Taylor awakened sometime in the early morning hours. Bubo's health weighed heavily on her mind and she needed to check on him. How to get up without disturbing Ettore had her stumped. She was cradled securely in the crook of his arm while her head was pillowed on his broad chest. She lay there for a few moments listening to his steady breathing, feeling the rise and fall of his chest, and wondering how this had all come to pass.
She eased herself up onto her elbow, noting that her slight movement caused his arm to slip from around her waist, freeing her. She looked down at his handsome face relaxed in slumber, and wondered at how much younger he appeared. She realized then how often he carried a frown, or a hardened look of concentration.
She ran a light finger along his bearded jaw line, remembering the tantalizing feel of it as his lips caressed her skin. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt so comforted…so loved. Nonsense...it was just sex...wasn't it? She frowned as she gingerly moved away from him and off the bed. Shrugging into her robe, she mentally pushed aside any foolish thoughts of how much Ettore might care for her. She reminded herself who he was and that their relationship could not continue. There was too big of a conflict of interest with their jobs, and she could not afford to lose hers. There was too much in her life at stake.
She spared him one last look before she left the room. She then thought that it was more likely that he would awaken and be repulsed by the knowledge he had been intimate with her. He'll tell himself he felt sorry for me.
She quickly opened the door to Bubo's room and slipped inside. Does it really matter why it happened, Taylor? You wanted him as much if not more than he wanted you. Pushing her thoughts aside, she placed a gentle hand on Bubo's forehead, thrilled to discover his fever had broken. She would have to wake him in a couple of hours to ply him with more antibiotics, but for now she would let him continue to sleep. "You'll be better in no time, Bubo," she whispered and then left the room.
She seriously could have used a cup of coffee at that point, but did not want to deal with Ettore if he smelled the aroma and came looking for her. Who are you kidding, Taylor? He's going to wake up and run for the hills. You'll never have him again. With a sad sigh, Taylor lay down on the living room couch instead of returning to her room, afraid if her return awakened Ettore, she would be faced with the scenario of his rejection. Memories of being held in Ettore's arms swirled in her mind and she wrapped herself in their rapturous comfort until she drifted off to sleep.
When Frank awakened, he instinctively reached for the sweet woman he had shared more with than any other woman in his life. He had yet to tell her one truth about him, and yet he felt more real with her than he had ever felt with anyone. If he could spend his life bringing a smile to her face it would be time well spent. He had no real proof, but some innate feeling told him her life had been tough and he wanted to see her happy.
It saddened him that she had left him alone. Perhaps what they had shared meant more to him than to her? It was possible, and yet, her tender touch and whispered endearments were not his imagination.
He moved from the bed and pulled on his pants, zipping them, but leaving them unbuttoned. Padding barefoot downstairs, he made his way slowly in the darkness. He had expected to find a light burning downstairs, perhaps in the kitchen, but there was nothing but unfamiliar darkness.
The faint light from the overcast moon shone through the curtains, pointing him in the direction of the sleeping angel snuggled into a fetal position on the couch. He kneeled beside her and tenderly brushed the hair from her face. Her cheek was wet from tears she cried within her dream. Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips as she stirred from the contact of his fingers on her skin. "You can't leave me," came her tortured whisper. "I don't want to be alone…"
He wondered to whom she was speaking in her dreams. It could not be him; he had not been in her life long enough for… For what? For you to feel that the greatest gift is to see her smile?
He pressed a kiss to her forehead and in a soft, tender voice, told her everything would be okay. Somehow, things would work out.
Taylor's eyes slowly fluttered open and then widened in surprise when she realized Ettore was kneeling beside her, gazing down at her.
"Good morning," he whispered with a smile.
"You're here," she stammered, staring into his eyes.
"There is nowhere else I would want to be," he answered softly before brushing his lips to hers. "Why are you sleeping on the couch?" he asked as he pulled away.
Taylor shrugged as she sat up and pulled her legs beneath her. She did not hesitate to snuggle into his embrace as he sat beside her and reached for her. "I got up to check on Bubo and didn't want to disturb your sleep," she explained, telling a half-truth. What would he think if she admitted she was afraid of how he would react to her upon waking?
He felt the lopsided grin touch his lips as he rested his chin atop her head. "Trust me, cara, when I say I would not have minded waking to your presence in the least." He tenderly kissed her hair. "As a matter of fact, I felt quite empty waking alone."
"I don't understand you, Ettore," she whispered, snuggling closer to the warmth of his bare chest as she splayed one hand over his sinewy muscles.
"What is to understand?" he questioned as he placed a finger under her chin and tipped her face up toward his. "Can you understand this?" he asked as his mouth claimed hers possessively.
Breathlessly she pulled away, shaking her head slightly. "I can understand that all too well."
He read the sadness in her face easily in the dim moonlight. "What bothers you, cara?"
A heartbreaking sigh left her as she sat up and pushed herself up from the couch. "We can't see each other like this, Ettore. If word gets out, then Nelson will fire one or both of us. The implications are too great. The assumption will be that I could show favoritism toward you, or perhaps wrongly figure commissions in your favor."
A deep frown creased Frank's brow as he stood and turned her to face him. Looking deeply into her eyes, he assured her, "I would not ask such a thing of you." He watched mystified as the sad look in her eyes hardened to icy steel.
"It wouldn't be the first time," she murmured, pushing away from him as thoughts of Jason and how their relationship had progressed entered her mind. Jason, also a former Creswell salesperson, had pursued her hot and heavy and she hadn't known what had hit her. Jason had swept her off her feet with his good looks and skillful charms. Only at the end had she become aware that he was never truly interested in her. He only wanted her to cheat the company and pad his paychecks. She had ended the relationship at that point, never to trust another 'saleswhore' again.
"What are you saying?" he asked curiously. He cupped her chin with one hand and tipped her head up so that he could see into her face. The pain reflected in her green eyes tugged at his heart.
"It was a long time ago, Ettore," she whispered, casting her eyes away from his. "I was blindly in love with a smooth talking salesman. He promised me the moon and the stars…he only neglected to tell me that it would be up to me to pay for them."
Reading between the lines, Frank easily deduced that the man she spoke of asked her to do something illegal. "You refused him?"
Taylor nodded. "He was angry and would have tried to have me fired if Nelson had not discovered he had been having an affair with a very prominent client's wife."
It is no great wonder she holds such distrust for salespeople. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and released a deep sigh as he pulled her into his embrace and rested his chin atop her head. If he had been unsure of her involvement in Creswell's illicit operation before, he was no longer. If she would refuse to help a man she had been in love with, she would not be a party to something as immoral as drug smuggling.
~*~
Frank remained with Taylor while she awakened Bubo and gave him another dose of antibiotics. While she was handling that, he had gone back to her bedroom to finish dressing. He was just stepping into his shoes when the door eased open and she entered. "How is Bubo doing?"
"Better," Taylor responded. "You're leaving then?" she noted as she shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her robe.
Frank nodded. "I have a few things I must take care of, but I will call you later," he assured her.
Taylor shook her head as she took two steps toward him. "There's no real reason for you to trouble yourself. I told you that we couldn't continue to see each other."
Frank closed the remaining distance between them quickly. He grasped her gently by the shoulders as he gazed intently into her eyes "If you think for one second that what is between us means so little to me that I will ignore it to keep a job, you still have a great deal to learn about me."
Taylor lowered her gaze as the hurt in his voice penetrated her brain. "I'm sorry…I…"
"You're just so ready to expect the worst in order to keep from being taken advantage of, cara, that you lose sight of the more important things in life." He cupped her chin and pressed a tender kiss to her forehead. He dipped his head a bit further, settling his lips lightly at the shell of her ear. "No job is worth giving up what has just been discovered," he whispered softly.
"What are you saying?" she asked as she pulled back slightly to look into his dark eyes.
"I am saying," he replied, kissing her swiftly. "That I am no longer interested in working for Nelson Creswell Motors."
"Ettore…" she protested.
Frank shook his head and placed a finger to her lips in an effort to cut her off. "Consider it done, cara." He kissed her again, briefly, and said, "I must go, but we will talk later."
~*~
"And where have you been, Mister?" Cody asked in mock exasperation.
"You had my cell if you needed me," Frank snapped irritably.
"Yes, and you're still in yesterday's clothes," Monica observed, ignoring Donovan's temper.
Donovan spared her a harsh look. "The simple truth is that I helped Taylor track down a friend who turned out to be seriously ill." It didn't escape him that he conveniently left out the part where he made love to Taylor. He strode purposefully toward the bathroom after stopping to gather clean clothes. "Which brings me to this, Cody. I want any and all information you can find on this character 'Bubo'. Start running checks on accident victims from seven years ago. You have his photo to match. His wife and two children died in the accident."
"Why so concerned with this homeless man, boss?" Cody asked curiously.
"Just do it, Cody," he barked, closing the door behind him, leaving behind a dumbfounded Cody and Monica. He quickly shed his clothes and wondered absently where Alex was, but assumed she was out getting their breakfast.
He could explain why he was being so gruff with his team; he was just in no mood to play fifty questions. He was angrier with himself than anyone. He had allowed himself to get emotionally involved with the pretty blonde office manager. If only her quirky behavior had not been so endearing. It would have been much easier to stay aloof if she had remained the cold and spiteful woman he had first met. Of course, if he had kept his hands to himself, it would have made everything less complicated.
He growled at himself as he stepped under the spray of hot water and began washing. He let the stream of water massage the tension from his neck and shoulders before quickly shampooing his hair. Clean from head to toe, he felt refreshed and better able to cope with the coming day.
The bottom line was that he had screwed up. He could not deny that, he told himself as he trimmed his beard and shaved the unwanted growth that shadowed his cheeks and underside of his chin. Yes, he screwed up and there was no going back. Did he even want to? No, he wanted to go forward; he wanted to end this and tell Taylor the truth.
He had already decided to end the charade that he was playing. He would not be setting foot back into Nelson Creswell Motors except as Agent Frank Donovan. He was ready to chuck it all. He had lost the mission. Somehow the importance of it had paled greatly in comparison to keeping Taylor from being hurt.
He dressed in his familiar and achingly comfortable slacks and turtleneck and then left the bathroom in time to hear some unexpected, but welcome, news.
"Jake just reported in," Alex began, setting a plate of eggs and grits on the small table indicating he should sit and eat.
"What news have we?" he asked, waving her away and picking up a cup of coffee.
"He overheard there will be a special delivery to Creswell's in two days," she answered.
"And Jake's been assigned to the hauler," Cody stated with a proud wink.
"Good job. With any luck, we'll catch Creswell red handed. The government can tear his books apart," he replied halfheartedly. Even then, Taylor would have to be deposed to go over the books. He could not shield her completely, nor could he prevent her from losing her job. But, he could try to make it as easy on her as possible.
...to be continued