Terms of Surrender (4 page)

“Of course, there
is
that other thing,” Adam continued, the tone of his voice deceptively mild, almost smug.

Stupidly, Gage asked, “What other thing?”

“Riding to the rescue. Getting the girl. Outstanding job, Toryn.” Adam pinned him with a look, a smirk tugging at the edges of his mouth. “News of that kiss will be all over the station within the hour. Better put on your big boy panties because the guys won’t let you forget about it.”

Gage glanced around, yet everyone appeared to be going about their business. “Are you sure they saw?”

“Oh yeah. They’re doing their job right now, but later…maybe you should take some time off till it all blows over,” Adam suggested, a wicked glint in his eyes. “This is your golden moment, Toryn. The moment your co-workers will remember every time you set foot in the locker room—”

Gage tuned the other man out, knowing full well that not one of his co-workers would let him live it down. They’d hassle him incessantly, and draw out the torture till they came up with some ridiculous scheme designed to go down in department history.

All because he’d gone temporarily insane and given in to the urge to feel the softness of Harley’s mouth against his own.

Again
.

Adam jostled him with an elbow to regain his attention. “How’re you doing, man? I know she broke your heart—”

“She didn’t break my heart.” It was a downright, bold-faced lie, but Gage knew it would take far more skill and cunning than his exhausted brain could muster to outsmart anyone tonight. What was the point of expending all that good mental energy, especially since he was certain he’d need it later?

He glanced back at Harley and remembered how he’d broken her heart without showing a single bit of emotion. One magical night at Mike and Hannah’s wedding. They’d danced, they’d flirted, they’d kissed.

And before the night was over, he’d realized things were getting serious way too fast. He’d walked away and let everyone believe that she’d dumped him.

His own broken heart had just been a side effect of his action.

“I remember how you withdrew after she dumped your sorry ass. You haven’t been out on a date since. It’s a textbook case. You still have feelings for her.”

“Stop with the psycho-analysis crap, will you?” Gage kicked at a loose chunk of cement, the unbidden kiss still foremost in his thoughts, and as his guilt barometer hit the roof, he turned on the other man. “What’s the big deal anyway? Don’t forget she’s been through an ordeal most people never experience. And for the record, she kissed me.”

“Do you deny kissing her back?”

Gage forced himself not to squirm. “Right.”

Adam raised his gaze from his clipboard. “I can see how you’d want everyone to believe that, seeing as how your reputation is on the line. This is me you’re talking to, bud. We’ve been through too much to lie to each other.”

Gage raked a hand through his hair and glanced over his shoulder at his coworkers. Not a single one of them were paying him an ounce of attention. Maybe Adam was wrong. Maybe everyone had been so involved with Henry’s arrest that they’d failed to notice the elephant in the room.

Except, as he turned back to face Adam, his gaze collided with one of the other officers. When the man puckered his lips in a silent kiss, Gage groaned. “They’ll give me crap, won’t they?”

Adam grinned. “I’ll watch your back.”

If they were in the line of fire, Gage didn’t doubt he would. But in this case, his partner would likely be head honcho in whatever scheme the guys cooked up. Maybe it was time to head out while he still had a wee bit of his dignity intact.

Across the yard, Harley pushed away from the squad car, turned in his direction, and when their gazes collided, the breath whooshed from his lungs. Because whenever Harley Jane Davis was around, everything else faded to nothing.

Gage held her gaze so she wouldn’t run away and tried to contain his desperation. “Can she stay with you and Robyn tonight?”

“Right. Like my insomniac, high-strung, pregnant wife will be the calming influence Harley needs.” Adam flipped open the cell in his hand. “Which reminds me, I should call her and let her know everything is okay.”

A smidgen of panic washed through Gage. “What am I supposed to do with her?”

Adam shrugged and thumbed the tiny screen. “She’s not your responsibility, not any more. Let her go.”

“I…can’t.”

Adam glanced up from the cell. “Then take her home with you. Maybe you can pick up where you left off. Maybe this time she’s ready to settle down. Either way, maybe you can finally get her out of your system and get that chip off your shoulder.”

“I don’t have a chip on my shoulder.”

Adam set the phone back in his pocket. “Yeah man, you do. Every time someone mentions her name, you freeze up, withdraw, act like she dumped you yesterday.”

Heat climbed up his neck and into his face. “All I want to do is make sure she has a place to stay tonight.”

“Just remember, loverboy. The captain wants your report on his desk by noon tomorrow. Better get moving before she leaves without you.”

Gage followed Adam’s gaze and saw Harley heading across the lawn toward the back of her house. As he crossed the front yard in pursuit, his co-workers took the opportunity to make sure he knew they hadn’t missed a moment of the night’s entertainment.

A snicker here. A wink there. An obscene hand gesture over there.

His showdown with Henry tonight was nothing compared to what these guys could cook up, but he didn’t have time to worry about what they might do.

Not right now. Not while he was fighting the desire to let Harley go. Because if he did, he’d spend the night pacing the house, wishing she was within arm’s reach. Yet if he forced her to comply with his wishes, she’d be within the danger zone, forced into a bad situation against her will.

He was stuck and he knew it.

She disappeared into the crowd, ducked between the emergency vehicles, and slid past the on-duty officers.

Gage lengthened his stride and when he caught up to her, grabbed her by the elbow. She faced him, her eyes glistening under the streetlight, her soft mouth trembling. The moment he saw Henry’s marks a vivid purple against the paleness of her skin, he released her. “Where’s your ice pack?”

“I gave it back.” As she followed his gaze to the fingerprints on her arm, the edges of her soft mouth turned down. “What’s the big deal? It’s only a few bruises. Believe me, this isn’t habit forming.”

He shifted his stance, squared his shoulders, took in the blood drying on her face, the tear in the shoulder of her scrubs.

In his opinion, the marks rated right up there with the kiss they’d shared. Totally unthinkable. He stepped back and jammed his hands into his pant pockets.

She reached into the pocket of her scrubs, pulled out a set of keys, and turned her back on him. “Goodbye, Gage. It was nice to see you. Let’s never do this again.”

Gage’s appreciative gaze dropped to the sway of her hips. For such a tiny thing, she packed a mind-boggling punch.

Okay, maybe he could walk away, conscience clean, knowing she didn’t need or want his help. He’d seen for himself that she was lucid, steady on her feet, relatively unharmed on the outside.

What about inside?

He realized it was all an act to get rid of him.

What were his choices? Walk away or worry himself sick?

It was either
goodbye
or
trust me
. Except he couldn’t trust himself.

Gage followed her up the driveway. He plucked the cell phone off his hip and when he caught up to her, she stopped and faced him, her hands in fists at her sides.

“Why are you following me?”

He steadied his nerves, steadied his voice, and spoke softly. “I checked with Adam to see if you could stay at his house tonight.”

“What? Are you my keeper now? Robyn’s nine-and-a-half-months pregnant. She doesn’t need me in the house, underfoot and in the way.” She tilted her head to the side and blinked up at him, her gaze slightly dazed and unfocused. “Go away, Gage. You saved the day and I’m thankful. You’re relieved of your responsibility. Don’t worry about me. I’m fine on my own.”

Gage glanced down at the cell and started thumbing through his contact list. “If you won’t stay with Robyn and Adam, what about George?”

“My brother? He’s crashing at the hospital tonight, like he does every other night. By now, he’s probably elbow deep in surgery or trying to catch a few seconds of sleep between emergencies.”

“Fine. I’m calling Mike.”

With a gasp, she lunged for the phone, and as he lifted it out of reach, she swiped at empty air and leaned into him. Gage snaked one arm around her waist and caught her before she did something stupid and hurt herself.

She pressed against him, still clawing at the empty air for the phone. Unbidden, his body responded to hers. Hell, too bad he was such a sucker for dark-eyed, elfin-sized nurses.

“Let me go.” She pushed at his chest, a crazed light in her eyes. “Please don’t call Mike.”

“Then who?” he demanded as he released her. “Throw me a bone, honey. Give me a name. Anyone. Let me call someone to come get you so I know you’ll be okay.”

She stepped back and wrapped her arms around her waist, effectively closing in on herself, shying away from his touch. “There is no one.”

Gage forced himself to make the hard decision. “Fine. You’re coming home with me.”

She froze, silent now, wary.

He worked his shoulders to ease the knotted muscles at the base of his neck and, pushing aside the regret, slid into the slick tactics he used on the job, the same slippery coaxing his dad had always used on his mom.

Right before he gave her a black eye.

Oh yeah, it made him feel like crap, so he tucked his emotions deep inside where no one else could see them. He could feel like an ass in the morning when she was gone.

He smoothed out his voice. “You’ll spend the night. One friend helping out another.”

With a shake of her head, she met his gaze square on. “No.”

The smoothness disappeared and he bit back his frustration. “I wasn’t giving you a choice, honey.”

She fixed her attention on her house, the curve of her mouth turned down. After a moment, she released a quiet sigh. “So that’s it. I’m stuck with you until your guilt fetish is satisfied.”

“I don’t have a guilt fetish. You’ll spend the night. That’s all. One frigging night.” He clenched his jaw, gritted his teeth. “Do you want to grab any clothes?”

A visible shudder went through her slim body. “I’m not going back inside.”

“Fine, no clothes.” Unwanted came the image of her naked in his house. He pushed it away, and instead focused on following her into the garage where he spotted a canary yellow Volkswagen. Gage stopped. “Kind of small, isn’t it?”

Her gaze slid down his body and warmed him in spots that were already overheated. “That’s cause you’re kind of…big.”

How hard would it be to stay away from her for the space of a single night?

The devil riding on his shoulder threw back his head in uproarious laughter.

Impossible, you fool. That’s why you cut her out of your life in the first place.

She jangled her keys in one hand, then tossed them into the air. “You’re going to regret this.”

Gage reached out and snagged the keys out of the air.

Without even having to consider the consequences, he knew that she was right.

CHAPTER FOUR

Harley gave in and let Gage drive, not that he’d given her any choice.

He’d taken control, swiped the keys right out of her hand, and somehow squeezed his tall frame through the driver’s door opening and onto the driver’s seat.

Fine, whatever, she thought as she stared out the passenger side window. She had bigger things to worry about, like keeping the emotional aftershocks of the evening bottled up.

Because now that the adrenalin had started to dissipate, craziness was just around the corner.

From the crushing weight in her chest, to the throbbing pain in her head, to the heat which refused to let up, Gage had been right about one thing. There was a whole lot of a mess clawing to get out.

She huddled against the passenger door, kept her hands tucked under her arms, and wished her twin sister were still alive.

Hannah would know exactly what she needed…a hug, a shoulder to cry on, and a place to stay until the memory of Henry and his rifle and fists faded into the background. But one night pretending everything was okay, sleeping in Gage’s spare bedroom, wasn’t nearly enough time for the fear to recede.

And yet, somehow she had to make it through the next twelve hours without a meltdown, then the next week, the next month—

A movement out the side of her eye made her raise her arms to shield her face from another blow. A scream clawed up her throat.

Gage’s voice cut through her panic. “Geez, Harley, I’m sorry. I was just reaching for the air-conditioning button.”

She sagged against the back of the seat.

Gage was watching her as though he fully expected her to come unglued and he wasn’t too far off the mark.

His calm voice drifted through the warm interior of the vehicle. “It’s okay to cry, honey. I won’t think less of you.”

She raised her chin and through stiff lips said, “I’m fine.”

As if she hadn’t said a word, he continued. “You’ve been through a traumatic experience tonight. In fact, I’m feeling a little shaky myself.”

He didn’t look shaky. If anything, he appeared more in control now than the moment Henry had smashed her head into the wall. Gage had lunged to his feet, furious and wild and fearless.

Right now, he sat scrunched in the driver’s seat, his six-foot-two frame wedged into her pipsqueak-sized car. He looked like a sardine stuffed into a tin can, the boots on his feet almost too big to manipulate the tiny pedals that easily accommodated her much smaller feet. His shoulders were hunched, his back curved, and his thighs cradled the steering wheel.

He slanted another glance her way and when she didn’t say anything, turned his attention to the buttons on the dash. He poked at one, then another. “Man, it’s hot in here. Is the heat turned on?”