Sophie Oak - Found in Bliss

“What?” Caleb asked.

“Making out. We were making out. And when do you expect me in your office?” She crossed her hands over her breasts. Caleb didn’t need to know that her nipples were still hard.

“What? Why? Are you sick?” Caleb took a step forward, his hand coming out and laying over her forehead. “What are your symptoms?”

She forced herself not to roll her eyes. The minute she coughed, Caleb was all over her. It had occurred to her on occasion that the way to get the man in bed was to fake a horrible disease. He might slip inside her during his examination. “I don’t have symptoms, Caleb.”

Nothing beyond being all kinds of hot and bothered and frustrated out of her mind.

“You guys okay?” Laura Niles asked, walking up with her two men. Cameron Briggs was a huge hunk of all-American male, while Rafael Kincaid was all Latin lover.

Holly looked up while Caleb took her pulse. Laura was one of her closest friends, but damn sometimes she envied the tall blonde with killer shoes. Laura looked happy, her face slightly pink from her closet exertions. Laura hadn’t had to pick between Rafe and Cam. They had come to a very happy agreement between the three of them.

“Your pulse is fast,” Caleb said with a frown. “And you do feel a little hot. Maybe I should take your temperature. There’s something going around.”

“Caleb, I do not have anything. My pulse is fast because of the make-out session, and that’s precisely why my skin is a little warm, too.” Having a two-hundred-twenty-pound Russian on top of her had done nothing to cool Holly off.

Laura’s eyes widened. “Okay. We’ll leave you three to work this out.” Laura started to walk away. She turned around and mouthed “call me.”

Holly pulled away from Caleb. “I was asking about a blood test.”

His gorgeous features crinkled in confusion. “Why do you need a blood test?”

She ground her teeth together. “Because it’s the right thing to do before starting a relationship.”

His face went blank, his jaw slack. “Oh. I think you’re fine.”

Alexei was at her side, his hand reaching for hers. “She is fine. She is beautiful and perfect.”

“I don’t see why he needs a blood test and I don’t.” It seemed a bit like a double standard.

“Hookers,” they managed to say at exactly the same time and with exactly the same blank expression on their faces, like it should have been a foregone conclusion.

Holly felt her face go up in flames.

Alexei brought her hand to his lips. “Dushka, I didn’t have relationships. I had the intercourse. It means I paid women for my pleasure. It was the lifestyle.”

Caleb shrugged. This was the part of Alexei that didn’t bother him? “He’s trying to say he viewed sex as transactional before he met you. He wasn’t looking for a relationship, so it was better to pay someone. Women view sex differently than men. If there’s money on the table, no one gets hurt. But they can get the clap.”

“There was clapping a couple of times, I will admit. I am very good, but Caleb is right. I will take all of the tests. I do not wish to hurt you.”

“He means he doesn’t want to give you crabs.” Caleb frowned ferociously.

Alexei sighed. “I would know about the crabs. I’m healthy. I always use the rubber.”

Caleb shrugged, one shoulder arching aristocratically. “We’ll see about that.”

“Please stop.” Holly wanted the utter humiliation to end. She’d just wanted a few stolen kisses. Now everyone was going to know that her pseudo boyfriend had accused her halfway make-out date of spending too much time with hookers because the worst gossip in Bliss was coming their way.

Callie was waddling up. Holly couldn’t help it. There was no other way to describe it. Callie Hollister-Wright waddled, her enormous belly stretching the dress she wore. She smiled gamely, a hand on her pregnant belly.

“Alexei! It’s so good to see you!” She opened her arms, and Alexei hugged her. “I can’t believe you came back.”

“I can,” Zane said. Zane Hollister was one of Callie’s hubbies. “I think everyone knows why he came back.”

Callie elbowed her husband. Nate Wright, her other husband and the sheriff of Bliss, held out a hand to Alexei.

“It’s good to see you, Alexei. Are you all free and clear with the feds?” Nate asked. Though he’d once been a fed, she knew Nate hated to see them roll into town.

Alexei shook Nate’s hand. “Mostly.”

Nate groaned. “I’ll let Logan and Cam know to be on the lookout. Caleb, it’s good to see you. We’re going to get this sweet lady home. Any day now, you know.”

Caleb’s whole expression changed. She loved that about him. He could be a hard-ass most of the time, but when someone needed a bit of kindness, Caleb was there. “Any day now. You call me, Callie. Even if you’re just worried. Call me. Not Nell. I’ve told her you aren’t giving birth in a kiddie pool.”

Zane groaned. Callie merely smiled. “I know, Doc. I was mainly in it for all the free ice cream. Nell always brought me ice cream. And honestly, now that I’ve had a couple of Braxton-Hicks contractions, I’m pretty sure I want to be drugged up.”

“Me, too,” Nate said, his face slightly green.

“I’ll see what I can do. You call me, Callie. Any time and I’ll be there,” Caleb promised.

And he would. She’d never met anyone as devoted to the people around him as Caleb. He could be dreadfully gruff at times, his bedside manner terrible, but there was no question in her mind that the man cared. Caleb didn’t see himself that way. She knew if she asked him, he would say he was just doing a job, but it was so much more than a job to him. Caleb saw a person in trouble and he helped.

Why couldn’t he see her?

Callie walked away with her men, and a heaviness settled around Holly’s heart. Callie hadn’t been forced to choose. Laura had gotten everything she needed. Rachel was probably somewhere kissing her men.

But Holly would have to choose. She would have to decide if she wanted the hot, sweet Russian who was years younger and would only really want a fling or Caleb, who couldn’t seem to make up his mind but who might be good in a long-term way.

Being forced to choose sucked.

And it was getting late. The night was moving on. She needed space. She stepped away from both men. “I should be going.”

They stood side by side, each so beautiful in their own ways. Neither stopped her. They both simply watched her as she walked away.

Story of her life. By the time she found Nell and Henry, she’d wished she’d never left her cabin.

* * *

Vincent Cavilli looked around his small motel room. It certainly wasn’t the worst place he’d been forced to hole up in.

He’d chosen Creede as his home base because it was close to his target but not so close he would be forced to deal with the locals. Though he was well aware that his appearance was bland and forgettable, it was always best to hedge his bets by staying outside his mark’s area.

He walked to the window and opened the curtains. He liked the mountains. This part of the country was gorgeous and clean. So unlike the city. And it made for a much harder kill.

No one noticed him in a major metropolitan area. He’d worked in all of the world’s great cities. New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, Sydney. He’d killed in them all. It wasn’t hard to work in urban areas. Everyone kept their heads down and paid attention to their own shit. People actively ignored others in cities.

Not so here. He’d already been forced to converse with both the motel owner and a father of four on vacation with the most obnoxious children he’d ever had the displeasure of sharing a lobby with. Seriously. He’d considered taking the kids out. It would be his way of giving back. His version of pro bono work. He’d considered playing the asshole, but people tended to remember assholes, so he’d smiled and laughed and talked about the hiking he would do.

Luckily, the US Army had trained him well. It had been a while, but he could hike and track and build a shelter if he needed to. He wasn’t planning on it. He planned on getting some advice on the best trails from the locals and then spending his days working. If he did the job right, it wouldn’t take more than a day or two. He mentally went through his list. Get a lay of the land. Identify the target. Figure out the best method of taking out the target and enacting the plan.

An accident would be best. Again, because he wasn’t in a city, he needed to cover his tracks. Murders in small towns got a lot of attention. Car accidents, heart attacks, even animal attacks were more common here. As he didn’t work with animals, and poisoning someone was really harder than television made it out to be, he was thinking about fucking with the mark’s car.

God, he hoped the mark had a car.

The cell phone he’d bought specifically for this job trilled. He sighed. He had all the relevant information. Why did he need regular phone calls? He’d tried to explain to his current employer that it was better they didn’t communicate, but it was obvious the asshole wasn’t listening. Mobsters. He hated working for them, but they paid well. Unfortunately, they also believed they knew his business better than he did.

With a deep sigh, he answered the phone. “Yes?”

“Are you in place? Did you receive the package?”

Ah, and his employer had more than one employee. This one didn’t sound like she came from Jersey. Fuck. He really hoped the asshole hadn’t put this duty off on some freaking law student. Real smart. Here’s your checklist for the day. Call about the appeal. Make sure the argument papers are formatted. Oh, and call to check in with the assassin we hired. Idiot.

“I received the package. It should take me a few days. I have to see a friend.”

“Ah, so you found the house of your friend.”

“Yes, the directions were impeccable, thank you.” At least the idiot wasn’t coming right out and asking him how long it would take to complete the kill.

“We thank you. I’ll be watching for your progress. Please contact this number when the job is done.” The connection closed suddenly.

Amateurs. If he didn’t need the money so badly, he would have avoided this job altogether. He really preferred to work outside the US, but the real money was here.

Two hundred thousand dollars and all he had to do was kill one simple target. He would attempt to make it look like an accident. If he couldn’t do that in the time allotted, he would just shoot the fucker. A car accident would be more elegant, but a bullet would do the job, too.

He took a deep breath of mountain air, trying to banish his wariness. He couldn’t turn this job down. He simply had to watch his back and try to fit in. It shouldn’t be too hard. It was late summer, and there were tourists everywhere. He would be just one more tourist among the throng. A city dweller looking to get back in touch with nature.

His mark would never know that death was coming.

Vince sat down at the crappy desk and pulled out his file. He went over all the particulars of the person he was being paid handsomely to kill.

The kids next door screamed and turned the television up far too loud.

It would be a miracle if he got out of Colorado with only the job under his belt.

Alexei walked from the recreational center to the Movie Motel, his heart light in ways it hadn’t been for years. Holly had responded to him. She’d softened like butter the minute he’d really touched her.

The gravel crunched under his feet. He was going to have to find a car. He was going to have to find a job. All of that would have been taken care of for him if he’d chosen to stay in witness protection, but Holly was more important than such minor matters.

“’Night, Alexei.” Gene waved at him from behind the counter. The door was open, and Gene had a bag of popcorn in his hand. “How was the wedding shindig?”

Alexei followed his line of sight. From where he was standing, Gene could watch the screen. It was playing a Doris Day film. The Technicolor of the movie lit up the night.

“I miss wedding, but I enjoy the dancing very much.” He’d loved the feel of Holly’s body pressed against his. He’d loved it even more when he’d covered her with his own. He’d meant what he’d said to Caleb. He’d only been kissing her and touching her. He had no intention of their first time together happening on a picnic table. There would be time for freaky sex in odd places later. The first time would be in a bed with flowers and wine.