Happily Never After (14 page)

“Look, I know how busy you are so I got out of your way.”

Loud breathing sent his anger crashing across the phone connection. “We agreed that I would follow you to David’s.”

His icy tone made her wince, but she wouldn’t back down. “No, that’s what you said you were going to do but I decided to do something else.”

“Okay, Kelsey. What’s going on? When I left for the office, you were going to wait for me. Now, let’s try this again. Where. Are. You?”

On the verge of a new bout of tears, she was amazed at her calm tone. “I met your neighbor Marge today and realized how little we really know one another. Last night was a mistake, but now we can move on. I hope this won’t affect our friendship because I think you’re a great person. Thank you again for helping me with my apartment.”

She ended the connection and turned back to her friend. The tears could no longer be denied.

Chapter 16

Bode slammed the phone down on the desk and cursed under his breath.
She is going to drive me freakin’ insane!
This morning she was all sexy and tousled from their night of lovemaking, and now they were back to being
friends
.

He chewed the inside of his cheek in irritation. When Kelsey remembered to mention that someone was following her, it had scared the crap out of him. Hallucinations wouldn’t hurt you, but a live man was a different story. The mere idea turned his insides liquid.

She was upset with him and for good reason. When she started talking about the domestic chore of doing laundry, he panicked. His lip curled back in self-disgust. She’d asked for some detergent, not a commitment.

Their night together had been unbelievable. For the first time in years, he’d had an emotional connection with a woman. A connection he didn’t want. So he used work as an excuse to put distance between them.
Good job, Einstein. Now you’ve got all the space you need.

He stared down at the documents on his desk. The first thing he’d done at the station was to pull everything he could find regarding Kelsey’s shooting. No doubt about it. Otis Warren was dead courtesy of the seven bullets police put into him.

His fingers riffled through the papers until he came to the second photograph. Bingo. Miles Robbins was Warren’s brother and the resemblance was striking.
What would he want with Kelsey?

Steve entered the room and glanced at him in surprise before stopping to get coffee. He finished and strode over to Bode’s desk. “What are you doing here instead of the motocross race?”

Cripes. He’d forgotten all about the race. After one night with Kelsey, his brains were already scrambled. Abruptly standing, his leather chair screeched as it slid back. Reaching the coffee pot, the reflection in the chrome base mocked him. His hair stuck out in places where damp palms had run through it.

“I decided to get some work done instead. How about you?” His voice didn’t reveal an ounce of his inner turmoil.

Sitting at his desk, Steve lifted his head from the paper in front of him. “David asked me to come in and go over the report on the fire in Kelsey’s apartment.”

What the—

“Why didn’t he call
me
?” His annoyance was evident even to his own ears.

Steve’s gaze was curious. “I don’t know. Maybe he figured you’d be doing something else, like say a motocross race you’ve been talking about for months.”

Uncomfortable with his partner’s scrutiny he changed the subject. “What does it say?”

Steve sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. “It was arson. A small stack of soaked rags seems to be the starter. A canvas of the neighbors turned up a group of teenage boys wandering around that afternoon. We’ll start tracking them down. Bad luck for Kelsey they choose that particular garage.”

Bode frowned and returned to his desk. “Maybe it was bad luck and maybe it wasn’t. Look at this.” He handed the photo to Steve.

“Who is it?”

“That is Miles Robbins, brother of the late Otis Warren. Warren was the man who shot Kelsey. He approached her at the park yesterday but ran away before speaking with her.”

Steve’s head came up. “He followed her from Texas?”

“Looks like it. Now someone set her apartment on fire. It could just be a coincidence.”

His partner scoffed. “He left Dallas and just happened to land in Redding. Those odds are worse than winning the lotto.” He picked up the phone. “I’ll get people out on the streets looking for this guy.”

Bode tried to work, but the memory of Kelsey last night returned. After the fire, the vulnerability in her face had gutted him. Masculine possessiveness coursed through him at the memory of her gaze when she gave herself to him.

The tips of his ears heated over his actions this morning. He shouldn’t have left her the way he did. She didn’t deserve to be treated that way. He would go find her and apologize. Then they could put it behind them and hopefully remain friends.

Who was he kidding? She’d rattled him by saying their night together was a mistake. The most incredible night of his life had occurred. He didn’t know if he would be able to stay away from her. But how could it ever work between them?

He’d lost everything six years ago. The desire to be a cop again was the one thing strong enough to break the grip of alcohol. He dragged himself out of the bottle one painful day at a time. This job was everything to him.

Kelsey wanted a home and a family. He didn’t think she even realized it, but he’d seen her face while she interacted with the children. He wasn’t the man to give her that even if she wanted him to be. Which she didn’t. She’d made it clear.
I don’t date cops. Ever.

The urge to skip work and worship her beautiful body this morning had blindsided him. What made him break out in a sweat though, was the idea of her being gone for good.

Wait a minute! What did she say?
She met Marge and realized last night was a mistake. How could something so right between two people, be wrong? He reached for his phone and dialed Marge’s number.

She picked up on the second ring. “Hello?”

“Hey, Marge, this is Bode. Did you see someone at my house this morning? I tried to call, but no one answered.”

“I did talk to your friend. She’s gorgeous, by the way. I heard her leave a while ago so the coast is clear.”

It didn’t take a detective to figure out the topic of their conversation. He gnashed his teeth together. “You didn’t by any chance chat about my love life did you?”

Her laugh was low and sexy. “Now, Bode. Don’t be mad at me. As you cops like to say, don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

He hung up the phone and his jaw clenched tighter. Their lovemaking had been off the charts, but the natural banter they shared eased a loneliness he hadn’t realized was there.

An hour later he drove across town in a foul mood. The fire, Miles Robbins, and his own inept handling of the morning gave him a short fuse.

Honest with himself regarding his shortcomings, he admitted he had caused this problem by shutting Kelsey out. The smart thing to do would have been to scoop her up and make love to her all day.

Instead, he’d left her standing there, hurt and confused. He was going to rectify that. She might laugh in his face and tell him to get lost, but he’d have his say first.

There were two places she could go. He would check the community center first. The way his luck was going, he’d have to drive over to David’s. Facing an angry brother would be icing on top of an already craptastic day.

He got out of the truck and stormed to the back but came to an abrupt stop. Kelsey was on the basketball court shooting baskets with none of the life that had radiated from her the first time he saw her play. A fist squeezed his heart at the sight of her. He stalked across the pavement and whirled her around to face him.

“Yeah, I’m an idiot and a jerk, but I’m not letting you just throw this chance away.”

He caught her head in his two hands and lowered his mouth to cover her own. This kiss wasn’t the gentle one he’d intended. The emotion bottled up inside erupted, and he claimed her lips.

After a start of surprise, she raised her arms to go around his neck and kissed him back. Relief swamped him, and he hoped his knees weren’t about to buckle. He ended the kiss and put his forehead to hers, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

“I’m sorry I acted like such an ass this morning.”

She pulled back, and her sad eyes made his insides twist. “I don’t think I can do this. I won’t survive the fall,” she whispered.

“Kelsey. What’s between us is different. You’re different. I’m different. Being with you is so good, it scares me to death. Please don’t give up on me, on us. I can’t offer you any guarantees for tomorrow. But don’t you think we should at least try for today before we pull the plug?”

Indecision flitted across her face. She lowered her gaze but didn’t move away. He needed to tell her. He
had
to say the words and hope she understood why he couldn’t make any promises.

His breath hitched as he got ready to open old wounds. “I told you that when I was with SWAT, I killed a woman.”

Her head whipped up and she gripped his forearm. “Oh, Bode. You did what you were trained to do.”

He nodded. “I know that now. Time has helped me deal with my guilt, but like I told you, I turned to the bottle. I couldn’t stop re-living the moment my finger pulled the trigger until I drank enough to become numb. My fiancé, Elaina didn’t understand what I was going through. She kept telling me,
you’re a cop, just deal with it.
”

Kelsey stared at him with eyes that held too much understanding. “People who haven’t experienced it can’t know how hard it is to get past such a tragedy.”

“I came home one day and found her in bed with Eric, my partner. She was lonely and he was there to offer her comfort. It wasn’t her fault, I’m the one who shut her out and spent night after night floating in a bottle.”

“That’s a load of bull.”

Her sudden fierceness startled him. “What?”

Kelsey snorted. “How can you stand there and offer yourself as a scapegoat? If she loved you enough to marry you, she should have loved you enough to find a way to help you. Or at least stuck by you until you figured out a way to help yourself.”

This woman brought him to his knees without even knowing it. Her courage and loyalty were endless. He smiled down at her. “That’s what you would have done, isn’t it?”

“Darn straight. You don’t jump ship at the first sign of a leak. You find something to plug the hole and start bailing.”

He tugged both her hands up and kissed them. “Trust and commitment has been an issue for me since then. I haven’t wanted anyone to get too involved in my life. Until now.” He paused before continuing. “What we started last night might not be forever. I don’t even know if it will last the week. But I’d like to take it day by day. See where we end up.”

“I need some time to think.”

“Come home with me.” He searched her face and then added. “Please.”

“No.”

Unable to hide the disappointment that one word caused, he had to find out if there was any hope. “Is it because I’m a cop? I can’t change who I am, even for you. But you have to know you’re safe with me. I would never hurt you.”

“I care about you, Bode. I can’t seem to help myself. Believe me, I wish I didn’t. Please, give me a few days. Next week we can talk and decide if we both still want the same things.”

Happiness surged through him, and it didn’t bother him that he wore a goofy grin. She offered a slice of hope, and he could work with that. Because he sure wasn’t strong enough to keep away from her. He pulled her over to a bench where they sat down.

A strand of her silky blond hair had fallen free from her ponytail. He reached out and tucked it behind her ear. “Listen, I’ll give you whatever time you want. Now, we still need to talk. First, the good news. You should be able to salvage some of your belongings. The bedroom wasn’t as damaged as the front room. They’ll tell us when we can start cleaning.”

He hated having to inform her about Robbins, but she needed to be vigilant watching for this guy.

She looked at him with wary eyes. “I’m scared to ask what the bad news is.”

“Do you know a man named Miles Robbins?”

Lines wrinkled her smooth forehead while she searched through her memory. “I don’t think so. Should I?”

“That’s the name of the man you ran into at the park yesterday.” He rubbed his thumb on the back of her hand in comfort. “He’s Otis Warren’s brother. There’s a strong resemblance.”

He could tell the moment her sharp mind put two and two together. “That’s why I believed he was Otis’ reincarnation. You think he set the fire too, don’t you?”

“We don’t think anything, yet. People are out looking for him. It could be a simple coincidence.”

Kelsey frowned at his statement. “Well, even if he didn’t torch the garage, what’s he doing in California? Specifically, here in Redding, where I just moved a few weeks ago.” She tugged her hands loose from his and began to pace. “He’s here for me, isn’t he?”

He joined her and held her trembling body. “It doesn’t matter what his plans are. I’m going to keep you safe.”

“How? I’m pretty sure the police department doesn’t have unlimited funds to guard me for who knows how long.”

“Let me worry about that. For now, it’s better for you to be surrounded by people instead of isolated in a hotel room. I don’t want you going anywhere.”

“Okay.”

He arched one brow. “Promise?”

“I said okay.”

“Right, and now you’re going to promise me. I know you’ll keep a promise.”

“Yes,” she grouched, “I promise. We were going to shop for new clothes after my group session, but Ann can pick me up a few things.”

“If you came home with me, you wouldn’t need to go shopping. I liked you wearing my shirt, even better when you’re not.” His brows wiggled, hoping she’d laugh.

“You do realize we’re sitting outside on a playground.” She swiveled around to make sure no one was near enough to listen. The blush that slid all the way up to her ears was adorable.

Still holding her hand tight in his, she trailed behind him to the parking lot. At his truck, he wrapped his arms around her and showered kisses on her lips and along her jaw.

“You understand, I’m going to keep reminding you of what you said,” he told her.

She frowned. “Which part?”

“You can’t help yourself from caring about me,” he stated with a grin.

“Don’t make me regret it, Detective.”