Susan Mallery - Hold Me

KIPLING SET UP the new computers on the desks that had been delivered the previous week. He sorted the packing material into recycle and trash piles, then carried it all out back. When he returned, Destiny was walking into the HERO office.

“Right on time,” he said, taking in the jeans, boots and short-sleeved T-shirt she wore. She’d pulled her long hair back into a ponytail.

From what he could tell, she wasn’t wearing makeup. She used a small backpack for a handbag and certainly didn’t dress to impress anyone. She wasn’t the kind of woman who kept a man waiting “just five more minutes” while she primped. All pluses in his book.

“I see the computers arrived,” she said by way of greeting. “I’ll let my tech guys know. They’ll be here in a couple of days to load and test the software. While they’re doing that, I’ll be mapping the terrain. Then we’ll get started on training you and your volunteers on STORMS.”

“Good morning,” he said. “How was your evening?”

She raised her eyebrows. “I didn’t take you for someone who lived for social niceties, but sure. I can do that. Good morning, Kipling. Did you have a nice jog this morning?”

“How did you know I was out jogging?”

She shifted her weight from foot to foot. “I went out to get some breakfast and saw you. Going the other way. I would have called out, but you were too far away. I wasn’t spying or anything.”

“I never thought you were.”

She’d been watching him. A year ago, he would have read that as a good sign. One of interest. Today he was less sure. She could have been put off by the scars or his limp. Although she didn’t strike him as overly concerned about that sort of thing.

“It’s the small-town thing,” she continued. “You can’t really escape anyone. Not that you were trying to. Or anything.”

She dropped her backpack on the desk and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Feeling awkward?” he asked.

“Very.”

“Want to move on to another topic?”

“More than you know.”

He grinned. “Then let’s get down to business.”

Unlike the mayor’s office, there was no comfortable sofa-and-chair arrangement. In the command center, conversations took place around a metal table with folding chairs. He and Destiny settled at one corner. She pulled a laptop out of her backpack and booted it. While it did its thing, she handed over a couple sheets of paper.

“This is the preliminary schedule,” she told him. “Mapping and testing will take about a month. We’ll have multiple practice rescues that will all go badly. For those, we want as small a group participating as possible. So no one gets discouraged.”

“You’re assuming the worst.”

“I’ve done this before,” she told him. “Man and machine don’t work well together without training. Once we get the kinks worked out, we’ll broaden the practice areas and bring in more people.”

She was sitting close enough that they could both see her laptop screen, which also meant he could inhale the scent of her shampoo. Something floral, he thought. A bit of a surprise considering how she didn’t seem all that interested in being girly with her clothes or accessories.

Unexpected nuances. Everyone had them. They were some of his favorite things to discover. What else was she hiding? Was there a passionate woman behind the “all business” exterior? Was she quiet in bed, or a screamer? He was open to either.

She turned to get something out of her backpack. As she moved, her ponytail swung toward him. Dark red hair curled slightly at the ends, begging to be touched. He knew the strands would be soft. For a second he allowed himself the fantasy of her pulling out the band holding her hair in place and shaking her head. Like in one of those cheesy perfume commercials. Maybe she would crook her finger at him.

Unlikely, he thought, holding in a grin at the image. Destiny didn’t strike him as the sultry type. He would guess she was more practical than seductive. Again, not a problem for him.

She set more papers on the desk and scanned the top sheet. “You’re going to be hiring a second-in-command?”

He forced his attention back to the job at hand. “Yes. I have interviews lined up for the next few weeks. There will also be a couple of paid staffers.” She made a couple of notes as he spoke. “The volunteer force is impressive. Mostly firefighters and cops, along with a few locals who—”

She turned to him. “Sam Ridge.”

“You know him?”

“What? No. I saw him today. At the bakery. He and another guy came in as I left. The one said Sam. I’ve been trying to figure out who he is.” She leaned toward him. “He’s a former NFL kicker. There are a lot of former pro athletes in this town. You, the football guys and some cyclist, too... There was an article about him on the Fool’s Gold website. You’re in good company. Is that why you wanted to move here?”

“Not exactly.”

Her mouth curved up in a smile. “Let me guess. It has something to do with Mayor Marsha.”

“As a matter of fact, it does. She came to see me in New Zealand after my crash and offered me the job.”

He hadn’t cared about the job, he thought grimly, remembering the helplessness he’d felt trapped in a hospital bed, not sure if he would ever walk again. He’d cared about his sister and what she was going through. People said love was a big deal. He’d never thought that. Love didn’t get the job done. When Shelby had been dodging their father’s fists, Kipling’s love hadn’t been able to do a damn thing to save her.

Then Mayor Marsha had shown up and offered a miracle. He didn’t know how the old lady had known what was happening, but she had. As promised, she’d protected Shelby and in return, he’d moved to Fool’s Gold.

He knew he’d gotten the best end of the deal. Shelby was safe, and he had a place to start over. A place where he was simply Kipling Gilmore. Not world famous G-Force. Which probably sounded good enough to most people. He was healed, and he could settle down. What few realized was after years of being a god, sometimes it was hard to settle.

“That’s a long way to go to hire someone,” Destiny said.

“I’m worth it.”

Destiny laughed. “Okay, I’ll pretend to agree with you. Was she on vacation?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I never much thought about it. I was pretty banged up and out of it. There were things to deal with.”

He still remembered Mayor Marsha standing beside his hospital bed and telling him she could take care of his sister. He hadn’t believed her, but she’d come through. His old man had been thrown in jail, Shelby had been safe and when he’d healed enough, he’d shown up to take the offered job.

“And?” Destiny prompted.

“She made an irresistible offer,” he said, not wanting to share the truth with anyone. More to protect Shelby than himself. “And here I am.”

“You’re uniquely qualified for the job. You know your way around mountains.”

“Less on foot than on skis.”

“Does that bother you?”

He thought about what it had been like to fly down the snow. To go faster than anyone. He thought about the feel of the wind, the sounds, the fact that for those few seconds, it was only him and the impossible odds against winning.

“Sometimes,” he admitted.

“Giving up the dream?” she asked.

He nodded. “It was going to happen eventually, but I wanted it on my terms.”

“But what you did was dangerous. You could have hurt yourself.”

He looked into her green eyes. “I did hurt myself.”

“I mean it could have been worse. Was it worth it?”

He didn’t have to consider his answer. He knew what it was like to defy gravity. He’d been the best. “Absolutely.”