Bound by the Red Thread

Paul was sitting in the recliner reading with one light on beside him. He looked up as she entered the room.

“Hi,” he said as he marked his place in the book and set it on the table beside him.

“Hi. Did everyone else leave?” she asked, glancing around.

“Yeah. Darrall and Monty had some work to do at the hotel. J.T. and Hammer are outside.”

J. T. and Hammer? Have I met them?” Between the names and the monikers, she was never sure who he was talking about.

“They were at our initial meeting. I’ll reintroduce you when they come in for coffee later.” Paul stood and walked over to her.

He pulled her into his arms and held her. It had been a couple of days since the day he’d taken her on the couch. Since then he’d been distant and professional. Nicole had started to wonder if he regretted what had happened.

He hadn’t said anything about it, and neither had she. It felt good to be in his arms again. She didn’t know what, if anything, was going to come of it, but she couldn’t seem to help herself when it came to him.

It had taken all the self-discipline she could muster to keep from sneaking into his bed the last two nights. It was a good thing there were usually others around. Maybe that was why he’d been so distant. Maybe there was a no fraternizing rule or something.

She let her head rest on his shoulder and closed her eyes. In his arms, everything seemed easier to manage. She knew as long as he was around, she’d be able to cope. She didn’t want to think about what was going to happen when this was all over.

He guided her to the couch. “Feel like talking yet?”

Nicole sat and nodded her head. She slowly told him about Jin’s phone call and all the fears she now had. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t want to lose my son, but a boy needs his father too.” She bit her lip to keep from crying.

“I don’t know how, but I know everything will work out. You need to have faith. Whatever is meant to happen, will happen.” Paul pulled her into another hug.

“Are you hungry?” he asked, moving off the couch and heading for the kitchen.

“A little. What did you do?” she asked. They had been either ordering food and having one of the guys pick it up, or one of them would cook something.

“I was waiting for you. How about if I cook something for us tonight?”

“I can help.” Nicole followed him into the kitchen.

“Great. I can always use a sous chef. Here chop these,” he said, pulling a few vegetables out of the fridge. He handed her a cutting board and a knife. “Be careful with that. It’s really sharp.”

Nicole stood beside him at the counter and started slicing and dicing while he started stirring something in a wok.

“I didn’t know they had that kind of equipment here,” she said. While the house was nicely furnished, it didn’t seem to have a lot of extras.

“This is mine. I take it everywhere. Along with my knives.”

They worked in comfortable silence and Nicole could see a future with this man. She wasn’t even divorced from Jin. How could she be thinking this way so soon? If she let herself admit it, she’d known things were over with Jin long before he left, she just hadn’t wanted to face it.

She turned to see Paul watching her. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” she answered, trying to sound chipper and like everything was fine.

Paul continued to stare at her and she could tell he wasn’t falling for it.

“Do you want me to go out and see if the guys outside want to come in and eat?” she asked, heading for the door.

Paul grabbed her arm pulling her back so quickly that she fell into him.

“No!” he said, then eased his grip on her. He pulled her back into the kitchen. “Whoever is stalking you is still out there, and you aren’t to leave this house without one of us with you. Try that again and I’ll take you over my knee.”

“You wouldn’t, would you?” Nicole didn’t know whether she was hopeful or what.

“Oh yeah, baby, in a heartbeat,” Paul answered, his voice deep and sexy.