Cold Heat (Seasons of the Heart #1) (6 page)

She couldn’t help but think about that kiss, and how her body had responded to it, even now while alone in the shower. She began lathering herself, her hands caressing her body as she bathed. She stifled a moan when she lingered over her tightened nipples and her stomach clenched when she lowered one hand down over her belly to the soft curls that covered her. She stood there; plucking at her nipples while her other hand began seeking out the ball of nerves at the juncture of her thighs. She began teasing that nub softly and slowly at first, biting her lip to keep from making too much noise. The pressure was beginning to build when her head dropped back, rapping against the shower wall. “Seriously? I can’t even do this right?”
Embarrassment had her stopping and shaking her head at her own antics; she was finishing her shower when there was a knock at the door.

Drake
had been
finishing up in the kitchen when he heard a thunk from the bathroom. It wasn’t loud enough to make him think she had lost consciousness but he wandered over to check on her, just to be sure. “Kaylie?” he asked after knocking on the door. “Are you alright?”

“Fine,”
she snapped out as embarrassment washed over her, knowing he heard her clumsiness, and for what she almost did. God, it had been a long time since the need to do that had hit. What had she gotten herself into, she wondered?

Drake quirked an eyebrow at her response. “Okay, well, holler if you need anything.”
He was walking back to the living room when he heard the bathroom door open and the door to her room close.

Chapter 8

Kaylie hurried across the hall and closed the door behind her. Why was she embarrassed? Well, she’d almost been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, so to speak. And why not? Why shouldn’t she? She was no shy virgin; she’d been married for 15 years. She’d had sex before. But, God help her, it had been too long since her body responded to something as simple as a kiss, to anything really. She had become so unhappy in her marriage and self-conscious about everything that, well, she thought her body had shut down;
no big problem there because Brian had become so disgusted with her that the only time he touched her was when he hit her.
God,
she thought,
it has been years since a man touched me; made me feel like this.
She took a deep breath and, reaching over to check her phone, she saw that she had a text message from an unknown number. Unlocking her phone her eyes went wide with fear when she read the message:

You think you can get away without paying? You can’t hide.

Kaylie’s hands started to shake and her breath quickened as she read the message. It can’t be, she thought, as she dropped her phone. He should still be locked up. Who could be doing this to her now? Her eyes darted over to her suitcases, the only thought running through her mind, once again, was escape. She was pulling on her jeans and a sweater while gathering up her clothes when she remembered her car was stuck down the road, snuggled up to a tree. Deflated, her shoulders slumped; her eyes closed, and she sighed in resignation, “Damn it. How can I go anywhere in this weather with no car?”

Taking several deep breaths, she tried for calm before opening the bedroom door and stepping out to Drake. She hoped that she looked calm and normal rather than the crazy woman she suddenly felt like.

“Um, you haven’t heard any reports about the road conditions yet, have you?”
She asked as she approached Drake, her eyes darting to the window, praying that a miracle snow melt had occurred. Anything, that would get her away quickly.

“Did you hit your head harder than you thought in the shower? There’s over three feet of snow outside and the temps are hovering well below freezing. The road conditions are, at this point, crap. Why? What’s up?”

“Nothing. I was just hoping to get to my car and get it to a shop as soon as I could. I, I need to get back on the road,”
she trailed off, not looking Drake in the eye. Her answer, her excuse, sounded weak, even to herself. “I just need to get the car moved and fixed as fast and as cheap as possible.”

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your car is going nowhere fast. When I pulled you out of it yesterday, it was already buried under a layer of snow, and, in case, you’ve suddenly forgotten that lump on your forehead, you had it planted against a tree.”

“I hadn’t forgotten that, I was just hoping…“

“Stop lying to me, Kaylie. What has you spooked all of a sudden? If it was that kiss, I’ll apologize for spooking you, but not for kissing you.”

“What? No, of course it wasn’t the kiss. That was fine,”
she rambled, “more than fine. I don’t remember telling you no.”

Drake grinned for a moment, “Then you need to tell me what has you suddenly itching to get away from me. What happened between then and now?”

Kaylie turned to walk away when suddenly Drake grabbed her arm and spun her around.

“Don’t!”
she cried as she flinched away from him.

Drake’s eyes narrowed at Kaylie. Not letting her go, he took a deep breath, “Kaylie, stop it. I’m not going to hurt you. You know this. I need to know what has you so shaken.”
He started replaying the morning in his mind, looking for what could have triggered this response in her. “You were fine before you went into the shower. You hit your head, and went back in your room when you were done. I’m drawing a blank here, honey. You’ve got to give me something, anything.”

He watched as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath in through her nose, held it for a few seconds, then let it out through her mouth, calming and centering herself. When she opened her eyes he could tell that he had shut down whatever was causing the panic of a moment before.

“I’m sorry, Drake,”
she started, looking at the floor. “I just had a momentary panic attack and I feel like I’m imposing on you. You were headed up the mountain when you discovered my car, thank you, by the way, again, for helping me.”

Drake looked up at the ceiling like he was searching for answers, or patience. “What does that have to do with this, whatever it is, that got you worked up just now?”

“Nothing. Or everything? This is just me, it’s how my mind works. It’s easier to just roll with it than question it. I promise to try and keep it all to myself in the future.”
Kaylie knew she was a rambling but could not, for the life of her, shut up.

Inhaling deeply through his nose, he could smell his soap on her skin and his shampoo in her hair. His scent on her was intoxicating. He looked back down at her, at her closed off expression. “Look, we have no idea how long we are going to be stuck in here together. You’ll either realize you can trust me, or you won’t. I can’t make that decision for you. I can promise you I’m not your ex. I don’t hit women, but I can’t help you if you don’t tell me the truth. I can’t help you if you don’t let me. Now, I’m done talking about this. The choice is yours.”
He turned and walked into his bedroom before shutting her out.

Kaylie stood in the main room of his cabin ashamed of herself. Habit had her flinching away from him even though her instincts knew that he wouldn’t hit her. God, how embarrassing to have done that, not to mention the insult she threw at him with that single action, and then keeping the truth from him. She couldn’t help it, she thought to herself. She had gone to her
friends
for help when the beatings from Brian had worsened, but no one would go to bat for her. His wealth, his status, his power, had all clouded the minds and vision of the people she thought would support and defend her. Closing her eyes to that line of thinking, she opened them and decided she needed to do something to keep her
hands and mind occupied, while doing something that had always soothed her when she was growing up.

Turning, she walked back to the kitchen and started rummaging around in Drake’s cabinets, hoping to find inspiration and ingredients to bake. She wasn’t too hopeful, being in the house of a bachelor, and up in the mountains, but she looked anyway. Her face lit into a smile when she found ingredients for cinnamon rolls. She started pulling out what she needed, her presence in the kitchen bringing
a hopeful
Jenny in for company. The dog wandered over to the table and laid herself down with a doggie “oomph”
as she settled in to watch for dropped treats.

Chapter 9

Drake had no idea what she was doing in the kitchen when he heard things starting to clatter. He was sitting down in front of his laptop, looking at all the hits he had gotten when he’d typed in a search on Brian. Drake skipped the pictures for right now, focusing instead, on what seemed to make this guy so important. A starter business, that turns into a sudden windfall with no explanation? Looking at his published wealth, Drake couldn't help but think something wasn’t right with this. He closed out that window and went up to the images.

Drake studied Brian’s pictures. A man stared back at him, his expression ranging from smiling to defiant, a darker skin tone than expected, hinted at a Hispanic ancestry, hazel eyes framed with dark slashes for eyebrows. He had a masculine face, with straight, white teeth. Dark hair photographed initially in, what Drake thought of, a typical business up-and-comer haircut, short on the sides and a bit longer on the top. As the pictures became more recent, there was a noticeable physical change to Brian. He had cut his hair, it now buzzed his head, making him look more aggressive, coupled that with the added muscles on the man and Drake couldn’t help but think something was wrong with this.

He reached into his back pocket and withdrew his cell phone, intending to call Rafe, and have him dig further into Brian. Rafe had never met a computer challenge that had beaten him, yet. Drake was counting on that trend to hold steady while doing a bit of research as he punched in that familiar number.

“Yo, Capt’n, I’m beginning to think that you miss my pretty face,”
Rafe answered as his greeting.

“Since when did you ever have a pretty face, Rafe? Last time I saw you, which was just yesterday, you still looked pretty fugly to me.”

“Aw, now, Drake, that’s just plain cruel, if you ask me. Now my feelings are hurt and I’m gonna cry about it.”

“Please, I’ve seen you take bullets, shrapnel, and knives worse than that and never bat an eye. Maybe its all the rejections you take from the ladies that’s making you soft?”
Drakes tone changed from joking to more serious, “Anyhow, I called for a favor. I need you to put your research skills to work, and maybe call some of your contacts if needed, for some info on a person of interest.”

Rafe heard the switch in Drakes tone, and immediately altered his mind from playful to serious. “Who, and what, am I looking for?”

“The name is Brian Peterson…”
and he rattled of the pertinent information Rafe would need for his search. “Something about this guy just doesn't sit right with me. I think when you see the pictures on the web you'll understand what I’m talking about. I need more than what I can find here.”

“Got it, but, I gotta ask what this is about? Just some random name? I’ve known you for years now, and this is the first time you've called me about an unknown. Are you going to share?”

“Remember how I told you yesterday about coming across a car that hit some ice and then a tree? This has everything to do with the woman, Kaylie, who was in the front seat of that car.”
Drake went on to tell Rafe how he came to the point of wanting more information on this guy. “Like I said, something just feels off about him, and I want to know what’s up before I let Kaylie go on her way.”

“Alright, I’ll get back to you when I have some more info for you,”
Rafe said before disconnecting the call.

Drake leaned back in his chair, suddenly becoming aware of the smell of baking wafting through his house, and following his nose, he walked into the living room. He looked around his kitchen and was stunned to see fresh cinnamon rolls cooling on his counters, but did not see Kaylie or Jenny anywhere. “Kaylie? Jenny? Come on girl!”
He wasn’t really worried about them, not yet, not when it was obvious they had been in here recently with the cooling cinnamon rolls gracing his counter tops. He wasn’t sure how she had done it, but the kitchen was spotless after the baking. Giving into temptation, he snagged a still hot cinnamon roll, juggling it from hand to hand to cool it off before sinking his teeth into it. Sweet mother of God, was all he could think, as he groaned with pleasure as the hot roll filled with melted butter and sugars all but dissolved in his mouth.

Suddenly he heard a sexy and throaty laugh, accompanied by an excited barking coming from outside. Walking over to the window he stopped short when he saw the woman and dog in question out playing in the snow. He could not draw his eyes away from Kaylie’
s
smile as she threw snowballs, to Jenny’s delight. Kaylie laughed again as Jenny leapt into the air for a ball before disappearing into a snowdrift and bouncing back out of it again, hurrying back to Kaylie’s side, waiting for another throw.