Page 82 of Protecting Kelli
“If I can’t make you forget about it by morning, I haven’t done my job,” he told her.
Then her smile faded, and she wrapped a hand around the back of his neck. “I feel as if this is a dream. Like I’ll wake up and we’ll be back in that bus. Hungry and scared. I don’t want this to end.”
“It’s real, and it won’t end. You’ll wake up with me curled around you every day from here on out.”
“Promise?”
“Promise,” he vowed. Then he got to work making his woman forget about everything except for him.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Kelli sighed in frustration. She was ready to start classes at the community college. The more she thought about becoming an electrician, the more excited she got. But because Brant Williams was still out there somewhere, lying in wait for the chance to make whatever move he had up his sleeve, she’d been stuck in Smiley’s apartment, waiting.
Things with Flash were good, at least. Better than good. She’d never been so satisfied, both sexually and in general. He was a wonderful man. He had his flaws, but showing her how much he cared for her wasn’t one of them.
He was currently at work, and Kelli was bored. She wanted to go for a walk. Go see Remi or one of the other girls. Maybe head to Aces and have another delicious hamburger. But for now, she was basically a prisoner in the apartment.
And it sucked.
Still, she wasn’t going to do something stupid like defy all common sense and head out on her own. That would just be asking Brant to grab her, and this time do something worse than just bury her underground inside a bus.
She had to be patient. Had to believe that this Ryleigh person would find Brant. Once that happened, her life could go back to normal. But whatwasnormal, now? Would she move back into her apartment up in La Jolla? She’d be pretty far from Flash if she did that, and she’d gotten very used to living with him. It was scary just how easy it was to move in together. How right it felt.
She’d talked to her mom about the situation, who’d simply told her, “When you know, you know,” and that was that. She also wanted to meet Flash, but with everything going on, her mom agreed Kelli should just lay low, and she’d meet him when the time was right.
Flash called or texted pretty much every hour, wanting to make sure she was okay, that everything at the apartment was calm. Kelli appreciated it, and only partly because the memory of Brant breaking into her place was still fresh. Texting or talking with Flash also made her smile, made her feel not quite so lonely.
Yes, she texted with Remi, Josie, Maggie, Addison, and Wren too, but it wasn’t the same as when Flash contacted her. She got butterflies in her belly and she felt all warm inside when he took time out of his day to check on her. She was aware that he’d been taken off the deployment rotation, at least until Brant was caught, but he was still working hard to make sure his friends and teammates would be safe when they left for whatever mission was currently in the planning stages.
Kelli had just finished texting Flash yet again, and wassettling on the couch to read one of the thrillers Smiley had on his bookshelves, when there was a knock at the door.
Immediately, her mouth went dry.
Who could that be? Not any of the girls; they would’ve let her know they were coming over. And she’d just talked to Flash, so she knew it wasn’t him.
Getting up cautiously, she tiptoed over to the door. She made sure to stay completely silent as she gazed through the peephole.
She saw a woman standing there, looking extremely nervous. She was biting one of her fingernails and kept glancing down the hallway, as if expecting the boogie man to appear at any moment.
She looked to be in her mid-thirties and couldn’t be much taller than Kelli. She had reddish-brown hair that came down to around the middle of her back, and hazel or light brown eyes, it was hard to tell in the low light of the hall. The jeans she wore were baggy, and the sneakers on her feet were worn. She was wearing a plain black T-shirt, with no markings on it at all.
But what stood out to Kelli most were the faded bruises on her face. They were yellow, meaning they were almost healed, but the woman hadn’t used any concealer to cover them. Actually, it didn’t look like she was wearing makeup at all.
Despite the danger the woman might pose, Kelli was intrigued.
When she reached up and knocked on the door again, it startled her so badly, Kelli almost fell backward onto her ass.
Should she answer it or not? Indecision tore at her.Flash had told her not to open the door to anyone, no matter what, but this woman looked…she looked freaked out. Would someone hell bent on doing Kelli harm look so nervous? She didn’t think so.
Taking a deep breath, she made a split-second decision—and prayed she wouldn’t regret it. She unlocked the two bolts and took the chain off, then opened the door.
The two women stared at each other for a long moment. The woman at the door looked confused.
“Hi. Can I help you?” Kelli asked, sounding more confident than she felt inside.
“Um…I’m sorry. I think I have the wrong apartment. I thought this was Jude Stark’s apartment.”
Kelli had heard the other girls mention that Smiley’s real name was Jude. At the time, they’d been discussing how cool it was. That it was basically a superhero’s undercover name. They weren’t wrong.
