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Reunited in Danger
by Joya Fields

Copyright © 2013 by Joya Fields. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.

Chapter One

Wishing she didn’t look so good in a pair of worn jeans and an old red University of Maryland sweatshirt, he slammed the door and set the lock.

“Keely.” He stood by the door, afraid to trust himself around her. He had to keep her at a distance. As teens, he’d been too wild for her, as adults, he couldn’t give her what she wanted.

Anger grew in his gut. What if she’d been attacked in his own neighborhood, on her way to see him, and he’d been inside watching a movie? He faced her, using his best cop tone. “Do you know how many muggings there were on the next block last month?” He could have bought a house in a safer neighborhood, but he liked the fact everyone knew he was a cop. His presence kept crime down on this block. But he’d never expected women to come over at odd hours in the night.

She didn’t even have the grace to look chastened as she took a swig of beer and shrugged. “So, I see you still like Louis L’Amour movies.” She smiled and pointed at the television screen with her beer bottle.

He forced himself to take a slow, calming breath, counting to ten.

“Logan?” A furrow formed between her brows and she stood. Her long brown hair, damp from the rain, clung to the sides of her face. A loose tendril fell across her cheek.

He wanted to step forward, brush it aside, grab her face in both hands, and kiss the hell out of her.

“Why didn’t you return my calls when I reached out to you a few years ago?”

So that was why she was here. To finish the conversation they’d started earlier, before the street outside her dad’s house had erupted in chaos.

She set her bottle on the table and took a step closer to him.

His gaze dropped to follow her pink-painted fingertips as she reached for the hem of her sweatshirt. Surprise shot through him as she yanked it over her head, tossing it to the sofa. She wore a thin beige halter and no bra. He stared at the pert outline of her

nipples, and his mouth went dry. Oh, holy shit.

With every ounce of willpower he possessed, he forced his eyes higher and stared back at her. But focusing on her eyes didn’t do him much good. Her blue eyes sparkled in the dim lamp light, sending him signals he knew only too well.

She hadn’t come over solely to get the answers to her questions. She’d come here to seduce him. And God help him, he didn’t know if he had the strength to resist.

Fifteen minutes later, he stood on her front stoop with his finger poised to ring the bell.     He dropped his hand to his side.

He shouldn’t be so selfish. And yet after years of keeping a quiet watch over her, making sure her life went well, forcing himself to keep a distance because he knew it was the right thing to do for her, he didn’t have the strength to stay away from her tonight.

Even if it was for her own good.

He’d phone her. Wouldn’t even tell her he was on her front steps. Make it easier for her to turn him away, if that’s what she wanted.

Perched on the bottom step of her front stoop, he dialed her number and watched the late-night stars sparkle in the dark sky.

A cool breeze whipped down between the rows of homes, rustling the few remaining leaves on the small trees planted near the curbs.

After one ring, Keely picked up. “Logan?” she asked, her voice groggy.

The image of her sleep-heavy eyelids and soft lips against the phone as she sat up in a halter top or T-shirt and not much else chased into his thoughts.

“Do you feel like company?” He kept his voice low, part of him hoping she would say no so she could protect herself from him.

“You okay?” Bed sheets rustled in the background and he pictured her sitting up, her sleep-tossed hair tangled around her face.

“Yeah. I’m okay.”

“Where are you?”

He considered a lie. If he said he was at headquarters, she might tell him to go home, get a good night’s rest. “On your front stoop.”

“I’ll be right there.” She hung up.

Within thirty seconds, she unlatched the front door and held it open.

He sucked in a breath when he realized the mental image he’d had of her had been correct. She stood in front of him with tousled brown hair, wearing only a loose purple T-shirt.

He stepped inside and latched the door. Before he could change his mind, he turned and pulled her into his arms.

If he could come home to a comfort like Keely every night, all would be well in his world.

She straightened her shoulders. “Why did you lead me to think I meant something to you and then leave me without even saying goodbye? Do you know how I felt, knowing you’d been arrested for fighting, and then learning you’d left for the Marines as soon as the police released you?”

You’re wrong for her, Keely’s mother Lillian had told him at the police station the night he’d been arrested. He’d called Ben to pick him up when the charges were dropped, but Lillian had shown up, instead. He’d been a messed up, angry kid, and he’d believed   Lillian when she said Keely deserved better. Which was why Lillian had ordered him to disappear from Keely’s life. And he had.

He wouldn’t tell Keely now. Why tarnish her memories of her mother? Besides, he’d agreed with Lillian. Probably would have come up with the idea on his own, eventually.   The arrest and Lillian’s pressure had only made it easier.

“Yeah, just as I thought,” Keely muttered. “You had no good reason. When I reached out with an olive branch three years ago, why didn’t you return any of my calls?”

“I had to work. Criminals don’t take time off.” He shifted in the chair. Was this what it felt like to be interrogated? He sat ramrod straight, his muscles tense. All he needed was a hot lamp in his face and a good cop and bad cop across from him. On second thought,  Keely seemed to be doing fine in the bad cop role.

She moved her hands to her hips and took a few steps toward him, then tripped on a discarded book. He shot out of the chair and caught her by the waist as her arms flailed.   Her hair swung forward over her shoulders and her mouth was suddenly close enough to kiss. A few more inches, and he’d be able to taste her sweetness, relive the feel of her lips. He swallowed. She probably had no idea how beautiful she looked. And how he longed to touch her.

Her wide-eyed gaze searched his, then she blinked. “I can stand on my own.”

Reluctantly, he let go, returning to the chair to put distance between them again.

Her eyes shone, but he knew she would never cry in front of him. Guilt had him wondering how many times his actions had sent her to her room to cry alone.

She ran a hand over her chin. He wanted to cup that chin and brush his lips against hers.   This was why he’d stayed away so long.

How could he possibly spend time with her and not touch her?

Maybe it didn’t matter. He’d be leaving soon and the temptation to be with her would be gone. But the memories that haunted him would never leave.