Jennifer Morey - Colton's Fugitive Family

“Actually, I don’t think about it,” he said.

“You must, because you just told me you’ll never fall in love or get married.” He couldn’t have come to such a conclusion without first pondering the notion.

“Are we going to fight again?” he asked.

Feeling her ire rise, she practiced control. With Lucas that did not come easy.

“You’re just afraid,” she said, trying to tone down the edge in her voice.

“No,” he said. “I don’t want to mourn over a woman, whether she leaves or dies, and I don’t want the family drama that comes with it. Ever.”

Like his father had. “Isn’t that a little narrow-minded?”

“Aren’t you narrow-minded when it comes to getting married? Trusting a man?”

He had her there. She couldn’t call out his flaws when she had her own. ”Marriage is also about trust, not just love. You either love the person you’re with or you don’t. Trust is a lot harder to gauge.”

“I’m not with anyone,” he said.

Come to think of it, she had never known him to be with a woman for any significant length of time. He dated often and he dated stereotypical beauties—fashion divas or sheltered, unadventurous women with not much going for them other than their looks. She bet he singled them out, knowing none of them would last.

Demi agreed that if you loved the person you were with and were sure you wanted to spend every waking moment with them for the rest of your life, then marriage didn’t matter. But trust did. You trusted your partner with your money and your home. You loved the man.

“Neither am I.”

“Then we’ve settled it. No love without trust because trust is too rare, and no marriage because marriage never works. Just companionship. That’s what both of us want.”

“Ooooh, something in common. How special.”

He angled his head in response to her mocking. “You brought it up.”

“What if you end up falling in love despite your best effort not to?” Her stomach did a flop when she realized she feared that as much as he did. What if she fell in love again?

“I won’t.”

Her ire rose again. How could he say that? She left her coffee on the counter and went to him.

“Then there’s no danger in doing this.” She put her hands on his chest and slid them upward as she leaned her body against his, looking up into his dark eyes with her best attempt at smoldering sexuality.

She saw the startled flinch in his eyes before he recovered.

“We’ve never tried this before,” she said. “We were always so busy arguing and beating each other to bounties that I doubt it ever crossed either one of our minds.”

“It crossed mine.”

It was her turn to be startled. He’d considered romancing her? She’d daydreamed of it more than once. Those hot imaginings had always unsettled her.

“Well, I don’t trust you and you will never fall in love, so...” She tilted her head as she rose up onto her toes. Looking into his eyes, she slowly moved her lips to his, barely touching. She felt his warm breath and smelled the faint remains of cologne.

Her heart beat fast and she had to take more breaths. She hadn’t anticipated this—a real reaction to him as a man. She should have. Hadn’t she just recalled all those daydreams she’d had of him? He’d admitted to having them, too.

His hands slid around her. They singed her with each inch they traveled from her waist to her back. Heat ignited and spread.

He pressed his mouth more firmly to hers and they fell into a moving kiss. As his lips caressed, hers answered. It felt so good she couldn’t stop. She vaguely heard their harsher breathing.

His tongue probed for entry and she allowed it. From there a hungry feasting ensued.

His hands roamed down to her rear and she instinctively lifted her leg, needing more. He reached for the hem of her nightgown and, in doing so, his elbow moved back and bumped into his coffee cup. The cup tipped over and coffee spilled.

Demi stepped back and Lucas turned to right the cup. For a moment she could only stand there and watch coffee spread over the counter and drip over the edge.

What had just happened?

Snapping herself back into a semblance of control, she went to the paper towel holder and retrieved enough to mop up the mess.

“I’ll get it.” Lucas took the paper towels from her and began wiping up the spilled coffee.

His declaration that he’d never fall in love or get married gnawed at her. So did her lack of trust. This man would see to it she was arrested. She’d kissed him, and the chemistry taunted her. Attraction she expected but this...this was far beyond anything she’d ever imagined.

Lucas spent an awkward day with Demi. The snowstorm had gradually relented by midday and he was itching to get out of here. Another storm was forecast for later so they didn’t have a long window of time. He also needed to get moving rather than be confined in this small space alone with her. Demi had always been bold, but he couldn’t believe she’d pressed herself against him like that. Kissed him. Even more, he could not rationalize the punch it had packed. He’d thought of kissing her many times before but he had never anticipated such intense passion.

He wanted to stop it from cluttering up his mind. Unlike other women, she wouldn’t leave him alone in his thoughts. She’d spent her morning with Wolf, feeding him and bathing him and dressing him. After she’d put him down for a nap, she’d come out into the living room and sat on the sofa with a book, her glances wary and sometimes sultry.

“We should get going soon,” he said.

Raising her eyes from the book, she sent him one of her distrusting looks.

“We can’t stay here with Devlin out there. It’s stopped snowing. He’s going to be back.” They should have left as soon as the snow let up this morning. Now the afternoon was growing late.

“Give me your keys, then.”

He had kept them in his pocket to prevent her from leaving without him. “I’ll drive you.”

“Why should I go with you?” she asked.

“We can go to my cabin. I have a security system. Devlin won’t be able to get at us there.”

“Us.”

“You and Wolf will be safe there.”

“For how long? Until you convince me to go to town where I’ll be arrested?”

“You won’t be arrested.”

“The evidence hasn’t disappeared, Lucas. Police have enough to throw me behind bars until they’re positive Devlin is their guy. But seeing me in jail is what you really want, isn’t it?”

“No.” Frustrated, he stood and paced to one side of the room and then went to the window next to the Christmas tree. It was still cloudy but there was no wind and no more snow fell. Drifts rolled across the landscape from the cabin to the trees. He saw no tracks and had gone outside to check for signs someone had prowled. There were none. They didn’t have much time to waste.

He faced the room and Demi’s cautious eyes. “You can stay at my cabin for as long as you like. I won’t tell anyone you’re there. My colleagues all know I went looking for you. I’ll tell them I didn’t find you. You can bring your disguises and we can search for the missing weapon used in Bo’s murder. You can stay hidden until we find it and we have something concrete to clear your name.”

Several seconds passed while she considered that. “Why would you do that? What reason do you have to help me? You think I’m guilty.”

“I don’t think you’re guilty anymore.”

“Still. Why help me? I’d be more inclined to believe you’d use my arrest as a convenient way to get rid of me professionally.”

He scoffed. She sure had a low opinion of him. Well, her body certainly disagreed.