Page 50 of Sergeant's Christmas Siege

He didn’t rise to the bait. “You know exactly what to do with a man who wants it the way you do. Hard. Fast. You can do that, easy. But if I tried to hold your hand you’d try to shoot me. Wouldn’t you?”

He watched her swallow, as hard as it was audible. “Don’t psychoanalyze me. Especially after three glasses of wine.”

“The wine is a great excuse, isn’t it?” Templeton murmured, never shifting his gaze from hers. Pinning her there, naked and still flushed. “A lot like some night out in a bar for you. It’s your excuse. Your alibi, if you need one. But I want you naked because I want you naked, Kate. I don’t need an alibi. And I’m not going to blame anyone in the morning. Can you say the same?”

“I’m too busy blaming you for ruining tonight to worry about tomorrow morning. Thanks for that.”

Templeton wanted to laugh, but he didn’t. “Don’t worry, we’re going to revisit this topic. You can count on it.”

“Like hell we are.”

“I have the feeling it’s all going to go down the way it did tonight. You’re going to tell me how you don’t do something, I’m going to show you that you do, and better still, that I don’t care if you get mad at me about it.”

“Will this all come with lectures? Because nothing’s hotter than that. Every girl dreams of being naked before a pompous man who doesn’t know when to shut his mouth. I know that keeps me up at night.”

“It’s going to keep me up, too, Kate,” he told her, and this time, he didn’t smile. Or laugh. Or try to make it better. “I can promise you that.”

And he left her there, only cracking a smile when he heard her curse his name as he went. Then throw something hard at the door behind him. He suspected it was her boot.

That made him smile a lot wider.

It wasn’t until he had taken the long, frigid-cold walk back to his cabin—where he doused himself in cold water, gritted his teeth, and reminded himself that he’d chosen his frustration—that it occurred to him he hadn’t told her the reason he’d been waiting for her in the first place.

That someone had broken into Kate’s apartment in Juneau earlier tonight.

That an individual dressed all in black had been lying in wait for her, which she would know as well as he did no one did when they planned to leap out for a hug and a cuddle.

Whoever it was had expected to find Kate there. Alone and off her guard. And when they’d been confronted by a neighbor instead, they’d taken off.

But they’d be back.

Templeton had absolutely no doubt.

Twelve

Kate didn’t know where to begin processing everything that had happened that night. From her surprisingly carefree dinner with Bethan and Everly to... everything that had come afterward with Templeton. Which she would certainly not callcarefree.

It was easier to focus on what had happened in Juneau instead.

One of her neighbors had walked by and seen Kate’s door open, just a crack. Thinking that was unusual—because it was, of course, absolutely unheard of in all the months Kate had lived there—the woman had knocked and then walked in, calling out Kate’s name.

Which was especially surprising, given Kate didn’t know hers.

Her neighbor, who Kate now knew was named Alasie Benally, had startled whoever was inside. They’d rushed out, leaving Alasie shaken and knocked to the ground. Alasie was adamant that whoever the assailant was, she hadn’t interrupted him in the middle of a robbery attempt—he’d been lurking there.

All the lights in the apartment had been off. He’d rushed Alasie when she’d moved far enough inside that,had she been who he wanted her to be, he could have gotten himself between his quarry and the door.

He’d growled something at Alasie when he’d seen her on the floor at his feet, then left.

This told Kate that whoever the assailant was, he was looking for Kate. He had broken into her apartment and he’d waited there, for her. Not whoever might happen to show up, but Kate herself. Kate specifically.

She couldn’t pretend she liked how that felt.

The Juneau police had invited her to come back and do a walk-through to see if anything was missing, but Kate had declined. It hadn’t looked like anything had been taken in the photos they’d sent her. And the good news was, it wouldn’t have mattered if the man had stolen everything from that apartment. There was nothing in it Kate couldn’t replace. Most of what was in it, in fact, wasn’t hers to begin with.

Though she found that when she said things like that to the police or her colleagues, there were those uncomfortable silences that reminded her—powerfully—that she really wasn’t like other people. And there was nothing that screamedChristmastimewith more forced, uncomfortable cheer than being made to feel, yet again, like an alien.

I’m glad you took your leave seriously and got out of there for a while,her captain had told her gruffly when they’d spoken on the phone.You deserve a vacation, Kate.

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