Eyewitness in Danger, page 13
Royal parked his car next to a big truck and got out. Franny followed suit and the front door opened.
A dog came running out, barking up a storm as he rushed over to Royal, tail wriggling in excited pleasure.
Franny froze. It had been so long since she’d been in the kind of situation where she went to someone’s house that she didn’t know, she’d forgotten to ask.
Royal greeted the dog by crouching down to pet it. He let the dog lick his face while Franny stood out of the way, stock-still. He glanced over at her. Franny could practically see the fur flying through the air and toward her. Her eye almost twitched in anticipation.
“Afraid of dogs?”
“Uh. No. I love them actually, but I’m…fairly allergic.”
He narrowed his eyes. “What’s fairly mean in Franny world? Deathly?”
“I won’t…die.” She always had her inhaler in her purse. And it wasn’t a cat. But she didn’t think she had any of her antihistamines with her. She was just so good at managing her exposure, she didn’t carry around all the things she needed. Or had been good at managing exposure.
Royal straightened, studying her with that expression that was vaguely disapproving, but not in a way that got her back up. She didn’t know how to describe it. It was closer to concern than…disapproval.
“Well, it’s not too hot out with the sun setting. I’ll suggest to Brooke we eat outside. She’s got furniture out here on the porch.” He got the pizza out of the back, holding it up high so the dog couldn’t jump at it. He started moving toward the porch and Franny scurried after him.
“You don’t have to do that. I can handle a little dog fur.” Maybe. She hadn’t had any allergy shots since moving to Wyoming, but what was a few hours? She’d take a pill when she got home, shower off all the fur, and be fine. Ish.
“Don’t be a martyr, Franny,” he told her as he began to stride toward the door where Brooke now stood. She had an arm draped over an adorable baby bump and was smiling in warm welcome.
“You mind if we eat out here on the porch?” Royal said as he approached. “Franny’s allergic to dogs.”
“Oh, sure. No problem. I’ll have Zeke put her inside. Come here, Viola.” Brooke patted her thigh and the dog came running.
“Oh, you don’t have to—”
At Royal’s sharp look, she shut her mouth. “Thank you.”
“Good girl,” he murmured.
Which should be insulting. Not kinda hot.
* * *
DINNER WAS…NICE, ACTUALLY. Not that Royal had expected it to be bad, just maybe a little awkward. But Brooke and Franny seemed to have endless topics to discuss. It made it easy to relax a little, and he figured it was good for Franny to get out. Feel normal, even for a few hours.
She could go have a meal with her cousins, but he had a feeling she hadn’t asked for that because she knew they would just worry and hound. Dinner out here was like pretending nothing was wrong.
Royal was just biding his time, waiting for a chance to talk to Zeke alone. When Franny asked Brooke about some flower and they got up to go peruse Brooke’s gardens, Royal hung back with Zeke. At some point, Brooke took Franny inside to show her something, so Royal finally had the privacy to discuss what he’d come there to discuss with Zeke.
“I’ve got a favor to ask.”
“What kind of favor?”
“A former secret agent who still keeps in contact with all those other former secret agents favor.”
“I’m retired.” Zeke leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “And I don’t help cops.”
“Since when?”
Zeke looked him up and down. “Since you became one.”
Royal snorted in spite of himself. He and Zeke had found a lot of even ground, what with both wanting the best for Brooke, but part of that even ground was giving each other a hard time.
“Will this favor help your…friend?” He jerked a chin toward the door Franny and Brooke had gone in.
“She’s not a friend. She’s a witness I’m protecting.” Which felt like a lie. “But yeah, it’s to help her.”
“All right. Shoot.”
Royal filled Zeke in on the suspicious woman in Hope Town—and a few of Royal’s theories. “If she’s not a Fed, I want her identity. Especially if she started that fire.”
“Dahlia was pretty upset about it.”
Reminding Royal that everything in Bent County was connected. Because Zeke’s siblings were both married to Hudsons—and Dahlia the librarian was married to a Hudson.
“Email me the picture, and your bodycam footage if you can. I should be able to get a look at Dahlia’s description myself, but it wouldn’t hurt to send it my way if you get a sketch. I’ll look into it. If I can’t figure it out, I’ll send it up the former secret agent chain. We should be able to ID her.”
“Thanks.” It eased a little of the tension inside of him, though it would no doubt wind back up again if this took too long.
“Just a warning. Brooke’s matchmaking.”
“Matchmaking what?”
“You and your friend, I mean witness. She heard you were bringing a woman, and she immediately started picking out wedding decorations.”
Royal scoffed. “Surely she’s not that delusional.”
“Romantic bliss will do that to you.”
“Bliss with you? My ass,” Royal grumbled. “Let me know when you figure out who the picture is. I’ve got to take my witness home.” He pushed out of his chair at the same time the door opened.
“Royal, I think you better take Franny home,” Brooke said, worry written all over her face.
“I’ll be fine, really,” Franny said, sounding…weird. Kind of squeaky. “I just have to take a shower, an antihistamine, and I’ll be—” She sneezed. Twice. “—back to normal.”
“You sound horrible.”
She looked over at him, and he thought maybe she was trying to glare, but…
“And your eye is…swollen or something.”
She sneezed again. Her eyes were watering and the swollen one looked like it was…pulsing.
“I’m so sorry, Franny,” Brooke said again. She held out a wet washcloth. “Why don’t you try to wipe your face again?”
Franny took it, wiped it over her face. “Please don’t be sorry.” Sneeze. “It’s my own…” Sneeze. “…fault. I forgot how bad…” Sneeze. “…it can get, and I should have asked if you had a cat.” Sneeze. “I haven’t been around any in a while and…” She trailed off and sneezed three times in quick succession.
Royal took her by the arm, tried not to notice his sister’s expression going from worry to notice.
“Let’s get you home,” he told Franny.
She held out the washcloth to Brooke, but Brooke refused. “You take it with you. Royal will bring it back. No worries.”
He led her down to the car. She sneezed the whole way, sputtering out thanks and goodbyes and apologies as her face turned redder and her eye seemed to get even more swollen. He went to the back of his car and grabbed a box of tissues. When he slid into the driver’s seat, he handed it to her. “Here.”
She shook her head. “I’m allergic to tissues.”
“What?”
“It just makes it worse. I have to use handkerchiefs or napkins or paper towels or…” She went into another sneezing fit.
“Why’d you go in the house?” he asked, baffled by this entire thing. He left the ranch, pushing the speed limit more than he usually would.
“Brooke had the book I wrote that she helped with, and she wanted me to autograph it, so I did that.” She sneezed. “I am terribly allergic to dogs, but it would have been fine. I’m usually fine for a little bit. But there was a cat…” She gestured to her face.
And sneezed, four times in a row. “Cats are worse. Still, it’s been a long time and maybe I was a little optimistic I’d grown out of the allergy. You know, they change every seven years.”
She said it so earnestly he found himself with twin urges to laugh and just…gather her up and take care of her.
He resisted both. “Do I need to take you to the hospital?”
She shook her head. Sneezing through another sentence. “I just need to get home. Run through the shower, take an allergy pill. I’ll be good as new.”
She fumbled with her purse, then pulled out a little contraption. Once she put it to her mouth he realized it was some kind of inhaler.
“Franny…”
She took another big breath of air from that thing, still shaking her head. “A shower. That’s all.”
He was more than a little concerned she needed an entire hospital stay, but he followed her instructions and just drove back to Hope Town while she kept sneezing and wiping her face with the washcloth Brooke had given her.
He pulled up next to her stairway, parked illegally. She got out of his car about as fast as he did, fumbling through her purse again.
“Give me your keys,” he muttered.
She handed them over while she fumbled with her phone to turn off the security alarm. She wasn’t sneezing quite as much, but she was still red and looked miserable.
Once they were inside, she handed him her phone. “You can set the alarm and leave if you want. I’m going to run through the shower.” Then she made a beeline for the hallway.
He looked down at her phone in his hand. He obviously wasn’t going to leave. He set it on her kitchen counter, then paced the small area.
What could he do? He wanted to…do something. Fix it. Hell, it was practically his fault. He’d taken her over to Brooke’s. He could have just left her under Mayfield’s watch. That’s what he should have done.
And he could tell himself a lot of reasons why that had been, had told himself a lot of reasons. But he knew none of them mattered as much as the non-police one.
He liked being around her. He’d wanted to see her with Brooke. He’d wanted…something he couldn’t quite articulate to himself.
Or maybe he could, thanks to Zeke. Matchmaking. He scoffed, taking a few steps toward the hallway.
She was pretty and funny and interesting, but what was he? A kid from a biker gang. He’d done terrible things in his life. Maybe mostly for good reasons, or to try to protect people, but… They were still there, living inside of him. His record could be expunged, but his memories couldn’t.
And Franny was privileged and…nice. She’d probably never had so much as a speeding ticket. She’d gone into that house to sign his sister’s book to be nice.
She was kind. Down to the marrow.
And you want a piece of that.
Yeah, maybe he did.
As little as he should.
Chapter Sixteen
Franny felt mortified. She tried to let the hot spray of the shower wash away that feeling along with all the allergens.
It didn’t work. Well, she stopped sneezing. The throbbing behind her eye was starting to fade. Eventually the antihistamine would kick in. She’d probably be a little tired, but by the morning she’d feel good.
Well not good, because the humiliation settled deep.
She’d just wanted to feel normal. Instead she’d proven to literally everyone involved she was the opposite. When it had been so nice to leave the apartment, to leave Hope Town, to not worry about library cards or burned books or Albennie.
Brooke was so nice, and Franny kind of missed being on a ranch. Or maybe she just missed it because it had felt like freedom.
On a deep, only slightly wheezy breath, she turned off the water. Her eyes had stopped watering, and she hadn’t sneezed in a while.
She hadn’t grabbed clothes before she’d come in there. Well at least she had a towel or that would be really embarrassing if he hadn’t left.
Surely he’d left. Hightailed it back to safety. He was probably talking with Brooke right now about what a strange little weirdo he’d been assigned to protect.
She dried her hair then wrapped the towel around her, just in case. She stepped out of the bathroom then stopped short. Royal was standing there. For a moment, they were both perfectly still, staring at each other.
Then he jerked his head up, looking at the ceiling.
But there was that…brief second where his gaze had drifted…down.
Wasn’t there?
“Sorry. I thought you’d…be dressed,” he said, sounding gruff. “I just wanted to… Do you need anything? I’m still worried about you.”
Worried. That was…sweet. But she was in a towel. “All my clothes are in my room. So I’m just going to…” She sidestepped, holding the towel tight. “Get dressed. I’m good. I’ll…be out in a minute.” She nearly leaped for her door and then closed it very firmly behind her.
It was silly. The towel covered what any dress would. Well, maybe not any dress as she wasn’t prone to wearing anything that short, but still.
It didn’t matter. He wasn’t looking at her any way, and the worry was that the woman he’d been assigned to protect might die from cat allergy instead of crazed kidnapper she’d IDed.
Frustrated with herself on just about every level, she pulled on some baggy athletic shorts, and because she couldn’t be bothered to put on a bra, an athletic top with support built in. She left her hair damp and down, because it didn’t matter how she looked.
He’d seen her use her inhaler. She needed to stop holding on to some strange little seed of hope that the hot cop who’d grown up in a biker gang thought there was anything even remotely interesting about her.
She stepped out of her bedroom, determined to play all of this as just normal. Something that could happen to anyone. Ha. Ha. Ha.
But he was standing there still. Right across from her room door. Waiting for her.
She tried to smile but wasn’t sure she managed. “All better,” she said brightly.
But he crossed the small space between them. He studied her face very intently, then framed her face with his very large, very rough hands and tilted her face up toward the light.
For signs of allergic reaction, Franny. Stop letting your imagination play tricks on you. Because in her imagination this would lead somewhere very different. In her imagination, she was the kind of woman who knew how to issue an invitation.
And then knew how to behave if such invitation was accepted.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked very seriously.
“Yeah.” She nodded. He didn’t move his hands, so her cheeks just kind of brushed up against the rough palms. God. “I’m a big girl. I know how to take care of myself.”
He cocked his head.
“Well, you know, with how to handle an allergy attack. Not so much the whole kidnapper threatening me thing.” She tried to smile, but he was so close. “See? I haven’t sneezed once since I got out of the shower.”
“Yeah, an improvement, but your eye’s still swollen.” And then his thumb swept under said eye, and she forgot all about the pounding in her temples, that swollen feeling when she blinked, how much her eyes itched.
Because he was touching her with such gentleness and touching her at all. Even though she knew he was doing it in like a first responder, worried about her health way, she couldn’t get that message through to all the pleasure receptors in her body.
“Well, uh, the allergy meds will take a little while to kick in. But I already feel ten times better. And learned my lesson that I did not, in fact, grow out of my terrible dog and cat allergy.”
She should move her head. Step away. She knew she should, but her body wasn’t listening.
And he wasn’t moving. His hands were still on her face. His expression had changed slightly. He didn’t look…concerned.
He looked intent.
Stop. Dreaming.
But she didn’t heed the warning in her head. She stayed very still. She was afraid to move. If she moved, he might move. And she wanted to stay right there for as long as humanly possible.
What happened to not imagining things?
But then he was closer. His head tilting toward hers, his hands still on her face. She could feel his breath across her mouth, the warmth of his body. She could smell…something on him. Soap or cologne or…
His mouth was just a whisper away from hers, and she could think of no rational reason for it. Checking her pulse? Making sure her eye hadn’t fully swollen shut?
No, none of that made sense, the only thing that made sense…even though it didn’t, was that he was…going to kiss her.
And he did. Kind of. His lips touched hers. She barely felt the contact. It was so light. Like a test. For both of them.
She’d always enjoyed acing tests, so she moved to her toes, touching her hands to his chest as balance.
And then it wasn’t light at all. His grip on her face changed, somehow firming and gentling at the same time. The kiss wasn’t…wild, but she didn’t know what it was. Serious, like him. Intent and thorough and absolutely mind-emptying.
And it just seemed to last. He lingered, and she lingered, and surely she was just hallucinating or something, but she’d take it. If it felt this good, she’d sure as hell take it. Especially since she could feel the unsteady beating of his heart under her palm.
He eased away, but for a moment their lips still faintly brushed, their breath a little ragged, mingling. She inhaled deeply, opened her eyes. To his blue ones staring intently at her.
Then he kind of sighed, slowly dropping his hands. Then stepping back, leaning against the wall opposite her.
Franny didn’t breathe. Her skin buzzed. And there was not one useful thought in her head. Not one.
He had kissed her, and she could not rationalize that simple fact away.
Royal cleared his throat. “I… I should apologize.”
Apologize. Right. The humiliation continues. “Okay.”
“It’s just… I shouldn’t be…” At least he seemed almost flustered. He wasn’t trying to humiliate her.
Just succeeding at it.
“You don’t have to explain,” she said, proud of how…calm her voice sounded. “You didn’t like it. You don’t have to manage my feelings.” She even smiled at him, because he didn’t. That was her job. And she was damn good at it.
