Page 20 of Scarred Sunrise

Chapter 9

“I feelawful for dragging everyone out of bed for her not to show up.” Lizzie was sitting next to Smithy as he drove her home in the early hours of Sunday morning. Nazareli had failed to show, and after waiting for two hours, the team had called it a night, figuring she probably changed her mind or got cold feet.

Smithy slid her a glance, a small grin tipping his lips that made her shiver with desire. “Don’t feel bad. Not all of the night was a loss.”

He gave her a wink, and for a second, she glimpsed the gorgeous cocky boy she’d fallen for so many years ago. She could feel the heat rise on her cheeks and turned towards the window to hide the smile she couldn’t stop.

The kiss had been unexpected but not unwelcome. Ty finally giving her hope after pushing her away since their rescue was a shock, and as much as she wanted to jump in both feet first, she was holding back. He had only just begun his recovery, and this could be some sort of gut reaction to use her as a crutch. Lizzie couldn’t survive the disappointment of him walking away from her again. He may decide she wasn’t what he needed, or he might be with her for the wrong reasons.

Lizzie jumped when he took her hand from her lap and held on to it as he drove the last mile to her home. It was still dark, the mid-October morning cold with the threat of winter, but it felt fresh, blowing the cobwebs from her brain. Autumn had always been her favourite time of the year. The cooler days and cold nights in front of the fire with a hot chocolate watching movies. She still remembered doing those things with her mother, and they were memories she treasured to this day.

Smithy pulled into her drive, and she pulled her hand away to exit the car. Turning, she went to thank him, but he was already walking towards her.

“I’m okay from here.”

Smithy stopped inches from her, the heat from his hard body warming her through her denim jacket. The war raged inside her; to lean into what he was offering versus the need to protect her heart from being shattered.

Taking her hand, he gave a little tug, and she fell into him, her hands coming up against his chest to save herself. The air around them seemed to still as he studied her lips, the gold flecks in his russet brown eyes twinkled. Her breathing hitched as he leaned in, waiting for the kiss, but it never came. Instead, she felt his breath against her ear.

“Let’s get one thing straight, Liz. I’m here to stay, and I know that it will take some time for you to get used to, but nevertheless, it’s happening. So I’ll walk you in, make sure you’re safe. Later today after you’ve got some sleep, I’m going to take you out for lunch, and we’re going to just enjoy ourselves, okay?”

His words and the effect he had on her body made her want to nod, but the independent woman inside her, who’d always looked after herself, baulked at being told what to do. “I’m not sure I’m free today.” She moved back to get her brain firing on all cylinders again.

Smithy gave her a crooked grin that was wicked and sexy, just like the man himself. It was so good to see parts of the man she’d known coming back. “Okay, then when are you free?”

“I’ll need to check my diary.”

“Well let’s get inside, and you can do that before we both freeze.”

He walked her to the door, and she saw him test the handle and stop dead, his back going rigid. “Call Zack and wait in the car.” He thrust his phone at her, and she turned to do as he asked but then paused as she heard a voice inside her home.

“Come inside, and both of you, keep your hands where I can see them.”

Lizzie cast a glance at Ty who looked ready to commit murder, but he nodded slightly for her to do as Nazareli asked.

With his body in front of hers to shield her from any danger, he moved into the kitchen where Nazareli sat with a gun trained on them, her boots on the table. Lizzie bit back the words on the tip of her tongue, hating that the table her father had made with his own hands was being disrespected.

“Get your feet off the damn table.” Ty must have known it would upset her and she stilled, waiting for the worst to happen at his outburst. Nazareli raised a perfectly arched eyebrow but dropped her feet. “What the fuck is this?”

“I wanted to talk to you both in private and didn’t fancy having the entire Fortis team jumping me.”

“You went to the woods?”

“I’m not an idiot, Smithy. I knew Liz would call you, and then Fortis would come riding in to save the day.”

“So you planned this all along?”

Nazareli shrugged. “Seemed the easiest way.”

“Spit out what you want to say then.” He dropped his hands but kept his body in front of hers as she held on to the back of his shirt.

“Put your weapons and phones on the table and let’s be civilised about this.”

Smithy snorted as he moved slowly to lay his gun on the table. “You’re the one pointing a weapon at us.”

Nazareli lowered her gun but didn’t altogether remove it as she motioned for her and Smithy to sit.

They did, and felt the comforting weight of his hand on her knee. She saw Nazareli watching but didn’t react. “What do you want?”