AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He had his fears about his ability to protect a child, and working the kidnapping task force for the Bureau was supposed to put those fears to rest.
Instead Noah Beckett happened. He’d lost that boy, and although the official report deemed that loss a function of FBI policy, his failure had hollowed out his soul.
That’s where he was when Christina got pregnant.
Could he blame her for not telling him in that moment? He didn’t even know now what his reaction would’ve been then.
He puffed out a breath and slid farther into the pool of water until it bubbled around his ears.
She kept the secret for two years. If they hadn’t been thrown together on this case, how much longer would she have kept the secret?
He submerged his head and sluiced back his hair when he surfaced. He rubbed his eyes and Christina appeared before him, waving her arms.
“I thought you’d gone under for good.”
She had her clothes on instead of that sexy black one-piece she’d shimmied into the other night. Must be here for business, not pleasure, but then what did he expect?
He hitched his elbows on the deck of the hot tub and hoisted himself up. “What’s up?”
“I got a call from Libby.” She held out the phone. “She wants us to come by her shop.”
“Isn’t it late?” He’d had dinner, alone, put the finishing touches on the report, alone, and had worked out, finishing up here, alone. “It has to be close to ten o’clock.”
“She lives behind her shop. She sounded anxious. There’s something she wants to tell us, something she discovered.”
“She couldn’t tell you over the phone?”
“She was afraid, same with a text. She wants to tell us in person.”
He groaned as he rose from the hot tub, steaming water running off his frame. “I was hoping this hot, churning water would wash away my stress and make sleep a little easier tonight.”
Her gaze followed his hands as he plucked the wet board shorts away from his body. Even one suggestive look from her could get him hard.
He snatched his towel from the back of a chair and bunched it in front of him as he dabbed his chest and stomach.
“Have you been having trouble sleeping?”
“Yeah, well last night wasn’t exactly restful.”
“If you hadn’t stormed out of my room, we could’ve...”
“What?” He snapped the towel at his back. “Gone round and around about why you thought it was such a good idea to keep Kendall from me?”
“I could wear a hair shirt.”
“I don’t want you to keep apologizing, Christina, or even do penance, although you could probably make a hair shirt look good, too.”
She clapped. “A joke. I got some humor out of you.”
He dropped the towel in the laundry bin. “I was serious.”
* * *
CHRISTINA PACED BACK and forth in her room, waiting for Eric to shower and dress. That alone was torture—imagining him naked in the shower.
He seemed to be bending a little. Could he understand now why she didn’t tell him at the time of the pregnancy? The way he looked after his team had lost that boy, finding out he was going to be a father might’ve sent him over the edge. He never would’ve accepted fatherhood at that point in his life.
Could she have told him last year when he resurfaced after South America? Yes. That’s when she should’ve contacted him. She’d messed up big-time.
He tapped on the door between their rooms. “I’m ready.”
She opened the door and looked him over from head to toe. “You clean up nicely.”
“Maybe we should just take the car tonight since we probably won’t have any trouble parking.”
“It’s Sunday. There are still going to be people out for dinner.”
“Yeah, but not as far down as Libby’s shop.”
“Sure, I’ll drive.”
They left the hotel and crossed into the parking garage. She pulled into traffic and headed to the Haight-Ashbury district.
There was still a buzz on the street, but Eric had been right. The people and traffic thinned out as they maneuvered toward Libby’s bookshop.
Christina found a metered spot on the street about a block from the alley and backed into it.
As they turned up the alley, shuttered windows and dimmed lights greeted them. Even the colored lights that lined the alley were snuffed out.
“Looks like everyone closes up on Sunday night.” Eric glanced at his watch.
“I texted her while you were getting dressed to let her know we’d be here shortly.”
“Did she text you back?”
Christina pulled her phone from the pocket of her sweater. “No.”
“Hope she didn’t take off or lock up. If so, I just wasted a bunch of quarters and a good night’s sleep.”
