Page 15 of Heston
“Never, Boss,” Asher replied smoothly as he tucked the blankets around Kelsey, then added the last heated blanket over her. “I’d never hurt Kels, you know that. She brings me cinnamon rolls from that bakery by Heston’s place everyTuesday, and I know damned well she’s going to bring me another one real soon.” For a big guy, he did have a gentle side.
“I know,” Alex muttered. “I do. It’s just that—”
“It’s just that you love her, Boss. Understood. But you’ve got to share her, because we love Kels, too.”
Alex was so damned lost. It was hard seeing him like this.
Deck strapped Kelsey onto the gurney. It took minutes to transport her to the helo, its rotors still whirling. Once there, Heston and Asher jumped inside the rear compartment and guided Kelsey’s gurney onto the locking floor stanchions. London climbed in behind Alex, instantly motioning for him to sit in the seat closest to his wife. Heston strapped both his boss and Kelsey in tight, then raised the stanchions until she was at the same level as Alex. Might as well. There was no way Alex would stay seated with Kelsey on the floor.
Decker closed the side door and took his place up front. Asher rode shotgun. Heston grabbed the seat across from London. He’d secured his IFAK inside his gear bag, but left its Velcro binding loose, in case. Kelsey was in bad shape. She had more wrong with her than just the bullet graze on the side of her head. Heston hadn’t wanted to panic Alex, but the woman was a mess of broken bones and hematomas, some of them damned serious. The most obvious, her poor fingers were twisted. If she lived—
Heston bowed his head the second his brain uttered that despicableif.
Whenshe came to, she’d need Alex, and Alex would need her. Shewouldlive. Heston refused to throw anything but‘when’into the universe.Whenshe was back on her feet…When. When. When.
London pulled a walkie-talkie out of an inside jacket pocket and radioed a hurried, “Lieutenant Wilde checking in. Missing persons Kelsey and Alex Stewart have been located. Both alive,but in critical condition. Transporting to the nearest hospital. Will contact you with more info later.”
The guy who answered—had to be Bates—sputtered something about fire or fired, Heston wasn’t sure. Fire at the trailer or London was fired?
She didn’t give whoever it was time to explain or argue. “Wilde, over and out,” she said, then stuffed the device back inside her jacket. “Might be looking for a job after tonight,” she said to no one in particular. “Never mind, forget what I said. I just really liked this job. Most of the time.”
“He’s an ass,” Asher muttered.
“You have no idea,” London agreed. Releasing her safety harness, she dropped to her knees beside Kelsey. Out came a stethoscope from inside her shirt. But instead of using it, she handed it to Alex and asked, “Would you please monitor her heartbeat for me while we travel?”
Heston could’ve cried the way Alex grabbed onto that lifeline and fumbled the listening ends of the scope into his ears, while London smoothed the monitor end beneath Kelsey’s t-shirt. “Can you hear it?” she asked, so damned kindly and sweetly.
And there she was, the only woman Heston could ever fall in love with. Yet, at the same time, the best part of his life slipped away. The woman he’d driven away.
He couldn’t help seeing London as only a former lover saw his woman. Her lips were fuller. So were her hips and chest. Might just be the winter gear she was wearing. Might be she wasn’t wearing her usual sports bra to contain her deliciously jiggly girls. A man doesn’t forget the plump flesh and pebbled nipples his lips, fingers, tongue, and heart had once enjoyed and memorized. The perky girls he’d assumed he’d always have. The generous lover he’d taken for granted. Separation didn’t make the heart grow fonder. It only sharpened the pain of his past mistake.
Many women cried after reaching their orgasm. Not London. She laughed when pleasure shuddered through her exquisitely expressive body. Sometimes, she giggled and writhed in his arms, undone by the magic of their lovemaking. He still recalled how she could purr like a sexy, satisfied kitten even while aftershocks consumed her. And consumed him.
It was clear to see she loved life and lived it to the fullest. Always had, and life, in turn, loved her. She used to dance when she wasn’t bogged down with coursework. He’d noticed she still moved with the efficient ease of a dancer. Graceful, yet controlled. So damned beautiful. She looked happy. But then that was London Wilde. His biggest, stupidest mistake.
The second Alex located his wife’s heart, his head bobbed and his eyes teared up. “Yeah,” he choked. “Got… got her.”
“I know a guy,” Heston whispered to London. “He’s a real hardass, but I think you’d like working for him.”
A smile tugged at the corners of her pretty mouth. Her pink nose twitched like it used to when she was happy. “I already like him,” she whispered back.
God, he’d missed her.
Chapter Eight
From the helo’s side window, London watched the September sun set far in the west. Its last few rays were as pinkish-golden as ever, but today they were squashed like slender fingers beneath the weight of the purpling storm front intent on hiding Mount Rainier from the rest of the world. Which was the norm for this side of the Cascades. Most often heard phrase in the Pacific Northwest?“Is the mountain out today?”Most days it wasn’t, not in a region prone to heavy rain, drizzle, and blankets of fog nine months of every year.
It was hard to believe that, out of all the covert operators in the world, Heston Contreras was one of two sent to locate Mr. and Mrs. Stewart. On London’s mountain. In her newly adopted state. Not like that designation would last through the next few days. London knew better. Women working in male-dominated fields were low-hanging fruit, easily marked as first out the door whenever RIFs, reductions-in-force, came down from above. Just as easily passed over for promotions they’d earned; her, by lack of seniority. Guess one had to stick with a federal agency longer than a couple years to make a solid reputation for herself.
Also guess Captain Bates hadn’t liked her leaving with Heston and Asher once they’d located the Stewarts. He hadn’t liked her tone when she’d checked in with him the last time. She thought she’d been civil, at least as respectful as he deserved. Which was hard considering she worked for a jerk who wore his rank like it made him a god. Honestly, he wasn’t a captain in any army. Sure hadn’t ever worked as hard as she had.
She’d never had a problem with Bates until his promotion. He’d changed then, from the laid-back man she’d bandied jokesback and forth with, into a bossy, egotistical tyrant who wanted respect and obedience more than the easy-going comradery they’d once shared. He used to be friendly. Now he snapped orders at her, then snapped again when she didn’t respond fast enough. The jerk.
London despised being treated like she was anything less than the intelligent woman she knew she was. Hated it with a purple passion. Hated to be minimized and talked down to. She damned well knew she was second best to—No. Body. Not even Heston. Speaking of which…
She snuck a sideways glance at the man she’d once planned to spend the rest of her life with.Dayum.He still looked good, even in all that cold weather gear. Course, he’d been dropped into the middle of frigid nowhere. She didn’t blame him for over-dressing. Northwest weather was capricious. It could be bitter cold one minute, pouring balmy torrential rain the next.
He was as long-legged as she remembered. As tan. His body was the perfect balance of lean muscle and sharp angles. He’d unzipped his jacket once he’d taken a seat, revealing a chiseled chest wrapped inside a tight black shirt that showed off his pecs. Those muscled thighs challenged the fabric of the black denim he wore. The younger man she’d known had changed into one helluva mature specimen. She squinted at the gold logo sitting high on that chest.The TEAM, huh?That was who he worked for, that hotshot covert surveillance company out of Virginia. Lucky them.
