Page 11 of Waiting for Him
“Yeah. There’s one up ahead.” He grabbed his phone and dialed his father’s cell. Using the car’s Blue-tooth feature, he told Rick their plan to stop.
Pulling into a Walgreens, he waited for his dad to park next to him, get out, and approach the Dodge’s passenger door before exiting the car. Rick opened Kat’s door and extended his hand to assist her from the vehicle. When they met Boomer on the walkway between the car and the building, Kat swayed. Boomer grabbed her around the waist before she could fall and eyed her in alarm. “Kat? Are you all right? Are you going to pass out?”
Kat rested her arms on his broad shoulders and steadied. Boomer’s body reacted immediately to her close proximity, and he inwardly cursed, fighting the urge to pull her flush against him.
“Uh, no, I’m okay. Just got a little light-headed. It happens when I get a migraine.”
After ensuring she had her balance again, he forced himself to step back but kept one hand at the small of her back as he escorted her into the store. Rick remained three steps behind them, his head swiveling from side to side, constantly on the lookout for danger. It was improbable the people after Kat were lying in wait at a Florida Walgreens on the off chance she’d stop there, but one never knew.
They headed down the OTC medicine aisle, and Kat quickly found the brand she used for her headaches. Before they could reverse their direction, a pretty blonde came around the far corner of the aisle, and her face lit up as she spotted Boomer.
“Hi, M—Ben.”
Boomer winced at the woman’s cheerful voice and near slip of his title of Master. “Hi, Cassandra.”
She approached and stopped a little too close for comfort. Normally, Boomer wouldn’t have minded running into the petite submissive he’d topped a few times, but he was a little uncomfortable with Kat by his side.
“We missed you at the club last weekend.”
He scratched the top of his head. “Uh, yeah. I was working the whole weekend.”
Cassandra’s eyes flashed to Kat, who had taken a step closer to him and looked as if she was waiting for Boomer to introduce them. “Hi. I’m Cassandra.”
Kat shook the woman’s outstretched hand. “I’m Kat.”
“Nice to meet you.” Her eyes returned to Boomer’s face. “Will you be there tomorrow night?”
Boomer gently grabbed Kat’s arm and shook his head. Cassandra was a sweet submissive who waitressed at The Covenant, and he knew she wouldn’t step on another woman’s toes intentionally. She also wouldn’t publicize what kind of club The Covenant was. “Uh, no, I don’t think so. Maybe over the weekend, but I’m not sure.”
Cassandra’s gaze flicked to the possessive hand on the other woman’s arm, and she took a step back, her eyes full of apology to Boomer. She must’ve realized she’d almost said too much. “Okay. If not, I’ll see you some other time. Kat, it was nice to meet you. Have a nice day.”
Without waiting for a response from either of them, she spun around and waved goodbye over her shoulder.
Boomer’s hand gripped Kat’s arm a little tighter as he turned her toward the cashiers. His father had been a few steps behind them and gave him a “you’re so fucked” smile before leading the way. Boomer wasn’t sure what that was all about. He and Cassandra were friends. Friends who occasionally fucked during a scene at a private BDSM club. What was wrong with that?
He glanced at Kat, who had a curious expression on her face. He knew she wanted to ask him about Cassandra. Yup, his father was right—he was so fucked.
Chapter Six
They had about another half hour before they landed in a small airport outside of Norfolk, Virginia. Boomer hadn’t been up this way in over a year, but his last trip had been a long weekend of catching up with people he hadn’t seen in a while. Another of his old high school friends had taken the plunge and married. They'd been dropping like flies these past few years. His mind drifted to Alex, and he wondered, if his friend had still been alive, would he have found some woman and put a ring on her finger? He doubted it. Alex had been worse than he’d been back in the day. His friend had a new hook-up almost every weekend, going through girls as if trying to win a new Guinness world record. At least Boomer had dated several girls for a few weeks before moving on.
But all that changed after his Kitten had “died.” He’d only fallen in love once in his life, and look how it’d ended. She was gone less than thirty-six hours after he professed his love. Yeah, it wasn't her fault, but it still hurt like hell.
He glanced over to where she was curled up on the plane’s couch, reading a book since her migraine had faded. Damn, she was still the prettiest woman he’d ever met despite her recent weight loss. She’d passed on the egg sandwich, letting him have it instead because she couldn’t eat with the headache. He had Jake stop for a turkey and cheese sandwich for her to eat on the plane and had been happy to see her finishing it off about fifteen minutes ago.
In the recliner next to him, Jake was taking a power nap. His teammate had been up half the night trying to find his missing informant. He’d finally found the little punk in a local crack house, and Jake was pissed. The kid had been clean for six months before this setback. Jake dragged his ass out of there and into a hospital. The next stop was an agreed-upon rehab facility. Boomer had never met the informant, but if the former SEAL was putting this much work into trying to save him from the life of a homeless junkie, there had to be something there that impressed him. Boomer hoped the kid was worth the effort.
He got up and sat down on the couch next to Kat. Against his better judgment, he grabbed her ankles and pulled her feet into his lap. She’d removed her slip-on flats earlier, and without conscious thought, he rubbed the arch of her right foot. She closed her eyes and groaned as he dug his thumbs deep into the tissue. The sound went straight to his groin.
“God, that feels so good. Please don’t stop.”
His mouth twitched, and he wished he was doing other things to her, which gave him the same response. “So, tell me about Portland.”
Her eyes opened just enough for her to see him through the slits. “What do you want to know?”
“I don’t know. Everything? Anything? Do you have a job there? Friends?” Boyfriends? He was torn between wanting and not wanting to know the answer to that.
She shrugged. “Only a few close friends, but I have a great job, which I love. When we first ended up there, our handler, Chris, sent me to see an old army buddy of his. Jeremy Pierce and his wife Eva own a canine training facility for protection and law enforcement. We clicked immediately, and he taught me how to train the dogs. I’ve been working for him ever since. I train them in drug and explosives detection, as well as passive and aggressive tracking, depending on the dog and the agency. Passive tracking is for missing persons, and aggressive is for suspects.”
