Trust in the Lawe (Colorado Trust 3)

“Making some tea?”

Kendra screamed and whirled at the unexpected presence behind her. The mug flew from her hands, shattering on the floor. Her horrified gaze took in the shards of red glass at her feet before lifting to Colton’s shocked expression.

“I didn’t hear you come in.” Residual adrenaline sharpened her voice.

Noah skidded to a halt next to Colton, his eyes wide saucers. “Ken?”

“I dropped a cup, that’s all,” she hastened to assure him.

“You screamed.”

She forced a smile. “No, I just exclaimed because I dropped it—go back to your room.”

He hesitated.

“Go!”

His lower lip quivered, but he turned and went. Afraid to look at Colton, she kept her eyes on the floor. Her stomach churned, and her heart still felt as if it would leap from her chest. She crouched down to pick up the glass. Her extended hand shook violently. Control began to crumble like a sand castle in the rain. Breathing required concentration.

Colton hunkered down to her level. “You wanna tell me what the hell is going on?”

She shook her head, but he reached out and took hold of her wrist.

“Kendra…”

The tender note of concern in his voice disintegrated her defenses, and she burst into tears.

“Whoa, hey, what’s wrong?”

She couldn’t answer, but he didn’t wait for her to. A light shake of her wrist scattered the pieces of broken glass back on the floor. He urged her to her feet and steered her into the living room. She was helpless to stop the flood of tears. He let her cry, gathering her against his chest as he sat on the couch.

Gradually, she became aware of the reassuring thud of his heartbeat, the warmth and strength of his arms, the soothing pressure of his hand rubbing up and down the length of her spine. She’d never felt safer and wondered what it was about Colton Lawe that comforted her as no one else ever had.

Kendra pushed back a few inches and peered through her wet, spiked lashes. The moment her gaze met his, her pulse started racing again. A naked, indefinable emotion in his eyes drew her, made her slide her hands up his chest to pull his mouth down onto hers. He didn’t exactly resist, but he didn’t fully participate, either. She brushed her lips back and forth, then teased his closed mouth with her tongue.

A shift in position allowed her to brace one knee on the couch to rise up and press against him. She heard and felt a low rumble in his chest as his arms tightened and he finally surrendered.

The shrill ring of the phone pierced her conscious and one thought overrode all else with frightening domination.

Robert.

Chapter Sixteen

Colton blinked when Kendra jerked from his arms. In a split second, he connected the second ring of the phone with her expression of naked fear. He surged off the couch to snatch the phone in the kitchen and returned to the living room.

“Hey, Jordan…no, I’m busy tonight—sorry.”

Jordan kept talking and Colton’s impatience grew in direct proportion to Kendra’s obvious relief. When she rose to her feet, he took a quick step forward and gave a warning shake of his head. After a moment of hesitation, she sat back down with an expression of resignation.

Colton cut Jordan off mid-sentence. “Listen, I’m sorry, but now’s not a good time. I’ll have to talk to you later.”

He thumbed the hang-up button on the phone and dropped it onto the end table, his full attention on Kendra. “I want some answers, and I want them now.”

Her hands twisted together in her lap before she smoothed her palms back and forth along her thighs. After a moment of tense silence, she raised her chin with a determined expression. It quickly morphed to a frown. “You don’t have to loom over me like that.”

He ground his teeth in frustration and didn’t move an inch. She gave him a mutinous glare and crossed her arms. Their battle of wills ended the moment Colton felt his heart begin a slow, deep thud from staring into her eyes for too long. He’d kept his distance after his admission the other night. At first he’d told himself it was only because he wasn’t about to sleep with his boss’s sister, but that excuse no longer washed. The simple truth was, she wasn’t casual. And he wasn’t about to pretend she was. She deserved a hell of a lot more than that from him. The hell of a lot more that he couldn’t give. It had been a sobering thought.

He sat abruptly.