Page 25 of Save Me
“Yeah.” Brock nodded as he gently squeezed her hand. “Now that we know he’s connected, we’re searching into Collins’s past. We’ll find this guy, one way or another. They were connected. We’ve got him now. It’s only a matter of time before we catch up to him.”
She glanced around the tropical paradise. She could hear the sound of the guests playing in the pool a few feet away, just on the other side of the wall of palm leaves and flowers that she’d planted herself last year.
“What happens now?” she asked.
“Now?” He thought about it for a moment. “Now, we wait and lock down as much security as we can.” He nodded towards the pool area. “It would help if we cancelled the rentals and had the place sit empty. But since I know that’s not a possibility…”
“I’d go stir crazy,” she admitted.
“Yeah.” He smiled at her. “I get that. So we’re vetting all the guests who are currently signed up to rent the place. I’ll be sticking around here for as long as needed.”
Just hearing that made her relax. “Thank you,” she said softly. “I remember you, by the way.” She glanced up at him. She needed him to know that, for some reason. It was important to her.
In the past two years, she’d gotten excited to find any articles or news about him. At first, there had been plenty. Then the articles on him had slowed down, much like the ones on her.
She’d even saved a few clippings, the ones where he’d been painted as her hero. Her rescuer. Because that’s how she thought of him. He was the first face she saw. The first ray of light after a lifetime of darkness.
She knew that she’d somewhat built him up in her mind in the last two years. But in the past few days, he’d done nothing but prove those thoughts valid. He was her hero in every sense.
“You do?” he asked her, his eyes searching her face.
She nodded slightly. “For a while there, so many of my memories were blocked. Except seeing you hovering over me, promising me that I was safe. That from now on you’d make sure I was safe.” She looked down at their joined hands. “It was that promise that kept me going.”
“Crissy,” he started, but then a loud burst of laughter from the pool area broke in and he stopped talking. Instead of continuing, he sighed and shook his head. “How about I give you a hand with whatever you have left on your list today?”
“That would be great.” She stood up when he did.
“Would you like me to ask you every time I want to kiss you?” he said, and she realized just how closely they were standing.
“You don’t have to,” she assured him as she leaned up on her toes and brushed her lips across his.
“Good.” He pulled her closer and deepened the kiss. She could just lose herself right there in his arms. Forget that the entire world existed. Forget that there were people just feet away from them. And most importantly, forget her past.
His lips and the taste of him were the sweetest nectar with the power to mesmerize. The feeling of his hands on her hips, slowly pulling her even closer to his hard body, caused her entire core to vibrate.
“Mama?” Emma’s voice broke into the trance.
Crissy jerked away and took a step back. Her daughter stood in the doorway, rubbing her eyes while holding her favorite stuffed dog, Bruno.
“Hey, sweetie, did you have a good nap?” She walked over and picked Emma up.
“You were kissing Brock,” Emma said clearly, causing Brock to laugh.
“I was,” she said and stepped back inside.
“Why?” Emma asked.
“Because I wanted to,” she answered easily as Brock followed them inside.
Emma was quiet for a moment. “Did he want to?”
“Yes, I did,” he answered from behind them.
“How about we spend some time drawing?” she asked after getting her daughter a drink of water.
Emma pouted. “Can I kiss Brock?”
Brock laughed again. “If you want to.” He easily walked over and took her daughter from her arms. Emma puckered her lips and placed them on his cheek. Then she frowned. “You’re scratchy.”
