Guarding Kelsey ((Books We Love Romantic Suspense)) (15 page)

The man let out a startled gasp and clawed at the arms around his neck. "What the hell is the matter with you?"

When he heard the familiar voice, Wolf released his death grip.
"What are you doing here, Kurt?"

Kurt straightened and ran a hand down the front of his suit.
"I didn't know it was a crime to visit my brother but I'm beginning to wonder now."
At
twenty-one
, Kurt was the youngest of his mother’s family and the only one of Wolf’s three stepbrothers who made an effort at having a sibling relationship.
The rest didn’t even know or care where he lived.

"Sorry. It isn’t a good time for a surprise visit."

"I guessed that.
I’ve been attacked twice in three minutes.
Who's the
she-wolf
that bounced me off the wall?"

Wolf groaned.
"Oh, God.
Where is she?"

"Locked in the bedroom.
I think I scared her."

"Brilliant deduction."

Wolf walked down the hall and tried the handle. "Kelsey.
Open up.
It's me."
He didn't receive an answer.
"Come on, Kelsey. He’s my stepbrother.
You can come out."

Kurt came up
alongside
him. "You're the cop.
Kick it in like they do on TV."

Wolf sent him a dubious glare.
"There is a terrified woman and a loaded gun in that room.
You kick it in, genius."

“You mean you actually do take the gun
off
sometimes?
I guess your date appreciates it.”

“Very funny.”
On the rare occasions when he stopped by to see his mother, he was either on his way to work, or just getting off duty.
Consequently, he always had his gun and his stepbrothers always felt the need to point it out. Particularly the one who ended up a psychologist and believed that a gun for a police
officer
held a phallic symbolism rather than seeing it as an invaluable necessity when dealing with criminals.

He banged on the door again, while being careful to remain clear of it.
In Kelsey's present situation he wouldn’t blame her if she shot first and asked questions later.
"Come on, Kelsey.
Answer me."

Soft footsteps padded across the floor.
The lock clicked and the door opened slightly. Wolf stepped into the room.
She handed him the gun carefully.

Her wide eyes glistened with moisture.
She shrugged apologetically.
He wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her fears away.
He wanted to promise her everything would be all right.
Instead, he draped his arm around her shoulder and gave her a comforting squeeze. "Are you having a bad hair day?"

She stared at him blankly.
Her fright gave way to relief.
The color returned to her face.
As his trite words sank in, she even managed a weak laugh.

"
Clichés
?
You really are a cretin.”
She elbowed him in the ribs.
“Are you crazy leaving a loaded gun in your bedroom where any lunatic could get hold of it?"

"Obviously, a lunatic did get hold of it.
Think of the mess you’d have made if you’d killed my stepbrother.
The paperwork alone is such a pain.
Laying him out on his ass was enough."

Kelsey's cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
“How was I supposed to know he was family?
And how come you gave me a big lecture about giving out spare keys to my family when you do the same thing?"

A snicker from the hallway reminded him that they had an audience for their childish argument.

“Shut up,” Wolf warned his stepbrother.
He eased Kelsey into the hall.
"Or I'll turn the she-wolf loose on you again."

Kelsey straightened indignantly at his attempt to use her as a threat.
They joined his stepbrother in the living room.

Kurt grinned. "Only you would find a woman who could toss you across the room.
You are one sick puppy."

Wolf shook his head.
"Was there a purpose to this visit?"

"Actually, I didn't expect to find you here at all.
I was going to leave a present for mother's birthday. I figured, being stuck on that babysitting assignment, you wouldn’t get a chance.”

Wolf tensed and bit back a retort. He didn’t want or need Kurt delving into his trust fund for a gift on Wolf’s behalf. “I’ve got it covered."

Kurt raised his eye suspiciously. "You remembered?"

Wolf bristled.
Not at the insinuation, but at the fact that Kurt was right.
He had forgotten the date. "I know I don't have a secretary to remind me of the important social obligations in my life but I think I can manage my mother's birthday."

"I'm sorry.
I was trying to help," Kurt said. "Do you plan to introduce me to your friend?"

Wolf looked back and forth between the two. "Kelsey Winston, Kurt Anderson."

“It’s nice to meet a member of Wolf’s family.”

Kurt grinned as he shook the hand Kelsey offered.
“He’s never mentioned you.”

“Sure he did.
I’m the babysitting job.”

Kurt looked contrite.
“Oh, sorry about that.”

“Don’t be.
This case has been a real hardship for him.”

“Damn right,” Wolf grumbled.
After the kiss they shared in the kitchen, she was more than a case and she knew it.
However, he didn’t have to let his stepbrother know it too.
"If they weren't ordering me to protect her, they couldn't pay me to do it."

Kurt arched his eyebrow. “Right! You make a habit of bringing female witnesses to your
house
.
Come to think of it, have you ever brought any woman to your
house
?”

Wolf shot his stepbrother a silencing glare.

“As long as you’ve got the present covered, I should be going.”
Kurt paused, as if waiting for Wolf to stop him.

Wolf felt guilty but didn’t extend an invitation.
“Thanks for stopping by.
I’ll see you soon.”

Kurt departed and Wolf mentally prepared himself to deal with Kelsey. He wished he could attribute her solemn mood to her fright, but the questioningly glint in her eyes said otherwise.

“Any particular reason you didn’t mention stepbrothers when I asked you about family?” she asked.

“They’re not my family.
They’re my mother’s family.”

She rested against the wall, looking tired and strangely sad.
“Kurt didn’t seem to feel the same way.
He refers to your mother as his mother too.”

His mother
was
more of a mother to Kurt.
He was only a baby when she married his father.
And she made her
stepfamily
her main priority. “He’s young.”

“No.
You’re cynical.
If I had known you had any family, I might not have attacked Kurt today.”

Wolf chuckled.
“It builds character to be taken down by a woman.”

She let out an exasperated sigh.
“Damn.
It’s a wonder he even tries with you.
You are impossible.”

“And you think you’re a bed of roses to live with?”

“I've been living with myself for
a while
and I happen to think I'm very easy to get along with.
I never argue with me.
I let me have the bathroom first.
I don't complain when I leave my clothes all over the apartment.
Yes, I think living with me is a bed of roses," Kelsey agreed completely.

"Then how come I only get the thorns?"

She tipped her head back and gave him a beguiling smile.
“Well maybe if you learned how to reach for the soft petals you wouldn’t keep catching your clumsy fingers on the thorns.”

A few sharp jabs beat the hell out of losing control.
He’d met his match in Kelsey but her open and honest emotions didn’t give him an advantage.
If anything, it hindered his attempt to remain distant.
There was no bigger turn on to a man than a woman who wanted him and no bigger danger to a witness than a cop who lost his edge.

“Let's go shopping."

She traced her finger along the line of his jaw.
“Before your mother discovers that you really did forget her birthday?”

Wolf took hold of her wandering hand. He needed to get out of there before he disregarded his own good advice and answered the invitation her pouting lips offered.
Keeping his mind on the case and off of her considerable charms grew harder by the minute.
And so did he!

Chapter
Seven

The captain summoned Wolf to the precinct at six o’clock the following morning.
Dead tired, he dragged himself into the station house.
He and Kelsey hadn't returned to the condo until after midnight.
Once she tasted freedom, she made the most of it.
She steered him to the malls across the Hudson River in New Jersey, claiming the shopping was better.
He suspected she used the ruse to make a full day of their outing.
She wasn’t going to get an argument from him.
Spending time alone together would only lead to trouble.

In public, Kelsey had behaved like a well-bred society girl but just a look or a faint smell of her perfume raised his pulse.
So much for detached objectivity.
Thankfully, she’d been too exhausted when they returned to make more than a token pass at him. And she had been fast asleep before he’d had to make an excuse to turn her down.

He waited for his replacement to arrive at the condo before leaving.
Martinez met him at the station.

Wolf straddled the chair in front of his partner’s desk.
"What's going on?"

"Iceman Robbins finally surfaced."

Hit man
found. Case closed.
Kelsey was no longer in danger.
He should be relieved.
Why did he have the uneasy feeling that things were about to get more complicated?

"And, is he talking?" Wolf asked.