Acquiring Trouble (17 page)

Miles
lo
oked around the room then. He
looked
for muddy boots, dirty clothes,
or
evidence of ANTU
—a
nything to
use against her. The clothes that
were on the floor of the bathroom were clean. Her sho
es lined up in the closet were all clean and none were proper for running about far
ms.

"Don't turn away from me! I'm not done with you yet! How dare you break into my
room! What did you do, bribe your way in
from some cute cleaning lady?"

"No, I used to be a Ranger. I just picked
the lock
." Miles almost smiled when her eyes went large. Here came the fear and crying. He narrowed his eyes
again. Phew, he was beginning
to think he was losing his
touch
.
 

"Oh.
" Why didn't she look afraid? Instead she looked like she was contemplating something.
"That explains it perfectly
. However
,
I'm still really mad at you and you should apologize right now
for breaking in and accusing me of such horrid things,
" s
he said
pointing her finger at his chest
.

He gave up. He had tried his best interrogation looks, voices, and body language and she hadn't trembled once. In fact she had just handed it back to him tenfold.
"Explains what?" Miles
questioned
as
he took another step toward her.
Well, there
was
mo
re than one way to string a bow and he'd just use a more delicate method.

"You
were
always looking out for the little guy
s
—p
rotecting them. You made sure the chess team didn't get their heads
swirl
i
ed
in the toilet by the football team, and you didn't let people pick on me when you were in
earshot
. You, Miles, are a classic protector. It's one of the reasons I fell in love with you
in high school
.
I never had anyone try to protect me before.
But, I have to tell you
—y
ou're way off base here. I'd never hurt anyone or anything and you
should’ve
trusted me when I told you that."

Miles looked at her again. She was right in front of him and this time he did notice that her
breasts
were just inches from his chest. As their anger faded he could tell by her uneven breathing that she had just realized it too. Miles reached out and caressed her arm. He let his hand fall to her waist as he pulled her against him.

Her breasts were even fuller than they had been in high school. It was a heady feeling having her body against his. He leaned forward and gently traced her ear with his
lips
.

"What
…
w
hat are you doing?"
s
he asked on a shaky breath.

Miles
trailed his lips down and gently
nibbled the side of her neck, u
sing his tongue to lave the slight pain away. She moaned and leaned closer to him. She rolled her head to one side, givi
ng him free access to her neck.

"
Did you poison the pigs or burn down
the orchard
?"
h
e murmured against her neck
before kissing
it
again.

"No
,
"
s
he said on a moan.

"Do you
still
love me?" h
e asked before moving
to place
anot
her succulent kiss on her neck.

"Yes," Morgan answered so quietly he barely heard it. She tried to pull away then an
d cover herself with her hands.

"Don't you dare," his gravelly voice reprimanded. "You're beautiful. Never cover up around me."
He pulled her back against him and let her feel his hardness against her stomach.
Miles
moved his lips to her mouth and stroked her tongue w
ith his
,
leaving her breathless.

Through
the haze of passion Morgan felt his hand glide up her ribs and stop slightly under her breasts. He was so close. She had to have his hands on her. She was th
robbing with need as he touched her body.
Finally, with strong hands
,
he cupped her breasts and gently rolled her nipple between his fingers.

"Let's finish what we started all th
ose years ago." Morgan
hardly recognized her own voice as sh
e pushed Miles down on the bed and straddled him.

Morgan
ripped
off his shirt and sent buttons flying in every direction. She was embolden
ed
when Miles just smiled, urging her on. She ran her hands over his ripped
abs
and writhed
along the
length
of his arousal.
Miles ran his hands up her thighs and she melted.

"Nice panties.
Now take them off," he rumbled.

She heard the tearing of lace
and saw her panties fly through the air. His hands took their place. Her head rolled back in pleasure and all conscious thoughts fled.

Morgan snuggled against Miles'
s
chest and drank in his scent. The real thing had been so much better than her fantasies. As she ran her hand over his chest she noticed
the puckered scar on his arm,
a
long straight scar across his ribs
and another circular scar on his side
. Was this from being a Ranger? Had he actually been in battle?

"Miles, why did you believe me when I told you I hadn't done the things you were accusing me of?" She absently ran her fingertip over th
e long white scar on his chest.

"I have the ability to determine when someone is lying or not under certain circumstances. I knew you were telling the truth when I asked you that final time so I moved on to more
…
um
…
important things." He grinned and ran his hand
through her tumbled hair.

"How can you do that?"

"The Rangers taught me a few tricks."

"I think we just did some of those tricks," Morgan teased. She reached over his chest and
put her finger on the long jagged
scar. "How did you get these scars?" Morgan was hoping that the subject would keep him away from remembering that she had told
him
she loved him during the heat of the moment.
Although he didn't acknowledge her answer, he knew
enough to ask her.

"There was a rescue mission
and I was injured.”

Morgan felt her eyes widen. There was so much she didn't know. She had
started a new life that seemed s
o small compared to what he had done with his. "Who were you rescuing?"

"At that exact moment, my brother Cade.
He had been captured by terrorists
.
This
scar I got trying to get him and another rescued hostage to safety.
I was shot. Then
I was cut with a knife
—a
dirty one for that matter. The tetanus shot hurt more than anything
, I think," Miles tried to joke.

S
he could tell that whatever happened may have been a
while
ago, but was nowhere near forgotten.
"Miles…" Morgan stopped when she heard his phone ring. It was probably for the best. She was about to blurt out that she
had
loved him
in high school and now she wanted to be the one to love him forever. S
he
also
wanted to
be the one to take care of him.

"Hello?
What!" Miles sat up in bed so fast that Morgan rolled off his arm and onto the pillow. Whatever that was about, it couldn't be good. "I'll be there in a couple minutes." Miles jumped out of bed and stepped into his black boxer briefs without ev
en giving her a second thought.

"Miles, what's going on? Is everything alright?" Morgan pulled the covers up as she
watched him zip up his slacks.

"Where were you this morning?"

Mo
rgan's back went stiff with his accusatory tone. "I think you know where I was this morning or you wouldn't be asking. Now, will you stop being a jackass and tell me what is going on?"

"One
of Mr. Johnson's cows was
kille
d. I'm heading over there now."

"Wait just a minute. You don't think I did this, do you?" Miles didn't answer and she watched as he continued to get dressed. "Mi
les. Wait, I'm coming with you." She
went for her board
room voice to hide the hurt she felt. They had just made love and now he was
turning a cold shoulder to her.

Morgan
sat quietly in the passenger seat of
his
car as they drove down the dirt lane toward the back of Mr. Johnson's farm. In the distance she could see the flashing police lights.
From the corner of her eye, s
he could tell that Miles was watching
for her reaction. It hurt her more than all the teasing she had received during high school.

A cow lay on the ground on the other side of the fence. A blonde
-haired
woman was kneeling in the grass beside it. Her long ha
ir
was
pulled back into a ponytail and she had a stethoscope hanging around her neck.
Marshall Davies was standing behind her in his uniform. He certainly hadn't changed much since the last time she had seen him. He just got thicker
and his face had
matur
ed,
losing its youthful mischievousness
.

Miles was already walking toward his brother when Morgan opened her door and got out of the car.

"What's going on?" Miles asked.

Marshall put his hands on his hips and looked back at Morgan. "A
cow has been shot. It's dead."

Miles nodded and didn't seem to notice that Marshall had s
aid that to her and not to him.

"Hello Morgan. It's been a while. I'm glad you're here. I have some questions for you."

Morgan crossed her arms over her chest and stood
perfectly
straight. "I'm sure you do
,
"
s
he said coldly. Some things never change. She felt as if she was
seventeen again,
standing in front of Red and being blamed for someth
ing her angelic sister did but bla
med
on
her
.

"Where were you this morning?" Marshall asked as he stared her down. She felt sorry for the teenagers of Keeneston. Marshall was a far worse fate to deal with than Re
d.

"I was here from 6:45 to a couple minutes past 7:00 this morning. Then I went directly back to my hotel." Morgan looked him in the eyes and returned the stare. She may feel seventeen again, but she wasn't and she
refused
to be intimidated anymore.

"
Katelyn, dear
," Marshall turned to the woman veterinarian. Oh, so this was the woman he was marrying.
Morgan
had been hearing about the wedding since she got back to town last month.

Morgan watched as the woman stood up
gracefully
and walked over to them. She was tall
,
and by her postu
ring she was mad and thought
Morgan was
at
fault. Katelyn stood almost six inches above her and was staring Morgan down
,
trying to intimidate her.

"How long has the cow been dead?" Marshall asked.

"Two hours at the most," Katelyn answered.

"Morgan, can anyone verify you were at the hotel two hours ago?" Marshall had pulled a pad of paper out and Morgan just waited. Would Mr.
Rangerman
be compelled by the truth to step forward and tell his brother what he was doing two hours ago?

"I can."

Marshall turned to his brother and raised an eyebrow. "I was with her from seven
-
thirty till now at her hotel." Miles finally slouched a little and let out a breath, "And she didn't commit the other crimes either."