Authors: Moira Callahan
“
Vinny
, you know we have
to,” she said. “If this guy is the reason Moreau is hunting for my highly toned
and perky ass, then we need to go back to San Fran.”
He grunted and shot her a look. “Your ass
is
very toned and perky,” Vincent
grumbled.
She had him, she knew it, and he knew it. He wasn’t
happy about it. She could accept that. She wasn’t exactly thrilled either. With
Moreau hunting for her, going back to the city was a huge risk.
A calculated risk that she hopefully wouldn’t pay for with her
life.
“It’ll be alright, Vincent.”
“I know it will be, because I’m not letting you out
of my sight even once while we’re there.”
“I can handle that. In fact I prefer it. I’m not an
idiot,
Vincent,
I know this is fucking risky as can
be. We have to do it though. If that little twitchy shit identified me to
Moreau as a cop, then I need to know who he is.
W
e
need to know.”
“You’re right. As much as I hate saying those
words, you are right, Ro. If twitchy did ID you to Moreau then you have Moreau
by the balls.
And not just for abduction and assault.”
For a hell of a lot more, given the man would have
known that Rhonda was law enforcement. That was huge, epic, and was what could
knock Moreau off his shiny pedestal. “I know,” she said.
“Shit.” She watched him run his fingers through his
hair before rubbing his jaw. “Okay. I need to call Shawn and have him set us up
somewhere secure. Then you need to call your boss and arrange to have all your
case files pulled. We don’t need, or want any delays getting the files.”
“I can do that.” She was in agreement on all he’d
said. With Moreau setting the dogs to hunt her down, she wanted and needed to
be careful. “When are we going back?”
“Let me talk to Shawn first. Once we know when
he’ll be ready for us we’ll make that call.”
Nodding, she pressed a kiss to his jaw. Rhonda had
to grin when he jolted.
“What was that for, woman?”
“Just showing you a little appreciation
for taking such good care of me, Vincent.
You have been going
above and beyond this last month to keep me safe and happy.”
His cheeks went pink under his tan and he ducked
his chin. “It wasn’t anything.”
She smacked his chest. “It was everything. You
saved my ass, Vincent Bradley. You came for me, without any backup, and saved
my fucking ass. You have been taking care of me since then, watching over me,
helping me get back on my feet, doing everything for me. Some of which will
never, ever be mentioned outside of this cabin.
Ever.”
His chuckle rattled her around a little.
“I can never thank you enough, Vincent. I owe you
my life.
Quite literally.”
“Ro, stop.”
He interrupted her not-very-well-thought-out speech. Thank God, because
she’d had no clue where she was actually heading with it.
“Okay.”
Vincent took her good right hand in his and pressed
a kiss to her fingers. “I had some purely selfish reasons for saving your ass.
Not only are you one of my best friends, but I’m hoping you’ll be so much more
than that.”
Oh, boy. This was it. This was
the talk
they’d been skating around since she couldn’t actually talk for most of their
stay in the cabin. Butterflies took flight in her stomach, her hands suddenly
felt clammy, and she wasn’t sure if she was actually breathing. All she could
manage was a very squeaky sounding, “Oh?”
“Yes, oh,” he muttered. “Ro, when I found out you
were in trouble, I freaked.
Completely, totally, freaked.
I have never once had a reaction like that. I was in the Marine Corps, working
with fucking bombs, which gave me nerves of steel because I had to have them to
survive that shit. In the minute that it took to listen to your voicemail, ever
nerve of steel I had shattered, just crumbled into nothing. I was a wreck. I
was sweating, my pulse was racing like nothing I ever felt in the Corps
handling a bomb, and I couldn’t catch a breath.”
Tears welled in her eyes, her vision wavering as
she stared up at him. The emotion in his voice was killing her. Swiping a hand
over her face, Rhonda sucked in some air.
“Once I found you, everything fell away, my only
focus was you. I have never been so, so...” He gave a shake of his head and
frowned. “I was beyond angry. All I could see was red, all I was feeling was
rage over what they had done to you. My brain gave me all this information,
where the guard was, best approach, how to take him down with minimal noise.
All I could see through that wave of information was your face, the bruises and
swelling. I have never, in my life, wanted to kill someone so badly before
that. When I snapped his neck, though, I felt nothing but the need to get you
out of there. Do I feel bad? No. Would I do it again?
Hell,
yeah.”
She’d figured as much. Vincent didn’t dwell on
things. He did what needed to be done and moved on. Rhonda tried to be like
that, but she wasn’t wired quite the same. Some things she could let go.
Others, not so much.
Reaching up, she touched his chin lightly, turning
his head so he looked at her. “I’m glad you did what you did. You saved my
bacon from the very real fire it was being roasted over. Patrick deserved no
mercy after all he’d done, very happily I should mention, or what he planned to
do had you not arrived when you did. You got the job done and saved my ass in the
process, that’s a huge win-win for me.”
He just grunted and brushed a kiss to her nose.
Which tickled, yet felt absolutely perfect to her. Only Vincent could pull
something like that off.
She needed to get this all back on track.
Quickly.
Before she made a fool of
herself, or rather more of a fool beyond blubbering all over him.
With
that in mind she blinked her eyes a couple of times before focusing on him.
“So, what does all this mean?”
“It means, Rhonda
Delacour
,
I want everything with you. I want dates, kisses, lots of horizontal naked mambos,
talks that last all hours, and the right to hold you whenever I have the need,
or urge.”
Well, there went her resolve not to blubber.
Bursting into tears she put her hand on his cheek as his eyes went wide in
sheer, male, horror.
Chapter Ten
His brain slammed the door.
His nuts went up into hiding.
His entire body went tighter than any time he’d
faced down a bomb.
Vincent didn’t do tears well, on anyone. On Rhonda,
though, he felt… Shit, he didn’t know what he was feeling, except for terror.
There was definitely a lot of terror.
He needed to get her to stop crying, now. Going
with his gut instinct, he kissed her.
Which very well may
have been a huge mistake, given how fast his entire body ignited.
Cupping her jaw gently, he tipped her head to a slightly better angle,
supporting her the entire time. Vincent didn’t push for more, didn’t take the
kiss any deeper. He wouldn’t hurt her.
When he was sure the tears had ended, or hoped they
had anyway, he lifted his head. Her eyes were closed, her lips slightly parted
and damp. Smiling, he brushed his lips over hers lightly and drew back a little
more. He waited as her eyelids fluttered a moment before lifting.
“No more crying, Ro.”
Her lips slowly curled, and a mischievous look came
into her eyes. “If it gets you to kiss me, I’ll fucking let the tears loose
anytime I can.”
What the— Narrowing his eyes, he stared at her a
long time. He was trying, rather desperately, to figure out if she was yanking
his chain or not.
Eventually, she rolled her eyes with a chuckle.
“You’re going to burn your pretty little brain out thinking that hard, Vincent.
I’m just messing with you, mostly. I was serious about more kisses though.
Whenever you feel like dropping one on me, go for it.”
Well that was okay by him. Smiling slowly, he
pressed a kiss to her lips gently. “So that’s a yes then?”
“To the dating and such?”
He gave a nod, watching her carefully as she seemed
to weigh the options. She didn’t say anything for a long time.
Long enough that he got antsy.
“I think I can get on board with dating you,
Vincent Bradley. You’re a damn fine catch after all. Are you sure that you
really want to get mixed up with me though? After all, I have a mobster for all
intents and purposes on my ass, who really wants me dead.”
“Ro, he’s not going to always be after you,” he
said softly. Stroking his thumb along her cheek, Vincent rested his forehead against
hers, closing his eyes. “We’re going to figure a way out of the mess, get you
your life back to normal, and then you and I are going on a real date.”
“What sort of date?”
“One where you actually have to dress up,” he told
her.
Her laugh widened his eyes. His head lifted to
watch as she shook her head. “You do realize that means you need to dress up as
well, right?”
“I think I can manage it. I do own more than just
jeans and tee’s you know.”
“I do know. I’ve seen you all gussied up.”
“Tamara’s photography showing,” he murmured. “I
remember you being all gussied up too. Nearly swallowed my fucking tongue when
I realized who it was I was lusting after.”
“Do tell,” she said with a hint of purr to it.
“Uh, no,” he said. “I’ve already admitted more than
I’m comfortable with currently.”
“What if I told you I was lusting after you as
well, hated myself for it, but it’s the truth nonetheless.”
Okay, that did surprise him. “Do tell,” he
countered.
Sighing, Rhonda scrunched up her nose.
Damn, that was cute as all get out.
“I spotted you at the showing, stalked you for a
while because I couldn’t see your face. I needed to know who it was that had my
body humming. You bent over to rescue a woman’s shawl and fuck me, I nearly
orgasmed
right there. Then you turned. I practically dove
behind the nearest potted plant in horror.”
“Gee, thanks,” he said sarcastically.
“Come on, Vincent. It wasn’t like we even liked one
another then. I was in a panic, trying to figure out why I wanted to strip you
naked and lick you up when I could barely stand being in the same room with
you. It made me take a long, hard look at myself and re-evaluate more than a
few things in my life. Like the fact I can be one hell of a raving bitch.”
“Ro...” he said. It was an automatic protest. He
couldn’t have stopped it if he’d tried.
“It’s the truth and we both know it. I’m not going
to make excuses, but I think part of it’s the fact that I work in a male-dominated
field. The need to prove myself to be better, harder, more of a dick than any
of them is why I do it. Unfortunately, it bleeds into my private life, and
you’ve been on the receiving end more than once. I’m sorry for that.”
“Ro...” he protested again.
“No, I mean that sincerely, Vincent. I was fighting
the urge to tear your clothes off, and I was a bitch to you. Why you kept
coming around, poking at me, I’ll never understand.”
“Because I was fighting the same urges
with you.
All I wanted to do was throw you over my shoulder,
starting at that art showing of Tamara’s, and then every other time you opened
your mouth. I had a lot of scorching fantasies involving your mouth. All of
which ended with me in an icy shower.”
“Really?” she whispered. Doubt, uncertainty, and
something more danced in her eyes.
“Really.
Ro, I’ve been fighting
this thing as much as you have. I’m also a guy, so we tend to revert to our
cavemen tendencies in such situations.
Which meant facing you
down every chance I got until I wore you down.
”
“Which you did,” she said. A smile was teasing her
lips now, but doubt still lingered in her eyes.
“Which I did.
You let me in, Ro. Not far, but enough to let me see the real you. I
didn’t want to scare you off so I never pushed. I figured, maybe in time, you’d
let me in further. And you have,” he whispered. Brushing a slow kiss to her
lips, he sucked on her full bottom one for a moment,
then
lifted his head.
Licking his lips, he slid his hand down to rest
over her pulse point. “Let me call Shawn. I need to know what he’s got on his
end before we make the call to move. It’ll take us a bit of time to get back to
the city, but he has to be at least mostly ready for us.”
She nodded slowly. “Okay. Tell him I’m getting
antsy, will you? Maybe that will motivate him a bit to get his ass in gear.”
“I seriously doubt he needs motivation, Ro. He
wants this done with just as much as we do.”