“I’ll still think you’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.”
She stared at him, frustration and hope warring inside of her. “You just wait and see.”
“Why don’t we do that? A relationship between us isn’t impossible. You could come with me. Or not,” he added quickly when she tensed. “We could date, commute. Not everyone is like Bainsworth, Genevieve. I’m sure there are other people who care about you, like that grocer. And there’s no rule that says you have to give up everything and conform to my life. We can live anywhere in the world. Or I could come out here.”
Genevieve grinned. “Alex, I don’t think you’d do well as a hermit. You’re the type who needs people all around you. And I—I don’t know if I’m ready to leave here yet.”
He ignored the latter part of that statement. “Angel, I’d give up everyone in that town for you. I’ve never felt like this about another woman, like I’m in too deep to ever find my way out—and I’m willing to bet money you feel the same way.” She opened her mouth to protest, but he hugged her tighter. “Answer me this: would you really have had sex with any man who ended up on your floor?”
“No. My body’s pretty much been in deep freeze since the incident.”
The instant response warmed his heart. He licked the shell of her ear. “I’m not playing with you. This is serious. We’ll take it slow. Just don’t shut me out again. Take some time to think about it.”
Her eyes held fear and longing. “I’ll think about it.”
That was the most he could hope for. He kissed her, unable to continue holding her without loving her. Genevieve turned her head to the side and to keep her from arguing just for the hell of it, Alex latched on to her ear, nibbling it just the way he knew she liked. “I want to make love to you, but I don’t want to be otherwise occupied if we have any more uninvited guests.”
Her hand stroked over his neck, but she might as well have squeezed his cock. “That guy’s gonna be out for a while.”
Reluctantly, he disengaged. “Still. Why don’t we take a break from sex until all of the bad guys have been carted off?”
Her brow furrowed in disappointment, but she nodded. He pressed her head against his chest. “Sleep.”
Alex held Genevieve until his arms fell asleep. Then he picked her up carefully and laid her out on the mattress.
She was in a deep sleep, but nonetheless, he tried to be as quiet as possible as he went into the back room. He hated to leave her for even a minute. He wanted to stand guard over her sleeping body with a machine gun.
However, he needed clothes, and he’d noticed another pair of sweatpants in the storage closet he’d looked through earlier. He didn’t want to put on anything that had come into contact with Leonie. That rat bastard. Genevieve wanted to talk about guilt? He was going to have nightmares that she had marched right out in the dark to confront a man he’d led to her doorstep.
He winced a bit to think of what his old buddies on the force would say if they knew a woman had taken the initiative because she’d thought his soul too pure to shoot another person. Alex’s mouth firmed.
Nobody would know Genevieve had been the one to shoot Leonie. He’d make sure of it. Not for his ego, he was damn proud of her, but because he wouldn’t have even a shadow of that ugliness touch her. It was what he deserved for sleeping through this. He hadn’t been able to save his partner; he hadn’t been able to protect Genevieve. At the very least, he could do this much for her, even if he had to gag or threaten her into sticking with his version of events. Since Leonie would probably survive the night—and wasn’t that a shame—he’d rather be the target of any more vengeance schemes.
Alex rifled through the boxes, finding nothing but women’s clothing. He shoved the boxes back in and started to go through the containers on the top shelf. Genevieve had suffered enough at the hands of other people in her life. She didn’t deserve any more hurt.
Alex felt the tide of rage rising again, thinking of his predecessors actions. Someone must have known what the previous chief and his cronies were up to, and he was sure rape was just one of the sins to be laid at the man’s feet. For sure, he’d be rattling some cages when he got back to town. And God help the people who had participated, however indirectly, in hurting his Genevieve.
He wanted to dig the man up and kill him again. Genevieve had seemed to think he would be disgusted by what she had done. Wrong. He held no illusions about small-town politics, and the truth was Bainsworth may never have served time for his crime. Plus, Alex’s blood chilled to think of what three men could have done to her tiny body when she came across them had she not had a bit of magic up her sleeve. If she’d had a gun or a taser, he wouldn’t have faulted her for shooting the three men. The only thing that sucked was that it had taken her mother away from her. Whatever deity or council had given the Boden women their power sure had a bastard of a safety clause on how they could use it.
Finally, Alex found another pair of sweatpants that he might have a chance in hell of squeezing into. Wearing clothes after this week might take some getting used to, he thought with humor. Hell, he could probably be back in his jeans as early as…tomorrow. Once morning broke, he’d see if he could track down Leonie’s vehicle. He’d quickly patted the guy down after Genevieve had done her magic with him, but no keys had been in his pockets.
He backtracked to the main room, shutting and locking the door behind him. Where before the thought of leaving Genevieve had made him extremely melancholy, he wasn’t that sad anymore. Sure, she hadn’t given him a concrete commitment, but they’d made progress this evening.
He sat next to the door, the handgun gripped firmly in his hand. Not the semi-automatic he’d hoped for, but it would have to do. Now that he knew he wouldn’t freeze where Genevieve’s safety was concerned…well, anyone who tried to hurt her wouldn’t last long.
13
“Talking to you is exhausting.”
“Maybe in a few years it won’t be so bad.” He studied her with a devilish glint in his eyes and stroked a hand over her leg where it rested on his stomach.
She was fully aware he was goading her, but she was too wrung out to rise to outrage. “I swear, you would argue with a post until it came around to your way of thinking.”
“That’s what my mom says. You’re going to love her.”
She rolled her eyes. She’d slept for about an hour, and then they’d spent the next couple of hours talking and teasing in bed, resisting getting up and facing reality. If she didn’t know they had a killer locked up in her old shed, they would have looked like any other normal couple. A feeling that Alex was encouraging, in his suddenly relentless campaign to have her agree to a long-term relationship.
It was looking more and more attractive, no doubt about that. If it weren’t for that insistent voice in her head screaming of responsibility and sacrifice, it would be a no-brainer.
