Guarding Kelsey ((Books We Love Romantic Suspense)) (17 page)

“I’m just speaking in general, but hey, if the combat boot fits
.
.”

He wasn’t denying anything.
He was well aware of his shortcomings and his mistakes of the past.
If anything, he maintained a comfortable distance so as not to repeat the mistakes.
“You picking on my footwear now?”

“Just forget it, Wolf.
You aren’t going to take me seriously.
And you certainly aren’t going to talk to me about yourself.”

He took her very seriously.
Too seriously.
With more intensity than he’d felt for any other woman.
Why make it harder on both of them?
Why get in deeper?

"So, what happened at the precinct?" she asked.

He welcomed her timely change of subject, although he didn’t kid himself that she’d let the matter drop.
Kelsey knew
when
to fight her battles, but she would never concede defeat.

"They found Robb
ins last night. Correction. T
hey found his body.”
He wasn’t sure if he saw relief or disappointment in her eyes.

“I wish you told Uncle Daniel, and then maybe he would let up on me now that I’m not in danger anymore.”

Wolf had deliberately remained quiet.
She was in more danger now.
She had only him for protection and an unknown killer looking for her.
“I’d hold off on saying anything to anyone.”

She nervously twisted a strand of hair around her finger.
“What’s going on?”

“Robbins was killed three days ago.
Apparently the wise guy who hired him didn’t like the fact tha
t he left a witness. So
he wasn’t the one at the library.”

Her body trembled.
She inhaled deeply and forced a brave smile.
“Maybe I didn’t see anything.
Maybe it was my imagination
.
.”

“And maybe it wasn’t.
I’m not taking the chance.”

“So the police protection stays?”
Relief resonated in her husky voice.

“Not as intensive as before. The good news is you get one officer assigned.”

Kelsey tipped her head. “And the bad news?”

“I’m the one.”

Days and night with the sexy detective all to herself.
What did she do to deserve this punishment?
And what would she have to do to be punished again?
“Is that bad news for me or for you?”

“For you.
Since I have no
back up
, I think it would be easier to have you stay in my
house
at night.
It's not as comfortable as here, but it’s smaller and easier to protect."

“And your captain doesn’t have a problem with that?”

“Nope.”

She might not know police policy but she did know that his plan was not standard operating procedure.
Why go to such lengths unless he believed that she was still in imminent danger.
The situation seemed suddenly more ominous than it had before.
“What aren’t you telling me?”

He said nothing.

What was going on?
The department had pulled his back up when he thought her situation was dangerous enough to warrant moving her.
What was wrong with this picture?

She rose and paced across the Persian carpet while her mind processed the possibilities.
Only one answer made sense.
“Your captain doesn’t have a problem and you don’t have back up because they closed the case, right?
You took a leave, or sick days?”

His light tone and cavalier attitude turned more serious.
“Vacation.”

“Why?”

“Because I think the captain is wrong and I refuse to screw up again.”

“Again?
What do you mean, again?”

“I didn’t mean that,”

“Yes you did.
You don’t say anything you don’t mean.”

“Forget it.
It has nothing to do with the case.”
His clipped tone left no room for questions.

She suspected there was a story in that small word.
Again.
What had happened the first time?
Why was he so adamant about staying with her that he gave up his own time rather than walk away?

“Why don’t you pack a few overnight
things?
”

"Why don’t I just pack a suitcase and we can stay there all day too?"

"It wouldn’t solve anything.
He would just wait until you return and then come after you."

"What a comforting thought," she mumbled.
She had thought her days of living in fear were over.

Wolf came up in front of her and placed a hand under her chin. "Here's another comforting thought.
I want to teach you how to shoot."

She shook her head and said firmly, "No."

“The next time you reach for my loaded gun I would prefer you knew how to use it."

Guns represented the ultimate in violence and she wanted no part of it.
She might have automatically reached for his weapon out of self-preservation, but she wasn’t about to consciously learn how to operate a gadget whose sole purpose was to kill or maim. "Do we have to argue about it right now?"

"No.
We can argue about it later.
In the meantime, while I have back-up for the rest of the afternoon, I want to get some sleep."

"Want some company?" she asked.

“Are you making a pass, Kelsey?”

“Would you notice if I was?”

Wolf leaned against the wall.
His lips curved up in a curious grin.
"What do you mean by that?"

"I did everything short of sending you an engraved invitation last night when we got back."

"Everything but stay awake until I made sure the apartment was secure.
Or did you think you put that blanket across yourself last night?"

"Oh.”
She came up in front of him and laid her hand on his chest. Solid muscles bunched beneath her
fingertips
.
So, he wasn’t as indifferent as he pretended. “And would you have said yes if I had been awake?”

“That’s not the point.”

“And that’s not an answer,” she countered.

He clamped his fingers around her wrist and removed her hand. “Okay.
I would have said no, and you wouldn’t have taken no for an answer. It’s hard to say who would have won. Lucky for both of us, you fell asleep.”

“Speak for yourself,” she grumbled.

He chuckled.
"I'm not up for this right now."

"I know.
Go get some rest.
I wouldn't want to have to drag it out of you."

On his way to the guest room, he said, "I don't know.
I like that mental picture."

Typical man.
He always had the right answer at precisely the wrong time.
She picked up a pillow from the sofa and threw it at him.

He caught it in
midair
.
“Assaulting a police officer is a felony.
Don’t make me cuff you."

Kelsey giggled. "I like the mental picture
that
brings to mind."

His deep groan echoed down the corridor as he disappeared into the room.
He might be stubborn, but she was wearing him down. Eventually, she would get through to him.
Nothing worth having ever came easy.

But why did she want him so badly?

She always figured if she allowed herself to trust a man again, she would choose a quiet, sensitive, gentle man.
Exciting, opinionated, and dangerous never figured into her dreams.
The fates had a twisted sense of humor, or else they’d had an off day when they sent Wolf to her.

Chapter
Eight

After a trip to C-Town Market for food, Wolf returned to his
house
with Kelsey.
Technically having her spend the night wasn’t a violation of policy since he was officially off duty.
As he had told her, the place was smaller and easier to secure.
Most important to his mind was that no one, not even her family, knew she was there.
She believed the threats must be linked to her research but Wolf didn’t buy it. Although her research focused on women involved with men who had a violent need to control their partner, stalking a complete stranger wasn’t part of the profile.
That left her ex-husband for personal reasons or a family member for monetary reasons. Neither scenario was preferable.

He glanced into the galley kitchen where she worked at the counter.
Better she kept herself occupied with cooking than getting designs on the bedroom.
That was not why he’d brought her here, no matter what she thought. Not that he didn’t have those same ideas as he watched
her
dance aroun
d the kitchen dressed in a simple shirt-dress
.
Her hair, still damp from her morning shower was loosely tied at the nape of her neck.
His gazed traveled lower to the long line of her smooth legs. Pink polished toenails caught his attention as she shifted balance back an
d forth between her feet and singing along
to the classic rock music on the stereo.
And her voice--husky with emotion and velvety smooth at the same time.

Yeah, Krieger, bringing her here was a brilliant idea
.

Brilliant, if he liked walking around in a constant state of arousal. A cold shower hadn’t helped.
Nothing helped.
There was only one cure for his fevered preoccupation and Kelsey seemed more than willing to alleviate his symptoms. So why continue to suffer?

“Hey you.”
Kelsey waved a hand in front of his face.

“What?”

“I don’t know.
You’re staring.”

He shook his head.
“What did you make?”

“A raspberry torte.”

“Really?
What’s the occasion?”

“You told me I wouldn’t believe what you would do for a raspberry torte.
Well, I want to see for myself.
Just how far will you go for it?”

As his words came back to haunt him, he swallowed a grunt.
If she wanted to torture him, there were faster ways.
“Don’t do this, Kelsey.”