The Trouble With Love (14 page)

She hissed like a cat and tried to gouge his sides with her thumbs
and kick him in the shins
. "You insufferable ass," she mumbled against his chest.
 

When she whimpered, he let her go and set her on the floor then leaned down and kissed her lips.  "I love you, Sabrina...I don't want to fight with you, sugar.
  Help me figure out how to do this right.
"

She took a step back from Cole and looked up into his eyes to gauge his sincerity.  His mouth was drawn in a flat line and his eye
s held nothing but seriousness.
  In a trembling voice, she told him,
"You don't tell someone you
say you
love,
"T
hat was
the most incredible
sex
I've ever had in my life
"
, after you've made beautiful love with them."

Cole's jaw flapped a couple of times
, then he looked thoughtful for a second,
before
he said
, "
Oh
--
I see your point
, I'm sorry, darlin'," then he punctuated his apology with a gentle kiss.

"You weren't desperation sex, Cole..." she told him quietly, with 'I love you' right on the tip of her tongue.

"I know, honey...you're just hurt and confused...I get it," he told her
,
his honeyed voice wrapp
ing its tendrils
around her heart and sooth
ing
it.

"I love you, too, Cole," she said and flinched, unable to believe she'd voiced
those words
, but glad that she had when she looked into his eyes.

Cole
stepped
forward and pulled her into his arms and held her against his chest.  His heart was a tom
-
tom beating inside his ribcage
where it met her chest
, and she felt a fine tremor
pass through
his arms.  "I won't let you regret that, sweetheart."

Sabrina moved her hands from his waist down to his naked butt and knead
ed,
before she looked up into his eyes.  "You have another condom?"

Surprised flitted over his handsome face then he grinned
.
"Have a whole gross of them under the bathroom sink."

"How convenient," she said
smugly
, then grabbed his hand and led him back to the bedroom.

***

Two days later, Cole sat at his kitchen table sopping up the last of the rice and gravy from his plate with one of Sabrina's fluffy biscuits.  Gabe was sitting across from him and had just plopped another
stewed pork chop on his plate.

"Jesus...I'm going to gain fifty pounds eating like this," Gabe said and looked up at him smiling as he grabbed another biscuit himself.

"But, oh won't every
pound
be worth it...your sister sure can cook.  I haven't eaten this well since my mama died
,
"
Cole told him
and rubbed his stomach
.
  Truth be told, Cole thought, Sabrina would have given his mama a run for her money.

"Yeah, we need to get her to back off on the biscuits though,"
Gabe
said taking a huge bite of just that thing then waving it, "These things are deadly."

Sabrina walked back in the kitchen right then and put her hands on her hips then narrowed her eyes. "What are you saying about my biscuits?"

"Nothing, sis...just that their the best biscuits we've ever tasted," Gabe winked at Cole who chuckled.

"Well, if you two don't like the cooking, you can do it yourself!" she said then grabbed up the empty pork chop platter and headed to the sink with it.

Cole shoved up from his chair and followed her watching her delicious
heart-shaped
ass swing in the cutoff jean shorts she wore. 
When she got to the sink and turned on the wat
er he snuck
up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, then ben
t
down to whisper by her ear, "Don't forget desert, sugar," he told her then licked her ear.  He felt her shiver then kissed his way down her neck.

She turned around and put her hands on his chest. "If you're going to do that,
sugar
...you need to do it right," she said and pressed up on her tip toes
and slid her arms around his neck,
then put her lips to his and kissed the stuffing out of him.
  He deepened the kiss then lifted her up against him and pressed her into the count
er and she moaned.

"Well,
don't mind me
, " Gabe said loudly from the table, "I guess I'll be heading off to watch some TV."

Cole and Sabrina pulled apart guiltily and then turned his way.  "Ooops...got carried away," she said and grinned at her brother.
  "But you're not going
anywhere
anyway, it's your turn to do the dishes," she told Gabe then looked up at Cole and winked.

"Aw, shit, Bri..." he stuffed his hands in his pockets and stuck his lip out like a ten-year-old.

She walked over to him and leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek,
and said,
"It won't kill you, I promise
,
"
then patted him there.

Cole laughed, feeling happier than he had in a damned long time.  He hadn't realized how empty his house was until he'd convinced Sabrina and Gabe to come and stay here...how empty his life was.
 
It seemed like her brother
was feeling better too.  As shaky as they'd started out, Cole was starting to like
Gabe
.
  This was a good situation for them all.  He got to be with Sabrina,
her brother
got a safe place to hide, and he could help protect them both.

So far, he hadn't had to protect them, thank
g
od.  The cartel hadn't caught up with Gabe, and the FBI was on notice
they were after him
. 
A
couple of agents
were stationed
at the perimeter of
Cole's
property to watch things...at least for now.  If things heated up, they were going to place
Gabe
and Sabrina in protective custody. As it turn
ed
out, this particular group
had been on the FBI
,
DEA
and ATFs
radar
for some time
,
and they wanted to bring them down.

Cole figured the
feds
didn't put
Gabe and Sabrina
in custody to begin with, because they were using them as bait to draw out the bad guys
, which made him very uneasy
.
  But at least that let him
to keep Sabrina close so he could protect her.

Thinking of her leaving now, caused his heart to freeze up in his chest.
 
When it came down to it, Cole d
idn't know how in the hell he was going to be able to let her go
at all
.
 
He
decided he'd
just have to cross that bridge when he came to it
, but
knew
their time was running out, because her vacation was up at the end of the week.  Unless she couldn't go back because of being in protective custody, or didn't want to go back because of him.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Somehow, Sabrina had convinced Cole to let her go grocery shopping by herself.  They were about out of supplies at his house, because she'd only stocked up on a couple of days worth when they first agreed to leave the B&B and stay with him
, a
nd Sabrina had been cooking up a storm to keep her hands busy and her mind off of
she
and Gabe's trouble
s
. 

After she agreed to call him every thirty minutes, and strapped on her gun
,
covering it with a shirt so she didn't freak out shoppers at the Piggly Wiggly
,
Cole had
reluctantly agreed.  He was at work today and hadn't been able to break away to go with her.

Three weeks ago, she'd left
Phoenix
thinking she'd have a nice relaxing vacation in laid back
Bowie
and help out a friend.  Boy, had that
opinion
changed fast. 
With the exception of the time she
'd
spent with Cole, h
er vacation had turned out to be more stressful than her job
with the
Phoenix PD.
 

At least she had a lot of back up there if things went
south.
 
Here in
Bowie
, it was
only
her, Gabe and Cole and a couple of  FBI agents
, who were on point, but not really paying attention that she could see
.
 
From what she could tell, t
hey looked extremely bored sitting at the end of Cole's driveway in their car, passing time by playing cards, when she brought lunch out to them.

And now her vacation was almost up.  In two days, she'd have to go back to
Phoenix
, or ask for emergency leave to stay and make sure Gabe was safe.
  There were no guarantees it would be granted, so it might come down to her quitting if she wanted to stay here.
 

The thought of leaving Cole was causing her some issues
anyway
.  He said he loved her, but he hadn't offered any promises, or asked for any commitments from her.  Regardless, she was in love with the man and the thought of leaving him made her feel like
her heart
was bleeding inside her chest.
She reached up and rubbed the spot
,
perusing the offerings on the can
ned
good
s
shelf
, before throwing
a couple of cans of hot dog chili and some stewed tomatoes into her cart
.

"Well, if it ain't the little bitch that got me throw
'd
in jail," a familiar coarse voice said behind her.
  Sabrina groaned and put her hand inside of her shirt on the butt of her weapon then turned around to face Big Oaf.
  This was just what she
didn't
need today, she thought, and groaned.

"You got yourself thrown in jail, bud...and if you don't want to wind up there again, I suggest you just walk on by like you never saw me
,
"
she told him firmly watching his every move through narrowed eyes.

He took a step toward her and grabbed her arm.  "I think you and me have a score to settle..." he hissed through his teeth. 

His fingers were digging into her arm painfully, and
Sabrina kicked him in the shin as hard as she could
and he yelped and let go of her arm.  Quickly, she
took three steps back and pulled her w
eapon from her shoulder holster
and
pointed at his chest.

"Did I mention I'm a cop?  Get your ass down on the ground and lay spread eagle..." she told him forcefully, then when he didn't comply, she hissed, "
Now!
"

"I don't think so...that peashooter ain't gonna stop me from getting what you owe me
,
" he told her
and moved toward her
with amusement on his face.

"If you don't think I'll shoot you, asshole, you're wrong.  One more step and I'll consider deadly force to be necessary."

Indecision warred on his rough looking face then he swallowed.  Evidently finally believing she'd shoot him, he dropped to his knees then laid like she told him to.  S
abrina
trained her gun on his head and switched it to a one hand hold, then pulled her cell phone from her pocket, then speed dialed Cole.

Big Oaf looked up at her right when Cole answered and she told him
loudly
, "Don't eyeball me
asshole
, put your head down."

"Where are you, sugar?" Cole asked her hesitantly.

"I'm at the Piggly Wiggly and the big oaf from the wedding decided we had a score to settle.  He grabbed my arm
, and I
pulled my gun.
..
g
uess I won," she said then added to let the man on the floor know she meant business, "I
f he moves, I'm putting a bullet between his eyes.
"

"Keep him down, I'm on my way," he told her then disconnected.  She slid the phone back in her pocket and put both hands back on her weapon.

From her peripheral vision, Sabrina saw that a crowd had gathered, and she hoped they didn't step in.  All she needed was to create a riot at the Piggly Wiggly
and
lose control of her attacker.
  "Stay back folks, Sheriff Jackson is on his way
,
"
she told them.

About that time, Cole burst through the crowd and brushed past her to put his knee in Big Oaf's back and twist his arm up in between his shoulder blades.  He grabbed cuffs from his belt and snapped them on
one wrist
, then jerked the other wrist up to meet it and snapped that cuff shut.
 
Cole
stood up and ran his eyes over Sabrina from head to toe
. Anger
poured off of him in heated waves
, as he
put his hands on his hips and
asked her through grated teeth, "Did he hurt you?"

"He threatened me, and grabbed my arm, but no
,
I'm not hurt
,
"
Sabrina told him and then slid her gun back in its holster.

"He looked around at the bystanders and asked, "Did anyone see what happened?"  A couple of blue-haired old women she didn't know raised their hands and another younger guy nodded.

Cole reached down and grabbed one of Big Oaf's arms and jerked on it.  After stumbling for balance, he finally got him up on his feet.  The guy was built like an oak tree.
  "If you saw anything, please stop by the station on your way home and fill out a statement," he told no one in particular then looked at her, "Come with me."

"I've got to check out...my groceries will melt," she said then waved at her cart.

"We'll come back for the groceries later...just follow me," he hissed at her and turned to walk Big Oaf toward the front of the store.
  Sabrina's shoulders slumped, then she trailed behind him to the front door.
  It seemed like everywhere
she
went these days, trouble found her. 

Cole's whole demeanor said he was frustrated...with her
and the constant drama that seemed to surround her these days
. 
Maybe going back to what she thought of
now
as her 'sedate' life in Phoenix was the best thing she could do...for her and Cole. 
Her
being in
Bowie
was creating a helluva lot of trouble for him.  She and Gabe had invaded his house, made him live on edge because of the bad guys after Gabe,
s
he'd
caused him to get
his ass kicked by Big Oaf, and now he had to arrest
the man
again...all because of her.

It was probably time for her to take the
danger
and trouble
she'd dumped on
Cole's
doorstep away from
Bowie
to
give
him his peace back
, before something else happened
.
  She'd survived Kenny getting killed, but she didn't think she'd survive if the same thing happened to Cole
, especially if she was the cause
.

When she got back to the house, s
he'd talk to the FBI agents and see if they would agree to take Gabe into protective custody, instead of waiting things out.  He had enough information on that gang to shut them down
, at least some of the members
, and he'd already told them he was willing to testify.  The
FBI would
just have to track the
suspects
down instead of waiting for the gang to come to them.
  And she could go back to
Phoenix
and
find her own peace.

This whole trip to
Bowie
now
seemed like some bad dream to her.
..definitely a mistake.
  She was even starting to believe that her hope of a relationship with Cole was part of that dream.
  Maybe
it was time
she
woke
up.

***

Sabrina was standing at the stove
,
stirring the spaghetti sauce she was making for dinner, her mood
was
as thick as the sauce. 
Gabe was in the workout room pumping iron.  He'd been in
there for almost two hours, after telling
her it was all her fault
that
he was putting on weight. 

She couldn't help it
.  A
s it had since she'd come to Bowie, cooking had become her outlet to relieve the frustration that built inside
of
her daily
over
worrying
about
what she was going to do tomorrow.
  But
this
tomorrow
worrying her
was the real deal.  It was the day she decided whether she was going back to
Phoenix
or staying here.  This was probably her last night with Cole.
..and she wanted to make it special, memorable.  Once she left
Bowie
, all she'd have were memories.

The FBI agents she'd talked to last night hadn't been very encouraging about putting Gabe in
to
protective custody, until the bad guys came for him.  Since
Bowie
was so remote, they probably never would
find him
here.  T
he FBI was wasting their time waiting here
.
 
Phoenix
would be another story.
  It was
close to
Mesa
,
and maybe if they made themselves more visible, the
y
might have better luck flushing out the cartel.
 

She'd told the
FBI
as much last night, and they
had
agreed.  So, she'd convinced Gabe to go back to
Phoenix
with her
.  She only hope
d that decision
didn't get her brother killed.
  At least she had more connections there to help keep him safe.
 

All she had to do now, was figure out how to tell Cole...and to say goodbye.

She was so deep in her thoughts, Sabrina didn't hear Cole walk up behind her, but she felt his presence when he slid his arms around her waist a
nd kissed her cheek.  "Hey, hey
good lookin' what'cha got cooking?" he sang near her ear with a chuckle.

Sabrina's eyes burned and she swallowed hard then put her hand to his cheek. "Hey, yourself," she sa
id and turned to kiss his cheek,
but
he turn
ed his face instead and caught
her li
ps for an
incredibly sweet kiss.