Summer Kisses (236 page)

Arnold reached inside his jacket and pulled out a few pictures taken with an old Polaroid camera, so as not to be traced by anyone, and slid them across the table. “I thought you’d like to see them.”

Gorgon tipped his glass, emptying the last drops, before he sat forward and picked up the two photos. His pulsed picked up as he stared down at the twins. They were mouth-watering in their belly shirts and jeans, cut near all the inappropriate spots, or appropriate, depending on the viewer. Arnold had done very well indeed. They would most definitely bring them a huge price. But the nine-year-old was what made his heart flutter. Her red hair, her freckles, her features over all reminded him of his Katrina. “This one…”

“You like her?” Arnold’s brow arched.

“She is special. Mark my words. She will bring a good price.”

“So you’re happy, boss?”

“Yes.” Gorgon supported his stomach and rose. “I’ll get your down payment. Setting up the auction will take a few days, until then, make sure these girls are not harmed. I don’t want them touched by your men, or you. Understand?” He rounded the table and laid his hand on Arnold’s shoulder, causing the kid to jump. “They haven’t been mistreated, have they?”

Fear reflected in Arnold’s eyes. “No, sir. And I understand.”

Gorgon held onto his gaze, searching for the truth. After a full ten seconds, he was satisfied that Arnold told the truth. He patted Arnold’s arm. “Good. I’ll be just a minute.”

As Gorgon removed the fifteen-thousand-dollar down payment from the hotel safe, he couldn’t get the image of the little girl out of his head. She wasn’t Katrina. But what if he didn’t find Katrina?

Off in the distance, among the shadows of the forest, an agonizing scream cut the night, followed by a sinister crackle and then silence. A chill crawled up Will’s spine as he peered over his shoulder.

The crowd surrounding him ignored the plea for help. Not one single person turned their heads in the direction of the scream. Everyone continued on with their conversations as if the bloody cries for help were normal.

They were.

However, the memories of the last few weekends were still fresh in Will’s mind, especially after visiting Gary in the hospital this afternoon, and with each plea, an icy finger cut from his ear and across his carotid artery.

A tractor backfired and Will jumped, reaching behind his back with his free hand for a gun that wasn’t there. The group of teenagers standing behind him snickered while he straightened his jacket and his face warmed. If only they knew or had seen one of the scenes he dealt with on a daily bases, they’d be scrambling for cover.

Stretching his neck from side to side, he drew in a breath of cold air tinted with rotting leaves, french fries and diesel fuel, and attempted to relax, but he couldn’t. Nicole was taking a long time to grab a hot drink. A half-hour, if not more, had passed since she left his side.

After draping the blankets on the fence, he stepped from his spot in line for the Haunted Hayride and searched the crowd mingling in front of the refreshment stand.
Where was Nicole?

Will’s pulse kicked up as the crowd moved, blocking his view. He caught a glimpse of a gray knit hat resembling the one Nicole wore, near the front of the line. The crowd shifted again and Nicole’s auburn hair confirmed the woman was indeed her. Under the neon lights indicating the small building was the place to grab food and hot drinks to ward off the autumn dampness, the tones of Nicole’s long locks shimmered in long waves over her pea coat.

Relieved she was in his view, Will realized he was on his toes and lowered his heels to the ground. He had to chill. He’d taken a night off from saving the world to be with Nicole and Luka, and he wanted to enjoy the time.

Even more so, seeing Laura today confirmed that there had been something missing in his life, a void that Nicole seemed to fill to perfection. He wanted to be with her—not as his charge, but as the woman she was.

He was ready to get on with his life and he wanted Nicole and Luka in it.

Some of his friends and co-workers would say he was nuts, taking up a relationship with Nicole. After all, she was Gorgon’s woman and has the Russian’s kid in tow, but he didn’t care. Both Nicole and Luka couldn’t help their ties to Gorgon. All he knew was he couldn’t get Nicole out of his mind and when he was with her, he felt like he was walking three feet off the ground. And Luka, regardless of who his father was, was a damn nice kid. There was no doubt in Will’s mind that Nicole had everything to do with Luka’s good behavior.

Nicole turned from the counter and Will could almost hear the laughter escaping her lips by the smile she wore. The guy who’d waited on her was laughing too.

Will’s heated glare honed in on the man. His leer followed Nicole as she walked away until the next person in line pounded their hand on the counter, gaining his attention. Jealousy was an emotion Will very seldom experienced, but the emotion was fast becoming one he had to handle every few minutes while in Nicole’s company.

He searched for Nicole and found her again, dodging kids. She hurried toward the jungle gym area where she stopped Luka in the middle of chasing of some of his friends and offered him one of the two cups she carried. Without taking a sip, Luka shook his head and skirted around her, racing after the gang of boys.

Nicole turned, smiled and shrugged before making her way through the maze of children toward him.

Will would describe himself as a man’s man, but somewhere over the last three-and-a-half months Nicole had managed to wrap his heart with fuzzy warmth and caused an inestimable hunger for her in him. He didn’t give a damn one bit either.

He studied her full lips. Their sweetness lingered in his memory. Last Sunday night, when things had grown pretty heated between the two of them, he could’ve laid Nicole right there on her kitchen table, but he wanted more. He wanted to make love to her for a thousand nights. Perhaps for the rest of his life.

That notion caused his stomach to flip-flop. His angst had nothing to do with her past. His hesitancy was all about him having the guts to give his heart to someone, again.

As she grew closer, he noticed the forty-degree temperature had brightened Nicole’s cheeks like the crimson leaves falling to the ground. Her faded jeans, turtleneck and pea coat fit her much better than the heels, short skirt and top he had first seen her wearing. God, she was beautiful.

His heartbeat zoomed when she smiled up at him.

With a gloved hand, she held out a cup. “Here you go.”

The cords of his shoulders relaxed now that she was back at his side. He returned her smile and took the semi-steaming brew. “Thanks.”

The warm plastic cup containing hot cider warmed his bare fingers. He had gloves in his pocket, but refused to wear them. He didn’t want anything between him and the possibility of feeling Nicole’s soft skin. Like now. A gust blew across the field and lifted a strand of hair across her face. He grabbed the opportunity before she could react and brushed the silky strands back, trailing his fingers along her smooth jawline.

With her eyes closed, Nicole tilted her head up, letting him know she enjoyed his touch. Passion glimmered in her eyes when she opened them, and Will fought the urge to drop his cider to the ground, grab her by the hand and pull her into a dark shadow away from prying eyes where their dance could move to the next level.

Instead he took a sip of his cider and cleared the want from his throat. Adjusting his stance and lessening the pressure against his zipper, Will knew he needed to focus on something else other than the woman who was heating his blood. He turned his attention to the playground. “Luke’s too busy for a drink, huh?” He nodded toward the boy, but a quick glance caught Nicole taking a swallow of her own cider. He smiled behind his cup.

“Running around like he is, he’s not cold. I, on the other hand, am chilled to the bone.” She pulled her coat together at the lapels and then stomped her feet on the packed gravel path. “I probably should’ve worn my thermal socks under these hiking boots. My toes are so cold.”

His eyes darted toward the section of the parking lot where his car was parked. He could warm her up there.

Nicole hunkered over her cup and Will watched with fascination as she pursed her full lips and blew across the hot liquid, before taking another sip.

Feeling his reaction to her actions growing larger, Will directed his eyes to the playground again and saw that Luka and his best friend, Tommy, now climbed the stairs on the sliding board. A few seconds later Luka, followed by Tommy, sailed down the board. Laughing over their collision, the pair scrambled to their feet and raced back to the ladder. Will couldn’t recall the last time he felt as free and as joyous as those two boys.

“Thanks for letting Tommy come with us,” Nicole said while watching the boys play.

“No problem. He’s company for Luka. I’m sure we’d have bored him to death.”

She brushed her hair back from her cheek with the back of her gloved hand and tilted her face up toward him. “You wouldn’t. He likes you a lot, Will.”

Her long hair cascaded over her shoulders in soft waves and Will couldn’t stop the image of Laura from popping into his mind. It was like a psychology test for his heart. Laura pitted against Nicole. Laura’s image faded and his heart warmed as he stared at the rosy-cheeked vixen standing before him. “Thanks. I like him too. He’s a good kid.”

“Yes, he is, and he loves living here.” Her irises grew larger as her attention was pulled beyond his shoulder.

The hairs on the nape of Will’s neck stood on end and his spine stiffened with an intake of air. Cautiously, Will glanced behind him and down the line of customers waiting for their turn on the hayride, checking each face for signs of interest in him and Nicole or in Luka. He saw nothing out of the ordinary. There were strangers mingled in with the local town’s people, but no one stood out as being a threat. He turned back to Nicole. “Is something wrong? Did you see someone who looked familiar?”

“No.” She shook her head. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to put you on guard. “I was just checking if anyone was paying attention to us.”

He leaned down and whispered into her ear, “You don’t have to worry.”

Nicole pulled back slightly, staying cheek to cheek with him. She looked deep into his eyes, causing his pulse to flutter.

“I’m not worried. Not when you’re with me. I was just going to ask something and I didn’t want anyone to overhear.”

The smile which had formed on his lips at her compliment faded. “What?”

“How is Gary?”

Will sighed as he pulled back, wishing she had wanted to ask him to kiss her, instead of reminding him of the troubles he wanted to leave behind for a few hours. But he appreciated her concern over his friend. “He’s doing real well, for what had happened to him. Sharon said the doctors think he’ll be there for another week and then they’ll send him home. He’ll have a few months of physical therapy after the cast comes off, but he should recover fully in about six months.”

“He was lucky.”

Will stuffed his free hand into his pocket. The image of Gary lying in the hospital bed, bandaged just about everywhere and with his left leg in a cast, made Will’s stomach sour. How only three bullets out of so many had hit home, cracking Gary’s jaw, lodging in his shoulder and shattering his femur, was a miracle. “He was damn lucky.”

“I’m glad he’s doing well. I feel like—”

Will bowed his head next to hers, pulled his hand from his pocket and pointed his index finger at her nose. “Don’t say it. You know you had no part in what happened to him. Understand?”

Nicole’s gaze dropped to her cup. He could tell torment chewed away at her psyche much like she was doing to her bottom lip. Her dark lashes blinked several times against her smooth cheeks, and he knew, without seeing them, that tears threatened to fall from her eyes.

Will reached out and with his finger placed under her chin, gently forced her to look at him. “Don’t do this to yourself. What happened wasn’t your fault. Just like it wasn’t my fault. If Gary was here, he’d tell you the same thing.” He stared hard into Nicole’s eyes until she pulled back from his touch and nodded. Hearing a child’s cry, he checked Luke’s whereabouts and made sure that the boy was fine before he took another swallow of his now lukewarm cider.

“I’d like to visit him, but I know that’s out of the question.” She sniffled and swiped her gloved finger along her lashes.” So will you tell him I asked about him? When you see him again?”

“I already did.”

A tiny smile turned the corner of her lips up. “Thanks.” She inhaled and looked toward the playground.

To someone who wasn’t trained to watch people, Nicole’s brave front might’ve worked, but he noted her fingers tightened around the Styrofoam cup.

Will downed the last gulp of his drink, wishing the cider was something a bit stronger.

Nicole’s past, his work, and Gorgon had somehow found their way into their date. He mentally slammed his fist against an imaginary wall. Damn. They both deserved to have a good time. And he was going to do everything in his power to make sure they did.

“You know when I was a kid, I used to work our community’s Halloween event.”

“Really? Doing what?” Nicole’s eyes sparkled with interest and he knew he’d hit on the key to turning the night around. First dates were all about learning about each other, sharing memories, and likes and dislikes. If he wanted her to open up to him, he had to share something of himself.

“Yeah. We had a Haunted Hayride too. I played a lot of parts, but I think my favorite was Dracula.” He swooped his arm in the air and then draped his hand over her shoulder, pulling her close to his side.”

Her chuckle chased the chill from his toes. He leaned in and gazed deep into her eyes. Then in his best Count Dracula tone, he said, “Deep within the woods, where the sun dares not enter, I would lie, waiting for my next vic— I mean wife to come to me.”

“Isn’t that a little lazy or sexist to assume they would just come to you?” Nicole nudged him with her elbow.