Page 12 of Ace of Spades
Taylor passed him, kneeling on the mattress. “Mellie, we’re going to find a safe place for you and Becky to stay.”
The girl shook her head. “No, we have to wait here for Mama.”
“Your mother would want both of you to trust Taylor,” Alex said, squatting next to Taylor. “What if I wrote a note telling her where to find you?” He glanced at the jar of peanut butter. “While you’re waiting for her, we’ll have some dinner. How does a cheeseburger and chocolate milkshake sound?”
“I want a cheeseburger and milkshake,” Becky said. She drummed her hands on her sister’s back. “Cheeseburger. Cheeseburger. Cheeseburger,” she chanted.
Mellie reached behind her, grabbing Becky’s fingers. “Stop it. Mama said we’re not supposed to leave.”
Not wanting to intimidate the girls, Nate stood back with Josh. Between them, Alex and Taylor finally convinced the girls to willingly come with them. Alex left a note on the mattress that Linda Harding would never read.
“You’re letting this case get to you. You can’t save all the lost children, Taylor.”
“You think I don’t know that?” But she could damn well try. Taylor handed Nate a beer. He’d insisted on bringing her home after they’dseen the girls safely into the hands of the social worker. It had shredded her heart to watch them holding each other after learning their mother would never return, their sobs still echoing in her ears long after the car carrying them away had disappeared.
The few times Nate had been in Taylor’s small apartment, the place had seemed to shrink in size. It wasn’t only because he was a big man, but his persona was sometimes bigger than life. Not one to care much about fancy belongings, her furniture was secondhand. Her extra money was better spent on more important things, like Rosie. And her girls.Nothingwas more important than her girls.
Although she did have a weakness for pretty clothes and shoes, things she’d never had growing up. Since she didn’t go out much, she didn’t need many outfits, so she kept a firm rein on her clothing budget. For work, her chosen wardrobe was black pants; a tailored jacket; red, blue, or white blouses; and shoes she could run in when necessary.
After Nate’s first visit, when she’d been afraid the chair he sat in might break, Taylor had gone out and bought her first brand-new piece, a sturdy blue leather recliner. He hadn’t hesitated to claim it as his own whenever he was here, and at the moment, he was sprawled on it, looking perfectly at home.
She liked him here most times, but she didn’t need a lecture tonight. All she really wanted to do was kick him out and then crawl into bed, where she’d probably cry the night away. He knew that, which was why he seemed prepared to greet the morning fromhischair. Sometimes she wished he didn’t know her so well.
“We’ll need to talk to them again soon,” she said, sitting on her plaid couch and tucking her legs under her. “But let’s give them a day or two.” Once the girls had been told their mother wasn’t coming back, they hadn’t been in any condition to be questioned. At least the social worker who’d come to collect them had seemed like a compassionate, nice woman. Some were so burned out that they had no empathy for the children in their care.
“They probably don’t know much, but yeah, we’ll have to talk to them ... Or you will. I think I scare them.”
“You’re a scary man.” To someone who didn’t know him, he was definitely intimidating, but as much as he tried to hide it, he was a softie inside. The man was prepared to spend the night in a chair because he didn’t think she should be alone right now. Probably the only people who understood his heart was one giant marshmallow were her, his brothers, and their wives.
Taylor smiled. “Stop scowling. It’s true. And besides, you like everyone thinking you’re the big, bad wolf.”
There was the slightest twitch of his lips. “Keeps them from messing with me.”
Someday, she was going to make him actually laugh. It was her number-one goal in life. She shifted her gaze to the fish tank. Her hours didn’t accommodate having a cat or dog, but she needed something to take care of, hence Henry Cavill, her red-and-black betta fish.
Nate’s chair was next to the tank, and Henry was at the edge of the glass, watching him. For some reason, Nate seemed to fascinate Henry. Taylor got that. The man fascinated her, too.
“Sprinkle some food in Henry’s tank, please.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He trailed his finger across the glass, and Henry chased after it. It was a game they played, which Taylor found strange because she couldn’t get Henry to follow her finger. “You hungry, Henry?” Nate said, picking up the food and sprinkling a few flakes into the water. The fish torpedoed to the top, snapping up the food.
She watched Nate watch Henry, taking advantage of Nate’s attention on the fish to admire him. Because that was one of her favorite things to do. He’d told her that he was one-quarter Seminole on his mother’s side, and his Native blood was there in his black hair—which he wore long and in a ponytail—and in his high cheekbones and olive skin. And lord, his black eyes, when he turned them on her, always made her feel gooey, like her insides were made of warm syrup.
She’d had an immediate reaction to him the first time she’d seen him. It had been at the beginning of her second week when he’d walked into the office for a meeting with their boss.Want him,her brain and girly parts had clamored. He’d both intimidated and fascinated her, but as a newbie agent and the first woman in their field office, she couldn’t afford to make a misstep. She’d managed to keep her attraction to him hidden for an entire year.
Then she’d been assigned to him and his brothers, her job to assist however needed in their undercover investigations. Life had suddenly become considerably more interesting. Not only had she given up on trying to hide her attraction to him, but she’d gone and fallen in love with the man. She’d bet her one pair of Jimmy Choos that he was just as interested in her. Only problem: he was still doing his best to hide it.
“Stop staring at me,” he said, still eyeing the fish.
“Make me.” Sometimes she just couldn’t resist poking the bear.
Those smoldering black eyes landed on her. “Careful, Taylor. You haven’t a clue what you’re asking for.”
No, she probably didn’t, but where he was concerned, she was willing to take the risk. She’d never asked him why he wore an “Off-Limits” sign, but she was feeling bold tonight. Maybe it was this case reminding her that there were no guarantees in life. One day she could be alive and breathing, and the next not. Rosie had taught her to go after what she wanted, and she wanted Nate.
“Then clue me in. Don’t deny that you want me. I see it in your eyes. Well, I want you, too. So what’s the problem?” With a heart trying to pound itself out of her chest, she went to him, leaned down, and put her hands on his knees. “Give me a reason good enough to make me stop wanting you in my bed.”
His eyes darkened, his pupils swirling with the turbulence of a storm-tossed sea. His gaze fell to her lips, and then without warning, she was pulled onto his lap. When his mouth crashed down on hers,she had the passing thought that he’d been right. She hadn’t had a clue what she was asking for.
