A Question of Honor (13 page)

“That bad.” Aly looked around. “Hey, you said you had a roommate. Where is she?”

With a grimace Noah turned and faced his sister. “I couldn’t say much on the phone when you called last week, Aly. She isn’t exactly a roommate.”

Aly raised an eyebrow, her eyes sparkling. “Been a long time since you had a serious relationship, if my memory serves me correctly.”

Stirring the egg mixture, Noah muttered, “It’s not what you think.”

Aly tittered delightfully, and sat back in the chair, enjoying Noah’s sudden discomfort. “Oh…okay. Tell me all about her.”

“There’s not much to tell. Detective Kit Anderson is here on police business I can’t talk too much about. This is a safe house for her.”

Aly frowned. “A safe house?”

Noah set the bowl on the drain board and added a number of vegetables, then some shredded cheese to the mixture. “Yeah. There’s a Mob contract out on her, and everyone concerned felt she’d be better off here.”

“My God, Noah, that’s dangerous! This is something new. I mean, I’ve heard of taking work home with you, but isn’t this going too far?”

Chuckling, Noah said, “Don’t overreact. Being a safe house isn’t really all that dangerous.”

“What’s she like?”

“Kit is…” Noah struggled with adjectives. If he allowed his heart to talk, he’d say that she was incredibly beautiful, with eyes that shone like the ocean touched with moonlight. That ever since the kiss yesterday, there had been a new unsureness between them.

“Yes?” Aly goaded, watching her brother’s face closely.

“She’s been an undercover agent for the narc division for five years.” There, that was a safe, impersonal comment. “Kit should be joining us shortly for breakfast.”

“Great. Frankly, I need a family situation to unwind from that murderous flight school.”

He gave her a dark look as he poured the first omelet into the skillet. “It’s not a family situation between me and Kit, Aly.”

She grinned at his defensiveness. “Okay, big brother, anything you say. But I see that look in your eye, and I hear it in your voice.”

Heat flowed into Noah’s cheeks, and he was acutely aware of Aly’s appraisal. She sat there with a silly know-it-all grin on her face. He had never been able to hide much from his sister. “You’re barking up the wrong tree,” he growled unhappily.

Kit entered the kitchen, dressed in a pale pink blouse and a pair of threadbare jeans. She halted, seeing a red-headed woman at the table. It had to be Alyssa. Grateful for her presence even though she really didn’t know her, Kit gave her a warm smile. “You must be Alyssa,” she said, moving to the table and extending her hand.

Aly rose, shaking her hand. “And you’re Kit Anderson. Call me Aly. It’s good to meet you.” She shot a glance over at Noah, who had his back to them. “My brother has been telling me all about you,” she said in a conspiratorial tone.

Uncomfortable, Noah turned and gave his sister a warning look. “You’d better explain yourself, Aly. And in a hurry.”

Aly sat there, a pleased look on her face, deliberately ignoring Noah’s remarks.

Kit poured herself a cup of coffee, vibrantly aware of Noah only a few feet away from where she stood. He looked magnificent in a forest green polo shirt and faded jeans. And when he glanced in her direction to mutter “Good morning,” her heart squeezed, then began to pound.

“Good morning,” she murmured in return, retreating hastily to the table, where Aly sat.

“I understand you’re in navy flight school,” Kit began, trying to move to a safe topic of conversation, aware that Aly had a special look of alertness in her startling blue eyes. She was very pretty, Kit thought, taking in the cute pixie-style cut of Aly’s auburn hair that emphasized the fine qualities of her facial features. Kit liked her immediately. There was a tension to Aly, as if she were a clock that had been wound too tightly. Her movements were quick, concise and sure, shouting her obvious confidence.

“Yes, I’m battling my way through Pensacola,” she griped good-naturedly.

Noah placed a plate in front of Kit. “This one’s for you,” he said.

Kit looked down at the omelet, hash browns and toast, distraught at the quantity of food. “Noah—”

“Looks like he’s trying to fatten you up,” Aly noted wryly, then added, “Noah has this thing about always helping out the underdogs of the world. If you’re too skinny, he wants to fatten you up. If you’ve got a problem, he’ll loan you his shoulder to cry on. If you need a place to hide, he’ll throw open the doors to his home.” She smiled warmly over at Kit. “He takes in stray animals, too, as you can see.” She gestured at the two cats and dog sitting patiently around the table, waiting for scraps.

Kit lowered her lashes, unable to stop a smile. “Yes, Noah helps people and animals in many ways.”

“Here, eat this and quit talking,” Noah muttered to his sister, putting a plate in front of her.

“You must think I’m skinny, too,” Aly teased, picking up the fork.

“You both are.”

“Uh-oh, watch it, Kit. My brother is stalking us. If we keep eating like this, we’ll balloon to a hundred and thirty in no time.”

Laughter spilled from Kit. She was delighted with Aly’s quick retorts. Noah was terribly uncomfortable, and if she wasn’t mistaken, that dull red color on his cheeks meant he was blushing. Suddenly, with Alyssa’s effervescent presence, the weekend was taking on a wonderful new quality.

“So, what’s on the agenda for the rest of the day?” Aly wanted to know after breakfast.

Noah didn’t like the way Aly was watching him—especially whenever he talked with Kit. It was only polite table conversation, but she was far too interested to suit him. She obviously thought there was something between them, when there wasn’t. He was about ready to throttle her. “
I
was going to work in the garage on that bureau I started building three months ago. I’ve got some sanding to do on it before I start rubbing it down to bring out the highlights in the wood.”

“And I was going to weed the flower beds,” Kit said, rising to clear the plates from the table.

“What a homey twosome you are.”

Noah glared at Aly, but said nothing.

“Tell you what, Kit,” Aly began with enthusiasm, “I want to catch up on what my handsome brother has been doing, and later I’ll help you weed. It’s about time I did penance in the form of ground duty.”

Kit grinned. “Sounds good. There are enough weeds for both of us.”

Chuckling, Aly followed Noah out of the house to the garage. She placed her hand on his shoulder. “She’s really beautiful, Noah.”

He opened the garage door, and sunlight spilled into the gloomy depths. “Just what the hell were you trying to do in there, Aly?” he demanded, walking over to the chest of drawers he’d fashioned out of cherry wood.

“What?”

He sized up his spunky sister. “You know damn well what.”

Aly picked up some sandpaper and handed it to Noah. “Come on, Noah! I’d have to be blind not to see you like her.”

He snorted and sat down to begin sanding the wood. “You’re way off base.”

Kneeling and starting to sand the other side of the bureau, Aly muttered, “Noah, you never could hide a thing from me. So don’t sit there and tell me you don’t like Kit Anderson! I can see it in your eyes and the way you talk to her.”

“You’re nuts.”

Tittering, Aly caught his glance. “Your voice gets soft when you speak to her, Noah.”

“Why don’t you just sand, and we’ll talk about something else.”

“How long have you known Kit?”

“A month.”

“She married?”

“No.”

“A boyfriend?”

“Dammit, no! Can we get on another topic?”

“No. Hey, I like Kit! She may be a cop, but there’s a special quality about her.”

He sanded with more intensity, refusing to look over at his sister. “Yeah, she is special,” he grumbled.

“See?”

“Shut up and keep working.”

Laughing delightedly, Aly did as she was told for about five minutes. Breaking the pleasant silence, she asked, “How can Kit take that kind of dangerous pressure?”

The scowl on Noah’s forehead deepened. “That’s what I’ve been wanting to know myself. Frankly, I thing she took up police work because her family’s like ours—bound by tradition.”

“Oh, I see. Several generations of cops, huh?”

“Yeah.” Noah wiped off the sweat gathering above his upper lip and concentrated with renewed vigor on the bureau. He wished with all his might that his eternally nosy sister would drop the subject. “Kit isn’t cut out for police work. Never has been. Yesterday she broke—” Noah caught himself. Dammit, he never meant to talk to anyone about that! He saw Aly’s eyes grow gentle.

“What do mean, ‘broke’?”

“Forget I said it.”

“No.” Aly reached out and gripped his arm. “Noah, it’s obvious to me you care an awful lot for Kit. Come on, I’m your sister. If you can’t talk to me, who can you talk to?”

Noah sat back, staring down at the sandpaper in his dusty hands. “Kit has been carrying a lot of past grief and terror in her from her years as an undercover agent,” he said finally. “Yesterday we picked up a bunch of Haitian refugees, and it got to her.” He sighed, staring out the opened door of the garage. “There was one little girl who absolutely adored Kit. When I went below to check on everyone, she had the girl in her arms. Kit was acting as interpreter, and I told her to tell the group they would be going to Miami.”

“And then?” Aly stopped sanding and watched her brother’s face intently.

“Once they understood they would be going to the U.S., the people started to cry and thank Kit. She started crying with them. And then she couldn’t stop, so I took her to my cabin for some privacy.”

“She was finally letting go? Getting it out of her system?” Aly guessed.

Noah nodded, exhaling. “Yeah…”

“Something else happened?” Aly pressed gently.

He folded the sandpaper methodically in his hand. “Something happened,” Noah admitted heavily. “She felt so good in my arms. It was like a shock to me, Aly.”

“What was a shock?”

Noah compressed his mouth into a thin line, looking over at his sister. “I kissed her.”

Brows arching, Aly grinned. “What’s so shocking about that? Kissing’s pretty natural and normal between a man and a woman.”

“Smart ass.”

Swallowing her smile, Aly asked, “Did you do it out of pity, because she needed help?”

“No. I don’t know…” He snorted. “I don’t know much of anything right now with Kit around. I’ve got a job to do, and I’m supposed to be professional about all this. Kit’s on the
Osprey
with me five days a week. And then she lives here.”

“Kinda close quarters with each other all the time, huh?”

With a curt nod Noah returned to the job of sanding the bureau. “Very close.”

“I see.”

“I wish to hell I did. That kiss came out of nowhere, Aly. I haven’t been thinking about Kit in those terms.”

She began to sand again, watching Noah closely. “Maybe you were, but weren’t aware of it.”

“We came together like an explosion. I’ve never been so shaken, Aly. And I’ve had my fair share of relationships. Kissing a woman isn’t something new to me.”

“Kit is different.”

“She sure as hell is.”

With a smile, Aly reached over and patted her brother on the shoulder. “Hang in there. I have a hunch all this will become crystal clear to you after a while.”

Noah wasn’t so sure. He hadn’t been able to forget, much less erase, the kiss he’d shared so hotly with Kit. All night he’d tossed and turned in bed, replaying that molten moment. her mouth had been so soft and inviting, and he’d drowned in her arms for that one stunning moment torn out of time. In a monumental effort to put Kit out of his mind, Noah changed the subject to Aly’s progress at flight school. She complied, telling him about the instructor who was trying to wash her out because she was the sister of a traitor.

It was almost noon when Aly finished talking about the incidents at Pensacola. The bureau had been sanded, and now needed a second sanding with a finer grit. “Why don’t you go help Kit for a while?” Noah suggested, standing and brushing the dust from his jeans.

“Better yet, I’m thirsty. How about if I make us all some lemonade and bring it out to you and her?”

“Sounds great. Thanks.”

Kit was on her hands and knees when Aly came out the front door, bearing two glasses of lemonade. Kit smiled gratefully, sitting back on her heels.

“I was dying of thirst. How did you know?” Kit said, taking the glass. “Thanks.”

“I was getting thirsty out there in the garage, so I figured you were probably even thirstier working out here in the sun.” Aly sat down on the grass, admiring the flowers.

“I’m taking a break.” Kit motioned to the border surrounding the front of the house. “Got half of it weeded so far.”

“I’ll help you with the second half.”

Sipping the sweet, ice-cold lemonade, Kit groaned with satisfaction. “This tastes wonderful.” She wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her arm. “You’re a mind reader like Noah.”

“Oh?”

Kit smiled over at Aly, who sat cross-legged in front of her. “He’s forever surprising me with his ability to know what someone needs.”

Aly sipped the lemonade and nodded. “Noah’s always had a special sensitivity to everyone around him.” She pursed her lips, holding Kit’s friendly gaze. “I imagine working and living together is a bit of a strain on you.”

Absently Kit picked at a few weeds between the marigolds. “In some ways,” she admitted. “I feel I’ve become a real burden to him.”

Snorting, Aly stretched out on her stomach. “You’re the best thing that’s happened to him, Kit.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

Choosing a blade of grass, Aly put it in her mouth and chewed on it thoughtfully. “I’m sure he told you about Morgan and what happened.”

“Yes. Knowing you and Noah, I find it hard to believe that your brother would be capable of such an act.”

“Exactly. Morgan didn’t defect, and he didn’t leave his men to die alone on that hill.” She grimaced. “That aside, the past five years have been hell on all our family. Noah got it broadside because he was already an officer in the Coast Guard. A lot of people went out of their way to try to derail his career because they thought Morgan was a traitor and they wanted to punish a Trayhern for it. Noah became their target.”