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He nodded. “Agreed. But for the first time since our helicopter was shot down, I feel alive and that my life is truly worth living.” He shot a glance toward Rachel. “You did that. You made me realize that punishing myself wouldn’t bring back my brothers. I don’t regret that kiss.”
CHAPTER7
Rachel’s lipstingled all the way into Colorado Springs. Kissing Griff had reawakened everything she’d felt when they’d dated back in San Diego. They’d clicked from the moment they’d met in the bar at McP’s.
She’d waited anxiously for his calls. When his caller ID flashed across the screen, her heart had pounded, and her breathing grew ragged. The man had her tied in knots in the most delicious way.
In their three dates, he hadn’t taken them past heavy petting to consummate their relationship by making love.
She’d thought it sweet at first. But by the end of the third date, her body was a raging forest fire of desire. Then when he hadn’t called for a week, she’d wondered if she’d done something to make him back off. Or had he grown bored with her?
Hell, she was a good cop, in great physical shape and good at handling difficult and dangerous situations, but she wasn’t good when it came to interacting with men. The badass cop persona she wore every day was necessary for her to fit into her chosen profession and gain the trust and respect of her male colleagues.
Beneath that tough exterior, she was still a woman who wanted to be loved for who she was inside, not who she had to be on the outside.
And she’d thought she’d found a man who wasn’t intimidated by her profession, who appreciated her for her, not the woman he thought she should be.
Then her world had crashed with Lindsay’s call. When she’d needed him most, he’d disappeared off the face of the earth.
She’d pushed Griff to the back of her mind and focused on justice for Lindsay. The search had helped her through the grief of losing her only relative. And it had helped her through the grief over losing Griff.
She might have been able to function beside him if they’d kept everything on a professional basis, with Griff as the bodyguard and herself as the client. She could have continued to pretend to be an engaged couple. After all, it was playing pretend, and she knew that.
But that kiss.
When he’d claimed her lips, her carefully constructed wall of self-deceit had come tumbling down. It had only been a matter of time before she fell for the man again. Yes, he’d changed. Watching the people he’d cared about go up in flames had left an indelible mark on Griff.
And Rachel had changed as well. Her desire to avenge her sister had become an obsession. Her entire reason for living was to find Lindsay’s killer and take the bastard down. She couldn’t let a kiss derail her focus. Rachel hadn’t been able to stop what had happened to Lindsay. The least she could do was stop it from happening again.
Not a night passed that Rachel didn’t slip into nightmares where her sister’s scream echoed over and over in her head.
Griff followed the GPS directions taking him to an older subdivision of Colorado Springs. The houses were a mix of well-maintained structures and some that needed fresh paint and the yards mowed.
He parked his truck along the street in front of a white, craftsman-style house with a wide front porch and a royal blue front door.
Rachel’s chest tightened. These people had gone through what she’d gone through, losing a young woman who’d meant a lot to them.
Though she hated dragging them back through their pain, they might know something that could help lead them to the killer.
“Ready?” Griff again reached across the console and took her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
Rachel squared her shoulders and nodded. “I am.”
She pushed open her door and dropped to the ground, holding onto the truck in case she got weak again.
Her knees held firm.
Griff joined her, and they walked together up the sidewalk and the porch steps, arriving at the front door.
Rachel drew in a deep breath and touched her finger to the doorbell. They waited for a minute, then two. No one answered the door.
“They might be at work,” Griff suggested.
“Mark Severs is seventy-one, based on his driver’s license birthdate. Hopefully, he’s retired.” She rang the doorbell again.
A dog barked somewhere behind the house.
When no one answered the second ring, Rachel refused to admit defeat. They had to be home.
