To Woo A Warrior (Southern Sanctuary) (13 page)

“No.”  Hadleigh rose to her
feet moving back to the safe distance of the bathroom doorway.

“Because?”  Vaughn managed to
raise himself up onto his elbows.  Noting Hadleigh’s perplexed look he
elaborated.  “Why no?  I’m single.  You’ve told me you’re not
with anyone at the moment.  I know you’re attracted to me.  No one
could fake a kiss like that.”

“You kissed me!”  Hadleigh shot
back, mortified to her very bones.

“I recall you giving as good as you
got Sweetheart.”

Hadleigh fought not to fidget under
his intense gaze.  “Look, the truth is … I don’t date, ever.”

“Religious reasons?” 

“What? No!”

“What are the exceptions?”

“The what?”

Vaughn fought hard to keep a smile
off his face.  She seemed deadly serious about not dating so he needed to
play this carefully, not spook her.  “For every rule there is an
exception.  I want to know what the exception is to your not dating rule.”

“No exceptions.”  She crossed
her arms defensively, which caused the t-shirt to ride up those gorgeous thighs
of hers. 

Fighting hard not to be distracted
Vaughn retained eye contact.  “Okay so no date.  Well just go out,
grab a bite to eat, talk and have some laughs … just one friend getting to know
another friend.”

“Sounds like a date to me.” 
The corner of Hadleigh’s mouth lifted in a reluctant half smile.

“Then you’ve been doing it wrong.”

“So I’ve been told
ad-nauseam.”  She muttered.  “Look, I should leave you to rest and
heal.”  She sidled a few steps sideways towards the door.

“Hold on, you don’t get to leave
until I get an answer.  Will you go out with me … as a friend?”

“Don’t all the experts say men and
women can’t be just friends?”

She sidled two more steps closer to
the door, wary as Vaughn shifted on the bed, following her every movement,
looking like a giant golden lion ready to spring on his prey.

“I like nothing more than proving
the so called experts wrong.”

Hadleigh had her hand on the door
handle when he said something that made her stop.  Just one word but it
made her knees melt and her nipples tighten.

“Please…”

Damn the man for being so
enticing.  “Okay...
” 
He didn’t give her a
chance to finish her sentence.  She’d been about to tack on –‘I’ll
think about it.’

Instead he just talked right over
her. “Excellent, so our next free night would be … hey today … I mean later
today, tonight, back in Atlanta.”

Despite herself Hadleigh found she
was smiling.  Honestly give the Viking an inch and he pillaged the whole
village.  Holding up her hand.  “Wait, I can’t tonight I have plans.”

“Date plans?”  He asked,
suspicion filling his tone.

Hadleigh huffed out a sigh. 
“What didn’t you understand about the statement - I don’t date?  No I have
a prior ... engagement.”

“Maybe I could come too, to this
prior engagement?”

Hadleigh looked horrified for a
moment.  “Goddess no!  Pick any other day of the week though and I’m
yours.”  She noted his eyes turn that deep burnished gold colour. 
“Well not yours …
But
, oh you know what I mean.” 
With that she swept out of the room, stomping off down the corridor. 

Vaughn let out a deep breath he
hadn’t realised he was holding, grinning so hard his cheeks hurt.  He had
a date with a warrior.   Damn he was one lucky Viking.  Now he
just had to plan a date without it seeming like a date.  Thank Maat he
really did like a challenge.

Chapter Fourteen

The next day proved a difficult one
for Vaughn.  Not physically, his back was healed up by dawn as Nell had
promised and he’d been able to grab a shower and finally get the stink of last
night’s operation off.  No, what was going on with him was all in his head
and it was all about Hadleigh. 

She didn’t like compliments.
 She didn't flirt and she didn’t date.  Nothing about the woman made
sense.  She was gorgeous, seriously built and when she relaxed had the
most beautiful laugh he’d ever heard.  All through breakfast as Drum gave
him a recap of the past few hours the team had spent tracking, capturing and
containing the Drexel for transport, Vaughn fought hard to concentrate. 

It was easier when Hadleigh had
bought the team up to speed on the fact that last night’s mission had been a
trap set for them, Xander or maybe herself.  At least then he’d had an
excuse to stare at her, noting the morning sun made her hair seem like a fiery
halo and her skin glow with inner lights.  Maat he was acting like a horny
schoolboy mooning over his first crush.  Tamping down his response to her
he managed to contribute reasonably intelligently to the discussion, requesting
Flynn try and draw from memory what the main focus rune had looked like so that
Marcus could research it.  

On automatic pilot he’d helped pack
up the equipment, stowing it in the van for transport before closing up the
Washington base. 

In the jet he’d been planning to sit
next to Hadleigh and keep her company but Xander for once was early, demanding
Hadleigh take the seat next to him so she could assure him that she was hale
and hearty, unaffected by the mysterious gas that had caused Xander to believe
fireballs were actually little creatures with arms and legs that spat
fire.  

Steering well clear of that
conversation Vaughn took up residence at the back of the plane.  Not to
brood but to plan.  If he were really going to woo Hadleigh he needed to
step up, get smart, get ruthless and plan the best non-date date in the history
of female – male interaction.

 *                 
*                     
*

Returning to Atlanta Hadleigh spent
the afternoon in the recording studio parroting words and phrases
Pepsy
provided.  It seemed an inordinately silly
exercise but the grommet assured her she wouldn’t be embarrassed by the end
product.  Trying to be a good sport she’d done her best to follow his
directions and advice.  From the number of takes though she had the
distinct feeling she was not natural voice dubbing material. 
Pepsy’s
enthusiasm had never faded though, probably because
as a grommet
he was in seventh heaven amidst all the hi-tech
equipment used by Maat Productions
.  Even so at the end of their
session he’d thanked her profusely and with only a vague hint of relief in his
voice sent her on her way. 

With time on her hands she’d
returned to the guest apartment she’d been assigned and spent several hours in
a Zen like state of meditation bought on by the act of cleaning all her
swords.  Knowing with every fibre of her being that with the dreaded next
few hours ahead she would need a calm and peaceful mind-set so that the
bloodshed could be kept to a minimum. 

Sunday lunch at her parent’s house,
there was no battlefield more challenging or frustrating. 

Case in point the outfit she had
on.  Hadleigh let out a sigh as she eyed herself in the
full
length
mirror, only for her mother would she put on a sun dress and
sandals.  To annoy her brothers she’d made sure they were
high heeled
wedges.  Checking the time, nine pm Atlanta
time meant eleven am Queensland time, she’d better get a move on, her mother
would be expecting her to help in the kitchen.  Taking one more deep
fortifying breath she walked into the closet. 
Goddess
give
her courage, time to head home for a few hours of quality family
time.

*                  
*                     
*

It was just after nine pm and Vaughn
was on his way down to Hadleigh’s apartment to have a few words with her. 
The woman had outright lied to him.  Previous engagement - hah! 

According to security Hadleigh
hadn’t left the building.  As he strode towards her apartment door he
tried to hold on to his righteous anger and not let the slight niggling
suspicion that his actions were beginning to border on stalking deter him from
confronting her.  If she really didn’t want to go out with him she should
just say so to his face. 

And okay she had done that very
thing.  But he’d managed to make her retract her decision, hadn’t
he?  So yeah he was just going to have a little chat with her about being
honest with him, he needed to know what he was up against if he was going to -
fight was the wrong word - manoeuvre her into his bed and a relationship. 
Because he was pretty darn sure after kissing the woman just once that he was
never going to be able to let her go. 

After five minutes of futile
knocking he opened the door and entered her apartment. Maybe something was
wrong.  Maybe she’d fallen in the shower and was even now just lying on
the bathroom floor naked … wet, those long limbs of hers glistening with beaded
moisture.  He could only hope. 

He called out her name but only
silence greeted him in return.  The living room, the kitchen area, the
bedroom and unfortunately the bathroom were all empty.  It was a mystery. 
Taking a seat on her immaculately made bed he looked around the room for some
sign of what in the name of Maat was actually going on.  Nothing, no
clutter to give him a clue, then out of the corner of his eye a glimmer of
light caught his attention.  The closet, had she left the light on in
there? 

Striding over he yanked open the
door and nothing … it was just a normal closet
;
filled
with very few clothes and three pairs of boots.  But hold on hadn’t her
cousin disappeared using the closest in Washington?  Feeling a little more
than silly he stepped further into the closest pulling the door closed behind
him.  Maybe the magic involved here was like the wardrobe in Narnia. 
He tapped the back and sides of the closets but they remained stubbornly dense
and real.  Blowing out a breath he couldn’t help but laugh at himself, he
was in a closet acting liking a lunatic.  Turning he yanked open the door
and stepped out
into ….
someone’s
kitchen? 

And there smack dab in the middle of
it was Hadleigh, chopping salad ingredients, looking entirely edible herself in
a strappy chocolate brown sundress that clung to those curves of hers like a
winding mountain road. 

“Hello there.”

Hadleigh visibly jumped, the knife
coming down at a bad angle.  “Shoot…
” 
She
flung the knife down grabbing a nearby tea towel to stem the flow of blood.

“Here let me see that.” 

Vaughn was standing next to her
playing tug of war with the tea towel between one breath and the next. 
Hadleigh would have laughed at the look of concern on his face over a simple
little cut if she wasn’t so horrified at his presence here. 

“You have to go … now.”  She
hissed.  Trying to step back.

“Not until I see that cut.”  He
tugged once more on the tea towel.

Hadleigh blew out a deep sigh, her
eyes swivelling between Vaughn and the living room door.  Ripping away the
towel she held out her hand.  “Look, see, all better.  Now go, you
can’t be here.”

Vaughn grabbed her hand in his and
inspected it carefully, pleased that no trace of injury remained.  Still
holding her hand he looked up to find her kissable lips only inches away. 
“Hey you’re wearing heels … nice.”

Hadleigh rolled her eyes, yanked her
hand out of his, grabbing him by the shoulders trying her best to herd him
physically back towards the pantry door he’d emerged from.  “You’d be the
only man ever to think so, now leave ... you can’t stay here.”

Vaughn laughed at Hadleigh’s failure
to budge him even a little.  “Is this what they call being
manhandled?  If so I like it and I like your dress too by the way.”

Hadleigh growled at him, her grey
eyes darkening in a split second.  “If you call it fun, flirty and
feminine I’ll deck you.”  Still she tried and continued to fail making the
mountain of a man move even an inch towards the pantry.

“I was thinking more along the lines
of dangerous, challenging and gorgeous.”

He flashed her a
smile
which
only resulted in Hadleigh rearing back and slamming her shoulder
into his.  Actually forcing him back two steps, Maat she was strong and the
fact she could make him move only made him want her more.  This close he
couldn’t avoid seeing the horror flood her eyes at the sound of approaching
footsteps.

“Run.”  She instructed in an
urgent whisper, giving him one last desperate futile shove. 

Vaughn stayed resolutely in
place.  If there
was
an approaching threat he
would be happy to deal with it, anything for Hadleigh. 

Accepting that she was out of time
and that Vaughn was immovable Hadleigh scrambled back to the counter, picking
up the knife, trying to act natural.

Vaughn turned to face the threat,
tensing he waited poised as the door swung open.

“Sweetheart I think we’re going to
need more….” 

The woman who entered the kitchen
paused; she was small by Vaughn’s standards, barely 5.9ft, beautiful, trim but
with a great front porch as Nate might say.  With dark brown hair pulled
back in a loose plait, only a few laugh lines around her dark blue eyes hinted
that she was older than Hadleigh.  Her eyes scoped out Vaughn, flicked to
Hadleigh and then back to Vaughn as a large smile broke out across her face, a
smile that instantly reminded Vaughn of Hadleigh’s rare smile. 

“Darling you bought a date!”

Out the corner of his eye he noted
Hadleigh flinch ever so slightly. 

“Mother, he’s not my date.  This
is ... this is Vaughn, my boss.”

Mother!  Wow this was one great
gene pool.  “Temporary boss.”   He amended, moving forward hand
extended to greet her mother properly.

“And he was just leaving.” 
Hadleigh inserted neatly.

“Mrs Valhalla, it’s a pleasure.  
Working with your daughter is a real treat for me and my team.”

“You must call me Lucy and I
absolutely insist you stay for lunch with the family Vaughn.  We want to
hear all about Hadleigh’s temporary assignment.”

Vaughn made slight noises about declining
the invitation but made no move towards the exit, instead letting Hadleigh’s
mother lead him over to a stool across the bench from Hadleigh whilst she went
off to fetch an
ice cold
beer for him.  Shooting
Hadleigh a victorious look Vaughn settled in, surprised when she just shook her
head shooting him a wry look.  “Just remember when all this is over I
tried to save you right?”

“Okay.”  He couldn’t hide the
smug smile that now clung to his lips.

   *               
*                     
*

Vaughn had never been formally
tortured for information before but he was pretty sure that Lucy Valhalla could
teach the world’s nastier element a thing or two about technique. Most men
would have handed over the launch codes within five minutes of her relentless yet
polite questioning and those miss nothing blue eyes.  Like most mothers
she was protective of who her daughter spent her time with, he could understand
that.  Yet at the same time the woman was desperate for grandchildren so
while she not so subtly investigated his credentials she also strongarmed him
into outlining his stance on the
munchkin
factor
whilst doing a credible PR campaign on Hadleigh as a great catch and potential
mother material of said
munchkins
. 

Not that he had to be sold.  In
fact the only person who flinched, moaned and sighed throughout the ‘friendly
chat’ was Hadleigh.  When Lucy excused herself to set the table for lunch
Hadleigh finally downed tools, grabbed the beer from Vaughn’s hand and drained
the contents.

“I’m so sorry.”  She looked at
him, those clear grey eyes filled with sympathy.

“For what?  She’s just being a
mother.”

“But all those personal
questions.  I couldn’t believe how polite you were.”

Vaughn shrugged.  “She loves
you.  She’s concerned for you.”

“What could possibly have possessed
you to tell her you wanted children?”

“Well … because I do someday, with
the right woman.”   With you, he added silently.

“Honestly Vaughn it was like
dangling a piece of meat in front of a wild animal.”

“It wasn’t like I could lie. 
Something tells me your mother can smell a lie.”

“It’s all well and good for you,
once you’re back in Atlanta you’ll never have to hear about the topic
again.  Me, I’ll hear about it endlessly. Last month she tried to set me up
with her mechanic.  Nothing
wrong
with the guy
except he’s barely 5.5ft and old enough to be my grandfather.  She wants
me wed and popping out grandchildren is what she wants … like that’s going to
happen.”  Hadleigh muttered, absently cleaning the counters.