Page 39 of High Intensity

When she opened the door for me earlier, I liked she hadn’t felt the need to doll up for me. What you see is what you get with this woman, which holds a great deal of appeal to me. Thepink slouchy sweater, lounge pants, and fuzzy socks, and even the hair up in a haphazard bun on top of her head look soft and approachable.

I reach out and tuck a hank of hair behind her ear that escaped the bun, before sliding my arms around her waist, tugging her close. I tower over her by, I’m guessing, close to a foot, but she feels perfect in my arms, especially when she places her hands on my chest and tilts her face up.

The invitation is clear, and when I bend my head, her arms come up and hook around my neck, her fingers curling in my hair.

This time when my mouth covers hers, it’s not that innocent. I trace the seam of her lips with my tongue, and she doesn’t hesitate to grant me access. Her mouth is eager, and I fucking love it.

Oh, hell yeah. That first hit of her taste makes me want to pick her up and carry her to the nearest flat surface. My hands have already found a strip of bare flesh at the small of her back, and I slide my palm under her sweater and up the silky skin of her torso, discovering the absence of a bra.

Sweet Jesus…

I call up every ounce of control to tear my mouth from hers.

“Hold that thought,” I whisper, pressing my lips against her forehead, before I regretfully let her go. “We’ll pick this up later.”

She responds instantly.

“You bet we will.”

Twelve

Jillian

I’d been prepared to tell Wolff about Macy last night.

I never got the chance.

I’m the one who brought up full disclosure, but when Wolff responded in kind and said some really meaningful things, I didn’t have the heart to bring down the mood.

Then there was the kiss…

The brush of lips over the table was sweet but controlled. But the kiss in the hallway? My lips felt bruised, my skin on fire, and my knees went weak. Wolff always comes across as reserved—someone who has himself firmly in hand—but the man kissing me last night was on the verge of losing control.

It felt fantastic, and I would’ve loved a chance to push him over that edge, but he ended it before I could try. His promise there would be a follow-up kept me up half the night, fantasizing about what that might be like. Something tells me it’ll be phenomenal.

After a restless night’s sleep, in the harsh light of morning, I’m thankful things didn’t progress any further than they did. Iwould feel a whole lot better if he knows he’s starting something with someone who will always have a hole in her heart. The kind of hole no one can fill.

Not everyone can handle that. Chris couldn’t.

It’s still pretty early when Nugget and I get to the hospital. I was eager to get going this morning, curious to know how Hayley got through the night. I don’t know why, but I feel a sense of responsibility for her. Maybe because she clung onto my hand with both of her icy ones after I found her huddled in that crevice, looking at me like I was her savior.

The girl has no one else in her corner right now, at least not until her uncle gets here.

“Her night was a little restless,” the nurse on duty informs me when I inquire about Hayley. “She still hasn’t spoken. Nods yes and shakes no, enough to communicate, but that’s about it. It doesn’t look like she slept too well.”

“Poor kid,” I commiserate.

But when I start moving down the hall toward her room, the nurse stops me in my tracks.

“I forgot to mention, she’s no longer there,” she calls after me. “She was moved to a different room at the request of the sheriff’s office.”

Surprised, I swing around.

“Sheriff’s office?”

She nods. “Something about security.”

Security? For the girl? That has my mind spinning. Is she in danger? Is that why she was hiding out in that cave? My head is swirling with flotsam of information that is trying to slot itself into a scenario that would require security for an eleven-year-old.

---