Fighting Chance (Misty Grove Book 1) (24 page)

“Didn’t take you for a man with self-control issues.”

“My control is shot every time I’m around you, or haven’t you noticed?” Trent felt relief and disappointment as she slipped on her robe. But when she stepped closer to him and put her arms around his neck, an overwhelming urge to fuck her took hold of him again. He would never get enough of her. Ever.

“Cassie...” Her name came out strangled.

“Yes, Trent?”

“I’m sorry for taking you so hard earlier.”

“Do you hear me complaining?” She tilted her head slightly as her lips tipped up at the corners.

“I fucked you out of desperation. To prove a point. I never should have done that.”

“Do you see yourself doing it again?”

Trent sighed. “I probably would.”

“And are you going to apologize every time you lose control?”

He nodded.

“Trent,” Cassie said softly. “You’re possessive, overly protective, and have a hell of a dominant streak. You’ve got a temper, and I seem to be the fuse that sets it off. We clash often because I’m stubborn, and as you know, I have a problem with authority. Yet you accept me as I am. It goes both ways. Don’t be afraid of showing me who you are.”

“I don’t want to scare you away,” Trent admitted. “I love you so much, Cassie. I have this need to keep you safe, to be with you every minute of the day.” He lowered his voice. “This need to be inside you every second. It’s an obsession out of control, and I don’t give a fuck.”
 

“It’s a good thing I belong to you then.”

Trent stilled, his nostrils flaring. “You mean that?”

“Of course I do,” Cassie said in a chiding tone. “You know what else I realized?”

He was almost afraid to ask, so he smiled encouragingly instead.

“I think I’m more than halfway in love with you and—”

Trent couldn’t help it as he captured her lips in a bruising kiss amidst his heady triumph. He wanted to do a fist pump because he’d won the biggest prize of all. His Cassie. The hellion who he thought was impossible to tame. He continued kissing her until he felt her push against him.

“Whoa, cowboy!” Cassie laughed. “Or we’re going to end up in bed again. Like you said, we need to talk.”

“Who are you and what have you done with Cassie?” Finally, his woman wanted to talk. He’d make sure he kept his dick in check if it killed him.
 

“I know I’ve been difficult, but relationships are new to me.” She glanced up at him uncertainly. “Just to make it clear, so there’s not any confusion later. We are in a relationship, right?”

“Damn straight we are,” Trent growled.

“Exclusive, right?”

“Yes, we’re fucking exclusive.”

“All right, jeez. Calm down.” Her brows furrowed. “I do have some concerns.”

Trent had a pretty good idea what those concerns were. “If it’s about your safety, I’m not compromising on it.”

“I understand. But I don’t want you shutting out Matt and Colt. They are my family, Trent. And I’d appreciate it if you give me credit for my own skills. The way you’re going about protecting me, it’s as if you want me in a plastic bubble.”

He considered this. She was a tough fighter on her own, even without HGH-13 induced strength, but she was forgetting one crucial point.

“These people after you are not your typical run-of-the-mill criminals. We’re not even sure how dangerous they are. If they’re after you with this Dr. Devlin on their side, you can be sure they know your weaknesses.”

“You have a point,” Cassie agreed thoughtfully. “But I’d really appreciate it if you’d tone down your bossiness.”

“You like my bossiness.”
 

She rolled her eyes at him. “I do, but I’m not exactly naive. I’ve grown up dealing with a bunch of alpha males, and believe it or not, I can be easygoing—”

Trent raised a brow at this.

“—to a certain point. It’s my understanding that relationships are give and take.”

“Are you complaining about how many orgasms I give you?” Trent said with amusement. “I’d be happy to give you more.”

He grunted as he earned a not-so-gentle punch to the gut.

“I have no complaints there,” Cassie retorted. “But there’s that wee fact you came inside me without a condom.”

“We discussed this the other day. We’re both clean and you’re on birth control.”

“I also told you that my IUD was due for replacement.”

“So have it taken out.” An overwhelming sense of possessiveness took hold of him. “If you’re pregnant, I’ll take care of you and our baby.”
 

“Oh, my God,” Cassie shrieked as she yanked herself out of his arms and turned away from him. When she faced him again, frustration etched her features. “I’m not getting through that Neanderthal skull of yours!”

“Is this the right time to say I’m going to marry you if you’re pregnant?” Trent asked cautiously.

“No! The right question would be to ask if I’m okay with having a baby.”

Trent decided to shut up and lowered his gaze to the floor. If Cassie knew exactly how much he wanted to tie her to him, it would freak her out because the depth of his feelings
were
freaking him out.

“Look, this is all going too fast.” She reached out to link their hands and sighed. “Can we slow down a little? I can’t believe we’re talking about a baby at this point since we’ve only just agreed that this is a relationship. One step at a time, okay?”

A tide of relief washed through him. He hadn’t scared her off after all. Lifting his eyes to hers, he was struck with the tenderness in her gaze.
 

Cassie loved him.

Trent nodded. “I promise to go slower.”
 

She smiled up at him and his heart lurched.
 

Going slow was going to kill him, but he was going to fucking try.
 

CHAPTER NINETEEN

It had been a week since Cassie’s latest abduction attempt, and today was the first day Trent resumed his duties at the sheriff’s office. The GBI and FBI had come to a joint resolution about the Route 11 shootout. Interestingly enough, the death of Xavier Sanchez facilitated the full turnover of the case to the FBI since the scientist’s death happened near Jacksonville, Florida. The case had crossed state lines. Jacoby was not happy, but it was out of his hands.
 

“Glad to have you back, Sheriff,” Frank said as he handed Trent a stack of folders.
 

He eyed them dubiously. “We need to have these files computerized.” Wait. What was he saying? He wouldn’t be sheriff long enough to see this through.

“Maybe you can bring this up in the next county manager meeting,” Frank said with amusement.

Trent leaned back in his chair. “Frank, I won’t be running for re-election.”

Frank’s smile vanished and his shoulders slumped. “Cassie?”

He nodded. “I wasn’t planning on staying in Buckland County and had planned to return to Dallas. Cassie changed all that.”

“I take it, it’s serious?”

“Do I detect some kind of disapproval there?”

“Cassie has always shied away from relationships ever since that fiasco with Stratford’s cousin. I don’t even remember the boy’s name. She’s a tough woman, but you know our girl is vulnerable in some ways. If this is not serious—”

“It’s serious,” Trent cut him off before the older man said something that would piss him off. “I’m not about to explain my relationship with Cassie to you, Frank, but I can assure you, I will not hurt her. Hell, it took a lot of work to convince her to give me a chance, and the last thing I need is someone close to Cassie putting any doubt in her mind. Keep your opinions to yourself or you and I will have problems.”

Frank surveyed him quietly as if weighing his next words.

“I’ve known that girl for twelve years, Trent. I’ve watched her blossom. I’ve seen her crushed and I’ve watched her fall under Stratford’s thumb—”

“I’m not that fucker.”

“I know that, Sheriff, but I’ve known you for roughly six weeks. The former sheriff and I should have taken our girl’s back and not worried about Stratford’s influence.”

“Your hands were tied because of Stratford land. Even Colt and Matt couldn’t do anything about it, but that’s not an issue anymore. Which brings me to another point of not running for re-election.”

“What is it?”

“For the next four and a half months, while I hold this office, I will have to look the other way when it comes to Stratford’s dirty business.”

His deputy raised a brow.

“This is between you and me, Frank. I had no choice because Cassie’s life was at stake at that time and Stratford had information.”

“Route 11?”

“Yes. You don’t owe him anything, and I really want you to run for the sheriff’s position in November.”

“I don’t know, Trent.”

“I’m not qualified. I can’t discharge the duties of this office properly, not if I want to be with Cassie, and she’s all I’ll ever need. I’ll have to find a job outside of enforcing the law.”

A smile tugged at Frank’s lips. “Little troublemaker, isn’t she?”

“The worst.” Trent grinned. Though it was mostly trouble finding her because of who she was.

“Now I’m worried about you,” his deputy joked.

“Don’t be. I’ve never been happier,” Trent replied, but a dark presence hung above those words. He couldn’t truly be happy when there was an unknown entity gunning for his girl. Sometimes he dreamed of simply whisking her away, but that would only delay the inevitable.
 

He could feel it.
 

A storm was coming.
 

*****

“Too spicy.”

Cassie chased the fiery taste of the fried chicken with a gulp of cold root beer. She’d been in the hot kitchen all day with Millie, trying different recipes for the launch of the new diner menu. The older woman wanted to put the restaurant on the foodie map. The demise of dirty CIA officer Harold Baxter brought on a new era, a new day for the ex-assassins burned by the man. They owed a lot to Admiral Benjamin Porter and his team for giving them a new lease on life. No more hiding. Except for her.

“Well, we could have a spicy variation,” Millie suggested.

“True. I know Lucas would love this.”

“How about sides?”

“We can do waffles. And the regular mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn bread.”

“Kate loves the corn bread.” Cassie glanced over at her sister, who was sitting idly by the kitchen island, watching them. “You think she can hear us but just refuses to speak?”

“It’s not nice talking about someone like they’re not there,” Millie chided.

“Funny, I thought it’s not nice to talk about someone behind their back.”

“How does Trent put up with that smart mouth of yours?”

Cassie laughed. “I don’t know. So far he hasn’t kicked me out of his house yet.”

“It looks serious.”
 

She couldn’t meet Millie’s shrewd eyes. “He said he loves me.”

“That’s great!” the older woman exclaimed with so much excitement, Cassie’s eyes snapped to hers. “Have you said it back?”

“Not quite.” Cassie squirmed and looked elsewhere again.

“What do you mean?”

“I said I was falling in love with him, but I’m not quite there yet.”

“Oh, Cassie, it’s obvious you’re gone for him.”

Scowling at Millie, she asked, “And how am I obvious?”

“I’ve been around a long time, young lady.”

“I’m not sure being an ex-assassin qualifies you as a relationship expert.”

There were snorts of laughter from the kitchen staff—most of them happened to be ex-assassins, like Simon, the line cook.

“Get back to work,” Millie barked at them before glaring at her. “Really, Cassie. You of all people should know the first thing they train us to do is to read people.”

“Not me. Mostly they trained me to act helpless so I could get the jump on my target.”

“You’ve never lost that look, you know.”

“What?” Cassie’s eyes widened. “The helpless look?”

“I wouldn’t call it helpless.” Millie leaned in to look at her closer. “Vulnerable.”

Cassie made a scoffing sound.
 

“I think that’s why Trent is very protective of you, and I don’t blame him.”

“I’m far from vulnerable, Millie. I’m thirty years old and far from a naive virgin.” The older woman was starting to piss her off.

“I’m not talking about physically, Cassie. The reason I warned you about the sheriff before wasn’t because of his likely alliance to Bowman, but because he looked like a man who could break your heart. I was worried for you in the beginning because of his interest, but seeing his reaction when you went into a coma and after you came out of it made me hopeful that he was the perfect man for you. So tell me, am I right?”

“He makes me feel cherished.” Cassie smiled. “He’s also coping very well with all this trouble surrounding me, although I won’t deny we’ve had a few bumps in the road.”

“Your situation is extreme, even for one with his background.”

These past two weeks after Trent told her he loved her were a learning experience in adjusting to each other. Although Trent was busy catching up on work at the sheriff’s department, his schedule mostly coincided with the diner hours so he could drop her off and pick her up. They’d go home together where he’d cook her dinner, and they’d talk. They’d talk for hours just as they would make love for hours—or fuck depending on their mood. But Trent never isolated her from her friends and family. Last weekend he’d coordinated with Mac and Colt to hold a BBQ at the ranch. There were two occasions when he had a call out at 3:00 a.m. Both times he had asked Lucas to come by and stay with her. Her twin didn’t seem to mind. After the first call out, Cassie brought up the idea of moving back to the ranch, but Trent shot that down.

“We’re not making your situation an excuse to be apart from each other. If that’s our new normal, then so be it,” Trent told her. “We’ll find a better way.” He had talked to Matt about upgrading the security at the garage and gym so there’d be an alternative haven for her in case he’d work a double shift. As far as Cassie knew, Matt had agreed and it was in the works.