30 Seconds (7 page)

An hour later, Blake found her sitting on the porch steps. She shivered in the cold with a layer of snow on her lap. Tears wet her face and snowflakes weighed down her long eyelashes. He pulled her to her feet, lifted her into his arms, and carried her into his house. As soon as she was on the couch, he pulled off the sweater he wore and slipped it over her head. She felt his body heat caress her skin instantly. She watched him throw a few logs into the fireplace and start the fire. Then he came back to her, kneeling at her feet. He wiped her cold tears away from her cheeks.

“You’re a doctor,” he said as he took her hands in his. “Don’t you know about hypothermia?”

“Y-y-yes.” Her teeth clattered together, obscuring her speech. She knew hypothermia was a condition when the body’s core temperature dropped below the temperature for normal metabolism and body functions. As a person’s body heat lowers, they suffer from shivers and mental confusion.

“So why in God’s name were you out there?”

“T-trying to aw-waken my m-memories.”

“This has nothing to do with Red or his men, does it?”

She shook her head.

“What is it about?” He lifted her hands to his mouth. His lips touched her fingers as he blew hot air onto them.

She fought to control her chattering teeth when she answered. “The c-car accident I w-was in when I was eighteen.” His gaze silently probed hers for more. “I was in a c-coma for a y-year. W-when I woke up, I didn’t have any r-recollection of the accident or my whole s-senior year. I still d-don’t remember where I was g-going or why.”

The frown deepened between Blake’s brows. “No one ever told you?” She shook her head again.

“My d-doctor said it was because of the t-trauma and my memory would c-come back on its own time. He told my parents that trying to fill in the blanks would be useless, as my brain would dismiss it. S-so we never talked about it.” Blake’s warm hands were rubbing the feeling back into her arms. “I may not remember it, but the accident h-haunts me. It took four years of my life. The year I don’t remember, the year I was in a coma, and the two years I spent recuperating and rebuilding my life.”

She paused. “I had a dream, a flashback, like the memory of that night was t-trying to burst through a thick fog. I’ve had it before. I can see the moment the truck hits the vehicle I’m in, but this time it was more vivid. I could feel the s-seat and hear my thoughts.” Her eyes lifted to his. He was looking at her closely as though he were looking at her for the first time.

“I’m s-sorry.” She pulled her hands from his. “You’re not a shrink. You don’t want to hear this.”

“Let me take care of you.” He framed her face with his hands. “I want to take care of you.”

She stared at him, shocked and amazed.

“Your cheeks are cold.” His thumbs stroked her cheeks then his mouth touched her shivering lips and he kissed her.

Her fingers slid up his neck and into the soft curls atop his head. She sighed into his mouth and pulled him closer. He gave her what she needed. Comfort, tenderness, and a promise he probably wasn’t aware he was making.

He pulled away from her slowly. She swayed a moment and when she opened her eyes, he was still kneeling in front of her.

“You probably shouldn’t have done that,” she whispered, because at that moment she realized she was falling in love with him.

Chapter Six

After her body warmed up and she had a cup of coffee, Blake turned on the water in the bathroom, urging her to take a hot bath. She agreed because a bath sounded good, but the hot water was a shock to her chilled skin.

She soaked in the hot water with her eyes closed, her skin tingling, and she thought about Blake. She thought about his calm, evergreen eyes that never showed what he felt inside, except when they were kissing and a fire appeared. His masculine lips and the way he used them on hers. His body, his voice, and his heart.

She sank lower into the tub.
Stop it, stop it, stop it!
You can’t be in love with him.
But it was too late. She knew she was in love with him.

It’s okay if he doesn’t love me back
, she told herself, and at the moment, she believed it.

When she came down stairs, Blake was behind the stove again. She stood at the entrance, smiling. If he weren’t a cop, if they could be together, she would walk up to him and wrap her arms around him. She did walk up to him, but she didn’t touch him. She peered over his shoulder into the simmering pot.

“You’re making soup?”

He nodded. “Chicken noodle soup.”

Chicken noodle soup may be the medicine she needed to revive her soul. She ate two bowls with the gusto of a hungry child.

For the rest of the day, they didn’t talk about Red or his men. They didn’t mention her breakdown either. She was glad for it. She hated to be vulnerable, hated to be weak. She despised it! She liked being a strong woman, a woman of medicine, a woman who could handle anything, but there were limits to even what a super woman could handle, so she had a lapse. It wouldn’t happen again.

Later that night, they watched a horror film as logs crackled in the fireplace and the flames made long, quivering shadows in the corners of the room. She thought it was sweet when he questioned her movie choice, but she reassured him that even after what she had gone through, even after spending hours performing internal surgery, she could still enjoy horror films. She was curled on the couch, a blanket on her lap, and he was next to her. They were sharing the pint of coffee-flavored ice cream. Their spoons clattered together and they fought over the parts that weren’t melted as she laughed.

When the movie ended and the credits were scrolling up the TV screen, she couldn’t stifle a yawn.

“You should go to sleep,” Blake told her.

“Yeah.” She tossed the blanket aside, got up. Blake followed her. She took a couple of steps up the stairs then turned. “Blake.” He looked up at her. “Thank you for today.”

He nodded.

****

One week later, she stood at the living room window. Cabin fever was deteriorating her sanity. She had been locked up in Blake’s house for days and it was getting to her. She needed to stretch her legs, to breathe fresh air, to see the sky above her, to feel like she wasn’t hiding from a police-killing Mob.

During the last seven days, she listened to every song on every rock album, read all her books, and watched every horror movie. Together, they played every card game known to man and asked each other every question beginning with who, what, where, when, why, and how. Boredom weighed heavily on her. She was at the snapping point.

“Damn it, Blake!” She whirled away from the window. “I am going out of my mind. I can’t stand being in this damn house for another minute!”

“Then put on your snow boots.” What he said didn’t register right away. When it did, she wasn’t sure she heard him correctly. Surely uptight Mr. Police Officer wasn’t going to let her outside, in range of snipers.

She could sense something brewing in the air and she knew Blake could sense it, too. She could see it in his eyes, in his tense always-ready body, and hear it in his strained voice. Red hadn’t forgotten about them. He was plotting his next move and anticipating his revenge.

“What?” she asked dumbfounded.

“Put on your snow boots. We’re going outside.”

She blinked. “Really? You’re not toying with my sanity, are you?”

“Yes, really. And no, I’m not.”

She looked out the window longingly. “Do you think that’s wise?”

He shrugged, and she knew why. At this point, nothing was wise. “My men are positioned all over the area on the lookout for anyone suspicious. If anyone came down here, I would be notified immediately and my entire task force would surround the house in minutes. Besides, it snowed heavily last night. If anyone wants to get back here, they’d have to walk on foot. So what are you waiting for?” He was already pulling on his jacket.

She sprang into action.
Free, free, I’m going to be free!
She shoved her feet into snow boots, yanked on her jacket, and was outside in a flash. The air was bitter. The cold nipped at her nose and scratched her cheeks like frozen needles. Snow crunched beneath her feet as she waded away from the house. Blake waited for her at the porch and watched her. Her relief to be outside was so strong she stopped in the middle of the driveway and raised her face to the cloudy sky. She sighed and took a deep, cold breath. The sting in her lungs made her feel alive. She hadn’t felt alive since the phone call she got from Red.

If the Mob was after you, the last thing you felt was alive. If the Mob was after you, it was only a matter of time before you were as dead as a doorknob. But standing outside in the middle of winter, with the world in a coma, she felt alive.

She jolted, nearly stumbled when something cold and hard hit her butt. She opened her eyes slowly, turned to look at Blake who was innocently dusting snow off his hands. She glared at him. “You did not just throw a snowball at my ass.”

He grinned. “Actually, yeah, I did.”

Her response was slow and clipped. “You. Are. So. Dead.” She shouted the last word as she dove at the snow, scooped up a handful, and chucked it at Blake. It hit him in the shoulder as he raced to get a snowball. He threw it at her, narrowly missing her butt again as she ran for cover.

Behind his unmarked police car, she made a pile of snowballs. She picked one up, crouched behind a tire, and peeked over the car. Snow sprayed her face from a snowball that erupted against the hood. She fell straight back on her butt, sputtering. A few feet away she could hear Blake’s laughter.

So he wants to play dirty
. She loaded her arms with ammo, sprang to her feet, and shot snowballs at Blake like a pro. When one hit him on the side of the face, she ran for it. After shaking the snow out of his ear, he was up and running after her.

She cut along the side of the house, across the backyard, and into the thick woods. She crisscrossed around trees and hunkered behind a bush. The icy arms of winter wrapped around her as she watched Blake. He was following her footprints in the snow. She stayed quiet, fighting the urge to giggle. She hadn’t had fun like this since she had beat Blake in three back-to-back games of Monopoly five days ago.

Her eyes were on him as he searched for her. It was a thrill to watch him, to see the way he moved with stealth and caution. She cupped a snowball in her hands and stood behind him, surprised he hadn’t heard her. Carefully, she placed a stick in front of her on the snow and slowly lifted her foot, snapping it in half with her boot. Blake spun and she let the snowball fly.

It smacked him in the face and she erupted with laughter. She bent over, clutching her stomach as laughter rolled through her body. All of a sudden, she was flat on her back, pinned beneath Blake.

She looked at him and his eyes were dark. She understood why immediately. “You can kiss me,” she whispered. “I won’t tell.” He traced her lips with his finger until her lips trembled with anticipation. When her mouth parted, he kissed her greedily.

The inside of his mouth was hot and his kiss warmed her entire body. She slipped her hands under his jacket, needing to feel him. The moment her hands touched his skin, they burned. She pulled him closer, melting into him.

She kissed him with urgency. Her tongue probed his mouth, tasting and savoring his strong flavors. Then he changed the angle of the kiss and his mouth became savage, his lips bruising. She answered it by matching his demands with her own. The kiss ignited her needs, tripled them until her body was vibrating.

“Blake.” His name was a gasp and he answered it by sliding his hands over her warm flesh and cupping her breasts.

“Elle,” he whispered. She was so consumed in the feeling of burning from what he was doing to her that she didn’t mind he used a different nickname for Danielle.

She slipped her hands under his shirt and started to undo his belt when Blake spoke again. “No.”

She heard that loud and clear. She opened her eyes and reached for him, but he moved out of her reach. “I don’t want this.”

“You did a second ago.” She stood and stared into his eyes. “You’ll have to prove it me. Tell me what I felt was all in my imagination.”

He put his hands on her shoulders to keep her back. “You are amazing and gorgeous. I will admit I’m attracted to you, but I should not have acted on it. I am a cop, first and foremost, and I have to protect you. That is all that is between us, and all that will ever be between us. I can’t explain my actions, but what happened here was a big mistake. I’m sorry, but it’s the truth.”

She shoved his hands off her. “As far as I’m concerned, you can take your apologies and shove them!” She blew past him in a storm of fury.

She felt betrayed because she loved the son-of-a-bitch and he had the nerve to tell her what she felt for him was fake. It was not fake! She’d had crushes, affairs, flings; what she felt for him paled in comparison to all of those things. She thought about Blake late at night. Every time she looked into his eyes, her heart would spring in her chest, and when he looked at her, it would become hard to breathe.

It was shocking that she fell in love with him so quickly, but love didn’t have a time limit. It could happen upon first sight or years down the road.

She hated Blake for playing with her heart, but her anger didn’t stop her from loving him.