Brody's Vow (Colebrook Siblings Trilogy Book 1) (8 page)

He jerked his chin at the staircase behind her. “Go have a hot shower and then climb back into bed.”

The order didn’t offend her. And while she appreciated his concern, she couldn’t stay. “Thanks for your hospitality, but I should get going.”

Brody frowned at her. “You’re in no shape to go anywhere.”

His tone made her bristle. “I’ll be okay.”

“He’s right,” Senior said, shuffling over to take the mug Wyatt offered him, then pinned her with a hard stare. “You’re not leaving until I’m satisfied that you’re well enough to go out on your own.”

He leaned back against the counter and set his cane aside, adopting the exact same pose as his sons. It was downright eerie, how much their mannerisms were alike. “I may be an old fart and look and sound like that guy from
Legends of the Fall
, but I was a Marine for a long time and I know when something doesn’t feel right.”

Trinity opened her mouth to downplay his concern but he cut her off with a shake of his head.

“If you’re in trouble, then this is as safe a place as any for you.”

“Trouble?” Wyatt asked, aiming a frown at her.

Senior tossed him a quelling look then focused back on her. “My sons and I can definitely watch out for you until you’re better.”

Her cheeks heated. It wasn’t often that someone saw through her like that, let alone call her on her bullshit, but she still had to fight the urge to tell him she was every bit as well trained as they were. Brody must have told him about last night. He and his sons had been nothing but kind to her though and she knew he was just trying to help.

“I really should go,” she said instead. All her instincts told her to leave and keep moving. It was what she’d been trained to do.

“Give it another day or two,” Brody said, causing her to look over at him. Those dark eyes held hers and again she felt that deep, magnetic pull deep in her belly.

Another day or two might not seem like much to someone else, but in her world it was an eternity. He didn’t know what she’d done or what she was up against. Who she was up against.

Tino’s network had a long reach. They’d be watching airports and bus stations, train stations. She still doubted anyone would have been able to track her here, but she couldn’t rule out that possibility entirely. She didn’t want to put Brody or his family in any further danger by staying.

“Wyatt,” Senior said abruptly as she and Brody kept staring at each other. “I need a hand with something outside.”

Wyatt frowned at him but lowered his coffee cup into the sink and pushed away from the counter.

“Let’s go, Sarge,” Senior said to the basset hound, who groaned and got to his feet, waddling after his master on his short little legs.

Wyatt gave her one last curious glance before heading out the door behind his father. “Grits. Come.” Grits scrambled after him, toenails clicking on the wooden floor, and disappeared out the door with a happy swish of his tail.

In the silence that followed Brody set his cup down and crossed to her. She had the strongest urge to back away, but held her ground. He stopped a foot away, close enough for her to smell the scent of soap and coffee, and for her to feel herself getting lost in his dark brown eyes.

Not good.

“You need more recovery time,” he said softly, his deep voice like an intimate caress. “Not to mention food and sleep. I may not know you, but even I can tell you’re nowhere near the top of your game right now. Give it another day or two. Do you even have a plan figured out yet?”

“Yes.” Of course she had a damn plan. She hadn’t lived this long, doing what she did, without being able to improvise and adapt quickly to whatever happened.

The growing attraction between them felt strange and she immediately tried to quell her response because she didn’t trust it. Even if she was open to a mutually satisfying fling, it wasn’t going to be with someone so closely tied to Matt and Briar. That just felt too awkward and personal. She liked to keep her private life secret, and well removed from every other aspect of her life. It was the only part of her life that was truly hers, and she guarded it fiercely.

“There are people after me. I don’t want to put you or your family at further risk. You’ve done more than enough for me already, now it’s time for me to move on.”

Rather than answer he lifted a hand, reached up as though he was going to touch her face.

Trinity held her breath as he gently eased the hair away from the side of her face. His fingertips brushed her cheek, light as a sigh, yet she felt it all over. Her nipples tightened against her bra and a burst of arousal sparked in her belly. She had the strongest urge to lean forward and cover his lips with hers, slowly savor the taste of him.

Shocked by how much she was tempted to initiate something she knew she shouldn’t, she stepped back, needing distance between them. What the hell was wrong with her? She never let her guard down, never let her personal needs get in the way. She was literally on the run, in hiding, and should be one hundred percent focused on how she was going to get back to D.C. and out of the country undetected, not letting herself get sidetracked by physical desire.

Brody lowered his hand, his gaze still locked with hers, filled with heated awareness that made her pulse trip. “Don’t worry about any of that right now. Go take that shower and then get some sleep. If trouble shows up here, believe me, we can handle it.”

She shook her head, winced as her sore muscles grabbed. “I don’t want you to have to do that.” It wasn’t right. Brody was recovering from whatever had injured him, and his brother and father were going through their own hardships. They’d all been through too much already. She refused to add more to their burden.

“I know, but if you leave now in this condition, you’ll be even more at risk.”

He was right. Much as she hated to admit it, she was nowhere near ready to attempt to go back to D.C. and the threat waiting for her there. Without her documents, fake ID and credit cards, there was no way she was getting out of the country.

“Give it another day or two,” he said again, and gave her a little smile. “For me.”

She frowned at the last part. “Why would I do that?”

He nodded. “Because now I’m involved, and I don’t want to see anything happen to you.”

That made no sense, because he didn’t even know her, but it had sounded sincere. She didn’t know what to say.

With that he headed outside, leaving her staring after him with an unsettling and powerful sense of longing unfurling inside her.

After a long, hot shower Trinity dressed and stepped out of the bathroom with a clearer head and almost groaned at the smell of bacon frying downstairs. She entered the kitchen and found Brody at the stove with his back to her, a tea towel draped over one broad shoulder.

For just a moment she let her gaze travel up and down the length of him, let herself wonder what it would be like to sleep with him. Not that she’d ever indulge in that kind of fantasy, especially not while on the run, but still, the man had awoken something inside her, made her feel things that she hadn’t felt in a long time.

It felt…magical to know she was still capable of it, even though she knew she had to suppress the urge.

Brody looked over his shoulder at her, his lips curving in a welcoming smile that set off a series of flutters in the pit of her stomach. God, her body was suddenly acting like a crushed-out teenager around him. “Hungry?”

“Starved.” Still sore but the shower and painkillers had helped. The urge to keep moving was strong, rooted in her from years of some of the toughest training on the planet, but Brody and his father were right; she needed more time to recover before heading out on her own. She was just grateful they were willing to let her stay under the circumstances. They were special people, to step up and help her at a time like this.

She moved closer to the stove. Brody was frying up the bacon and there was already a pile of pancakes waiting on a plate next to him. Her stomach growled and her mouth watered. “I haven’t eaten bacon in forever,” she said, eyeing the sizzling strips in the pan longingly. All that salty, smoky, greasy awesomeness.

“I don’t eat it much either, but it was in the fridge, so…”

The farmhouse-style table only had two settings on it. The idea of sharing a meal with him, alone, felt incredibly intimate. “Are your dad and brother not joining us?”

“Nah, they said they’re doing some work on the fences and won’t be back for a few hours. I think they’re giving us some privacy.”

She frowned. “Why?”

He gave her a heated look that clearly said he was aware of the chemistry between them, maybe even open to exploring it, and it shocked her how much the idea appealed to her. “Savor the peace and quiet while you can. I’m way better company than those two grumpy-assed recluses anyhow.”

Seemed to her they had their reasons for being grumpy recluses, but she kept that to herself and glanced around the great room that connected the kitchen and family room. A group of framed pictures on the mantel above the fireplace in the family room caught her eye.

She headed over to them, curious about Brody and his family, again struck by how odd this situation was. Here she was, in his inner sanctum, surrounded by his family’s keepsakes and memories when he knew next to nothing about her. Kind of unfair.

It didn’t stop her from studying the pictures, however.

She recognized Brody immediately, and there was a shot of Wyatt in his combat utilities before his injury. One recent family portrait showed all four siblings—the three boys and their sister, Charlie—together with their dad. All were brown-haired. Brody, the younger brother and Charlie all had brown eyes, and Wyatt and Colebrook senior had hazel. Every one of them was fit, the men muscular, and one look told her they’d all served in the military. Maybe even Charlie.

From out of nowhere an unexpected, sharp pang hit her at seeing the picture of their happy family unit. A little envy maybe, but more than that, a longing for something she’d always secretly wanted and never had. Would probably never be able to have, after the life she’d led.

“Your other brother,” she called out to him. “Is he still in the Marine Corps?”

“Easton,” Brody answered without turning around. “And no, he’s got a government job now.”

His ambiguous answer wasn’t a surprise. Brody didn’t know her, didn’t owe her any answers, but whatever job Easton had, she’d bet it wasn’t a desk job.

Trinity perused the other pictures, lingering on another one of the four siblings, this time the others gathered around Wyatt in his hospital bed soon after he’d been wounded, him grinning through the bandages covering his head and right side of his face.

That image told her everything she needed to know about the Colebrooks. They looked after their own and stood by each other, through good times and bad, no matter what. And it seemed they’d been there to support Wyatt through what must have been the hardest time in his life. Her respect for them just kept growing. Not everyone was lucky enough to have that sort of support network.

The only picture of the mother was a family portrait taken maybe twenty years ago or so if Trinity judged the hairstyles and clothing correctly, when Brody and his siblings were young. Maybe elementary school age or slightly older.

She wasn’t going to ask what had happened to her, since it was pretty clear that she was now out of the picture, for whatever reason. Given what she already knew of the family, it seemed reasonable to surmise that she’d probably passed away.

It made her heart ache for Brody and his siblings. They were obviously a tight-knit, loving family. Losing a parent was never easy, but when it happened to young children, it changed everything, forever. She knew that better than anyone.

A pang of wistfulness hit her as she remembered something she didn’t want to dwell on right now. Or ever.

Feeling like she knew the Colebrooks a little better already, Trinity wandered back into the kitchen while Brody finished up the bacon. She fought the urge to fidget, the cynical part of her disliking that he was doing this for her. In her experience when someone did something for her, they almost always wanted something in return. Especially a man.

Nothing was ever given for free. And it drove her nuts to be hiding here in this beautiful family’s home when there were people out there hunting her. Today she had to do some research, put some feelers out and find out what Tino had been up to since last night. When she left this place, she needed every advantage she could get.

“Can I help with anything?” she asked.

“Yeah, you can go sit and drink your juice while I finish up.”

Still not trusting his motives completely, she went to the table and took a seat, watching him work at the stove. Each time he moved, the muscles in his back and arms flexed. She imagined sliding her hands beneath his shirt, smoothing her palms over his bare skin to map each ridge and hollow. Stroking. Teasing.

What would it hurt?
a little voice whispered inside her.
You’ll be gone soon enough and you’ll never see him again anyway. Why not indulge this once?

Brody set a loaded plate in front of her then rounded the table to sit opposite her with his own. “Dig in.”

She picked up a piece of bacon, fighting a smile.

“What?” he asked with a grin.

“Never had a guy cook for me before.”

His eyebrows rose, his fork paused partway to his mouth with a wedge of syrup-drenched pancake stuck to it. “Ever?”

She nodded and bit into the bacon, moaned a little at the salty, smoky flavor. “Oh my God…” She tended to gain weight easily and her job required her to keep her shape. Eating bacon and pancakes for breakfast felt deliciously sinful.

He chuckled, the deep sound making her think naughty things. “I don’t know what kind of guys you usually date, but you need to raise your bar a little.”

She lowered her gaze to her plate and didn’t answer. She didn’t date, hadn’t in years. Her job wouldn’t allow it, and she’d never met anyone she’d trusted enough to want a relationship with anyway.