A Reason to Believe (22 page)

tightened on Kiernan’s neck.

Matt deepened the kiss. Kiernan’s arm snaked

around his neck, fingers sliding into the hair on the

back of his head. Matt groaned into his open

mouth, his free arm circling the slender body, and

Kiernan surged forward, crawling over the

divider, closing the distance between them. His

knee slid between Matt’s legs, pressing up against

his balls, and Matt gasped at the longing that shot

through him. He pulled him in and held on tight,

relishing the strong chest pressed against his.

A wash of light illuminated the cab of the

Bronco like the flash of a camera strobe, and they

separated with a startled jerk. Matt’s first instinct

was to search for a photographer, but he realized a

car was approaching slowly down the deserted

street. The driver had switched on his bright lights

in the gloom. Relieved it wasn’t paparazzi, Matt

exhaled shakily. Kiernan withdrew to his own seat

as the car crept past.

“Sorry,” Kiernan said, his fingers lightly

touching his swollen lips. “I got carried away. I

shouldn’t have jumped you like that…”

Matt caught Kiernan’s hand, squeezing firmly.

Startled eyes turned to him.

“Don’t apologize,” Matt said. “Unless you’re

really sorry.”

A slow smile lit Kiernan’s face. “I’m not. I just

thought you might be.”

“I’m not,” he said, faintly startled to find it was

true. “But I think we should probably pick this up

later, someplace roomier and more private. I’m

too old to be making out in my car.”

“You’re never too old to make out in your car,”

Kiernan countered. “You’d have to be pretty

athletic to fuck in this one, but I’ll bet it could be

done.”

Matt stared at him. “You,” he said pointedly,

“say the damnedest things.” Kiernan’s laugh was

infectious. “Put on your seat belt.” Matt fought a

smile as he put the car into gear.

When they arrived at the Hilton, Matt pulled

around and parked near the entrance to the loading

dock. The night manager had suggested they

continue to use the back entrance as a precaution.

The snow had been pushed to the curb by the

plows and was nearly knee deep. Kiernan was

struggling as he tried to make his way through it,

using the car to steady himself.

Matt grinned. “Problems?”

“Oh, shut up. Just because your legs are so

damned long.”

“But you think the snow is cool, remember?”

Kiernan finally hopped over the berm, catching

himself on the hood when his feet slipped out from

under him. He gave Matt a disgruntled look.

“Okay, so maybe this part is a pain in the ass.” He

straightened, brushing his hands off on his pants.

Matt heard the sound of an engine and glanced

over his shoulder. A dark sedan was heading

toward them, tires nearly silent, its headlights

cutting a path through the drifting snow. Something

about the car struck Matt as being off. Even in the

bitter cold, the driver’s window was open. A

gloved hand emerged.

He didn’t make a conscious decision to move. It

was training, and instinct. One moment he was

standing by the driver’s door, the next he was

grabbing Kiernan around the waist and throwing

him to the snowy ground. He heard the telltale

noise of a silencer as the shooter clicked off round

after round, the sound magnified by the odd

acoustics created by the snowy street. Falling

heavily on top of Kiernan, Matt shielded him with

his body. Muffled thuds sounded around him as

bullets hit the snow. Small geysers of ice arced up

from the impact, covering him in crystals.

“Matt!” Kiernan’s hands curled into Matt’s

shoulders. A sharp metallic clang rang out as a

bullet slammed into the side of the Bronco right

above their heads, and Matt flinched reflexively.

Another bullet thudded into the snow next to

Kiernan’s shoulder, and Matt had a glimpse of

frightened eyes. He shifted quickly, shoving

Kiernan under the Bronco.

Matt steeled himself for pain, waiting for a

bullet to find his exposed back. Instead, he heard

the sedan’s wheels spinning in the snow and

looked over his shoulder to see it speeding off

down the street. The reason for the hasty departure

became clear when a pickup truck headed their

way from the other direction, its headlights

illuminating the street. Matt exhaled heavily and

flopped over onto his back in the snow.

The truck rolled to a stop. “You fellas okay over

there?” a male voice called out.

Matt pushed himself up onto his elbows, his

heart still racing.

The driver, an older man wearing a dark

skullcap, was leaning across the seat to an open

window. “Did ya fall on the ice?”

“Yeah. But I’m okay.” He looked over at

Kiernan, who was still lying on his back half under

the car, his chest moving rapidly up and down with

each noisy breath. “Are you okay?” he asked,

touching Kiernan’s arm.

Kiernan rolled his head on the snow, his pupils

frightened pinpoints in the startling blue irises. He

nodded.

Matt turned back to the Good Samaritan. “Yeah,

we’re all right. Thanks for asking.”

“Ya need help getting up?” The man looked like

he might open his door, but Matt sat up, waving

him away.

“No. We’re fine, really. Thanks again for

stopping.”

The driver rolled up his window and continued

on his way.

“Are you hurt?” Matt moved his hand to

Kiernan’s chest. He could feel his heart racing

under his palm.

“Someone just shot at us, didn’t they?” he asked,

his voice strained. Matt nodded. Kiernan was still

breathing hard, but to Matt’s surprise, he suddenly

looked more excited than frightened. “We’ve

rattled someone’s cage then, haven’t we?”

“We’ve done something,” Matt replied, pushing

to his feet. He grabbed Kiernan’s hands and pulled

him up. “Come on, back in the Bronco. We can’t

stand out here in the open.” He unlocked the

driver’s side door. “Get in and crawl over the

divider.”

Kiernan got in without even pausing to brush

himself off. “Where are we going?”

Matt climbed in and slammed the door. “Back to

my house. Call your sister and tell her to meet us

there with your stuff.” He pulled away from the

curb. “Until we know who the hell that was, I’m

your new constant companion.”

“I can live with that,” Kiernan said softly.

Matt kept his eyes front, scanning the street for

any sign of the dark sedan.

* * *

emphatically as they walked in through the back

door of Matt’s house. Matt flicked the lights on as

he passed, shrugging out of his overcoat and

tossing it on the kitchen table.

“That’s your call.” The adrenaline rush was

starting to wane, but his nerves were stretched

tight as a piano wire, thrumming uncomfortably

just beneath the surface of his skin. When he

thought of what might have happened if he’d been a

second slower, it made him sick to his stomach.

There had been a telephone conversation

between Kiernan and his sister but he hadn’t heard

much of it. His heartbeat had been too loud in his

ears, his eyes darting from the street to the

rearview mirror, searching for anything that might

indicate the dark sedan was following them.

“She’s already unhappy about my staying

behind. If I tell her about what happened, she

won’t leave.” Kiernan took off his leather jacket

and loosened his tie. “She always has been too

much of a mom. She needs to get back and do some

things for herself, and I want her as far away from

this as possible.”

Matt jerked his suit jacket off of his shoulders,

his agitation suddenly taking the form of anger as

he pulled his own tie loose. “If you were smart,

you’d go with her.” He saw movement to his left,

but he still tensed when he felt a hand come to rest

on his back.

“You okay?”

“I’m fine.” Matt shrugged the hand away. “I

need to call it in.” He patted down his pockets,

searching for his cell phone.

“Call what in?”

“It’s called ‘shots fired.’”

“Matt.” Kiernan caught his arm, and Matt sent

him a hard look. He released him and took a step

away. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”

“Shots were fired within the city limits, in my

city. That may happen all the time in L.A., but here

it’s somewhat unusual. I have a responsibility to

report it.”

“Fine, do what you need to do. But you might

want to think for just a minute. Shots were fired,

yeah, but at us, not at random. And I think it’s

pretty clear they had something to do with what

happened earlier today. Do you really want to clue

your colleagues in on what we were doing this

afternoon? I would think the last thing you need is

for Branson to know we were in Abby’s

bedroom.”

Matt stared into the open face and finally

nodded, the movement jerky. “Fine. I won’t call it

in.”

Kiernan took a cautious step forward. “Matt.”

Matt held up a stiff hand. “I need coffee.”

“Okay, fine.”

Kiernan stayed close, and Matt wished he’d just

go away. Instead of ordering him out, he slammed

things around. He pulled filters out of the cupboard

and threw them onto the counter, and slapped on

the tap to fill the glass pot. When he’d added

coffee and poured the water into the well, he was

trembling so hard he spilled some onto the sink.

Infuriated, he punched the On button so hard, the

coffeemaker scooted six inches across the

countertop.

Kiernan hopped onto the counter beside him,

and Matt looked at him as if he’d lost his mind.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

“Putting myself at eye level. Now, are you going

to quit acting like an ass and talk to me, or is there

some other appliance you’d like to abuse?”

“You don’t know me well enough to make a

comment like that,” Matt hissed through clenched

teeth.

“I know you better than you think,” Kiernan

replied, his voice mild. When Matt made a noise

of disgust and started to turn away, Kiernan caught

his arm in a surprisingly firm grip.

Matt looked pointedly at his hand and then up

into Kiernan’s eyes. “Let. Go.”

“No. And in regards to how well I do or do not

know you, I know that no matter how pissed I make

you, you won’t take a swing at me. You’re not a

violent man. Believe me, I know plenty about

those. You won’t even twist your arm hard enough

to get away because you might hurt mine in the

process.”

Matt gritted his teeth but didn’t wrench his hand

free.

“Matt, I’m all right. Not even a scratch, see?”

He pulled Matt’s hand to his chest and Matt

allowed it, not protesting when he pressed his

palm over his heart and held it there. “Feel that?

Still beating steadily, thanks to you.”

Matt felt his anger drain away as quickly as it

had come, and he took his first full breath since

he’d spotted the sedan’s open window. He closed

his eyes and let his head fall forward.

Kiernan sighed and his hands bracketed Matt’s

face, urging his chin up. To Matt’s surprise, his

lips were covered, urged to part, and soft breath

filled his mouth. Kiernan’s fingers carded the short

hair above his collar. He made a startled sound in

his throat and felt Kiernan’s tongue slide along his

lower lip before slipping between his teeth. After

a moment he drew back, but only far enough that

their mouths were barely separated.

“See,” he whispered. Matt felt the rush of his

breath. “Everything still works fine.”

Matt wasn’t sure if it was the unexpectedness of

the comment or pure relief, but he laughed roughly.

He caressed the curve of muscle beneath his palm

and stepped into the vee created by Kiernan’s

spread thighs. “Good to know.”

“I certainly think so.” Kiernan smiled against his

lips, and then he was pressing back in, mouth open,