Finally Home (Home Series) (33 page)

"So, he hasn't been carrying a torch for Carolina?"

Riley chuckled.  "No."

She scrubbed her hands over her face. 

"What do I do now?  The way he made it sound, he's going to stay away from me and put everyone else in charge of watching me."

"I'll talk to him, but it may be best to just give him some space."

She shook her head.  "That doesn't feel right.  I think everyone has left him on his own for too long."

"That may be true, but trust me, if Mike doesn't want to do something, there is nothing anyone can say or do to make him."

"Oh, really?  But then, he hasn't come across me before, now has he?"

Riley chuckled but shook his head. 

"Just be careful, Tink...I know you're tough, but...Mike's been through a lot and he'll circle the wagons and lock himself behind a wall of ice to protect himself, and not realize that he's hurting you in the process."

"Oh, he knew what he did tonight was hurting me, make no mistake about that. 
I'll cut him some slack to a point.  And then we're going to have a serious Come to Jesus talk if he doesn't get his butt in gear."

Riley pulled his little cousin into his arms and kissed her forehead. 

"I love you, Tink.  Just give him a little bit of time, he isn't used to dealing with someone like you and he isn't used to the feelings he has for you."

"Love you, too, Rile.  Thanks for telling me all of this."

"Get a warm bath or something.  Relax.  I gotta check in with everyone," he said, leaving her in the room alone. 

With him gone, Lainey sank back down on the bed and picked up Mike's pillow, hugging it to her.  He was
killing her, pulling away like this, especially after how good everything was last night...but she was determined to make him see that what he was doing was a mistake.  One way or another, she wasn't going to let him suffer alone any more.

Mike had to put some distance between them.  He had to be able to get away from those big emerald eyes so he could think.  As soon as Riley got there, he left, heading to the Orion offices.  His conscience smacked him the entire drive there, however.  He was running.  He knew he was running.  Hated himself for doing it; but he'd been terrified that he would hurt her when the dream was on him.

Pulling into the parking garage at the office building, he slammed his hand on the steering wheel.  What was he doing?  Was he really going to
let the nightmare pull him away from her?  Lainey was the only woman he wanted.  It was because he felt so strongly for her that she was being pulled into the dream, and he had to admit, he couldn't handle it.  If that were to have really happened; if she had been in his life and they'd somehow gotten her and brought her in to torture in front of him, that would have broken him.  It's what terrified him about this whole situation with Conroy; that he would somehow fail and Conroy would hurt her.

He now understood Colt even more than he had that night the call came in about Sarah.  Colt had been terrified.  Mike was terrified now.  He'd never felt fear like this; not even when
he'd been captured.  Lainey was...
everything
.  From the time she was seventeen, her face had haunted his thoughts.  Her face had carried him through the torture before he'd really even known her.  Now, that he did?  He was running from her. 

He looked up at his reflection in the rearview mirror, staring himself in the eyes, taking a good, hard look at himself.  What the hell was he doing?
  Abdul had robbed him of enough in his life; was he really going to let him take Lainey from him, too? Cursing himself, he put the truck in reverse to head back.  He may still need to take a step back from her, but running wasn't the answer.

When he got to the loft, he found Lainey sitting on the sofa, laptop open. 
Riley and Colt were at the desk.  All eyes went to him as he stepped out of the elevator.  He met Lainey's gaze briefly, then shifted his gaze over to the guys, then back to Lainey.

"Can I see you
upstairs?" he asked her quietly, hands shoved in his pockets. 

She silently closed her laptop and got up, walking ahead of him to the stairs, meeting Riley's gaze briefly as she passed him.  When they stepped into the bedroom, he shut the door, studied her a moment, then stepped to her, wrapping his arms around her.

"I'm sorry,
cara mia,
" he said softly, "chasing old ghosts."

She pulled back and looked up at him.

"I can help with that."

"You already are," he replied.

"Am I?  Your dreams are getting worse."

"My life is changing.  Because of you.  I never had anyone who could make me fear for them until you.
  I'm sorry I ran.  That isn't who I am."

She cupped his face in her hands and stood on her toes to kiss him.

"You came back, though, didn't you, Commander?  That's all that matters."

"
Dio,"
he swore, crushing her to him again.  "I don't deserve you."

"That's where you're wrong," she said, tightening her hold on him. 
"You deserve
everything
, Mike."

"
Cara,
" he began.

"Don't argue with me, Commander.  Irish, remember?"

"Damn Irish," he said, before claiming her lips.

Charles wasn't happy.  He hadn't seen Lainey in days.  Those damn soldier boys were keeping her hidden.  He'd talked to her that once but it wasn't enough.  He knew that she would be going to that fancy society Ball thing at the Rich Guy's house.  She went every year.  But he also knew that he'd have a better chance of breaking into the White House than he would at getting past that security, and he was sure that the soldier boys were adding to the security to make it even tighter.

He had to see her.  He had his pictures and his videos, but they weren't enough.  He had to see her every day like he used to.  It was as vital to him as the air that he breathed. 

Chapter Twenty-Three

The days leading to the Founders Day Ball were always a whirlwind of activity for Lainey. She and Kacee and their mothers worked tirelessly on planning and preparations every year.  This year, with the threat of Conroy looming, things were even more hectic.  Lainey went to the Adtkissons' every day with Mike so he and his team could work on the security preparations.  She enjoyed the time away from the loft, however, so even though he still restricted her from going outside, it was nice to have a change of venue. He wouldn't allow her to go to the dressmaker's shop for the final fitting of her gown for security reasons, so Kacee's mother had arranged for the fittings to be done in their home.

Tensions were running high with the guys.  Tessa and Shane were arriving later in the evening.  Tessa would be in the security room helping to watch the monitors and Shane would be used for additional security.  None of the guys were happy about Tessa being there so soon after her ordeal, but she insisted on helping in some way and Mike reluctantly agreed that having her in the booth would free up one of the guys from having to do it.  Lainey knew that Tessa just needed to feel involved; Riley told her that Tessa was having a hard time dealing with the fact that she would have to take a step back from her involvement with the team and that it was causing tension between her and her husband.  She hated that for Tessa.  She didn't know her well, but hearing the guys talk about her, she knew that being sidelined would not sit well with her.

"Lainey," her mother admonished, "pay attention.  Pedro was speaking to you."

Lainey blinked at her mother then turned to focus on Pedro, the dress designer, who was watching her anxiously.  She offered him a smile, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry, Pedro, my mind was a million miles away.  Could you repeat what you said to me?"

"Not to worry," he said, showing her the gown he had held up, "what do you think?  It turned out rather well, if I do say so myself."

She got up and went to him, running her hand down the elegant satin of the dark emerald gown.  It was simple in design, an off-the-shoulder form fitted bodice with elegant peacock beading, and a long, floor-length sheath skirt.  It was simple and elegant and she knew the deep emerald color would make her eyes stand out, and it hadn't escaped her memory that she'd been wearing a deep emerald green dress the Founders Day Ball all those years ago when she'd first met Mike.

"It's perfect, Pedro, as always."

"Not perfect until you try it on, missy.  Up with you now," he said, making her laugh. 

She stood and went into the adjoining bedroom that they were using as a dressing room.  Kacee followed her in with the dress, p
lacing it on the rack while Lainey stepped out of her clothes.

"When are you going to stop wearing a minimizer and embrace those girls," Kacee said, eyeing Lainey's bra.

"Well...have you seen the back of that dress?  I'm not exactly going to be able to wear a normal bra with it."

Kacee turned the dress around, seeing it's low scooping back.

"Holy cow!  Are you going to be able to wear a bra at all with it?"

"Pedro should have brought one he had made for me to wear with it.  Is it in the bag?"

Kacee fished around in the bag that was hanging on the hanger and found the lingerie set Pedro included in the same color as the dress.

"Good Lord, girl..." she said, holding up the thong panties, "what's the point?"

Lainey smiled, taking the lingerie.  "The material is super clingy...he doesn't want panty lines marring his design."

"Yeah, so again, what's the point of even wearing them?"

She giggled, "Because the point is, a treat for The Commander later...if he's nice to me," she added with a wink, taking the lingerie and the dress into the bathroom to change.  When she came out, Kacee gave a low whistle.

"I think Mike's going to be swallowing his tongue before the night's through when he sees you in that."

Lainey smiled.  The front of the dress was fairly conservative, but the bra Pedro had designed definitely pushed her "girls" as Kacee called them, up and created an impressive but conservative show of cleavage.  The back dipped down to slightly below her waist at the center of her back, had two, low slung X straps and left the rest of her back completely bare.  It was the most daring dress she'd ever worn, and had been a last minute change to Pedro...she'd called him last week and said she wanted to break from her usually conservative style for something a bit more risqué...still elegant, but something that would make even the hard-nosed Commander sit up and take notice.  Pedro had been thrilled to finally be able to design something that flattered her curves rather than concealed them.

"I think Pedro out-
did himself," she said, studying her reflection in the three-way mirror that had been set up in the room.

"Me, too.  I'll bring everyone in," Kacee said, walking out.

Lainey continued to study the dress in the mirror.  It was such a departure from her normal style.  She hoped her mother wouldn't have a negative reaction to it; it was making her nervous enough.

"Perfection!" Pedro said, clapping his hands as he walked in.  "Turn, turn, let me see," he said, gesturing for her to do a slow spin. 
"What do you think?  Is this what you were picturing?"

"It's fantastic," she told him.

"Oh.  Wow," Lisa Riley said when she stepped inside. 

"Isn't it gorgeous?" Kacee asked to the room at large.

"I love it," Kacee's mother, Gina Adtkisson said.

"Mom?" Lainey asked, looking at her mother.

"It's stunning," Lisa said.

"Of course it is," Pedro said, snapping his fingers for his assistants to move in with the shoes he'd brought.  They were strappy silver sandals with three-inch stiletto heels, and matched the beadwork perfectly.  "Perfect.  The only thing we need to work on is your hair...Carletta brought extensions...what do you think?"

Lainey ran a hand through her blonde curls and thought about how Mike seemed to like to stroke her hair.

"No, no extensions.  You'll have to make due with the hair I've got, Pedro."

"But with some wisps and -" he began but she cut him off.

"And my guy likes to play with my hair, don't want him running into extension clips...make do."

Pedro frowned.  "Fine.  Jewelry, then.  I was -"

Gina Adtkisson cut him off.  "I have a perfect set for this dress.  I'll go get them."

"Oh, Gina, I couldn't -" Lainey began but Gina just laughed.

"Nonsense,
cara
, what's mine is yours, you know that.  I'll be back."

"You need to tan just a bit more," Pedro told her, still studying her appearance.  "Not much, maybe just a shade darker.  And if you won't let Carletta add extensions, then we at least need to do a color shine on your hair, lighten it up a shade."

Lainey sighed.  "Fine.  I can do that."

Gina Adtkisson came back in with a jewelry case containing gorgeous emerald and diamond drop earrings that when placed in Lainey's ears, dangled down to just below her jaw.  They were absolutely perfect for the dress and made her eyes stand out even more.