Killer Countdown (Man on a Mission 6)

He abruptly turned off the shower and sluiced the water from his skin, then dried quickly and headed for the bedroom. Carly wasn’t there. But then, he hadn’t really expected her to be. He dressed in the first clothes he could find and walked out of the bedroom with only one thing on his mind—apologizing to Carly.

It wasn’t until he’d gone through every room in the condo twice that he realized he couldn’t apologize to her...because she was nowhere to be found.

* * *

Carly had walked out without her purse, gloves or scarf. She’d thrown on jeans and a sweater, had tugged boots on and had grabbed her jacket, but she was already out the front door of the condo building and two blocks away before she realized what she’d left behind. She stopped so quickly the man behind her walking his dog ran into her, and Carly was forced to apologize.

When she was alone again she stood there in the middle of the sidewalk, her hands in her pockets against the cold, her breath making a little cloud in the near-freezing air as she realized she’d left behind more than just her purse, gloves and scarf. She’d left Shane behind, as well. She’d given up without a fight, and that was so unlike her she couldn’t believe it.

She turned around and headed back the way she’d come, but before she reached the second light Shane came flying out the condo building’s front door, frantically looking left and right as if he were searching for someone. As if he were searching for her.

He suddenly spotted her in the sparse Saturday morning crowd and broke into a run. Carly barely waited for the light to change before she was running, too. They met in the middle, and Shane caught her in an embrace that threatened to crush her ribs, all the while peppering her face with kisses.

“I’m sorry,” he said over and over. “God, Carly, I’m so sorry.”

“Me, too,” she said, achingly glad she’d turned back. “I shouldn’t have run away.”

“I didn’t mean it. Please believe me. I just didn’t know what to say.”

“I know.”

They kissed and hugged and murmured apologies to each other until two teenage boys passed them and shouted rudely, “Get a room, for Chrissake!”

Carly spluttered with laughter, and then Shane was laughing, too. “We have a room, Marine,” she whispered. “What say we take their advice?”

Chapter 18

Once Carly and Shane were inside the condo, however, the smell of coffee drew them to the kitchen. “Oh, my cup,” she said. “I left it...”

Before she could go fetch it herself, he said, “I’ll get it.”

By the time he’d returned she’d poured a cup for him—straight black, the way he liked it—and was rummaging in the pantry and fridge for breakfast. Shane tossed the dregs of her drink in the sink before refilling her cup, then turning off the coffeemaker.

“There’s not much in the way of breakfast,” she informed him with the air of someone delivering bad news.

“I thought I saw oatmeal in the pantry.”

“Oh. You’re right.” She took down the tall, cylindrical container. “I was looking for those little packets of instant,” she explained. “You know, the ones you just add water to and put in the microwave.”

“This is almost as quick,” he said, taking the container from her. “You can nuke it, but I’d rather cook mine the old-fashioned way.” He found a pot, filled it halfway with water, and set it on the stove to boil.

“Let me guess—this is how your mom makes it.”

He leaned a hip against the counter and grinned at her. “Give the lady a cigar.”

“Tell me more about her,” she invited. “You started to last night, but then we got sidetracked to your dad, and...”

He picked up his coffee and drank deeply, a reminiscent light creeping into his eyes. “She’s one tough lady. She’s had to be. Four rambunctious boys and a little girl determined to be as fearless as her older brothers.” He checked the pot on the stove, then looked back at Carly. “Then losing my dad before he ever reached retirement age. He was the light of her life and it nearly broke her. But she refused to surrender to grief.” Love and admiration were evident in his voice. “My dad was the marine, but I think my brothers and sister and I get our grit and determination from her.”