Calling Kupid (Kupid's Cove Book 1) (15 page)

“I suppose when we get there you’ll build a fire then cook me a gourmet meal made from the three canned goods Marcus has left in the cupboard. After you clean up the dishes, you’ll insist on heating water and giving me a bath while you convince me to make love to you.”

We were walking again and he laughed softly into the open air. “Now it’s making love? You were calling it ‘having sex’.’”

“Don’t you know anything? You can’t call it ‘having sex’ in a romance novel. Everyone knows that. You have to be romantic by using flowery language. You want me to swoon at your romantic debonair ways.”

“Oh, I read a romance novel once, but that doesn’t sound like the one I read.”

“What book was it?”

“
50 Shades of Grey
.” He laughed quietly, grabbing his arm when I punched him.

“That’s not romance. That’s erotica. Romance is where the writer makes love to your mind with the imagery of their words, not titillate your hoo-ha with bad BDSM.”

“Your hoo-ha?”

“Don’t even start with me, Gideon.”

“So what you’re saying is, you’re looking for the perfect man.”

“No, I’m not, because the perfect man only exists in the pages of a romance novel. A perfect woman doesn’t exist, either. I’m looking for the man who matches my perfect imperfections. The man who wants the same things I want. The man whose strengths are my weaknesses and weaknesses are my strengths. Whose sole purpose for getting up in the morning is me, as he is mine. Maybe it’s a pipe dream, but it’s my dream all the same.”

I fell silent and he dragged me to a stop by my backpack strap. He laid his cold lips on mine and I tipped my head back so he could kiss down my neck.

“You’re wrong,” he whispered as the snowflakes fell on our faces. “You’re perfect.”

I was limping, wet, cold, and near falling down exhausted. The truth was, I didn’t feel very safe, either. His plan to fly us to the hotel had failed miserably and if we didn’t find the place soon we weren’t going to have to worry about a stalker. We were going to be dead from the cold.

I adjusted my backpack and tried to keep my heart rate normal. If I had to stress my heart much longer, I might go into a longer period of tachycardia that I couldn’t break.

I felt him move in next to me and put his arm around my waist. It wasn’t the first time he had done it in the last hour and every time he did, it reminded me I wasn’t alone. He let me lean on him a little bit, which made the next few feet easier.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, kissing my temple.

He had said that more than once over the last few hours, too. What he didn’t say was why. Sorry for getting me involved in something I shouldn’t be? Probably. All I could do now was keep going and try to find a way out of this mess.

He held my waist to stop me from taking the next step. We were on the edge of a tree line and in front of us was an empty field.

“Do you think this is the field?” he whispered.

I squinted to see through the snowflakes. “I can’t tell. Can you see a hotel?”

“With the snow and the darkness there’s no way to know. I could shine the flashlight, but then we alert anyone looking for us.”

“Did Sebastian give you Marcus’s phone number?”

He shook his head negative and squinted through the snow trying to see anything through the darkness. “I think there’s a building on the other side of the field. I’m trying to figure out how to cross the field without being exposed.”

I put my hands to my mouth and let out a wolf howl that was frighteningly realistic.

His mouth dropped open. I held up my finger for him to be quiet. In seconds, I heard another howl, coming from the other side of the field.

A motor started in the distance and he pulled me deeper into the woods, plastering us up against a tree.

“It’s a snowmobile,” I whispered. “It sounds like the engines from earlier today.”

He nodded, but didn’t answer, just kept the shotgun aimed at the opening to the woods. The machine stopped and we heard, “The wolves are hunting tonight.”

It was a male voice so Gideon motioned for me to stay, while he moved forward with the shotgun aimed at the field.

“Marcus?” he called. “Show yourself.”

“Relax, Gideon. I was expecting you in a chopper, not on foot.”

I peeked around the tree and saw a man in all white clothing kneeling on a snowmobile. Gideon motioned me out, while keeping the gun pointed at the man on the machine.

“Gas line froze. I had to put it down about a mile up the road. We’ve been searching for the right field. Show me your left hand.”

I was behind Gideon, but I could see the man’s facial scars from where I stood. When his hand revealed an Army Ranger tattoo, Gideon’s shoulders relaxed.

“Sebastian let me know that he’s not going to be able to get here for quite a few more hours. The storm has set in and no one is moving out of the city. We need to secure you until he can get clear.”

Marcus grabbed two of the backpacks and lifted the door of a small pull behind attached to the snowmobile. It reminded me of the cab of the helicopter I had just ridden in.

“Climb in. You’ll stay dry, and this,” he knocked on the glass of the windows, “is bulletproof.”

I knew he was joking, but Gideon didn’t look impressed. I didn’t care, I readily climbed into the small cabin to get out of the snow. Gideon finally sat on the seat next to me, the packs at our feet. The shotgun was pointing at the floor as Marcus lowered the hatch, but Gideon’s hand darted out to stop it.

“So help me God, if you go anywhere but back to the hotel I will shoot you in the back. Don’t think I’m kidding.”

“Duly noted. My brother said you were cautious; he wasn’t kidding.”

He got back on the machine, started the engine, and we were moving across the field. Gideon put his arm around me and held his cold cheek to mine, but kept an eye on where we were going.

“I think it’s okay, Gideon. He’s exactly as Sebastian described him.”

“I know, but I can’t let my guard down until we are tucked away safe for the night. Do you understand that I don’t care about my life, but I will do anything to protect yours?”

I swallowed hard and despite the fact that I couldn’t feel my feet, my hands were frozen blocks of ice, and my nose may never be the same again, his words sent a flood of heat through me. I wanted to believe that it was more than just guilt driving him to feel this way too, but that was harder to put into a tangible feeling.

The machine slowed and a building came into view. We waited as a door went up and then Marcus drove us into a dark abyss. We heard the garage door go back down and suddenly bright lights blinded us after so many hours in the dark. When our eyes adjusted, we saw a woman standing by a set of stairs. Instinctively, Gideon brought the gun up, but Marcus motioned him to wait.

The hatch on my side went up and he held his hands out to Gideon to keep the gun down. “She’s my wife. An ex-Marine. You’ve got nothing to fear from us. We work with my brother all the time. I’m all for not letting my guard down, but you’re scaring Katie.”

“How do you know her name?” Gideon asked, the gun still hovering in the air.

“I know everything about both of you. That’s my job. I also know that right now you both need to get warm before frostbite sets in. Mattie prepared the lower level for you. No windows and completely secure until Sebastian arrives.”

Gideon lowered the shotgun and his shoulders went slack. “I’m sorry, Marcus. I’m a businessman not a lawman. I don’t even know what the hell I’m doing. I just have to keep her safe.”

Marcus helped me out of the machine then picked up the packs. “Don’t apologize. You’ve got balls to stand up to a guy like me. Sebastian told me what you’ve been dealing with for the last month. I’m sure you’re exhausted from watching your back, and now having Katie to worry about isn’t helping. Mattie will show you to your room. One of us will be on guard at all times, but I’m not worried. It sounds like whoever is looking for you is more talk than action. If he wanted to take you down, he would have done it long ago.”

Gideon shook Marcus’s hand once he was out of the pod. “Thanks for understanding, and for the hospitality. I agree with your assessment of the guy, which is why I think it’s a disgruntled employee. He’s working really hard not to cross the legal felony line.”

I tapped Gideon on the shoulder and he turned to me. “I think he stepped over that line when he thrust a blood covered knife through my pillow.”

“Good point,” Marcus agreed. “Maybe he’s losing his patience, but whatever the case, you’re safe here.”

He motioned Mattie down and she shook both our hands.

“Welcome to the Lone Straggler Motel.” She winked at her husband.

“Great name,” I chuckled.

“Thanks,” she said, holding a door open and flipping on a light switch. “It’s an inside joke, but it makes most people laugh. If you want to follow me down, I’ll show you your accommodations.”

Marcus held Gideon’s arm. “I’ll contact Sebastian and let him know I’ve got the prize. I’ll keep you updated on his arrival time.”

Gideon nodded and followed me down the stairs.

Gideon

Mattie had left us in a toasty warm room with a small kitchen and a huge king size bed in the middle of it. She took our wet coats and boots with a request that we put our wet clothes outside the door in the basket so she could dry them as well. There was food warming in the oven and hot coffee in the machine next to the sink. In general, I felt like we might be okay. Except Katie was standing in the middle of the floor shivering.

I took her by the arm and helped her onto the bed. I stripped off her wet pants and socks, then pulled the sweatshirt off her head, leaving her T-shirt on. I pulled the comforter up around her as she bent over again and coughed several times.

I rubbed her back until she sat back up. “Are you catching a cold? I’m worried you’re sick. You’ve been coughing like that a lot since last night.”

She pointed at her bag. “I need my pills; will you get them.”

I moved off the bed and picked up the bag, handing it to her, then went to the kitchen for a bottle of water. She had several different pills in her hand and swallowed them before speaking.

“I’m not getting sick. If I cough while bending over it tricks my heart back into sinus rhythm.”

“So you mean each time you’ve done that your heart was beating too fast?”

She nodded, twisting the water bottle in her hand. “The medication was supposed to help, but so far it isn’t helping much. I guess I haven’t been taking it very long so I should probably give it more time.”

I held the comforter closed around her and kissed her forehead. “You also haven’t exactly been stress free since you started it. Dammit, I’m so angry with myself for thinking it was safe to show up at your door with this guy after me.”

“What’s done is done, Gideon. You should go shower; you must be cold.”

I rubbed her back and nodded. “I am, but I’ll wait. It’s better for you to shower and get warm then you can eat something.”

“Okay. I’ll save you some hot water.”

I brushed her hair back out of her face and laid my lips on hers gently. “Take as long as you want, sweetheart. I’m going to call Graham and see if he knows anything.”

She stood and dropped the comforter, leaving me with a view of her backside as she picked up her backpack on her way to the attached bathroom. As soon as the door closed, I let out the moan I had been holding in at the sight of those red panties again. She was quite possibly the sexiest woman I had ever met and I’ve known a lot of sexy women. There was something different about Katie, because she made me want to be a better man. She made my life interesting, and conversationally kept me stimulated. That was rare in my world where most women only stimulated one thing.

I picked up the phone on the small nightstand and hit zero.

“Did you need something, Gideon?” Marcus asked immediately.

“I want to connect with my assistant, Graham. Is there any way to do that safely?”

“This is a secure line. I can connect you. Will his line be secure?”

“He’s got a burn phone that only I have the number for.” I rattled it off and after a short delay, I heard Graham answer.

“Gideon?”

“I’m here, Graham.”

“Thank God,” he answered. “Sebastian said you were safe, but I didn’t believe him until I talked to you. Is Katie okay, too?”

“She’s fine. She’s taking a shower as we speak. I should be back in Chicago as soon as this storm clears, but I hoped you had an update for me.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t know much. I have a list of all fired and laid off workers from the companies you’ve acquired over the last year. It’s long and the process is slow.”

“Do your best, Graham. I really want to keep the police out of this, but one more threat like we found in her apartment and we are going to have to bring them in.”

“I understand. I was surprised by how large the pool of possible disgruntled employees is.”