Defending Everly (Mountain Mercenaries, #5)(51)

“I’m thirty-four, Ball. I’m not a teenager who doesn’t know what she wants.”

“And I’m forty, old enough to know what I want too. And that isn’t some quickie orgasm on your couch, all the while worrying if your teenage sister is going to come out and bust us. I like you. A hell of a lot. And I want to see where this relationship between us can go. But I don’t think slowing down will hurt either of us. I never want you to think I’m only with you because I want some. You’re the first woman I’ve wanted to actually have a real relationship with since the fiasco with Holly. I don’t want to do anything to fuck this up.”

She stared at him for a long moment, and Ball was afraid she might be pissed. But then she nodded and snuggled into his side once more. Her hand came to rest on his belly, instead of his dick, which was both a relief and a disappointment at the same time. “We can still make out here and there, right?” she asked.

Ball chuckled. “Absolutely. In fact, I think I might insist on it. Our time will come, Everly. And I don’t mean that as a bad pun.”

She giggled.

“For the first time in my life, I’m enjoying simply being with a woman without sex being held over my head. Not to say I don’t want to make love to you—I do—but for now, I’m just enjoying getting to know you better. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah. I feel the same way.”

Ball exhaled in relief. “Want me to stay? I know you have to work in the morning.”

“Just for a little bit longer,” Everly said.

Ball reached over, grabbed the remote, and turned to the Science Channel. There was a show on about Chernobyl and the effects on the land around it, even after all this time.

Within thirty minutes, Everly was snoozing in his arms, and Ball couldn’t think of anything he enjoyed more than watching her sleep.





Chapter Ten

We’re going to be late! Elise signed.

No we’re not, Everly told her sister. Calm down.

Ball’s driving like Pop!

Everly translated for Ball, and he laughed.

“I can’t exactly drive eighty miles an hour through the Broadmoor neighborhood,” he said, and smiled as Everly translated for her sister.

The hike’s supposed to start at ten. It’s nine forty-five. We’re going to be late! Elise signed again in agitation.

A month had passed since Everly had met Ball’s friends and they’d gotten the transcript of the messages between Elise and the mysterious Rob. Elise had met twice with Morgan, and each time, Everly could see some of the tension Elise had held close to her chest dissipate. Through an interpreter, she and Morgan had talked about how it felt to be scared and alone and wonder if anyone would ever find you. They’d discussed Elise’s anger that someone had tried to manipulate and deceive her, and how frustrated she was that the people who’d done it hadn’t been caught.

Elise had also gone into the Colorado Springs Police Department and met with their sketch artist. The completed drawing of the man who’d claimed to be Rob’s father had been sent off to the FBI and the LAPD—but interestingly enough, there weren’t too many similarities between the seven sketches done with each of the seven victims. Because the van that had picked up all the girls had been the same—a boxy, nondescript white van—but the sketches of the suspect weren’t, the police determined that it was almost impossible to narrow down what the kidnapper really looked like, except that he was a white male with brown hair.

Elise still had the occasional nightmare, but spending time with Allye, Chloe, Morgan, and Harlow seemed to be good for her. It helped her improve her social skills around hearing people, and because the other women were so down-to-earth and accepting, she never felt awkward or uncomfortable with them.

Everly and her sister had also figured out an easy routine in their new lives together in Colorado Springs, and Everly kicked herself daily for not bringing Elise out earlier. Yes, the school in Los Angeles had a better overall academic program, but when it came to her sister, Everly realized she should’ve concentrated more on her mental well-being than her academic concerns.

Me-Maw and Pop were thrilled by how well Elise was doing and wanted to make a trip to Colorado to see both their grandchildren. They hadn’t heard from their daughter, but what Ella did was on her. Plain and simple.

Everly and Ball had dialed down their physical relationship, and she definitely knew him much better now because of all the time they’d spent together, just talking. She knew that he was the best driver of all the Mountain Mercenaries, and that he’d never let anyone but her drive his Mustang.

Not even his friends. He’d told her one night that if he couldn’t trust a cop with his “baby,” who could he trust? She’d laughed—and enjoyed getting it up to one hundred miles an hour on the interstate, just to see what he’d do. He hadn’t panicked, just lifted one eyebrow at her.

Everly knew that when Ball put his mind to something, like learning sign language, he didn’t do it halfway. He’d spent hours and hours watching videos online to try to teach himself, and he and Elise had spent many a night working together as well. He still wasn’t fluent, but he could pretty much hold his own when conversing with Elise and her friends. He had to resort to finger spelling sometimes, but everyone was always patient with him.