FBI Agent's Reluctant Lover
Read FBI Agent's Reluctant Lover Online
Authors: Leslie North
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Genre Fiction, #Coming of Age, #Romance, #Contemporary, #Military, #Two Hours or More (65-100 Pages)
The FBI Agent’s Reluctant Lover
By Leslie North
Contents
Chance pulled up in front of the small house, wondering why every light seemed to be on. Knocking on the front door, he waited for Rachel to answer, hoping that she was in a better frame of mind than earlier today.
Chance had first met Rachel Andrews that morning when he arrived to inquire about her sister, Chelsea. Trent Coldwell’s infant daughter had been abducted from the hospital by Marco Bresi and it was thought that Chelsea had been hired to care for the newborn.
Chance had been given very little information about the Andrews sisters. What he did know was that Rachel Andrews was a widow with two small sons, twins in fact. Her husband had been killed while fighting in Afghanistan shortly after she had given birth, and her sister had moved in to help her out.
He had been greeted by a very harried looking woman, her hair falling out of a lopsided ponytail, one crying infant held against her shoulder and tear tracks on her own face showing how miserable they both were. “Whatever you’re selling, if it doesn’t make colicky babies go to sleep, I’m not interested,” she’d snarled at him.
Chance was so taken aback by the sight before him, he had forgotten to speak for a moment. When she’d moved as if to shut the door, he’d stepped forward, placing his foot against the door to prevent it from being closed any further. Even with her hair in disarray, she had taken his breath away. Big beautiful eyes, hair the color of honey, and curves in all the right places. She’d also been exhausted, as was evidenced by the dark circles under her eyes.
“I don’t mean to disturb you ma’am, but I’m here about your sister - Chelsea?” Chance had immediately regretted his choice of words as he watched all the color drain from the young woman’s face and she started to wilt in front of him. Stepping forward quickly, he’d grabbed her just in time to prevent her from falling to the floor. He had quickly used one arm to secure the infant against his own chest, while he lifted and half dragged the woman further into the house.
Laying her down on a sofa covered with laundry waiting to be folded, he’d then turned the little boy around in his arms and been greeted to the biggest toothless grin he had ever seen. Drool had been flowing out of the little boy’s mouth and he gnawed on a fist in obvious distress.
Hearing the cries of another child, Chance had taken one more glance at their mother and gone in search of her other son. He’d found him lying in his crib, gnawing on his own fist and screaming periodically to express his displeasure at having been left alone.
Scooping this child up as well, Chance had grabbed several clean diapers and headed back into the living room. He’d hoped their mother would awaken and tend to their soggy bottoms, but when he saw her still out cold, he’d handled the task himself.
Chance was brought back to the present abruptly when the front door was thrown open a few seconds later. He was once again greeted by a harried looking woman, tears rolling down her face and a screaming child in her arms. The child’s twin could be heard screaming from the other room and the house was in chaos.
Pushing her aside, Chance took the crying infant she held in his arms, murmuring nonsense to him as he went in search of the other baby. When he looked towards the kitchen, he was shocked to see water soaking the floor with soapsuds floating merrily from kitchen to living room.
Spying the other child in his high chair, he quickly released him and carried both babies back into the living room. Their mother was still standing at the front door, and looked like she was ready to run into the night screaming.
Chance placed the two little boys in their playpen, giving them each a cool washcloth to chew on before he turned to deal with their mother. Walking into the kitchen carefully, he opened the dishwasher door to stop any further suds from being created. Looking around at the soaked kitchen floor, he decided that nothing was in danger of being ruined that couldn’t wait a few more minutes.
He walked to Rachel and gently closed the door. Pulling her to the couch, he sat her down and then quietly asked, “I can see the water and we’ll deal with that in a minute. Why are you crying?”
Rachel was so relieved to see another adult human being she started crying again to relieve the stress. First baby Tony had bit her while she nursed him, drawing blood and an earth-shattering scream from his mother. Then she had grabbed the dish soap instead of the dishwasher soap and now water and suds were spewing forth all over the kitchen floor she had just mopped.
To top it all off, David was feeding off his brother’s screams and was currently winning the contest to see who was the loudest. Rachel was beside herself, her nipple hurt something fierce, and she felt like a failure.
Seeing Chance standing in her doorway had been the light at the end of a very long tunnel. She desperately needed his help, but she would have to quit crying first so she could tell him that. She wasn’t even sure what his name was, but he had shown up at the right time, didn’t mind screaming infants, and wasn’t running away. Whoever he was; she was keeping him.
When Rachel continued to sit there and cry, unable to stop the stress-relieving tears for even a second, Chance sighed and sat down on the couch next to her. Moving slowly, in case she decided to become the mother hellcat again, Chance wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her head to his chest.
Murmuring soothing noises, he rubbed her shoulder and let her cry herself out. He lectured himself sternly as his body responded to her nearness – not that it did any good. Beneath the messy hair, stained t-shirt, and tear-blotched face was a beautiful woman. He inhaled slowly, the subtle fragrance of vanilla meeting his nostrils.
Rachel took the comfort being offered from the man she had decided was her knight in shining armor. She sniffled, noting that the front of his shirt was completely soaked in her tears, and let the gentle rumble of his voice soothe her weariness.
When she finally felt back in control, she pushed away from his chest, scooting until her back met the arm of the couch to put some much needed distance between them. Being held against his strong chest, combined with his manly smell, had revived a libido that had no business showing itself.
Embarrassed to once again have fallen apart in front of the most gorgeous man she’d ever laid eyes upon, Rachel felt the heat rise in her cheeks and neck. Raising her eyes slowly, she met his penetrating gaze and the words she had been about to say fled her brain.
Chance was relieved when Rachel scooted away from him. The urge to drag her over his lap and quiet her tears in a much more satisfying manner was almost overwhelming in its intensity. When she raised her tear-stained gaze to his, he locked his eyes on hers, letting her see that she was safe with him.
“You still haven’t answered my question,” he reminded her after several moments of silence.
He watched her throat work as she swallowed and was shocked at the rush of desire that coursed through his body. This woman got to him like no other had before.
Rachel saw the banked lust in his gaze and dropped her eyes once again. She’d been married for several years prior to her husband’s untimely death and had enjoyed the physical intimacy that came with it immensely. Since Sam’s death, she had been so wrapped up in caring for her infant twin sons, she hadn’t felt much like a woman, let alone felt the pleasant hum of desire running through her veins.
Swallowing once more, she asked, “What was the question?”
Chance chuckled before he could stop himself, “I asked you why you were crying again. You were crying when I was here earlier as well.”
Rachel shrugged her shoulders, “I’m a horrible mother!” she blurted out.
Chance smiled at her and shook his head, “No, you’re a fine mother. You’re just overwhelmed right now. Does Chelsea normally help you?”
At the mention of her sister’s name, Rachel stopped thinking about how miserable her own life was and grew concerned.
Was this man back because something had happened to Chelsea? What would she do without her sister?
“Where is she?” she demanded.
“Whoa! Calm down, Chelsea’s fine. In fact, I just saw her not thirty minutes ago.”
“Where is she? Can I talk to her?”
“Again, she’s fine. She’s with my brother, Seth, at his place.”
“Why isn’t she here? Something’s wrong, isn’t it?”
“No. Look, you’ll be able to talk with her in the morning.” When he saw Rachel open her mouth to argue, he interrupted her, saying, “Not gonna happen. Chelsea’s had an extremely stressful day and Seth is taking care of her. I am here to help you in her place.”
“I don’t understand,” Rachel complained, shaking her head. She wrapped her arms around her middle, hoping to stop the tears that were threatening to return.
She’d never make it till morning without someone to relieve her. She needed her sister. Now!
“Why can’t she just…”
“Rachel, I’m here to help you out. It’s going to be okay.” Chance looked deep into her eyes and when the twins decided to make their presence known, he tore his gaze away, looking towards the infants. Standing up to get them before they started fussing in earnest, he asked, “Have they been fed?”
“I was trying to feed Tony just before you got here, but…”
When her voice trailed off, he turned to look at her inquiringly, “But what?”
“He bit me!” she exclaimed, embarrassed and once again reminded of the pain she still felt.
Chance burst out laughing; he couldn’t help himself. “I told you they were teething,” he said between chuckles.
Rachel fumed; it wasn’t funny! Well, maybe it was a little bit funny, but damnit, it had hurt! She tried to hold onto her anger, but the more Chance laughed, the funnier it seemed and pretty soon she found herself laughing right along with him.
“It’s really not funny. I screamed so loud, it startled David who decided to try and out scream both Tony and I.” She glanced down, trying to understand why she already felt better.
Chance pulled back his laughter to ask, “Is that why you were so upset when I got here?”
“Not entirely. It all just seemed to be too much, and then the dishwasher…,” she trailed off.
“You’ve had quite the day, haven’t you?” Chance asked with kindness and sympathy in his voice.
“You could say that again.” When the babies started fussing again, she walked to the playpen and retrieved both of them, startled to find Chance at her elbow offering to take one of the babies for her.
“Are you sure?”
“Let me have him.” Taking the closest baby from her grasp, he held him up so they were eye-level and said, “We haven’t been formally introduced. I’m Chance.”
Rachel watched the big strong man in wonder as he gently held her son and talked to him. His hands were huge, yet they held her son with such gentleness. She busied herself with collecting diapers and wipes to avoid watching any longer. It reminded her too much of how those same hands had held her only minutes before and how much she had missed the touch of a man.
Shutting down her imagination, she firmly told herself to keep focused on the task at hand. While her body might yearn for a man’s touch, her heart couldn’t handle being ripped apart again. Sam’s dying had destroyed the fragile world she had built around herself; so much that without Chelsea she would have flown apart months earlier. Her husband had been her world and while she had been sad when he deployed overseas, she had looked forward to the homecoming and future they would have upon his return.
She had never dreamed that return would include a flag draped casket and a military funeral. Sam hadn’t known she was pregnant when he had left the states, and every time she thought about the two little boys who would grow up without the influence of a fantastic father, she fell into a depression.
“Rachel?” Chance asked once again. She had drifted off to another world in her mind and he had called her name three times already without a response.
Hearing her name called, she jerked herself out of her morose thoughts to see Chance looking at her in concern. “I’m sorry. I must be more tired than I thought. What did you say?”
“I asked you what this little guy’s name was.”
Rachel glanced at the little man in question to see him gnawing furiously on the large knuckle of Chance’s right hand. “Uhm.. that’s Tony. See the little red mark at the base of his skull? That’s how I tell them apart.”