Witness in the Dark (Love Under Fire #1)(67)

She lay next to him, staring up at the water damage on the ceiling and thinking about the day.

He must have been thinking about what happened, too. Just a different part. “Hey,” he said quietly and pulled her to him. He kissed her slowly, then leaned his forehead against hers. “I enjoy being with you.” His eyes twinkled in that way they did before he said something funny. “Except for being shot twice.”

She smiled. “Me, too.”

He turned serious again. “I don’t want you to think this happens with everyone I’m hired to extract.” He ran his hand up her back softly.

“But?” She could tell by the tone of his voice there was one coming.

He’d told her before she was special. But special clearly wasn’t enough.

He shook his head. “No buts for tonight.” He wound his fingers into her hair and kissed her deeply. “Tonight, it’s just us. We can pretend everything is perfect,” he said, and rolled on top of her.

Maybe he wasn’t able to tell her how he felt in words, but she could feel it in his urgent kisses and desperate touches as they made love. Slow and burning, as though they were saying goodbye for forever.

She clung to him like life itself. They shared breath and looked into each other’s eyes, submersed in this moment of raw emotion. He called out her name as he fell on top of her, holding her so close she could barely breathe.

It wasn’t close enough.

They didn’t say anything. They just lay there, studying one another. She memorized every detail, so when memories were all she had, they would be exact. She thought maybe he was doing the same.

Sometime early in the morning, she woke to the sound of a cellphone. She blinked and looked around. Garrett wasn’t in bed, and the shower was running.

The ringing stopped, and a few moments later a single beep indicated he had a voicemail. She fought the urge to look to see if it said howe, or maybe a woman’s name.

God. What if he was married in his real life?

He came out of the bathroom with a white fluffy towel around his waist, and she quickly pushed away that disturbing thought. Not that she actually thought he might have a wife. He’d made it clear he wasn’t the type to settle down.

Rain pounded on the roof, and she could see it through the crack in the curtains. A great morning to stay in bed with someone, naked.

She smiled and reached for him, but his phone beeped again.

He snatched it up with a frown. “Go back to sleep. I’ll be back soon,” he said as he shrugged on some jeans and pulled on a hoodie and a jacket.

She closed her eyes, but as soon as he was out the door, she hopped up and pressed her ear to the door to listen. Since it was raining, he’d stayed on the porch right outside their room.

It took a moment for her hearing to adjust. She missed the first sentence.

“We were attacked at a gas station yesterday. We’re moving again.” His voice changed direction as he paced in the small space under the roof. “She wasn’t harmed. She was shaken up, that’s all. She handled it really well. She’s a good shot,” he shared with whomever was on the phone.

His boss, maybe?

“Do you think that’s such a good idea?” All humor left his voice. “I don’t feel comfortable with that.” There was a pause. “I know. But you need to think about what’s best—”

Wow. He really sounded angry.

“Fine. If that’s how you want it to go down, I’ll bring her in tomorrow.”

She ran to the bed, jumped in, and tried to moderate her breathing before he came back. Fortunately, it was a few minutes before the door closed.

“What’s up?” she murmured.

“Go back to sleep, it’s not even six.” He slipped off his jacket and kicked off his shoes before climbing in bed with her.

She snuggled next to him and he wrapped his arms around her as she laid her head on his chest. He kissed her hair and traced his fingers up and down her arm. She relaxed as sleep returned. They often fell asleep like this.

Despite the disturbing conversation she’d overheard, she told herself she needed to trust him. He was the only one in the world she could trust right now. He was her safe harbor.

“Sam?” he whispered so quietly she wasn’t sure he’d actually spoken.

She held her breath.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered. She felt his breath in her hair as he kissed her head again. “I don’t have a choice.” He nestled his face in her hair, and eventually fell asleep.

But Sam couldn’t go back to sleep.

What was going on? Why was he so upset? What didn’t he have a choice about?

Her mind buzzed with possible answers. None of them good.

Damn. She wasn’t ready to deal with this crap. If she couldn’t trust Garrett, she might as well turn herself over to Howe.

She shook the thought away. No. Whatever it was, she couldn’t believe Garrett would ever betray her. He wouldn’t do that.

Would he…?

He was standing next to the bed watching her when she woke up later in the morning. There was a strange, detached expression on his face.

“Get dressed,” he said stiffly. “We’re leaving.”

And that was when she knew.

Something was very, very wrong.