Summer Kisses (230 page)

Honesty kicked her in the ass. There was an undeniable connection between her and Will. She thought of him every day, wondering where he was, what he was doing, if he was safe, and she longed to see his smile or hear his voice. Her nerves seemed to sense when he was close.

And Will, he seemed to stand a little taller when she watched him. And often now, when he looked at her, his blue eyes glistened with lust.

Not to mention both of them seized every opportunity to touch the other in some way.

There was definitely attraction between them. But, could there ever be something more? She could hope all she wanted, but if she were to be honest with herself, she knew differently. Again, Will was who he was and she was who she was.

Nicole spied the tail end of one of Luka’s toy trucks sticking out from underneath the sofa’s skirt and bent over to pick the small eighteen wheeler up by the trailer.

Outside, Max barked a split-second before footsteps scuffed the front porch steps.

With her stomach doing somersaults, Nicole dropped the Matchbox into Luka’s toy box tucked into the room’s corner, smoothed her hands over her hair and headed to the front door.

Will was down on a knee giving a happy Max a rub down.

“Hi, Will.”

“He found me.” He grinned, looking at her.

Watching Will, Nicole’s chest tightened with happiness. “I see.”

He gave Max a final pat before standing and peered down at her through the screen door. “Sorry I’m late. I hope I didn’t hold you up.”

The brown specks in his aqua eyes shimmered like rocks under the spray off the ocean, and Nicole couldn’t help grinning. “No. I hadn’t planned anything tonight, other than seeing you.” The ball of delight in the pit of her stomach seemed to lift Nicole’s toes off the floor.

Will’s sandy-blond hair, still damp from a shower, was combed back. Its ends curled over the collar of his red polo shirt. Like her, he was dressed casually in a long-sleeved T-shirt, jeans and sneakers. Except for the jagged scar marking Will’s jawline and neck, he looked like an ordinary guy, not like a man who fought the filth of the underworld every day.

Max, bored from lack of attention, brushed against Will’s legs one last time and trotted off the porch, leaving them alone.

Will’s presence suddenly made Nicole nervous. “I didn’t hear you drive up.” Looking past his broad shoulders, she glanced at the driveway again. “Where’s your car?”

“I walked.” He poked his thumb over his shoulder. “I live a few blocks from here. Over on Jefferson Street.”

“I didn’t know that.” Her heart skipped a beat thinking how close Will was to her most of the time. A heartbeat later she chided herself. She was his job. The things he did for her and Luka weren’t personal. Moving them here, to his hometown, to keep her close and safe, was the agency’s decision, not Will’s. Although, she suspected, he had a voice in the outcome.

Once Gorgon and his brother were behind bars, they’d find another home for her and Luka. The thought brought her feet back down to the floor.

“Hmmm,
I thought I told you,” Will said.

“No. You didn’t.” Will had confided––on the side––at her debriefing, that Logan Summit was his hometown but not where he lived in the little town. She would’ve remembered that bit of info.

Will cleared his throat. “Can I come in?”

“Ah, sorry. Yes. Please.” Her cheeks warmed as she swung the wooden-framed door wide.

“So how are you doing?” Will asked while stepping inside.

“Good.”

He surveyed the room and peered up the stairs to the second floor. “Do you like the house?”

“It’s perfect. Luka and I love living here. And Max,” she added hearing the dog’s woof.

“I’d thought you’d like the place.”

“Did you pick it out?”

“I saw a realtor post a sign in the yard about a month ago. I just suggested it to the higher ups.”

When she spied the manila folder he carried, her arm hair stood on end. “What’s that?”

“This?” He showed her the file. “One of the two reasons I wanted to see you. First one being, I wanted to see you and make sure you and Luka were happy.”

“We are. Thank you. So are you going to tell me what’s in there?” Curious, she reached for the file.

He switched his hands, trapping the file next to his hip. “Maybe we should sit down?”

Nicole’s stomach knotted. The folder probably contained more pictures of men he wanted her to identify. Men who had dealings with Gorgon. Or, maybe it was something else altogether. Something that might send her to her knees.

“Sure.” She led him to the couch. After she sat, he settled in next to her, leaving a space of about a foot between them. Resisting the urge to fidget, Nicole laced her fingers together and dropped her hands to her lap.

Will slid the folder onto the coffee table. “Before we get to this…” He tapped the file. “I want to thank you, for helping us. What you did, going back into Gorgon’s house, took courage.”

“I didn’t have much choice.”

“Yes, you did. But with the information we retrieved, we’ve been able to round up two dozen of Gorgon’s contacts and charge them with human trafficking. This past week we found two missing children and returned them to their families.”

Her throat clogged with a mixture of happiness and pride. “That’s wonderful. But there is no need to thank me. Helping you was part of our deal, so Luka and I could be together, here.” Realizing her palms were moist, she ran her hands over her jean-clad thighs. “So what is in the folder?”

Will handed the file to her. “It’s my way of saying thank you for helping us.”

Confusion knitted her brow. She stared at the thin folder and then at him.

“Open it.”

His smile reassured her and she flipped open the cover. Staring down at two faces from the past, her breath caught. “My parents.”

The picture depicted them walking through an outside market. They held hands. They looked older. They looked wonderful and so happy.

Nicole’s heart swelled with love. Sadness tried to intrude on the moment but she pushed the feeling away and enjoyed the feeling of total contentment settling over her heart. Eight years had slipped by since she’d seen them. She traced the outline of their faces with trembling fingertips.

“I thought you’d like to know what your family looks like now and what they’ve been up to since you—” Will’s words broke off and he looked concerned.

Will’s kindhearted expression constricted Nicole’s throat. Tears blurred her vision and ran down her cheeks. “It’s okay, Will.”

He leaned forward, pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket and handed the white linen to her. “Here. Wipe your tears away before you have me bawling.” He chuckled.

She laughed along with Will, imagining the tough guy crying over her sentimental outbreak. “Right. Thanks.” She patted her cheeks dry and again stared at the picture in her lap.

“They’ve never stopped looking for you, Nicole,” Will’s comforting voice filled her ear. “Your mother now works for a local division of Amber Alerts. Your father calls the State Marshal’s office every week without fail. He wants to make sure you haven’t fallen through the cracks.”

They hadn’t stopped hoping and searching for her.
The flood of emotion filling her chest made breathing hard. She sniffled and swiped her nose with a shaky hand.

“There’s more.” Will reached over and flipped her parents’ picture to the side. “This is your brother Justin. He graduated early from Wilkes University with honors this past December. He’s now a junior civil engineer for the city of Harrisburg. And your sister, Ashley, she’s continuing her education as a clinical pharmacist, and she’s getting married in a few weeks.”

Nicole’s heart stretched a little more. She loved her twin brother and sister so much. They were thirteen the last time she saw them. Now they were all grown up. She was proud of them, knowing they had continued on with their lives and done well, but bitterness that she’d been robbed of the opportunity to make something of herself, made her slap the file closed and shove it at Will.

“What’s wrong?” Perplexed his head snapped back as if she’d slapped him across the face. “I thought you’d be happy to see these.”

“I am. Thank you.” She stood, rounded the coffee table, and crossed to one of the two windows overlooking the side yard. Perhaps picking up the scent of the squirrel she’d seen earlier, Max sniffed in the flower bed which lined the garage’s southern wall.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Will lay the file to the side and rise from the couch. A second later he stood behind her.

Nicole longed to lean back against his chest and feel his strong arms around her. She wanted to love and to be loved.

“What’s wrong?” he asked softly.

“Nothing, and everything.” While shaking her head she bit her lip, trapping in the resentment that had reared up inside her and partially snatched away her joy.

“What happened to you was no one’s fault but the men who kidnapped you, Nicole. Not yours, and not your family’s.”

How could she make him understand the way she felt?

Keeping her back to him, she said, “I know that. It’s just, I see what they’ve become and I’m what? Nothing.”

Will hands landed on her shoulders and suddenly she found herself facing him. Through her thin shirt her skin warmed under his touch.

Will’s brow lined with furrows while he studied her.

“You’re not nothing. You’re a strong, brave woman who has put her life on the line not only to save herself, but her son and Susie and hundreds of others. If your parents were here, they’d tell you how proud they are of you.”

Her laughter sounded evil to her own ears. “Proud that I was made to be a whore.”

Will’s skin flushed with crimson anger and his fingers bit into her skin as he shook her. “You’re not a whore. You never were. I don’t want to hear you call yourself that again. Do you understand, Nicole?”

Staring into the depths of his rage, she swallowed. Will truly understood her torment. She looked down, blinked back the hot tears welling up inside her, and nodded.

Will’s grip relaxed and his hands slid over her shoulders to her back. He held her in place and stepped closer. The feel of his body meeting hers, chest to chest, thigh to thigh, sent Nicole’s pulse racing.

He was just comforting her, she thought. She wanted real love and Will didn’t love her. She’d be a fool to think he ever could.

With her head against his chest, she closed her eyes and listened to the strong beat and the rhythm of his heart. She recorded the feel of his hard muscles and the way his breath felt against her hair. She inhaled the mixed floral scent of the fabric softener he used and his spicy cologne. A smile tugged at her lips.

Oh, how she wished there could be something more between them. A wild thought popped to mind. Could they have a night together? One she would remember and cherish in the years to come while she slept alone.

No. That had to be the worst idea she’d ever had. While her body would thank her a hundred times over, her heart couldn’t take the rejection that unquestionably would happen in the moments after. Somewhere over the last two months, she had fallen for Will even though she knew that loving him was a mistake.

She leaned into him. One more minute of bliss and then she’d let him go.

Will’s massage replaced the tension in her back muscles with tender comfort and sent hopeful tingles up her spine, acknowledging that a bond had formed between them.

He sighed against her head. “You know, this isn’t the best idea.”

Nicole braced herself against the ache surrounding her heart. Either Will knew how she felt about him and didn’t feel the same way or he also knew there was no future between them.

“You’re probably right.” Sighing, she pulled back and was captured by the storm in his eyes.

Will’s gaze dropped to her lips and just like hers, his heartbeat went wild under her palm. Afraid she’d miss the moment, she didn’t blink.

“Oh, hell.” Will lowered his head and his tender lips brushed across hers.

A feverish wave cascaded through Nicole, and she melted against Will, soaking in every tiny detail of their joining; his hand wrapped in her hair, holding her head in place. The way his breath grew hotter against her cheek. The sweet taste of his tongue darting inside her mouth, promising her the passion she longed to share.

Seconds turned into minutes and just as she was about to resign to being totally lost, Will pulled back.

Nicole didn’t care for the cool air separating them and with her eyes still closed, moaned her objection. Her skin burned for his touch. Her hands slid up over the hard muscles of Will’s chest, shoulders and around his neck and she pulled him back down.

Under feverish kisses, Nicole’s ability to reason slipped away and the sweet bliss of insanity took over. She never thought she’d ever need a man, much less want one. But in that moment she both needed and wanted Will.

Will’s warm lips moved along her jaw, to her ear and Nicole’s eyes rolled back as she allowed herself to feel the sensations this man caused in her. For so long, she had put herself somewhere else during moments like this.

What was she thinking? She’d never experienced moments like this.

She laced her fingers through his soft hair, wanting Will to move and suckle her skin lower, but instead he pulled back again and rested his forehead against hers. Blazing passion stared back at her.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” Will’s tone was rough and breathless.

He smoothed her hair back and her scalp prickled. Then gently he massaged her shoulders and her heart beat decelerated from its feverish pace. “Please don’t tell me you were just comforting me.”

“What? Hell no.” He straightened. “I’ve wanted to kiss you. For a while. Just now, seeing you upset put me over the edge.”

“How long? Since the day you first saw me?” She refused to look away. His answer was important.

Will studied her a moment before responding.

“I wondered a lot about you then, for obvious reasons, but I don’t think I actually wanted to kiss you until the amusement park, when you dropped your cotton candy and we both bent over to pick the bag up. Remember?”