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The older woman gripped both of her hands in her own and grinned. “Oh, my. And I didn’t know Mr. Marsden even had a girlfriend. How did you keep this from us over the past two years?”
Chase smiled and circled Kate’s waist with an arm, cinching her snugly to his side. “You know all those monthly trips I took to Denver?” He tipped his head toward Kate. “Let’s just say, I wasn’t alone.”
What the hell was he trying to prove? If these people were as close as family, he’d just lied to them.
“What a surprise. I can’t believe our own Mr. Marsden is engaged.”
Mrs. Quaid pressed her hands to her cheeks. “When did you arrive in town?”
Kate leveled her gaze on Chase. “I came over from Denver today for the first time and bam. I’m just as surprised as you.” Which wasn’t far from the truth. Mrs. Quaid seemed like a nice lady, but Chase must have his reasons for lying to his housekeeper.
“I’m so happy for you both.” Mrs. Quaid touched Chase’s arm. “But you better check in on Jake. He’s missing his grandma. I’ll put on a kettle for tea. When’s Ms. Sadie coming home?”
“She’s been in an accident. She’s in the hospital.”
Mrs. Quaid pressed a hand to her chest. “Oh, dear. Is she going to be all right?”
“I hope so.” Chase touched her arm. “Jake only needs to know she’s staying in town for a few days.”
The older woman nodded. “Understood. If there’s anything I can do for her...”
“There’s not much any of us can do for her. She’ll have to get well on her own.” Chase glanced around. “Where’s Mr. Quaid?”
“He’s checking on the horses. He thought he heard something. He should be back by the time you tuck in Jake.”
“Good. I need to talk to you two about some issues that have arisen.” He grabbed Kate’s hand. “Come on, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.”
Her heart thundered in her chest and her belly clenched, the scar tissue seeming to tighten around a wound that would never heal. “No, really, I can wait in the kitchen with Mrs. Quaid.”
“It will only take a minute and it will be worth it. I promise.”
The big warm hand holding hers, tugged her toward the staircase.
Once out of earshot of Mrs. Quaid, Kate asked, “Was it necessary to introduce me as your fiancée?”
He didn’t let go of her hand as he climbed the stairs. “I thought it might make it easier for you stay here and be seen with me and not generate more questions.”
Kate trudged up the steps, her breathing abnormally fast for the little amount of exertion. She had already worked back up to her usual three-mile jog every day. A few stairs shouldn’t have had a debilitating effect on her lungs. As much as she’d like to blame it on the stairs, she knew it was the thought of tucking a little boy into bed that had her breaking into a cold sweat and struggling against the desire to run right out the front door and all the way back to Texas.
She thought she was ready to face the world. But she really wasn’t. Sure she could fire expert, shoot a perp and perform physical training all day long, but being around a child was beyond her endurance.
At the top of the staircase, Chase made a left turn and hurried down the hallway to the second door on the right. He pushed the door open and peered into the shadowy interior. “Jake?” he whispered softly. “Are you asleep?”
Chase let go of her hand and opened the door wider, allowing a beam of light to cross the bedroom floor to the full-size bed in the middle.
“No, I’m awake,” a small voice called out. “I was waiting for you and Grandma.”
“You gotta stop doing that. Young bodies need sleep to help them grow.” Chase entered the room and settled on the side of the bed. He brushed his hand across the boy’s forehead, pushing back a swath of dark brown hair, almost the same color as Kate’s.
Kate fingered the long ponytail over her shoulder, her heart gripped in her chest. She didn’t want to move into the room, afraid the walls might close in around her.
Barkley the Saint Bernard pushed past her and sprawled on the floor at the end of the bed.
“Where’s Grandma?” Jake leaned up on his elbow and stared straight at Kate. “Who are you?”
Ignoring his first question, Chase answered the second. He held out his hand to Kate, an invitation to step into the room. Somehow, she managed to move one foot in front of the other until she stood beside the bed and glanced down at a little boy with green eyes, who looked entirely too small to sleep in such a big bed by himself. “Hi,” she said.
Chase clasped her hand and drew her closer. “This is Kate Rivers. She’s coming to stay with us for a little while.”
Jake smiled and settled back against the pillow, a huge yawn splitting his little face. “Are you staying for Christmas?” he asked, his eyelids drifting closed.
Kate shook her head, but the boy didn’t see her through his closed eyes. She shifted her gaze to Chase, trying not to stare at Jake, his little body buried beneath the sheets and a thick goose down quilt.
Despite being a tomboy from the moment she could strut around in her own cowboy boots, Kate had pictured herself with a big family of her own, she’d wanted half a dozen boys for her dad who’d gotten stuck with three froufrou girls and a tomboy.
The day the meth lab sting went down, she’d lost not only her partner, but she’d been shot in the gut, the bullet damaging both her uterus and ovaries. Having been a Texas Ranger from the time she’d graduated college with a degree in criminology, she’d hardly slowed down long enough to consider what she wanted next in life. In the back of her mind, she’d always known she eventually wanted kids.
After her last botched mission with the Texas Rangers, Kate’s injuries had cut off any chances of her ever having children. Those kids she’d pictured having would never be.
“Miss Kate will be here through Christmas,” Chase assured the boy. He let go of Kate’s hand, pulling her back to the present, and brushed the hair out of Jake’s face once more, then stood.
Jake’s eyes opened. “Grandma always kisses me good-night. Where is she?”
“She had to stay in town for a few nights.” Chase leaned over the child and pressed his lips to the boy’s forehead. “There, that will have to do for now.”
He blinked his eyes open again, his gaze shifting from Chase to Kate. “Can’t Miss Kate kiss me, too?”
Chase turned to Kate, his brows raised. “It’s totally up to Miss Kate.”
Kate took a step backward, ready to make a run for the door.
Jake captured Kate’s gaze with his own green-eyed one. “Please.”
Frozen to the spot, she couldn’t leave. Not with that trusting gaze gluing her to the floor. She wanted to run, but couldn’t. Her feet carried her forward to the bed, where she leaned over the little boy.
He closed his eyes, a smile curling his sweet lips.
Her pulse pounding in her ears, Kate had to follow through. She brushed his forehead lightly with her lips.
“You’re pretty, Miss Kate,” Jake said on a sigh.
Kate straightened, the warmth of the little boy’s skin seemingly imprinted on her lips. How could one little boy have so much impact on her?
She opened her mouth to tell Jake good-night, but a lump the size of her fist lodged in her throat and her eyes blurred.
Chase shot a glance her way.
Kate turned, hoping he didn’t see her moment of weakness.
“Good night, little buddy.” Chase tousled the child’s hair and reached over to switch off the lamp on the nightstand.
Glad for the darkness, Kate gulped to force the lump back down her throat. She nearly stepped on a teddy bear lying on the floor. With a sob rising up in her chest, she bent, retrieved the bear, crushed it to her chest and ran for the door.
What was wrong with her? She hadn’t cried when she’d bent over her partner’s inert body, performing CPR while she bled from her own wounds. Nor had she cried when the doctor entered her hospital room after they’d performed surgery on her, only to tell her Mac had died on the operating table in the room next to her, despite all his efforts. She hadn’t cried when the doctor told her she’d never have children.
In the shadowy room, her eyes swimming in unshed tears, she didn’t see Chase until she crashed into the solid wall of muscles.
His arms came up around her and he steadied her. Glancing over her shoulder at the boy, he hooked an arm around her waist and guided her through the door.
Barkley lumbered to his feet and started to follow them out of the boy’s room.
“Stay,” Chase said, his voice gentle, but firm.
The dog dropped to his belly on a rug, laying his chin between his two front paws.
Chase closed the door halfway. Without saying a word, he led Kate down the staircase, grabbed their jackets and ushered her out the back door onto a wide, wooden porch.
Outside, she broke free of his grasp and walked to the steps leading down, wondering if she could make it to her truck without being stopped.
“What’s wrong?” Chase asked, his voice so close, he had to be standing behind her.
She shook her head and brushed a hand across her eyes, realizing she still held the worn teddy bear in her other hand. Swallowing hard, she pushed the lump in her throat back and half turned, shoving the toy toward Chase. “Could you take this to Jake? He might be missing it.” Her voice sounded gravelly to her own ears. She hated that she was showing emotion when she was sent to be a bodyguard, not a basket case. Kate should have known it was too soon after all that had happened.
“He was half-asleep before we left the room. I’ll take it to him later.” Chase reached for her empty hand and held it. “Do you want to talk about what happened in there?”
“No.” Kate turned her back to him, staring out into the darkness. “Look, Mr. Marsden—”
“Call me Chase.”
“Chase,” she said. “I can’t work for you.”
“Why?”
Kate shook her head. “I’m not the right person for this job.” Hank had assured her she was ready, and that she could handle the assignment. He’d been wrong. Had he told her a child would be involved...then what? Kate wouldn’t have thought she’d react so strongly to Jake’s request for a kiss. But it hit her like a punch to the chest.
Kate would never have children of her own to hug and kiss good-night.
She dug her cell phone out of her back pocket and stepped down off the porch. Swiping at more tears forming in her eyes, she punched Hank’s number and walked toward the barn.
As was typical of Hank Derringer, he answered as if they were continuing a conversation. “Oh, good, you made it there.”
“Hank, my body to guard is in the hospital.”
“What happened?” he asked.
She filled him in on the details and added, “Marsden wants me to stay on, even though Sadie is in the hospital.”
“I think you should. Perhaps you can figure out what’s going on.”
“That’s just it.” She screwed up the courage to back out of her first assignment. “I don’t think I’m the right person for this job.”
“Kate, darlin’, I wouldn’t have sent you if I didn’t think you could handle it. You’re the best shot, and you know how to defend others as well as yourself.”
“You recruited me and sent me here because I’m female,” she stated, her tone flat. “Don’t you have someone else who could take my spot? I’d rather chase down drug cartel members or serial killers.”
“I’m limited on female agents right now. Maybe if you tell me what’s wrong about the job, I can help you figure out a way to handle it.”
Her hand shook as she held the phone, trying to think of the words to describe all that was wrong with this assignment. None of the words she came up with sounded nearly convincing enough in her head. She stared down at the teddy bear she still held in her other hand. “I just can’t.”
“Well, do me a favor and stay on the job for at least a couple days while I see who I can pull to take your place.”
She wanted to wail and gnash her teeth. A couple of days might as well be a lifetime. The more she was around these people, the more she’d be reminded of what she no longer could have.
“Kate, I’m counting on you,” Hank said softly. “And so are they. Do this for me until I come up with a plan.”
Her shoulders sagged. Short of quitting her job working with Covert Cowboys, Inc. she had to do as asked. “Okay. I’ll do what needs to be done.” She sucked in a breath and let it out. “But only until you find a replacement.”
“Tell him to send someone to guard Sadie,” Chase said from behind her.
“I heard,” Hank acknowledge. “I can get one of the cowboys up there tomorrow, but getting a female to take your place will be trickier.”
“Do what you can.” Kate ended the call and stared out at the snowcapped mountains and clamped her teeth together.
Chase placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her toward him. He stared into her eyes, the starlight reflected in his blue eyes. “Are you leaving us?”
Kate sighed and faced the man. Though her first instinct was to run as far and as fast as she could, she had to say, “I’m staying. For now.” She had no choice, other than to quit. And Chuck Rivers didn’t raise a quitter.
Hank’s offer had been the only one she’d gotten in the past six months. Who else wanted to hire a broken former Texas Ranger?
Chase let out an abrupt sigh. “Good. With Sadie in the hospital, I could use all the help I can get. Jake lost his mother not long ago. He needs to know he has people who aren’t going to leave him.”
Guilt settled like sour milk in the pit of her belly. “I said I’m staying,” she snapped, angrier at herself for her desire to leave Chase and the boy behind.
“Thanks.” Chase tugged her hand, bringing her closer.
Kate staggered forward frowning. “If it’s all the same to you, I’ll call it a night.”
“Not yet.” Chase reached up and brushed her cheek with his thumb. “I’d give anything to know why you were crying.”
She froze. The touch of his thumb on her cheek and the warmth of his hand surrounding hers sent a rush of heat all the way through her body and out to the very tips of her ears and toes.
His cool blue eyes seemed to burn a hole through the wall she’d so carefully constructed around her emotions. The same wall that had taken a direct hit when a little boy asked her to kiss him good-night. A moan rose up her throat and out her parted lips before she could stop it. She tugged at the hand held tight in his.
He refused to let go. “Tell me. What made you sad, please.” His rich baritone wrapped around her like a lush, sexy blanket warming her in the chill night air.
Her gaze shifted from his eyes to his lips and a new fire burned from the inside. Chase Marsden was a good-looking man with full, sensuous lips that begged to be kissed.
“Let me help you.”
