Deadly Game (Fortress Security #5)(16)

“I’m going with you.” She leaned into him and kissed his frowning mouth. “Please understand. I have to do this. Alexa needs me and she’s been through enough trauma without adding a bunch of new strangers taking off with her again.” She stopped, her blood running cold. “You weren’t planning to drug her, were you?”

He hesitated. “We have trained medics on every team.”

“No more drugs. Your medic doesn’t know anything about dosing children. He’s used to dealing with grown adults, not six-year-olds.”

“True enough. Still doesn’t change the fact that you aren’t a trained operative.”

“So train me. I know I won’t be as proficient as your people, but you can teach me a few simple things to protect myself and Alexa.”

He studied her face a moment. “I’ll think about it.”

“Think fast, Maddox.” She slid from the stool and took their dishes to the dishwasher. “Because my mind is already made up.”

He sighed. “I’m learning some new things about you, Rowan Scott.”

“Such as?”

“You’re a fabulous kisser and as stubborn as anyone I’ve ever met.” His lips curved.

“Yeah? I’ve learned a few things about you, too, Brent Maddox. You have skills in the kissing department as well and you have a heart of gold even though you try to hide behind that tough-guy image of yours.”

He winced. “Don’t tell my people that. They think the tough-guy image is the real thing all the way through.”

She grinned over her shoulder. “Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me.”

Once the kitchen was cleaned up, Rowan set aside the dishtowel she’d been using. “Do you want me to make up the guest room bed for you?”

Brent shook his head. “I’ll stay on the couch. It’s a more central location. Are you ready to sleep?”

Rowan assessed what her body was telling her and admitted the truth. “I’m afraid I’ll toss and turn if I try to sleep now. I still feel as though I’ve been drinking coffee by the vat.”

“What normally helps you sleep? Reading a book or watching television?”

“Television. Books rev me up.”

“Come with me.” Brent took her hand and led her to the living room couch. When they were settled side by side, he grabbed the remote and surfed the available channels until he came to a station airing an old western. “Let’s try this.”

“You like westerns?”

“One of my operatives got me hooked on them last year. Eli loves them, especially the ones with John Wayne. They’re perfect for relaxing the mind and body.”

She turned her attention to the screen, skeptical. “If you say so.”

With a chuckle, Brent settled her against his side and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Just trust me.”

With a sigh, she settled deeper into the sofa cushions. Before long, heat from Brent’s body wrapped her in warmth and she was surprised to find herself becoming sleepy. Must be the slowly developing plot of the movie. Could the trail ride last any longer, she thought as she yawned.

At the next commercial break, Rowan leaned her head against Brent’s chest. Might be a good idea to close her eyes during the commercial break. She’d go to bed in a little while. Right now, she was enjoying being held by Brent too much to move.

Brent drew her more fully against his chest and shifted his arm to her waist. “It’s okay to sleep, Rowan. I’ll be here.”

“But this is where you’re sleeping,” she mumbled.

A soft laugh. “When I’m ready to call it quits for the night, I’ll move you.”

The next thing Rowan knew, she was being lifted. She gasped and clutched onto the nearest hard surface.

“I’ve got you, sweetheart,” Brent said. “I’m carrying you to your room.”

“I can walk.”

“Let me do this for you. It’s little enough after the night you’ve had.”

“Mmm.” She shifted her hold from his shoulders to wrapping her arms around his neck. “Guess the western worked.”

“Told you. Works for me every time.”

She lifted her head from his shoulder to eye him. “Have you been asleep, too?”

“I’ll never tell.” Brent turned sideways to carry her inside the room. He set Rowan on her feet. “I’ll see you in a few hours. If you need anything, I’ll be on the sofa.”

“Good night, Brent.”

He brushed her lips with a light kiss, then left.

A keeper, she thought as she toed off her shoes and climbed under the covers fully dressed. Too tired to change. She dreamed of gunshots and screams in the darkness.

Sometime late into the night, Rowan sat up, heart slamming against her ribcage. Had the blood-soaked nightmares woken her or was it something else, something more sinister?

Her gaze shifted to the doorway. Brent had left her door wide open. Had he made a noise that startled her? Rowan listened to the silence, not sure what she’d heard. She was ready to chalk it up to the trauma of losing Heather when a sound by her window caught her attention. Against the curtain, a man’s silhouette moved closer to her window.