Fires of Autumn (13 page)

He went
back into his office, listening to Casey rally the troops. Within ten minutes,
she was in the Oval Office with several aides and the National Security
Advisor, Paul Halferty.  As Colt returned his attention to the report he was
writing from the incident that morning, he happened to see Casey’s office mate,
Chris, stand up from his chair and sneak his way over to Casey’s desk. Colt
glanced up without moving his head, seeing that Chris was going for the cards
from the flowers in Casey’s top drawer. The second Chris touched the drawer,
Colt spoke.

“Do that
and I’ll break your fingers,” he rumbled.

Startled,
Chris looked at Colt with fear and defiance. “What are you talking about?”

Colt’s
head came up and he fixed Chris in the eye.  “I’ll repeat what I said; open
that drawer and snoop, and I’ll break your fingers. Is that clear enough?”

Chris
didn’t reply. He just went back to his desk, quickly, and sat down.  Colt
returned his attention to his report, typing steadily until six o’clock. At
that point, Chris left and so did nearly everyone else in the west wing, but
Colt didn’t leave. He remained as long as the President remained, and as long
as Casey remained.  Even when the report was finished, he remained at his desk
as the sky grew dark and the hour grew later.  He finally ended up reading one
of his security periodicals, waiting.  It was a silent, cold and long wait.

Near eight
o’clock, the door to the Oval Office finally opened and the President emerged. 
He was chatting with his National Security Advisor, heading for the corridor as
Colt stood up from his desk.  Russ caught sight of him.

“I’m going
up to bed,” he told him. “See you in the morning.”

Colt
nodded. “Yes, sir.”

The
President opened his mouth to continue his conversation with Halferty but ended
up moving into Colt’s office instead. He fixed the big agent in the eye.

“Look,” he
said quietly. “I just want to apologize for getting angry with you this
morning. I know you were just doing your job.”

“Yes,
sir.”

“I’m still
kind of getting the hang of the way this works.”

“Understandable,
sir.”

Russ was
waiting for more of a statement but when none was forthcoming, he simply turned
away and continued on with his National Security Advisor.  The night shift of
agents had already come on duty so Colt shut down his computer, watching the
President’s aides filter out of the office, waiting for Casey to come forth. 
She was the last one out, focused on the notebook in her hand.  She didn’t look
up from the notebook as she wandered to her desk.

“It must
be interesting,” Colt said softly.

Startled,
she looked up from the notebook, her eyes wide. “What in the world are you
still doing here?” she said. “I thought you went home hours ago.”

His brow
furrowed. “I don’t leave until the President leaves,” he said. “Besides, I have
a dinner date and I had to wait for her.”

Casey
smiled, closing up the notebook. “I’m not going to get to these notes until
tomorrow anyway,” she said, glancing at the clock. “Wow, I didn’t realize what
time it is. Are you sure you want to eat this late?”

“I’m
hungry. Aren’t you?”

She
nodded, moving around her desk to set the notebook down and shut down for the
night. “I’m starving,” she replied. “My stomach has been growling for the past
two hours. I’m surprised you couldn’t hear it through the walls.”

He smiled,
watching her as she shut her computer down and opened drawers to put things
away.  As Casey opened her top desk drawer to put her pens away, she noticed
the two cards for the flowers lying on top of everything.  She pulled them both
out.

“Hmmmm,”
she took Colt’s card and opened it, reading the words aloud. “’To the most
beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.  Looking forward to dinner’.” She closed the
card and smiled at him. “It doesn’t look like my dad’s handwriting.”

Colt
laughed softly. “I’m pretty sure it’s not,” he said, looking at the bigger of
the two arrangements. “But I have to admit, I felt rather inadequate when I saw
that monstrosity.  Someone must like you a whole lot.”

Casey
handed him the second card.  When he looked at it curiously, she put it in his
hand. “Because I don’t keep secrets.”

“It’s none
of my business.”

“I realize
that,” she said. “But I want to be completely honest and open. I don’t hide
things.  I just want you to know that in no way, shape or form do I flirt or
give out romantic signals to more than one man at a time. I’m not like that. 
These flowers were very unexpected and, truthfully, unwelcome.  I’m not sure
what to do about it.”

Colt’s
gaze lingered on her a moment before taking the card and reading it.   When he
saw who had signed the card, he grunted softly and handed it back to her.

“I should
have guessed,” he said.

She looked
at him, surprised. “Why do you say that?”

Colt
scratched his head. “Because he was checking you out pretty seriously when he
was here earlier today.”

Casey put
both cards in her purse and shut off her light.  “I never encouraged the man,”
she insisted. “I only just met him a few days ago.”

“You only
just met
me
a few days ago.”

She
grinned as they left her office, walking the darkened corridor towards the
entrance. “Yes, I know,” she said in a whisper.  “But the difference is that I
got to know you a little and I like you. I don’t even know him.”

“Maybe
he’s a nice guy.”

She gave
him a long look. “Are you telling me that I need to accept his invitation?”

He shook
his head as they passed through the lobby.  There were a couple of uniformed
secret service agents there and he remained quiet until they went outside, into
the cold night air.  By the time they hit the driveway, he turned to her.

“Where are
you parked?” he asked.

Casey
pointed off to the west. “In the parking structure over there.”

“Do you
want to meet me over at Charlie Palmer?”

Her gaze
lingered on him, the very handsome man in the moonlight. “No,” she said after a
moment.  “I think I’ll ride with you.”

His lips
twitched with a grin as he walked her across the street to another parking
structure.  It was cold but very well lit and they took the stairs up to the
second level.  Colt took her over to his beautiful new Audi A7, hitting the
keyless entry and opening the passenger door for her.  Impressed with the slick
black car, Casey climbed in.  Colt shut her door, walked around the back of the
car and slid into the driver’s seat, and pulled out of the parking stall.

“Nice
car,” she commented.

“Thanks,”
he replied. “I got it a couple of weeks ago.”

Casey ran
her hand along the side of the door, admiring it. “I drive a Ford SUV,” she
said. “I do so much driving with my boys and all of their gear that I need a
bigger car. But I’d sure love one like this.”

He smiled
as they pulled out of the parking structure and out onto 17
^th
Street, heading south.

“You’d be
getting flowers on a daily basis if you drove something like this around,” he
said, glancing at her. “And no, I don’t want you to accept his dinner
invitation but I don’t have any say in the matter. If you want to have dinner
with the senator, that’s your choice.”

She looked
at him as they drove down the dark, street-lit boulevard. She seriously
considered his statement and the implications.

“I just
want to make myself clear,” she said softly. “I don’t ‘date’.  I focus on one
man at a time because I think to do anything else is kind of cheap.  I’m not
saying that you and I are exclusive, but as long as you and I are dating, even
casually, I won’t go out with anyone else. I think to do that shows a lack of
respect for you and whatever relationship we’re trying to build.”

He was
focused on the road as they turned the corner at E Street, heading east. “I can
appreciate that,” he said.  “I think it’s a very noble point of view.  How
would you feel if I went out with someone else?”

The mere
suggestion made her feel sick to her stomach.  She looked away, watching the
scenery go by and wondering why she felt so sad and disappointed.

“That’s up
to you,” she said softly.  “You can do whatever you want and I won’t judge you
for it. It’s not like I’m your girlfriend or anything.”

“Would you
like to be?”

She looked
at him sharply.  “I… I don’t even know how to answer that.”

He fought
off a grin. “It’s a pretty simple answer.  It’s either yes or no.”

She
couldn’t tell if he was teasing her or testing her.  She decided to fight back.
“I think I would just like to eat dinner. I can’t make any heavy decisions on
an empty stomach.”

Colt
realized he was disappointed as they drove on to the steak house.  He’d asked
the question seriously but she hadn’t taken it seriously.

“I’d like
it if you were,” he muttered.

They were
at a stop light.  Casey had heard the softly uttered statement, laced with
distress.  She looked at him, intensely.

“Are you
serious?”

He
wouldn’t look at her, sitting, waiting for the light to change. “I guess I
was.”

“Seriously?”
she repeated. “Colt, you don’t know the first thing about me. We haven’t even
kissed. How can you ask a question like that?”

Without
another word, he reached over and cupped her face with one hand, planting a
sweet and gentle kiss on her lips, one that quickly turned amorous once they
got a taste of each other.  One brief, wonderful taste was all they needed. 
Colt put both hands on her face and kissed her passionately, at least until the
light turned green and the car behind him honked to get him moving.  Somewhat
dazed, he pulled out from the light, changing lanes because the steak house was
up head on the left.

“After
that kiss, I’m going to ask again,” he said hoarsely, tasting her gloss on his
lips, “Do you want to be my girlfriend?”

Truthfully,
Casey was still recovering from that kiss as well. Her heart was pounding a
mile a minute and she couldn’t seem to catch her breath.  The man had
absolutely overwhelmed her and she struggled to keep a level head; otherwise,
they’d end up in the back seat with their clothes off.  Not that she wouldn’t
mind, but still….

“Can we
eat first?” she panted. “Seriously. I need to… think.”

He didn’t
say a word as he pulled into the underground parking structure for the steak
house. He drove right past the valets, down to the second level, and pulled
into a slot between two expensive new cars. 

Turning
the car off, he turned to Casey so swiftly that she hadn’t time to react before
his hands were on her face and he was kissing her again.  It wasn’t an
aggressive kiss, but it was very passionate and very warm.  Casey hadn’t been
with a man in a couple of years and she very quickly surrendered to Colt’s
lust.  She had quite enough of her own. 

Colt was
practically in her seat, his big body looming over her, when he pulled the seat
release and the back of the seat when slamming down against the back seat.  
His hands were on her face, her neck, before winding a big arm around her
slender torso and pulling her against him.

Because of
his size, it was awkward in the car, but he was making the best of it.  He
devoured her lips, her cheeks, her jaw and her neck.  Casey had her arms around
his head, giving off little gasps of passion as he suckled and kissed.  Colt
returned to her mouth, kissing her so furiously that she had to gasp for air
when he suddenly pulled away.

“There,”
he whispered breathlessly. “Now we’ve had our first kiss. Will you at least think
about being my girlfriend now?”

She gazed
up at him, rather overcome by everything.  She licked her lips, still breathing
heavily, tasting him on her flesh.

“Yes,” she
murmured. “I’ll think about it. But you and I are going to get to know each
other really well before either of us commits to something like that. I don’t
take it lightly and I hope you don’t, either.”

He shook
his head, a big hand stroking her soft, pretty face. “I don’t,” he muttered. “I
have to be honest with you.  My divorce was finalized fifteen years ago and in
that time, I’ve only had once serious relationship.  Doing what I do pretty
much takes all of my time and attention. It’s hard to maintain a relationship.”

“Then why
do you want one with me?”

He sighed
faintly, shifting so he wasn’t putting so much weight on her. “Because you’re
everything I’ve been waiting for and never thought I’d actually find,” he
whispered. “You’ve got this face… I can’t even describe to you what I feel when
I look at your face. It’s like I’m seeing angels. And you’re funny, feisty and
smart. I love that about you. I want to know everything about you and I want to
hold it deep inside of me, like it’s part of me.  Damn, there I go, running off
at the mouth again. I don’t usually do that. I’m sorry if I’m freaking you
out.”