“You want to try common sense and honesty? Okay. Tell me why you didn’t return Alyssa Devereaux’s phone call. She clearly wants to talk to you, and you avoided her so you didn’t have to face the fact you lost your precious self-control.”

“Alyssa isn’t the subject of this conversation,” Luc bit out.

“It’s a comparison. Work with me. Why won’t you explain to Alyssa the reason you went all caveman on her for six hours?”

“I’ll be honest with Alyssa as soon as you’re honest with Kimber.”

“Stay out of my business.”

“Stay out of mine.” Luc returned. “You want to make love to Kimber all by yourself?”

That was a low blow. Bastard.

“I can get in the little boat outside right now and go home, leave you here alone with her for hours. Days…”

And leave Deke fully responsible.

“Stop.” Restraining a new urge to pound Luc’s face, Deke swallowed. “Just stop.

I’m not ready to say anything to her.”

“Don’t expect her to have unlimited patience. She’s given to you, stripped herself bare for you. If you don’t reciprocate, she’ll be gone.” Deep down, Deke feared—knew—Luc was right. Down the hall, he heard the sound of the bathroom door swinging open. Kimber stepped out.

“Did I hear shouting?”

Deke glanced at Luc, who stood and crossed the room to her.

“TV,” his cousin muttered, then kissed Kimber’s freshly washed cheek before exiting the room and stepping out on the wraparound porch.

Leaving Deke alone with Kimber.

For long moments, neither said anything. Silence ripened, stretched. She cast suspicious glances at the television, clearly too smart to fall for Luc’s BS. But she didn’t pursue it.

“Is there any more coffee?”

With a nod, Deke turned and poured. He added two sugars and a dash of milk.

“You remembered?” She smiled, looking…touched.

God, what would it be like to bask in that smile every day? To know she reserved such beauty for him and no one else? It would be nothing but trouble.

He shrugged in answer. “You know we Special Ops types pay attention to details.

Sometimes, they save your life.”

Her smile wilted. “Of course.”

Damn, he sure knew how to put his foot in his mouth. He’d likened her to a terrorist, rather than a girlfriend. Smooth…

She took the cup, sipped, sat in the seat Luc had vacated, and retreated into her own world. And Deke couldn’t stand it. The silence, as if everything last night and this morning had been nothing. From her perspective, she was probably hoping for affection and closeness. At the very least, kindness.

So far, he hadn’t really given her any of the above. And he doubted he was capable of those in any long-term sense, and hated himself for it. But for her, he’d try. The reality was, learning to do something besides fuck and leave was going to take time.

He sighed and approached her, not at all sure what he was going to say or do.

Kimber looked up as he approached, surprise and wariness dawning across her face as he crossed into her personal space.

“What?”

Deke didn’t say a word. Instead, he bent and picked her up, sat in the nearest chair and cradled her on his lap. He smoothed her damp hair away from her face, and she lifted her gaze to him.

“I’m not very good at talk. I…” How did he sum up the jumble of everything he wanted to say into the right words? “I loved being with you last night.” He pressed a soft kiss to her mouth, insanely proud of himself. That sounded perfect.

Kimber broke away. “If you loved it so much, why did you fight it so hard?”

How did women do that? In two-point-two seconds, cut right past the postcoital talk and sweet words and get knee-deep in shit?

“Kitten, not now.”

“Yes, now. Despite my limited experience, I understand that twelve hours in the sack doesn’t entitle me to make demands, but there’s something going on with you.

I—I want to know what.”

“It’s in the past. It’s not important—”

She pushed off his lap. “If you had to be bullied into sleeping with me, then it’s obviously important and not in the past.”

Hell, hadn’t he just had this conversation, more or less, with Luc?

“Because I’m an idiot with noble ideas who didn’t want to just snatch your virginity without you being really sure. Can we just enjoy being with each other now, rather than getting into all this?”

Deke reached for her again. She backed away.

“No. Whatever it is you’re not telling me is the reason you didn’t want to have sex with me. It’s the reason you fucked Jack Cole’s pretty wife.” Blood rushed up his cheeks. “Actually, that was at Jack’s request. I didn’t—”

“But Jack thought of you because you only do ménages. And this mystery reason is the cause. It’s standing between us, and I don’t know what it is.” Damn, she was right. So right. When had she pieced all that together? She might be younger and less experienced, but she excelled at people.

“One day at a time, huh?” He sighed. “I’m here with you now. I’m not going anywhere. What’s that cheesy movie line; you had me at ‘hello?’ That’s pretty accurate here. Part of me is stubborn and didn’t want to fall in line, but I have.

We’re together. Let’s just accept that for now.” Kimber crossed her arms over her chest and pressed her lips together. That wasn’t the end of this conversation, not by a long shot, but she was tactically retreating for the moment. He let out a big sigh of relief.

“Fine.”

It wasn’t fine, but he hoped he could…distract her from the subject. If he told her the entirety of his screwup, she’d run screaming.

Treading softly, he closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her. She stood stiff, those arms still crossed. Clearly, she’d learned how to battle on her terms. She couldn’t fight him physically, but her stubborn will was a more than worthy adversary, he’d bet. He ignored her resistance and simply felt her. With a soft hand caressing her back, he dropped a kiss on her forehead, brushed one across her mouth, lingered at her neck. Heaven. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d kissed a woman without any intent to fuck her in the next ten minutes. Just standing here and breathing in her scent, her presence, was a treat.

“You fight dirty,” she grumbled, tilting her head to give him better access to her neck.

“This isn’t fighting. It’s giving you affection. You got a problem with that?” He slid his thumb over her bottom lip.

Before she could answer, the phone rang. Deke jumped.

Only one of two people could be on the line, and both represented news about the explosion and its aftermath.

“Yeah,” he barked into the line.

“Deke.” It was Logan. His voice sounded heavy.

Turning away, Deke held in a curse. “I’m here.”

“It ain’t good.” He sighed. “Kimber…”

“Tell me.”

Logan did, and Deke couldn’t hold in a rush of four letters.

“What is it?” Kimber asked.

“I’ll let her know,” Deke promised.

After a long pause, Logan replied. “Thanks. Any news from Jack?”

“Not yet. The police?”

“What is it?” Kimber demanded.

Deke shook his head at her. He wanted to give Kimber his undivided attention when he gave her this news.

“Nothing concrete,” Logan answered. “Lots of questions. No answers. But it’s weird, man. No one at the hospital has even twitched the wrong direction. Nothing suspicious here at all. Lots of phone calls from some guy, though, wanting to know where Kimber is. I tried to figure out who he is, trace the call, keep him talking. Too smart. He disconnected.”

Fear struck a cold bolt down in Deke’s chest. The psychobomber hadn’t moved in on the Colonel’s hospital room. That sounded like he was fixated on Kimber instead. It could be the press, looking for a slant on Jesse’s ex and the latest drama.

But the same person calling over and over?

“Shit,” Deke muttered. “Call us if anything changes.”

“Will do. Give Kimber my love.”

“Yeah.” Then he hung up.

“What the hell is it?” She looked pissed and desperate. She wasn’t going to be brushed off or let this be glossed over.

Deke took her by the hand and led her to a chair, then sat her down. He drew in a deep breath. What the hell to say?

“Tell me now. Oh my God…” Her voice shook. “My dad. Tell me he didn’t…”

“No. No, kitten. He’s alive.” He kissed her palm, trying to soothe the blow to come.

“But they did some extra tests yesterday and realized he had something foreign lodged in the back of his head. It was causing swelling. They had to operate this morning, and he went into shock. He slipped into a coma.” Kimber dissolved. No other way to put it. Tears filled those hazel eyes, and Deke found himself wishing he had some way to take her suffering away. He’d gladly put it on his shoulders so she wouldn’t have to bear it. But life didn’t work that way.

As he reached to draw her into his embrace, let her cry on his chest, she surprised him by standing and drying her tears. “We have to go to him. Right now.” Deke froze. “Kitten, I know you’re upset, but we can’t do that without careful planning. There’s still a psycho on the loose who may be after you—”

“I don’t care! My father might die, and I might not get to say good-bye.”

“No one said anything about him dying.”

“He’s in a goddamn coma! Now I’m not a doctor, but in nursing school, I learned that’s bad and that some people go from coma to death.” Her sarcasm was understandable, but not helpful.

Softly, he said, “And some people come straight out of it.”

“I’m not taking a chance that I’ll never see him alive again.” She ripped off her robe in the middle of the kitchen and marched for the bedroom.

Deke watched the sway of her bare ass as she retreated into the shadowed room and started rummaging around the sheets for her clothes. He marched in the room and grabbed her shirt and underwear out of her hands.

“You’re not going now, especially not by yourself.”

“The hell I’m not. You can’t stop me.”

“If I have to wrestle you to that bed myself and tie you to it to keep you from presenting a public target to this maniac, don’t think I won’t.” Kimber marched toward the door. “I’m an adult and I make my own decisions.

You don’t own me.”

He grabbed her arm and pulled her against him. “Last night, I claimed you, remember? I took what you’d given no one else. In my book, that makes you mine.

I’m not letting you be used for target practice. You’re safe and hidden. You’re going to stay that way.”

“You son of a— What are you doing?”

Deke dragged her across the room, toward the bed. She wasn’t listening, wasn’t going to hear logic.

He tossed her onto the bed and held her down as gently as possible—keeping all his force behind the grip. “Keeping you safe.”

A quick glance around the room proved futile. Damn!

“What is going on in here?” Luc demanded, taking in the scene with a horrified expression.

Deke explained the phone call. “And now Florence Nightingale here thinks she’s going to the hospital on a mercy visit in the next ten minutes.”

“You can be such an asshole,” Kimber groused, struggling to break his hold.

“Luc…”

“Sweetheart, he’s right. Call, talk to Logan, have him put the phone to your father’s ear so you can speak to him for now. But you can’t just leave and risk the danger of exposure.”

“So now I’m being held captive?”

“That’s not my intention, but if that’s the way you want to look at it…” Denying her troubled Deke, but he wasn’t backing down. “Either way, you’re staying.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart, but I agree.” Luc crossed his arms over his chest, and Deke was damn glad for the backup. “Promise us you’ll stay put until we can work out a plan, and we’ll let you up.”

Kimber pressed her lips together mutinously and said nothing.

“You know the minute we turn our back on her, she’s going to try to sneak away.”

Luc hesitated, glanced at Kimber, and nodded. “It seems.” But Deke had an idea. Master Jack’s cabin came fully equipped.

“Hold her down.”

Luc shot him a curious glance, but crossed the room to take Kimber’s wrists in his grip. He straddled her as Deke made for the door and disappeared around the corner.