Where One Road Leads (11 page)

“It might be chilly inside, but there are lots of blankets, and I’ll get the fireplace started right away.”

Krista made a noise of understanding as she stumbled from the car. Matt gathered their Wal-Mart bags from the backseat and led her through the blackness toward the house on a path he knew well.

“Careful, it’s a little winding,” he warned and took her elbow. She leaned against his side so he slipped his arm around her shoulders, offering more support.

The place had an unoccupied smell to it, a hint of mildew and dust. He flipped on the switch by the door, and the room flooded in warm light.

It was a comfortable room, one he could’ve been just as content living in permanently if he had to. The old furniture had been around forever, but had been well taken care of. He knew each piece by heart. The overstuffed sofa had to be nearly as old as he was. In fact the newest piece of furniture was the television set and DVD player his dad had brought up two summers ago.

“I’m going to make some coffee and go change. I’ll show you your room and you can either go to bed or have some coffee with me.”

He hoped she’d stay up with him. Weariness etched her face, the line of her mouth tight.

She managed a smile. “Coffee sounds really good.”

He led her to the second floor to his parents’ room. “You can stay in here. There’s a bathroom attached to it and it’s well stocked. Come on down when you’re ready.”

“Thanks, Matt,” Krista said. “For everything.”

He nodded, a half smile forming on his lips. “It’s okay.”

Matt pulled the door closed behind him and left her to change out of the beautiful green gown.

He went to his own room, which he’d occupied since his parents first bought the cabin years and years ago, and stripped out of the tux, leaving it in a pile on the chair. No doubt he’d have to pay big time for his lack of care when he returned it to the place where he rented it, but he didn’t care. He wanted to be comfortable and the black sweat pants and blue T-shirt would work fine. He had a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt for the next day. He never wanted to wear the tux again.

Back downstairs, he got the coffee going and checked the fireplace. His dad was very good about keeping everything in working order, so Matt knew lighting a fire would be safe. It would warm the room faster than waiting for the furnace to kick in. Besides, there was something about a fire that he absolutely loved. Staring at the dancing flames and hearing the crackle of the heat in the wood could calm his nerves quickly. It was hypnotizing.

As soon as the coffee finished brewing, Krista put in an appearance, looking more at home in a pair of deep green flannel pajama pants and a matching button up top. Her hair hung loose, flowing in a mess of curls over her shoulders.

She dropped her gaze and bit the corner of her lip as she smoothed a hand down her sleeve. “I think I need to buy fifteen more of these outfits and just live in them, they’re so comfortable.”

“You must like green,” Matt noted with a smile. “It looks good on you. What do you take in your coffee? I only have powdered creamer.”

“Black coffee is fine.” She peered into the living room. An enormous fieldstone fireplace dominated one wall. “Oh, I love fires. It’s been a long time since I sat in front of a fireplace. If I had a place like this, I don’t think I’d ever want to leave it.”

Her comments made him feel good, like they were on the same page. “Make yourself at home. I didn’t really get a chance to eat. We have some crackers but not a heck of a lot more. We’ll have to go out for breakfast tomorrow.”

“Crackers are fine.”

She took a seat in the corner of the sofa and curled her legs beneath her. He gazed at the back of her head. The firelight created a glow like a golden halo around her head. He’d never invited a woman here, not even Rachel, in all the years they were together. This was a place for family, his getaway from things in Quail Ridge, and even the thought of Rachel being there was like an intrusion.

For some reason, it didn’t feel that way with Krista. Of course, she could’ve been family by now, had things been different. Jay might have brought her here had he lived. But that had been a lifetime ago, and Krista was her own woman now.

Matt stared at her as she wandered around the room. She belonged here more now than she would have with Jay. He recognized her need for a place like this because it was so close to his own overwhelming desire for peace and quiet. A need to get away from whatever storm brewed back at home.

“The television works, if you want to watch it.” He set two coffee mugs on the wooden table in front of the sofa, then went back for the crackers.

“No, this is an escape. I could watch TV at home. I’d rather watch the fire. And can you hear the wind? It’s kicking up out there.”

He nodded, listening to the gentle rattle of the windows that faced the lake.

“Do you ever come here alone?” Krista reached for her coffee. “I don’t think I could. Feels spooky. I bet you get used to it, though. And in summer I’m sure there’s plenty of other people around here.”

“We have lots of neighbors. None that are breathing down our necks, but in the summer you can usually hear a party from somewhere nearby. Other times I’m alone. I guess I’m used to it.”

Matt studied her as she held the mug to her lips and smiled.

She murmured, “My spooks came in different forms. I dealt with them using a camera. You’d think a little lonesome wind wouldn’t bother me after the things I’ve seen and done.”

“Where have you been?” he asked. She intrigued him. Often she seemed so brave, a tough woman whose heart was steeled against everything around her. On the defensive at every turn.

“Iraq, Thailand, Rwanda. And a little closer to home, in New Orleans. Wherever I wanted to go. I was a bit of a vagabond after I got out of college. I had my camera and good hiking boots, and I hoofed it.”

“You’re putting me on, right?”

Krista turned her gaze to him. Light from the fire reflected on her face but he spotted the dimple in her cheek. “About the hiking or college?”

“Hiking, of course. I’m not surprised about college.”

She looked back to the flames in the hearth. “No, I’m not kidding. I was a freelance photographer. That kind of life suited me for a long time until Cameron ‘discovered’ me, for want of a better word. Hurricane Floyd actually introduced me to Cameron. I got some great shots of the aftermath that ended up in a national newspaper. He liked my work, tracked me down and hired me.”

“The right place at the right time kind of thing?”

A sad-looking smile curved her lips. “I always seemed to be in the right place. Guess I had a knack. Or I attracted bad luck. The former, I’d like to think.”

“And when you started working for Cameron, he started sending you to all the hot spots overseas?”

Her grin widened. “No, I insisted on going. I guess I had him wrapped around my little finger.”

That creeping feeling of jealousy moved back into his mind.

“Anyone tell you that you’re crazy?”

She raised a brow. “On a daily basis. Which is one reason why I’m here right now. I started believing them. Don’t know if this is any crazier than what I’ve been doing with my life.”

For a long moment, they stared at each other. He tried to figure her out, and decided that was unlikely to happen, no more likely than understanding why his heartbeat picked up pace as her gaze clung to his. His hands tightened on his coffee mug in order to keep from reaching out to her.

“Why did you kiss me out there on the road?” she suddenly asked.

Was he that transparent? Did she really know which way his thoughts were flowing?

“Wow, talk about a change of topic,” he said with a small laugh. Best to sound surprised by the question.

“Not really.” Krista set the mug back on the table. Her hair fell in a curtain, blocking out her profile.

He couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“I mean, we were talking about crazy behavior.”

Matt laughed again. “It was crazy? I didn’t think so.”

Krista kept a level gaze on him even as she smiled. “It was, Matt. Location and timing. What were you thinking?”

He had to ponder his actions that day, not for the first time. It had seemed like the right thing to do at the moment. He couldn’t easily explain it.

For so many years he’d had this view of her, a cross between a vicious killer and an empty-headed teenager with a total disregard for others. But standing on the side of the road that day, as mad as he was for her going after Ricky, he saw her as something else. He realized he’d been dead wrong about her. Realized her grief and loss matched his. That all those years she’d had to live with it, and with the knowledge so many people blamed her for those deaths.

It had been such an unexpected relief, a physical sensation. He’d let go of her as his little brother’s girlfriend and began to see her as a woman he wanted to know.

Though it didn’t explain why he had kissed her.

“Well, I can say why I took you in my arms. It was either that or write you a ticket. You were beside yourself.”

“So you hugged me to calm me down?”

God, he hoped he wasn’t digging himself deep with her, but he saw a spark in her eyes. She wasn’t mad. “It worked, didn’t it?”

“And the kiss?”

The smile on his face faded as he regarded her steadily. Another long pause simmered between them. He could just about feel the heat radiating.

Matt took a deep breath and let it go slowly. “It just came naturally. Okay, fine, I wanted to kiss you, damn it. Why does there have to be some profound meaning?”

In a sudden movement, Krista leaned forward and caught his lips with hers. It left him stunned. Maybe this was how she’d felt when he had kissed her. Off guard, surprised. Pleasantly surprised.

Now they were in a safer place, Matt intended to explore this new development with care. He wanted to stop thinking and just sink into the way her mouth provocatively moved over his.

She was bold, the feel of her lips delicious and sensual. He pulled her closer, his hands riding over the soft flannel material of her pajamas. Her supple body molded against his touch. There was no question about the insanity of this moment. He wanted to drown in it.

Matt tangled his fingers in her hair, relishing its silky-soft, thick weight. Tendrils tickled against his cheek and he brushed them aside.

Krista pulled away from him and rested her cheek on the back of the sofa.

“This isn’t what I intended when I brought you here,” he stated quietly, fingering a lock of her hair.

“I know that. If nothing else, you’re an honorable man. Besides, I kissed you, not the other way around.”

“Now it’s my turn to ask why.”

“Curiosity,” she replied with a shrug. “I wanted to see if it was as crazy and wonderful as I remembered.”

“And?”

“And I don’t think it’s so crazy. It was definitely wonderful.” Her voice dropped to nearly a whisper that competed with the crackle of the fire. “Which leaves me in a predicament.”

“What kind of predicament?”

Krista took his hand and traced the lines on his palm. The simple touch sent volts of desire all through his body.

“Well, I don’t know how to say this delicately. I’m not the type to jump into things. Truth be told I’ve only ‘jumped’ twice in my life and once it wasn’t really jumping, more just dipping my toe. So this is kind of new territory for me.”

She paused and stared at him long and hard, her head still resting on the sofa. Then her lips drew back in a smile. “I’m talking us right out of this moment, aren’t I?”

“Honey, I won’t talk you into or out of anything. If we’re being honest, I’ve only jumped twice, too. So I guess that puts us on a level playing field.”

“Thank you.” Her voice was breathy and sexy, though he knew she wasn’t trying to be either. Somewhere beneath all the hardness and cynicism lay an innocent young woman just beginning to surface.

“So this is still strange to me. Maybe because it feels right,” Matt whispered. God he wanted her. He never, in a million years, would have thought he and Krista would be in this situation, sitting so close to each other on the sofa that their shared body heat rivaled the flames burning steadily in the fireplace before them.

On the verge of—what? Making love?

He lifted his hand to touch her face. Her skin was velvet soft. His finger traced over one of her scars, a long, thin white line that started at her parted lips and traveled toward her temple. She drew in her breath, and Matt thought she’d pull away. But she didn’t.

He could see trust, warm in her blue eyes.

A flash of remembrance dashed through his mind, of how she looked when he found her. The image was fleeting because the woman in front of him was more powerful than any memory.

“I’m scared of this,” Krista finally whispered. She eased his hand from her face and brought it to her lap, where she held it tightly.

“There’s nothing to be scared of, Krista. I won’t hurt you.”

“That’s not what I mean. I’m afraid I won’t be able to handle this, and I’ll end up hurting
you
.”

Matt squeezed her hand and leaned in, brushing his lips over hers.

“I’m willing to take that chance,” he replied against her mouth.

He snaked his arms around her waist and shoulders and drew her closer until she relaxed across his lap. He reclaimed her mouth in a long, exploratory kiss, digging his hands deep into her hair. A flow of lava-like heat swept through him when her tongue slipped between his lips to intertwine and dance with his. He fed off her sweetness and fire.

Krista pushed her hand under his sweatshirt and tugged him closer as her body arched to him.

The swell of her breasts, firm beneath the heavy material of her top, pressed into his chest. He swept his hand smoothly under her shirt so he could feel her skin, the soft, curving flesh warm to his touch.

Krista gasped against their kiss when his hand cupped one lush breast. But the contact drove him on, added fuel to the way his mouth possessed hers. Boldly, he moved his thumb over the hardened peak, longing to taste her there. Yet her lips felt so good against his that he didn’t want to give them up.

She eased away. Cold air snuck in where her body had curved against him and he wanted her heat once more. She stood and turned to the fireplace. He didn’t ask, just stared at her, haloed against the orange glow, her hair tumbling in a disheveled mass down her back.

She placed two more logs on the fire, sending a spray of sparks drifting up the chimney, then crossed to the lamp next to the sofa and turned it off.