Everyone has a Weak spot (13 page)

“Yours, Warrick, only yours,” she'd told him, she had looked over her shoulder at him, frightened, hurt, who knew what else.

He grabbed the iron bars outside of their little car and gripped them until his knuckles were white.

“I'm sorry,
chéri,
” he cleared his throat, “I was wool-gatherin'. Ask me again?” She repeated her question.

“No,
chéri
, this is as fast as it gets. Do you wish it would go faster?” she scooted back into the seat and looked out over the carnival.

“No, I like it just like this. I only want to go fast if I can stop when I get scared or tired.” She gave him an innocent smile.

“That why you don't ride the roller coaster,
chéri
? You don't trust the guy running it to stop when you've had enough?” His inky blue gaze was watchful on her face. “You cain't trust him, huh?"

War knew that Lorelei could tell they really weren't talking about carnival rides anymore.

“Can I put my arm around you,
petit
? I promise not to hold you too tight.” She nodded uneasily at him. He curved his warm arm around her.

“The guy running the roller coaster doesn't care if I've had enough or not.” She looked up at the starry sky. “Maybe he's happy if I like the ride. Maybe he likes it if I'm scared.” She took a deep breath and looked up at War.

“Maybe he likes it best that he's the one in control of the whole ride. I just have to go along with what he wants. He's in charge."

My little dancer can do a roller coaster analogy with the best of ‘em.

War winced and searched her eyes closely. She wasn't angry. He knew she was still afraid. He knew she was still very hurt. Was it possible he saw hope in those green eyes?

“Maybe he needs some corrective trainin'?” His eyebrow shot up in a question. Would she play along?

Mon Dieu, how can I convince her that this roller coaster operator is eager to be retrained?

“Corrective training?” She looked at him.

War let out a sigh.
Yes!

“
Oui, chéri
. I heard the roller coaster operator had been fired. But the poor bastard wants his job back
bad, bad
.” He stared at her intently. “Maybe if he got some special instruction to help him with his—weaknesses?"

The car lurched and she clutched at his arm, throwing her other arm out in front of her. He put both arms around her, lightly.

“That roller coaster imbecile really wants to learn better,
chéri.
” He placed one finger under her chin and tilted it up towards him.

They both understood that he was the hardheaded roller coaster guy.

“Do you think...” she choked on the words. He could tell this was difficult for her.

“Do you think he can do that job, really? Maybe it's just not in his nature. Maybe he needs a different job altogether,” she finally asked him.

Merde!

War was just now realizing how badly, truly, and thoroughly he'd screwed things up. He'd sat smugly in his office thinking, “Oh well, I am how I am” and “I'll get her back, no problem."

He had a feeling he'd caused a great deal of devastation, and it wasn't going to be completely better for a while. Maybe never. If he could just get her back, maybe they'd be stronger. He knew he'd already learned some important lessons.

“Well,
petit,
” his throat was sticking together, “He thinks this is the only job he can be happy with. He's desperate to learn how to do it right. You think they'll hire him back?"

* * * *

Lorelei was silent for long minutes. She looked out at the colorful lights of the carnival rides against the dark backdrop of the night sky. She was his. She wanted to be with him as long as she could. It might not be much longer now.

A clean break might have hurt less, but it would be the difference between breaking an arm or a leg. They both hurt like hell. Sometimes, they didn't heal right.

She kept her head tilted back and away from War when she answered him.

“I heard he's a great employee most of the time. They might give him part-time."

She closed her eyes. She felt his palm on her cheek. A single tear coursed over his fingers. He delicately followed the trail back up with his tongue. He kissed her gently on the forehead. She hated feeling so emotional, but she managed not to cry.

“He'll be so grateful for this second chance,
chéri,
” he whispered. His lips skimmed hers in a soft, silky touch. He moved his lips down her chin and up the curve of her jaw. He felt the ride swing down. They would be getting off next.

When the bar swung open, War stepped out and reached around for Lorelei. She grabbed her duck as he lifted her from the Ferris wheel car. He took her hand as they moved away from the rides. They walked in silence for a few minutes.

Lorelei tugged at his hand. War leaned down to hear what she had to say.

“I think I want to go home now."

He considered her for a long moment. “You want I should drive you home,
petit
?” he asked.

“No, Warrick, I have my car here. Would you walk me to it?"

Will he get mad?

“Of course,
chéri
.” He squeezed her hand. “I don't want you walking out here alone. ‘Sides, this gives me a chance to walk in the moonlight with you."

* * * *

She rewarded him with an angelic smile. As disappointed as he was that she wanted to leave, he couldn't help but smile back. Something good had happened here tonight, and he realized it was damn well more than he deserved.

When they arrived at her car, she let him take the key and unlock the door. He didn't open it right away. He turned to her and reached out a hand to her.

“May I have a kiss goodnight
, s'il te plaît
?” He asked her so nicely for a goodnight kiss, would she refuse?

Lorelei stepped forward and placed her hands on his chest. He looked down at her. She stretched to her tiptoes and placed her lips on his. She smoothed her lips across his. Closing his arms around her, he opened his mouth and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

“Will you come out with me tomorrow,
chéri
?” War asked her. “It'd be nice to have a cheering section for the skeet shoot competition.” The shocked look on her face took him aback.

“You want me to watch you kill something?” she gasped. “Is a skeet a duck?” she asked him suspiciously.

He crushed her to him, feeling his rumbling laughter against her body.

“
Non, non, ma petit chéri!
A skeet is only a round clay tile. No ducks will die at my hands, I assure you,” his indigo eyes twinkled down at her.

She waved a hand in front of her face looking away. He was sure she was fighting a blush. She mumbled something he couldn't hear.

“
Que?"
he asked her.

“Um, do you want me to meet you here?” she asked him. He knew that wasn't what she'd said a moment ago, but he'd let it slide.

“I won't be mad if you prefer it,
chéri,
” he said diplomatically, “It'd make me happy, happy to pick you up like a real date, though."

She flushed. “Okay, Warrick, I'd like that, too."

She sounded unsure about her decision. But she was taking a chance on him even though it made her nervous. He knew then how strong she was and that he loved her so much.

He opened the car door, closing it when she'd seated herself. He leaned into the window.

“There's a dance after,
chéri,
hmmm? But most folks just wear jeans,” he told her. “I'll be along about 4:30 to get you, no?"

“Okay. I'll be ready.” She smiled up at him. He didn't move for a minute. Then he bent down and kissed her nose.

“Thank you, Lorelei,” he said gruffly. He tapped the roof of her car and stepped back. She wrinkled her nose at him and drove off. This really was a second chance. He'd make sure he didn't squander it.

* * * *

War walked back through the carnival to the makeshift police headquarters set up there. It was on the far side of the carnival, opposite to where Lorelei had parked her car.

He was almost there when he caught his nephew's scent. He'd been checking for it all night. He wanted to make sure Renaud wasn't “keeping an eye” on Lorelei—or on him.

Making sure to keep down wind so he wouldn't be noticed, War listened in on Renaud's conversation with Alec. They talked about the festival for a few minutes. Finally Alec asked the question War had hoped for.

“Hey, what time you leavin’ to take Mademoiselle Rory home?"

Renaud said nothing for a minute. Then he answered Alec, “She doesn't need a ride. She drove her own car."

“I thought you said she'd need a ride?” Alec asked. War listened closely.

“I said she
might
need a ride. She left about ten minutes ago,” Renaud replied.

Now how'd he know that? Must be more to those medallions than I thought.

“What was up earlier? I thought there was a fire.” Alec turned questioning eyes on his friend.

“I just thought I heard her yell, ya know? That Yankee voice kinda stands out. She gets hurt easy. She was okay, I guess. My Oncle War was with her."

War knew there was a major backstory here. He wondered if he'd ever get to the bottom of it.

Alec nodded. He knew Renaud wouldn't say any more than he wanted to say, and there was no sense wasting his breath. War heard Renaud tell Alec that he was leaving.

He went on his way to the temporary police headquarters mulling over the events of the evening.

* * * *

When he arrived home later, War found Renaud's truck in the driveway. He grabbed himself and his nephew a beer and went out on the back porch.

Renaud was stretched out on the wide railing that surrounded most of the porch. War handed him a beer. His nephew nodded and popped it open.

“You stop off to see Lorelei on the way in?” War tried to sound casual.

“Naw, she's probably asleep. She's been pretty tired lately.” Renaud glanced over at him and took a long pull on his beer. “She seemed kinda het-up before."

“Guess so,” agreed War carefully.

Here it comes.

He realized now that Renaud had been waiting for him.

“She's been in a state for about a month, Oncle. I didn't know it was you who put her there.” Renaud didn't pull any punches.

War was surprised that Lorelei hadn't told him what went on between them. Why hadn't she? The two were so close. He guessed his nephew hadn't been the one to treat that bite. How did the boy not see it and know what it was?

“I acted badly, I guess. Shit, I know I acted badly. I said some pretty stupid things, too. I wouldn't let her tell me what happened in Alabama.” War decided he might as well come clean.

“What'd ya say, Oncle?” Renaud's voice was low. War forced himself to answer.

Damn, this is hard
.

“I accused her of...” War took a healthy swig of the beer. “I was jealous. I said she'd had sex..."

Dieu, this is trés, trés hard. Honesty sucks.
.

“I told her I thought she was having sexual relations with you."

Renaud stared at his uncle unblinking. He reached into his shirt and wrapped his hand around the medallion at his throat.

War read hurt, sorrow, and anger in the boy's face. It was as if Renaud had presented his uncle with his most prized possession, and War had pissed all over it. Upon reflection, War decided that was an accurate assessment of what he'd done.

“I cain't be around you right now,” Renaud choked out.

“Son, I'm sorry. I know I was wrong,” War tried.

As he spoke, Renaud shimmered, changed into a large black wolf and bounded away.

War heaved a deep sigh. He knew Lorelei hadn't told Renaud because it would have caused him pain and damaged the boy's relationship with his good-for-nothin’ bastard uncle.

He poured out what remained of his and his nephew's beer and tossed the cans in the recycle bin.

An hour later, War lay in his bed hoping for sleep. He heard the mournful howl of a lone wolf in the distance. He knew it was Renaud.

Chapter 19

The next ten days were a study in control for War. He'd picked Lorelei up as planned on Friday for the skeet shoot competition. Out of respect for the August heat, she wore light clothing. She was so beautiful and, somehow, refined. Even in her holey jeans the night before she'd looked elegant to him. He wanted to hide her away.

He'd convinced her to go with him every day of the long festival. He hoped the proximity would convince her that he truly was trying to do better. He wanted her to know that he valued this second chance.

He hoped she'd learn to trust him again. He didn't bring up his recent revelations. He realized that he, too, had a lot to learn about trust.

The worst moment for him had been when some fool had tried to teach her to shoot while War had been taking care of competition paperwork. That asshole had put his arms around Lorelei and was trying to make her hold the gun. War snarled at him, and he got the message.

MINE!

He knew he needed to keep his territorial urges to himself around Lorelei for now, but he'd be damned if he'd extend that courtesy to any fool that dared to touch her.

He wanted to rip the collars off all her shirts so the world could see his brand. He wasn't proud about how he put it there. But damn it, now that it was there, it needed to serve a purpose.

He'd chased off the fool and his gun and put his arms around Lorelei. He knew her reaction to being grabbed and held rigid had probably been made worse by what he'd done. She tried to act like it hadn't bothered her, but he felt her trembling against him.

“Don't worry,
chéri,
nobody's gonna touch you anymore,” he promised her.

Anybody who didn't get the message from the possessive look on his face just wasn't paying attention. He gave Lorelei as much space as he could stand and didn't do anything overt to keep men away from her.

Anytime another man reached for her, though, he found his arm in a vise. More than once, War introduced himself to strange men by crushing the other guy's hand in a brutal handshake.

He introduced himself as Sheriff Warrick Martine. After that he'd introduce Lorelei as his
chéri,
Lorelei—no last name. He hoped he could get a ring on her finger soon. That would keep a lot of the stray dogs from sniffin’ around his woman.