Delores Fossen - She's Positive

Leaving him to stand there in his boxers.

With Danielle staring at him.

Since he’d been married to her for over three years, she’d obviously seen him buck naked, but for some reason, it felt damn uncomfortable. And even more uncomfortable that she’d probably have to strip, as well.

“Satisfied?” Colin said, turning toward the phone that Danielle still held.

“Yeah. Now, it’s the doc’s turn.”

“She doesn’t even know how to fire a gun,” Colin protested. To diffuse this, he needed to go on the offensive.

Too bad Danielle wasn’t going to like it.

But it was better than a strip-down.

Colin stepped slightly away from her so that he was still partly shielding her, and he met her concerned gaze. Concerned being a massive understatement.

“I’m going to lift your top a little just so he can see you’re not carrying concealed.”

She blinked. “Turn around. I’ll do it.”

Colin blinked, too. “Jeez. I’ve seen everything you have beneath those clothes.”

“Turn around,” she insisted. And she dodged his gaze again.

Great. Was she hiding some kind of body hickey that she’d received from a lover she’d adamantly denied having. He’d gotten a God, no from her when he’d suggested that she had found someone else. Still, it wasn’t his business anymore.

Even if it felt as if it were.

Danielle didn’t budge until he turned his back. Colin faced the direction where he thought Boyd was still standing, and he heard Danielle’s movements behind him. A moment later, her shirt dropped into her clothes pile. Followed by her shoes.

Then, her skirt.

Which meant she was standing there in her bra and panties. He hoped it wasn’t the skimpy underwear she preferred to wear. The woman certainly had stimulating taste in undergarments. His favorite was a devil-red set, with the bra barely covering her nipples and panties that left nothing to the imagination.

Unlike now.

He was imagining.

And cursing himself.

“No gun,” Danielle announced. “And I’m getting dressed now.”

“Take your things into the guesthouse,” Boyd insisted. “Dress there. I’ll call you after you’ve had time to get settled.”

“Get Luke those video games,” Danielle added, but Boyd had already hung up. She scooped up her clothes and held them in front of her like a shield.

She hurried toward the guesthouse, and even though Colin moved to her side after he gathered up his own clothes, he still caught a glimpse of the underwear.

It was the devil-red set.

Thankfully, the door to the guesthouse was unlocked, and she started to dress the moment they got inside. Not slowly, either. She was breaking some kind of speed record. Colin dressed, too, as he looked around to see what potential security hazards the place might have.

Windows for one thing. Two of them faced the estate, which meant Boyd could use them for surveillance. Colin went to them and shut the plantation-style blinds. He also locked both the front and back doors.

He strapped on the ankle holster and put the gun back inside, and after he put on his pants, he checked out the rest of the guesthouse. There wasn’t much to it. The main area had a sofa, two chairs and a small kitchen off to the right. On the left was a large bedroom suite with a bath. The decor was crisp and clean, the kind of place he would expect for the guests of a multi-millionaire like Griffin Vaughn.

“You think he has the place bugged?” Danielle asked.

“Maybe. But I doubt it.” He took the phone from her and made sure the end call button had been pressed so it would save the battery. Colin didn’t want to think what would happen if they lost use of the cell. The guesthouse had phones, but he couldn’t rely on those since Boyd had so far refused to use any of the estate phones.

“Check and see if we have food and water,” he instructed.

She finished buttoning her blouse but not before he caught a glimpse of her breasts. Yeah. That bra really didn’t hide much.

Danielle went to the kitchenette while Colin searched the place for bugs. Not that an eavesdropping device would be easy to find, but he looked in the obvious places. Under the phones. On the lamp bases. Beneath the coffee table and bed. He was just getting up from the floor of the bedroom when Danielle came in.

“There’s plenty of bottled water and canned goods.”

So, they wouldn’t starve. Of course, that was the least of their worries.

Danielle made a sweeping glance around the room, and her eyes landed on the bed. “Uh, how long do you think we’ll have to be here?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.” But he understood her hesitation about the bed. “If we’re still here tonight, I can take the sofa.”

“Oh. Sure.” She didn’t sound relieved, exactly, but he didn’t know what that tone meant. His ex was certainly acting funny. “Maybe when Boyd calls back with his chore list, he’ll give his demands and you can continue with the negotiations.”

Yeah. And Colin was betting that eventually those demands would include lots and lots of money, especially if Boyd didn’t find those millions he was searching for. Griffin Vaughn was probably already gathering together as much cash as he could manage.

He looked at the way Danielle was gripping the door, and he tipped his head toward the sofa. “Why don’t you sit down? It might be hours before Boyd calls back.”

She didn’t argue, but what she did do was stagger a bit when she turned around. Colin went after and caught up with her before she reached the sofa.

“You okay?” he asked. He turned her toward him so he could study her face.

“Sure,” she said in the same tone and speed as God, no.

And that made Colin suspicious. “You and Callie were talking about your secret.” He knew there’d be fallout from this question, but he rationalized that since they were now a team to save Luke, then he had a right to know her mental and physical state. “Are you taking those fertility drugs again?”

“No.” Yet another quick response. But then, she shook her head. “I’m just a little dizzy, that’s all. I saw some crackers in the cabinet, and I think I’ll have one.”

She stepped away from him and walked across the room. Oh, yes. She was unsteady. But maybe it was just nerves. He hoped so because he knew those fertility drugs were hell on wheels when it came to Danielle’s health. They made her raw and jumpy. She didn’t need either with all the other stress.

She opened the pack of crackers and nibbled on one while she rested her back against the countertop. The silence came. Closing in around them. Making the situation more awkward than it already was. They didn’t dare talk about anything important or anything that would help Boyd because even though Colin had looked the place over, it didn’t mean the hit man couldn’t hear their every word.

Danielle finished off the cracker, had another one and then made her way back to the sofa. Toward him. But she didn’t sit. She stopped only a few inches away, came up on her toes, and put her mouth to his ear.

“Did you manage to keep your gun?” she whispered.

He nodded. Tried not to react to her warm breath and the closeness. He failed and reacted anyway.

Colin switched positions and put his mouth to her ear. “The next step is to negotiate you out of here.”

She shook her head. Probably because she didn’t realize it would send his mouth brushing across her cheek. Like a kiss. She stepped back. Continued to shake her head. “I can help,” she mouthed.

“So you’ve said.” Because their eyes were now locked and they were still very close, he debated whether he should just tell her the truth. Or at least part of it. He went for a partial. “You distract me.”