They didn't speak for a long while after that. Kaiden drove the truck back to his office in Norfolk. He needed to bring his boss up to speed on what had happened at the hospital and decide on a course of action for catching Nathan Marks. The part of Shore Drive that connected Virginia Beach to Norfolk was tree lined. The stunning colors of fall transported Kaiden back home to the mountains with his family. He stole a glance at Katie. She looked out the passenger door window. Katie's expression didn't give away her thoughts but he couldn't help but wonder if she too missed the stunning beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

"Maybe I should go back home when all this is over." His heart stuttered a little at her comment.

"It might be best not to make any major decisions just yet."

Give me time to convince you to stay.

"What do I have left here? My fiancé is a criminal and I can't go back to my job. I have nothing left." She sounded so sad he wanted to pull the truck over right there on the side of the road and take her in his arms. He resisted simply because he couldn't find a safe place to pull over.

"You have your beautiful apartment with that amazing view of the ocean." You could have me too, if you wanted me.

"My apartment has been destroyed. I will never feel safe there again." She released a heavy sigh. Kaiden wished he knew the right thing to say but he had never been very good at the emotional stuff. For him, the last couple of days wouldn't have been the end of his world but a reason to change it. He looked at adversity as a challenge. Cara had never liked that about him and he couldn't understand why.

"I could help you find a new apartment. Maybe somewhere down here by the bay?" They were passing beautiful waterfront condos and homes that sat right on the Chesapeake Bay. The view would be as good if not better than what she had since they were out of the tourist area.

"Wonderful. But with no job, it wouldn't matter. I never should have moved here. It's time for me to go home."

Kaiden started to feel a little desperate. They had only just begun their relationship and now she talked about running away.

Okay, so maybe they were a long way from a relationship but he couldn't deny the chemistry between them. With all that electricity, there had to be something more waiting to be discovered. He had loved Cara but she never made him burn with desire the way Katie seemed to simply by sitting in the same truck.

To be fair, Cara never showed him any real interest either. If he had to venture a guess she had been seeing that yahoo she was married to now long before their marriage had crumbled. Cara wanted to be an officer's wife and it didn't matter what branch of the service that officer worked in. He had long since suspected that she started her hunt for a new man the day after he'd left the Coast Guard.

"Why don't you hold off on making any rash decisions until we get this case wrapped up?"

"Yeah, sure. Okay," Katie replied unenthusiastically. "It's not like I have anything to rush home to either."

They rounded a curve and Kaiden headed to downtown Norfolk leaving the bay and its beauty behind them. He became more determined than ever to find Nathan Marks. Sure he wanted to wrap the case up but he wouldn't mind knocking the guy's lights out for hurting Katie the way he had.

"What is this place?" Katie asked as they pulled into one of the municipal parking lots.

"My office. The boss will want a rundown of what happened at the hospital."

"Do you have to tell him everything?" She glanced at him and he caught a quick glimpse of fear in her eyes.

He looked over and winked at her. "There are a few details I will likely leave out of my report."

"Good," she replied, obviously relieved. "After this morning at the hotel…"

"Nothing to worry about there. John Hunter might come across as a hard ass but he is as nice as they come. You will like him."

"It doesn't matter if I like him, as long as he doesn't throw me in prison."

Kaiden dissolved into a fit of laughter as he parked his truck and turned off the engine.

"What's so funny?" Katie demanded, her cheeks turning a deep crimson. He reached out and traced a line along the side of her face, ending at the place on her chin just below the center of her lips before opening his hand and resting his palm against her cheek.

"You are not going to prison," he managed between chuckles. "How can I make you understand that?"

She pulled away from him. "I don't know. Catch Nathan, I guess."

"We will. It will just take a little time. If we don't do it right, his daddy and the fleet of Marks' attorneys will have him safely tucked away on some tropical island before the ink on the warrant for his arrest dries."

"I hate Nathan. In fact, I hate the entire Marks family. How could I have been so stupid?"

"Hey." He took her hand from her lap and held it, caressing the palm with his thumb. "We all make mistakes. Especially when it comes to love. Do you have any idea how many times I have kicked myself for leaving the hospital and not saying goodbye? I have dreamt of you every night for nearly a year. I also know what it feels like to have my heart broken."

"You do?"

Kaiden had turned to face her and now leaned back against the driver's side door. He released a heavy sigh. "Yes, I do. My ex-wife probably had more than one lover on the side during our marriage."

"I didn't know you were married. Is that why you didn't pursue anything between us when you were discharged?"

He nodded. "Exactly. Fear of being hurt is a powerful deterrent."

"Funny thing is if you hadn't taken off without a word when you were released, I never would have gotten serious with Nathan." Katie picked at an imaginary thread on her jeans.

He watched her for a moment, mulling over her words in his mind before speaking again. "So, what you are saying is that you felt the same way about me as I did about you?"

"That depends, how did you feel?"

"Like I wanted to get to know you better. Every time you touched me—to change a dressing, check a vital sign—I was afraid you would call for help from the way my heart raced. I'm surprised you couldn't hear the thumping in my chest. It's a wonder my blood pressure ever came up normal when you were around."

"Then I guess we felt the same way. I was afraid that I was breaking every rule of the Hippocratic Oath when I took care of you by enjoying it way too much." She offered a half smile but still didn't fully look him in the eye.

"I wish I had known. I'm no good at understanding women. That's what my ex always said. At our final appearance in divorce court, she said I deserve to be alone and that I would never find a woman that could put up with me the way she had put up with me." He remembered that day like it happened yesterday. The words had cut straight through his soul. "I had no idea that while I was loving her she was merely putting up with me."

"Nathan told me that no man would ever be able to stand being with me. I am not the kind of girl men want to…" her voice trailed off.

"That men want to…?" he prompted gently.

"Make love to," she whispered, her eyes closed. Kaiden watched as one tear fell from her left eye, traveled down her cheek and fell onto the leg of her jeans.

"All I've done for the last two days—several months actually—is think about making love to you." He almost laughed out loud at her shocked expression. Laughing would absolutely be the worst thing he could do. "Come on, Katie. After what keeps happening between us, you can't actually be surprised to hear that."

"I thought… well, I mean, it was… I was the one who keeps attacking you."

"In the elevator or bathroom maybe but I have done my fair share of the attacking." He offered up a grin. "Believe me, it was no hardship to have you on top of me in that elevator. If I was going to die I would have died a very happy man."

Katie started giggling which soon lead to full on laughter. It became his turn to be confused.

"What's so funny?" he demanded.

"Gives new meaning to Love in an Elevator!" The lyrics of the Aerosmith song filled his head instantly and he joined her laughter.

"Yeah, I guess it does." They both broke out in a rendition of the chorus of the popular classic rock song, dissolving into another fit of laughter.

Katie finally leaned back against the truck seat and wiped the tears from her eyes. Happy tears, he thought to himself. Much better than the sad ones he had witnessed a few moments earlier. "We should probably get inside and take care of business."

"Yeah," Kaiden replied. "We probably should. We will continue this conversation later—maybe over dinner?"

Katie hesitated and then she nodded. "Okay. I mean, we gotta eat, right?"

"Right," Kaiden agreed with a smile. He opened the door and jumped down out of the truck. He jogged around the bed of the vehicle to open Katie's door where he ran right into her nearly knocking them both to the ground. Kaiden wrapped his arms around Katie to steady her. He didn't intend to kiss her there in the parking garage but somehow his lips found hers. She snaked her arms up around his neck, pulling him in closer. The passion between them mounted quickly. He marveled at the effect a simple kiss from her had on him.

He heard a sound and opened one eye to see a couple of young girls, probably college students standing across the way pointing and giggling. "We have an audience," he whispered against her lips.

Katie pulled back and looked up at him. He thought the pink in her cheeks made her look adorable but he knew she was embarrassed. "I did it again."

"Please, it takes two to tango, you know? You and I, we were tangoing here and I've been a more than willing participant. In fact, I love to tango with you."

Kaiden adored the sound of her laughter. He loved kissing her and he was pretty sure he would love everything— and every inch—of her eventually. Just not there in the center of the municipal parking lot.

She looked up at him through slightly lowered lashes. Kaiden's chest tightened as much as his jeans when Katie smiled shyly. "I like to tango too."

He stroked her cheek gently with the pad of his thumb. "Good. Now stop doubting yourself. What I wouldn't give for two minutes alone with Mr. Nathan Marks. He had a lot of nerve saying so many terrible things to you and I feel the need to tell him so."

This time she looked him right in the eye and offered a wide smile. "I think you should have a word with him. If we can find him."

He still held Katie wrapped in his arms and as much as it pained him to do so, he stepped back. They really needed to get to the office. Taking her hand, and pleasantly surprised when she didn't pull it back, he started walking toward the stairs down to the street. "We will find him. I work for the United States government, remember? We have eyes everywhere!"

They both laughed. Being with Katie felt so right, even under the current circumstances. Nothing had felt this right in his life for a very long time.