I could give it to charity, but one thing I knew for certain was I didn’t want it.