Come Gentle the Dawn (23 page)

Brie bowed her head. “Oh, Linc…”

“No, let me finish. Please. That night you broke the glass in the kitchen and I held you on the couch…kissed you…” Linc took in a broken breath. “At that point, I knew you had been the victim, and weren’t the killer. All I had to do was prove it to the FM and ATF.”

She lifted her chin, staring at him, tears in her eyes. “Then why didn’t you tell me?”

Linc held her wavering gaze, aching to reach across the bed and pull her into his arms. “Because you were so fragile. I didn’t want to upset you any more than you already were because you were trying to recover. It was a lousy judgment call on my part, Brie.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Remember. This is Linc Tanner, the tough kid from the Bronx who had shielded himself from any kind of emotional involvement. To tell you the truth, I didn’t know how to deal with you. I’d fallen in love with you, Brie, and I was limited by my inexperience. I didn’t know what to do or how to do it.”

“I failed you. I can’t tell you how many sleepless nights I spent because I was lying to you. I was afraid to tell you, because I knew you liked me a lot, and I loved you.” He shook his head. “I didn’t know you loved me…not until just now…”

Linc’s torn admission was dissolving her anger and answering her questions. His features were drawn in agony, his eyes reflecting his panic and fear of having lost her. “Then your childhood was real, it wasn’t a lie.”

He cleared his throat, unable to hold her compassionate gaze. “At no time did I lie to you about my past or about my marriage to JoAnne. Brie, I just didn’t tell you who I was, that was all. How we got along, our feelings,
my thoughts and what I shared with you, were real. Please believe me.” His voice cracked.

Brie turned away, staring numbly at the flowered wallpaper, the silence weighing heavy in the room. Linc had no reason to lie now that he’d told her he was an ATF agent. He was here, trying to salvage what was left of their relationship, which had been shattered by his lie. Turning, she studied him in the silence.

Linc forced out, “You’re like that kitten I found, Brie. You bring out all the good things I’ve been hiding from myself.”

Brie sat, finally understanding Linc and what she meant to him.

Linc forced himself to move, to get to his feet. He’d done what he could to try to convince Brie of his love for her. “I’ll get going now, Brie. I’ve made a mess of your life. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you. I only meant to protect you, and in one way I did. In the other way, I screwed it up.”

Linc made his way out of the room and down the hall. Misery suffocated him. Well, what did he expect? For Brie to forgive him? Slowing down, he gave the living room a longing look. Brie always had living trees and plants in there, symbolizing life. She was life, he thought. Brie had given him life by simply being herself. She had brought the gift of knowing he wasn’t the cold robot JoAnne had always accused him of being. Brie had brought out his softer, more vulnerable side, and he liked himself and what he was becoming.

“Linc?”

He halted, hearing Brie’s strained voice. He turned and saw her in the hall, her face pale. He braced himself,
knowing he deserved whatever she was going to tell him. He had lied to her. He had been deceitful. “What is it?” His voice was hoarse.

Brie made a gesture toward the living room. “I need some help getting this house cleaned up. Do you think you could hang around a few days and help me before you leave?”

He saw the hope burning in Brie’s green eyes. His mouth dropped open and he snapped it shut, not believing his ears. “Stay? Here?” There was disbelief in his voice.

Managing a strained smile, Brie nodded. “Yes.”

Risking everything, Linc said, “If I stay those few days, I’m not leaving, Brie. Do you understand that?”

She took in a ragged breath. “I don’t want it any other way.”

Linc closed his eyes, feeling dizzy with elation. Brie had believed him! He loved her, and now he was going to get a chance to prove it. Opening his eyes, he managed a sour grin. “Sure?”

“Very sure,” Brie answered, opening her arms to him.

T
he lap, lap, lap of water against the boat nearly lulled Brie to sleep. She heard Linc casting out again with his rod and reel, the nylon singing through the air. The combination of sun, the sweet smell of the lake and the incessant breeze tempted her to give in to the fingers of sleep. She lay on the bottom of a fourteen-foot wooden boat, which was anchored near the edge of a huge island of lily pads. Good bass fishing, Linc had told her earlier in a conspiratorial tone. And she had laughed, throwing her arms around him. Where had the weeks gone?

After finding John’s evidence, which had put Carter behind bars, it seemed as if her life had speeded up. Earl Hansen was granted immunity because he was going to testify for the prosecution. The ATF was following up on the New Jersey end of the investigation, which had already ballooned into scandalous proportions. And
Linc had protected her from the press when the story finally broke. He had remained at her side when both state and government law-enforcement officials had questioned her for days on end.

A soft sigh escaped Brie. She had drawn even closer to Linc, if that was possible. Throughout the investigation, they had turned to one another for support and love. Suddenly, she felt the entire boat jerk, and her eyes flew open.

“I got one!” Linc crowed triumphantly, the rod bending as he played the fish who had taken the bait.

Brie sat up, sleepily rubbing her eyes. Life with Linc had been a miracle. The house was back in order; so were their lives. Days had melted into weeks, and then into six months. Homely Homer had grown up and spread her wings. She was free and happy.

Shortly after the trial in which Carter was sentenced to prison, Linc had presented her with two airline tickets to Calgary, Canada, and a brochure on mountain cabins two hundred miles from the Canadian city. He humbled himself to ask and not to tell her that she was going with him for two weeks to escape. And she loved him for his thoughtfulness and said yes.

Watching Linc, she noted how his face reflected excitement as he reeled in his catch. For two days now, since their arrival, he had been trying to get a huge wide-mouthed bass that was so much a part of the blue lake’s fame. No stranger to fishing, Brie had counseled Linc on what type of equipment he should use. Being a city boy, he felt he knew better. Instead of using a plastic frog and jiggling it in the water, he had decided on a night crawler dropped to the bottom of the lake.

“This is a big one, Brie. Look at it pull. This is going to be the biggest bass that’s ever been—”

Suddenly, Brie broke into laughter. What surfaced wasn’t a bass, but a turtle. Linc scowled as he stared down at the dark green amphibian floating peacefully beside the boat.

“I’ll be,” Linc muttered. Then a grin cracked his mouth and he turned to see Brie holding her stomach because she was laughing so hard. It was so good to see her relaxed and happy again. It was worth hooking a turtle instead of a bass.

Brie slid an arm around his neck and rested her head against his. “You’re one of a kind, Tanner. You really are. I told you if you used worms and fished off the bottom that you’d get garbage.”

He pressed a kiss to her jaw. “You never said anything about turtles. Now help me get that hook out of that poor critter’s mouth so we can let him go about his business.”

“City boy,” she teased, expertly sliding the hook free with pliers and giving the turtle a pat on its broad-shelled back. She sat up and handed Linc the hook minus the worm.

He set the rod and reel aside and pulled Brie into his lap. “I’m done fishing for today. I’m glad you didn’t pick up that camera and catch me with my ‘bass.’”

Brie pressed her mouth against his clean shaven cheek, inhaling his male scent. “You’re going to have to bribe me to keep quiet about this, Tanner. This is one fish story that’s too good
not
to be told.”

His blue eyes darkened. “Why you little—”

Brie wriggled out of his arms and sat in the bottom of
the boat where she had spread a sleeping bag for comfort. She watched Linc’s expression as he came after her. The dangerous glint in his cobalt eyes sent her pulse skyrocketing and her body crying for his touch. She wasn’t disappointed as Linc took her into his arms, pressing her against him, and began a slow assault of kisses.

“You know,” he said, “you are getting out of hand.”

Brie sighed as his tongue traced her mouth. “You’re reverting back to your chauvinistic cave-man tactics again,” she reminded him huskily, staring up at him through half-closed eyes.

Linc nipped her lips, then relished her feminine softness. “I know. You just bring it out in me, Ms. Williams. Mmmm, you taste good, like a salty and sweet marshmallow.” He saw the look of pleasure in her eyes.

Brie caressed his cheek. “I love you.”

“How much?” he wanted to know, kissing her fingers.

“With all my heart.”

“How about for the rest of your life?”

Her arms tightened around his neck. “Linc…”

“Do you love me enough to spend the rest of your life trying to change me and my chauvinistic ways?”

“Oh, Linc, I never thought you’d want to…”

He heard the wobble in Brie’s voice and knew he had surprised her. “Open the tackle box,” he said after a moment.

“What?”

He gave her an amused look. “Open the tackle box.”

It sat near her, and she flipped the latch, slowly opening the lid.

“Now what?” Brie asked, not quite sure what he was up to.

“The third plastic box. The one with the big hooks. Take it out and open it up.”

Her hands trembled slightly as she picked up the case and slid the cover off. A gasp escaped her. There, amid hooks of shiny brass, was an engagement ring. Only it wasn’t the usual diamond ring. Brie stared at it in awe. The ring was gold, but the oval stone was the most beautiful color of forest green she had ever seen.

“Let’s see if it fits,” Linc murmured next to her ear. “The stone is a green tourmaline from Brazil.”

Brie watched with widened eyes as he slowly slipped the ring on her fourth finger.

“Perfect. Well, what do you think?” She heard the satisfaction in his voice.

“I—it’s lovely, Linc. So lovely…”

“Want to wear it for a while and see how it feels?” he asked, his lips against her cheek.

She managed a choked sound. “Wear it for a while and see how it feels?”

He shrugged, holding her captive in his arms. “A modern woman like yourself might have to get used to wearing something that might make her feel like she was losing her freedom or whatever.”

Brie didn’t know whether to cry for joy or laugh at his taunting. “Linc Tanner, how can you tease me at a time like this!” The sunlight made her ring sparkle, as if it had a thousand emeralds.

“Actually, my joking is to cover up my terror at your saying no.”

She turned, seeing doubt in Linc’s eyes. “I love the ring,” she said in a low, trembling tone, “but even more important, I love you. And I will for the rest of my life.”

Linc gave a ragged sigh, as if a huge load had been lifted from him. “Good,” he said roughly, taking her into his arms. “Because I didn’t know what I was going to do if you said no.”

She gave a soft laugh, feeling deliciously giddy with joy. “You wouldn’t have given up that easily, if I know you.”

He grinned and kissed her hair. “You got that right, little cat. I’d have pursued you—”

“And badgered me.”

“Hey, that’s unfair!”

“And browbeat me.”

“How can you say those kinds of things? I’m a nice guy.”

She gave him a playful jab in the ribs. “You conceited male animal.” Suddenly, she frowned. “Why on earth did you put an engagement ring in a tackle box?”

His grin widened. “I thought I’d hook you on marriage. I know I’m not the biggest fish in the pond, the wealthiest or even the most successful. I guess I’m sort of like that turtle—not what you might have expected.”

Brie closed her eyes. “You were unexpected,” she began quietly. “As far as success or wealth, that doesn’t matter to me, Linc. I love you for yourself.”

He nodded, at a loss for words—for once.

Brie opened her eyes, her fingers wrapping around his solid arms. “Linc?”

“Yes?”

“I’m not going back to haz-mat work.”

He sat very still. “All right. I understand. We all have our limits, Brie. Don’t feel ashamed.”

“I don’t. I’m twenty-nine, Linc. Professionally, I’m
pleased with what I’ve done and accomplished. I’ve suddenly discovered I want to settle down and make home-cooked meals every day. I want children.”

“At least two.” Linc turned Brie to face him, and he thought how young and beautiful she looked. “And since the desk job Cramer promised me has come through, it’ll be no more undercover work for me. I’ll be punching the clock in Canton, Ohio, from nine to five every day and have weekends off. How does that sound?”

Relief shone in her eyes. “Wonderful. That means you won’t be risking your life anymore, either.”

“Neither of us will. Believe me, it’s a big load off my mind, little cat. You were good at your job, but I’d have lived in absolute hell wondering day in and day out if you were safe.”

Tears blurred Brie’s vision. “We’ll just risk our lives with one another.”

He smiled. “You’re all the challenge and excitement I’ll ever need.”

*

Black Hawk pilot Sarah Benson is known for her risky flights to save lives and SEAL Ethan Quinn is just one more mission. But when she needs rescuing, it’s Ethan who infiltrates enemy territory, and her heart. Read on for a sneak peek of
RISK TAKER
by Lindsay McKenna, available February 2013 from Harlequin Romantic Suspense.

*

Sarah sat with Ethan, watching him gulp down his meal as if he were starved. She forced herself to eat because she knew it was going to be a long day. When he finally slowed down, she narrowed her eyes and held his gaze.

“You’ve been writing those poems and putting them under my tent flap. Haven’t you?” Her heart thudded because if she was wrong, she would feel foolish. Ethan stared at her as if stunned. And then a ruddy flush rose up his neck and swept across his face. For once, he was speechless.

“How did you know?”

“I was awake the first time you pulled the tent flap open to put the envelope inside it,” she said, still tense, unsure of why he was writing such beautiful poetry to her.

“Oh…”

He looked so crestfallen. “What? You’re a SEAL and you got caught in stealth mode?” A grin nudged at one corner of her mouth.

“I thought…I knew it was a risk. I was running late.…I had wanted to finish the poem and get the first stanza to you, but things went haywire at the HQ. I had to drop what I was doing and attend to other things. I didn’t get back to it until after dawn.” Ethan shook his head and gave her an apologetic look. “I meant it as a surprise. Something I hoped would make you happy after getting the crap beat out of you by that Army sergeant. I didn’t want you to think all men were like that guy who attacked you.”

Her heart warmed. This time, Sarah allowed it to fully embrace her. “Is that why you wrote me the poem?”

Ethan pushed his tray aside, then folded his hands, never more serious. “I’ve always been attracted to you, Sarah. I wanted to get to know you, but I didn’t know how. I didn’t want to hit on you like every other guy was doing. I knew you hated it, and I don’t blame you. And just getting to hold you…carry you…to the E.R., I went crazy trying to figure out a nonthreatening way to reach you.”

“Then why didn’t you sign your name? It was a good thing I saw you, Ethan. I would have, for sure, thought it was the pilots in my squadron playing another dirty trick on me.”

“I didn’t think—”

“You didn’t know what I’ve been up against in the squadron…the tricks…”

“I’m sorry, Sarah.” Ethan searched her eyes. “Do…you like the poem so far? Or do you want me to stop sending them to you?”

Sarah had never seen a man be as vulnerable as Ethan was being with her right now. She knew he was unguarded, no game face, but authentic and honest. “I loved the poem, Ethan. I love receiving them. They’re like new life being breathed into me when I read the lines.” She quirked her mouth and looked away, a war raging inside her. “I so wanted to believe you. I knew you were writing about how you saw me. And—” she swallowed, her voice hoarse “—I loved how you saw me because that’s not the way I see myself.…”

*

Don’t miss
RISK TAKER
by Lindsay McKenna, available February 2013 from Harlequin Romantic Suspense
.

Copyright © 2014 by Lindsay McKenna