Page 47 of Operation Protector
“Did you know they met when, thanks to Cutter, he had to kidnap her?”
Colby blinked. “Hadto?”
She nodded. “In the proverbial black helicopter. Have one of them tell you the story. It’s pretty amazing.”
He gave a slow shake of his head. “Seems everything about them is.”
“Yes. It does my heart good to know there are good people like them still around these days. To help good people like you.”
Colby looked at her for a long, silent moment. “What a mom you’d make,” he finally said, his throat tight. “The kind Grace should have had.”
He only realized what could be read into that after he said it, but Ali didn’t jump onto the inference that he would have preferred her as Grace’s mom, too.
Because that’s not who she is, she doesn’t take advantage of every stupid thing you say.
“Thank you,” she said quietly. “That is one of the biggest compliments I’ve ever gotten.” She lowered her gaze to the pup. “We wanted kids. In fact, we stopped any prevention a few weeks before he was killed.”
He didn’t know what to say to that, and for once managed to keep his mouth shut before he said something that would make it worse. So he did the only thing he could think of. He reachedover and laid his hand on top of hers where it was stroking the pup.
Her hand went still but she didn’t pull away. She stared down at his hand atop hers and then, to his shock, she turned hers over and wrapped her fingers around his.
“Grace may have one of the worst mothers on record, but she’s got you, and that makes up for a lot.”
He didn’t mean for it to happen. It wasn’t a decision he made any more than petting Ziggy seemed to be. He meant only to thank her with a kiss on the cheek, to make up for the words he couldn’t find. But she turned her head just then, her lips brushing his, and it became something much more.
She was so warm, so soft, so comforting and thrilling at the same time, that he couldn’t stop himself. And she didn’t seem to want him to, which only kicked him into overdrive. He tasted the lingering zest of the coffee, but only for a moment before all was erased but the singular, fiery taste of Ali herself. Sweet and sharp, luscious and so very alive, all at once. It was nearly overwhelming and when he finally broke the kiss he had a brief moment of trying to remember how to breathe normally.
She was staring at him, looking a bit as if she were in shock.
Of course she is, you had no right!
“Ali, I’m sor—”
She put a finger to his lips, stopping his apology. “Don’t you dare say you’re sorry. Not for that.”
“But—”
“I understand. It was impulse. Unexpected.” He thought he saw a faint rise of pink in her cheeks. “I liked it.” His heart seemed to take a little leap. “But right now…we have to focus on Grace, don’t we?”
That easily, and so very gently, she brought him back to earth. Back to reality. He couldn’t look at her when he nodded.
“So, we put…that on hold. But Colby?” He did look at her then, because he had to. “Just on hold, okay? Don’t bury it.”
She already knew him so well it seemed impossible. Because that was his gut-level response, kill it, bury it, because he had no right to even think that way let alone do anything about it. He wasn’t sure he would even if there wasn’t this huge, malevolent cloud hanging over him.
But there was, and Ali was right. Grace ever and always had to come first. And he would see to it that she did.
Chapter 21
“Ali said I had to ask you.”
Grace was wearing the perfect respectful expression. The child was carrying it off as if she’d rehearsed it a dozen times. As, in fact, they had over the last couple of days, since she’d gotten home from the city. Grace had said it was awful, that her mother had made her dress up and say nice things to a bunch of people she didn’t even know.
“Consider it a rehearsal for this, then,” Ali had suggested, and the child had lit up at that idea.
“She said that, did she?” her mother replied now, shifting her gaze from her daughter to Ali.
“Of course,” Ali said, with just the right tone of deference she’d practiced right along with Grace. “I wouldn’t dream of assuming it was all right for her to come along on our walks without checking with you first.”
