Under Fire (9 page)

“What about you? Is this”—he spread his hand to encompass her yard—“is it your dream?”

So they weren’t calling the police.

She knew a subject change when she saw one. But if he felt everything possible was being done to investigate the fire, then she trusted him. Clearly there was nothing they could do for Rachel right now.

Why not answer his question? She could actually take a moment to talk to him in the muggy night, the most she would get out of a man who refused to have dinner with her. Catriona leaned back against his truck, letting the ocean and night sounds seduce her.

“I wanted to study veterinary medicine, but my grades weren’t good enough.” And for once her parents refused to buy her way into something she wanted—even if she promised to marry another vet. Not that she would have been so calculating. But her mother had always been on her to marry a doctor, so she’d thought maybe…

She shook off her thoughts, not that he was rushing her. He had a way of listening and waiting that was rare. “I decided to be a vet tech instead. I left home with my dog Freckles and worked my way through. I held down a job at a shelter for about five years, then my parents passed away.”

There hadn’t been much money left—Vivian had been a conspicuous consumer. But there had been a mortgage-free house. A gorgeous beach home that wouldn’t sell for nearly what it was worth, in the current economy.

So she’d thumbed her nose at her mother and the entire neighborhood and started a doggy day care.

“I have the title free and clear to my parents’ house and decided to open Wags and Whiskers. I’m able to take in fosters and rescues. I’ve never been happier.”

She looked over the yard and the business she’d built. She offered obedience and agility classes. And she’d recently had a whole new world opened to her with some of her pets achieving certification to be therapy dogs. Not service dogs, but emotional support therapy dogs. She made trips to nursing homes and children’s cancer wards.

A dark grin welled inside her. Her mom would have approved of the visits to hospitals, since there were eligible doctors around.

But Catriona wasn’t there to snag some rich eye candy the way her mom would have wanted. She was there to make a difference. With her dogs, she had all the confidence in the world. For the first time, she wasn’t beige.

She
existed
.

And right at this time when she was feeling like anything was possible, into her life walked Brandon Harris. Big, quiet, and hunky, he showed up on her doorstep to discuss dog-sitting for his Australian shepherd, since his gym didn’t allow therapy dogs.

For nearly a month since then, she’d been waiting for a chance to get closer to him, and that opportunity had come tonight. She wasn’t letting it slide through her fingers.

Catriona shoved away from the warm metal of the truck. “I’ll leave you to finish up calls to whomever you need to speak with to do whatever it is you’re going to do to handle Rachel’s problem with the stalker.” She rested a hand on his arm briefly, but it was enough. “Take your time. I have plenty to keep me busy securing all the dogs so we can go.”

“Go?” He looked up sharply. “Where?”

“To Rachel’s condo, of course. At least a drive-by to check on things.” She looked back over her shoulder, a lock of hair catching in the wind. “We can be there for support if she’s heard about the explosion and shows up. Make sure she’s not alone, if some creep is there waiting for her.”

His eyes held on her hair. On her mouth.

She lost her footing on… nothing really. The ground was flat. Her balance was just wonky.

God, she hated her lack of experience with men. Oh, she’d had sex plenty of times. Starting with blow jobs on guys at those horrid cotillion classes and moving on from there. She’d kept trying until she’d figured out she just wasn’t good at relationships. After a while, it just wasn’t worth the effort.

Until now.

Brandon placed his hand on her waist. The air snapped like lightning chasing across the ocean, looking for land.

Confusion shifted through his eyes. Then was gone.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Fine”—sorta, not really, damn it—“just tripped over a, uh, dog toy.”

“Good thing I was here to catch you.” His hand fell away. “But what about the burgers you wanted to grill? And if you’re coming along with me, who’ll watch the dogs?”

If she came along?

He wasn’t rejecting the idea outright.

“The hamburgers will keep just fine in the fridge and we can hit a drive-through on our way.” Did sharing a Big Mac in his truck count as a date? “And I have a list of college students who’re willing to sub at a moment’s notice for extra money.”

“We could get back late.”

“They’re college students. Late night is their specialty.”

“Right, all-night study sessions.” When he smiled, the cleft in his chin called to her finger to tap it. “I should make those calls before we go.”

Her skin tingled. They were really going to work together on this, hang out with each other beyond passing the time over dogs. She had exactly what she’d wanted since first meeting him.

Her gut twisted as she realized he was also everything her mother would have wanted for her. Handsome. Smart. He wasn’t a doctor, but he was a war hero, and her mom would have been thrilled at the notion of him in uniform on Catriona’s arm.

Except, ugh, her mother’s approval should be the kiss of death. Better to think about all the times she and Brandon had talked while their dogs played in the surf. He wasn’t just a guy who wore a uniform.

He was a man. An interesting, attractive man.

She refused to be like her mother, only looking at the surface. Brandon was more than a uniform. More than a “catch.”

And he was completely too David Beckham–hot to ever look at her that way.

Her chest went tight. She was far from Posh Spice. More like a mustard seed.

Her confidence evaporated as she neared the house and considered locking herself inside as she’d done for the past seven years. Considered. And resisted.

Even if this was only about tonight, she wouldn’t miss out on the chance to be alone with Brandon.

***

Liam pulled over onto the shoulder of the road, behind a row of palm trees, and killed the headlights. Finally, he was certain they were not being followed. They were safe, for now at least. Late-night traffic whipped past, headlamps streaking through the night as if there hadn’t been a freaking life-and-death car chase on a bridge less than five minutes ago. At least none of the cars was her blue SUV with a dented front fender.

Until…

There it went. Her SUV with the vanity license plate on the front and scrapes down the side. Then it was gone. Past them and down the highway, police cars on its tail.

She relaxed back in her seat. “Liam, I am sorry to have dragged you into this mess.”

His fists gripped the steering wheel as tightly as he clenched his jaw. He forced himself to relax enough to speak. “I’m glad you did, because now it ends.”

“You can tell them it’s not my imagination.” Her joke fell flat.

But then, he wouldn’t have laughed if she’d been a Grade A stand-up comic right now. Damn straight, she wasn’t imagining anything. While he admired her grit, he couldn’t find anything inside him except a deep rage and intense need to haul her close, safe. To hell with the past six months.

His arms closed around her and this damn well wasn’t about comfort. She didn’t pull back. She stared up at him, her pupils widening before her gaze fell to his mouth. They’d kissed before, briefly, and he remembered the taste and feel of her. Although no memory compared to the reality of having her in his arms again.

Just like before, he dipped his head toward hers, waiting for her to object, but she still looked back at him steadily. Her fingers curled around the back of his neck, then up into his hair, urging him toward her.
Yes.
The bands snapped on his restraint. He slanted his mouth over hers, taking in the softness slicked with mentholated lip balm. They were both hyped-up and sweaty and there was no way this kiss could go further out here. They couldn’t afford to just hide forever. But for one crazy-ass moment here, touching her made the roar in his mind recede.

She was so wiry and strong, sometimes he lost sight of how soft she was, how curvy in all the right places. How much of a firecracker turn-on she became when she focused that attention on him. Her hands slid from his hair to his shoulders, farther down and under his uniform, under his T-shirt, nails digging into his back.

His senses went on overload, taking it all in. The press of her breasts against his chest. The scent of
his
shampoo in
her
hair…

And oh, God, her hair. The sleek glide of her ponytail through his fingers sent electric shocks bolting straight through him, making him hard and hungry for more of her. He would give his left nut to be somewhere truly alone with her where he could explore every inch of her body with his eyes, his hands, his tongue, until she was turned inside out from wanting him as much as he wanted her.

But they weren’t somewhere else by themselves. And they were barely alone here.

The sound of cars, a honking horn, a crack of thunder, and finally he remembered where they were. Thought about what they were doing now and what they’d almost done right here on the side of the road in front of God and the late-night traffic. He gripped her elbows and eased her arms from him, her close-cut nails scoring a long, arousing path down his back before her hands slid free from his shirt.

She moaned and pressed herself closer. To hell with the garters on his mirror. “Don’t stop…”

He folded their hands together between them. “We have to get back to base. To safety.”

“Oh, my God, you’re right.” She pressed her palms to her face. “This is insane. I’m sorry for losing control like that.”

And he’d put her at risk right now by indulging a need for her that hadn’t dimmed one bit in six months.

She’d been smart to stay away from him all this time. There was a chemistry here that blew his mind,
dulled
his mind. He’d been half in love with her before, all the more reason for them to keep their distance, given his three-time-loser track record. Except distance was the one thing he couldn’t give her now.

Because he was the only person who stood a chance of keeping her safe.

Rachel wondered if she would ever feel safe again.

Sitting in the passenger side of Liam’s Jeep, she entered Patrick Air Force Base for the second time today. She’d been scared out of her mind earlier and the feeling hadn’t changed much. If anything, she was more rattled now that the enormity of the car chase and how she’d let that fear strip away all reason really hit her.

She gnawed her bottom lip, still tingling from the explosiveness of how they’d made out on the roadside. She’d known the chemistry between them had a life of its own. Over the past months she’d been tormented just thinking of their brief kiss in the Bahamas.

Somehow though, her memory had fuzzed over details. The crispness of his beard against her sensitive cheek. How broad his hands were, palming her back. How he’d skimmed them up and down her spine as he brought her closer, until her breasts pressed to the solid wall of muscles. Taking in all the sensation until hot desire flooded her, she wanted, needed, the outlet from all the pent-up fears and emotions.

Her heart was already pumping overtime, adrenaline searing her veins, and yet her body revved even more just thinking about how fast they’d lost control. If the sound of the traffic hadn’t brought her back to reality, she would have had sex with Liam right then and there, and to hell with the consequences. She glanced at him behind the wheel, his jaw tight in the glow of the dashboard lights. Pretty much the way he’d looked since he pulled away from her. Restraint was costing him too.

A shiver of want rippled through her.

God, but she needed to rein in her feelings. She had to focus on analytical details so she had her facts together when she talked to Liam’s friend in the OSI.

Rachel looked away from Liam fast, out over the ocean. A low-flying cargo plane swooped over the bay with the back ramp open. The big fat moon illuminated people leaping out toward the open water.

“Training,” Liam said simply, as if it was no big thing to see people hurtling out of the back of airplanes into the ocean.

And actually, not so long ago, that would have been normal for her too.

Wind blowing through the missing windows stirred memories of her experiences of being lowered out of helicopters with her dog. Back in the days when she had nerves of steel and didn’t cower on the floorboards of cars. Back before she’d worked an earthquake-relief mission with a man who made her feel too much. She’d lost her ability to distance herself and she’d crumpled inside.

God, how she wanted to be herself again, fearless and in control as she’d been before her job and some criminal stalker sucked the strength of will from her. She wanted to be the woman Liam had been attracted to six months ago.