The Trouble With Love (7 page)

A
sexy grin
spread over his battered face then
he pulled her to his chest and gave her a kiss that
curled her toes and made her crave more.  When he pulled back, he grinned down at her, "I've missed you."
 

He'd dropped her off at the Double B yesterday morning, so it hadn't been that long since she'd seen him last.  But s
he'd missed him too.
  There was no way she was going to
admit it to him
, though
.  Keeping her distance from him emotionally was tantamount to keeping her sanity when he wasn't in her life anymore
in a couple of weeks
. 

Having s
ex with him was one thing,
something she was seriously considering, but
falling in love with him was another.
  S
he was
not
going to let
that
happen.

Sabrina forced a smile on her face and asked, "You hungry?"

"Always
..."
H
is
green
eyes lit up and he asked eagerly, "What'cha got?"

"Shepherd's Pie...you like that?"

"God, yes...show me to it," he said grinning.
 

They walked into the kitchen and Sabrina said, "Cole
,
this is my big brother, Gabe
Kelley
..."

Neither of them acknowledged the other, they just sized each other up with assessing glares.
  Gabe
'
s eyes moved over Cole and then he said, "So
,
you sleeping with my sister?"

"Gabe!"
Sabrina
shouted
appalled
, then reprimanded, "That's not any of your damned business!"

"Sure it is--you're my sister," Gabe said calmly glancing at her, then looking back at Cole with a raised brow.
"You look worse than I do, man.
..you must not be much of a Sheriff if someone beat the shit out of you like that.
"

She saw Cole's jaw clench then he said, "I tell you what asshole, I'll let you meet the brick wall I
ran into
yesterday and you can give him a go.  Let's see what
you
look like when he finishes."

Sabrina ran up to Gabe, put her hands on her hips and got right in his face then hissed,
"I'd look
just
like that if Cole hadn't stepped in yesterday, Gabe.  Stop it!"

Gabe looked at her a long time, then dragged his gaze to Cole's. "What happened?"

Cole didn't say anything, just stood there gritting his teeth, clenching his fists an
d staring a hole through Gabe, so Sabrina said, "A huge drunken bozo asked me to dance, I said no, and it pissed him off.  He didn't like that or me kneeing him in the balls in front of his friends
, so h
e followed me and tried to get rough...Cole stepped in."

She looked up at Cole and the huge purple circle around his bloodshot eye that matched the purple bruise on his cheekbone, and cringed.  "How're the ribs?"

"Fine." he said shortly and sucked in a breath.

"What the fuck, sis?  Why'd you tangle with someone that size? 
Are you nuts
?"
Gabe shouted and got in her face.  "You need to think before you do something stupid like that!"

Sabrina took a step forward and leaned up on her toes to put her nose near his. "I've been taking care of myself for a long time, Gabe.  Yes, it was stupid, but he was bullying me, and I damned well wasn't going to take it.  Just like I'm not going to take it from you!"

Cole saw Gabe Kelley move so his side was facing the pissed off little spitfire up in his face.  Evidently, he'd been a victim of her lethal signature move before. Cole wanted to laugh, but he was too pissed off.  No wonder this asshole had people after him, if this was how he interacted with everyone.

Suddenly, Sabrina turned on her heel and ran to the oven and opened it.  "Oh, thank god it's not burnt," she said with disgust in her voice
angrily jerk
ing
an oven mitt from the counter
, before she
took a casserole dish out and quickly put it on the stove
.  She slammed the oven shut then said,
"It would serve you right if it
was
burned, you're being such a tool.
  I know you're in pain, but give the attitude a rest!
"

Her blue eyes, a lot like her brothers, shot angry blue flames at him, and her face was flushed.
  God, she was gorgeous...
Cole
wanted to go over there and taste some of her fire.

When she jerked t
wo
plates down from a cabinet and slammed them down on the counter, Cole was surprised they didn't shatter.  She flung open drawers until she found a big spoon, then took off the tin foil on the dish and slapped a portion on each plate, then turned to them.  "Forks are in the drawer, tea is on the counter...get your own.  I'm going upstairs."

He saw her fight valiantly to hold back the angry tears pooling in her eyes, and wanted to go over there and hug her.  She ran arm over her eyes then sniffed and threw the mitt down on the counter,
before she spun
on her heel and ran out of the kitchen.

"Nice job, bud," Cole told her brother
sarcastically
,
as he
just
stood
there looking dumbfounded.

Walking o
ver to the counter
,
Cole
grabbed a plate of the fantastic smelling food, and a glass of tea, then balanced it in one arm to find a fork,
before he went
to
sit at the table
, totally ignoring the jerk.
  He'd taken a couple of bites, when the asshole said, "You better not hurt her, asshole.
..she went through enough with Kenny.
"

"Don't plan on it,
dickwad,
"
Cole
said wondering who the hell Kenny was and what the hell he'd done to Sabrina.  He'd jerk a knot in the asshole if he'd hurt her.  "Who the hell is Kenny?"

"Was..." Gabe said to him and walked to the kitchen to get his own meal.  "Her husband...my best friend."

Cole snorted, "You have friends?  Amazing."
 
She had a husband?
  How had he not known that...how had she not told him?  He planned on asking her about it for sure.

"Yeah, unbelievable, huh?" he said derisively then sat down at the table across from Cole.

Cole wondered why this man was so bitter...wondered what caused it.  It poured off of him like acid, burning anyone in its path.  He evidently had some issues he was avoiding dealing with, Cole thought.  But that wasn't his problem...keeping the people of
Bowie
safe, keeping Sabrina safe, was his focus.

"You still didn't answer my question...what are we dealing with here?"
Cole ask him again.

"
We
aren't dealing with anything. 
I
am dealing with a drug
and weapons
cartel hit squad on my ass
,
"
Sabrina's brother spouted then shoved a forkful of food into his mouth.

"Well since you are in
my
town, you
'v
e ma
d
e
it
my
problem...and your sister's too
,
"
Cole spat and threw down his fork to stand up.  "I've had enough of your shit, if you need help, let me know. Otherwise, I'm done here."
  Cole threw down his napkin and strode toward the stairs.  He and Sabrina needed to have a talk,
now
.

When his feet hit the landing at the top, Cole called her name, then saw her open a door down the hall and strode there
then
pushed past her
to go
inside.  She closed the door and leaned back against it. 

Taking a deep breath to calm the rage boiling inside of him,
Cole
blew it out then told her,
  "Your brother is a first-class asshole, and he can fucking get out of
Bowie
.
  Him being here is endangering the people I protect, and endangering
you
.
"

Sabrina walked over to him and put her hand on his arm.  "Come sit down..." she told him and led him to the bed. 
He sat down beside her and propped a knee on the bed to face her. 

"
Gabe's
anger is his suit of armor,
li
k
e a porcupine has quills, he has his anger. T
hings happened that caused
him to be that way.
..
I know
,
I had the same anger.  He keeps people at arm's length
with it
, because that way he doesn't get attached and he doesn't get hurt because he cares."

Cole looked down at her left hand and noticed a faint indention on her ring finger, he'd never noticed before.  He must've been blind not to have noticed it.  "Tell me about your husband, Sabrina," he said flatly dreading hearing about the man she'd been married to.

Shock then sadness flitted over her face
and
she asked, "Gabe told you about Kenny?"
 

Cole saw her thumb go to rub the indention on her finger, and a fist squeezed his heart.  He reached up to rub
that place between his pecs
then asked, "No, he just mentioned the name...and that he was your husband."

"Kenny was more than my husband, Cole...he was Gabe's best friend.  They were like brothers.  They'd been friends for years, went to school together, into the military together, they
were partners on the
Phoenix
PD...they
always had each other's back."

"Where's he now?"  Please don't say in
Phoenix
, Cole thought.  Knowing she had a husband or ex-husband in the wings near her home caused another pain to move through is chest.

"Dead," she told him matter-of-factly.

Cole felt guilt at the relief that washed over him.  He shouldn't be glad the man was dead, but he couldn't help himself.  "What happened?"

She didn't respond for a minute, and Cole noticed her breathing had increased and he saw her physically fighting to get control.  She finally looked into his eyes and
the anguish he
saw there, made him want to drag her into his arms, but he just sat there and waited. 

Finally, she
swallowed then told him,
"
Kenny
and Gabe were partners, I told you that.
  T
hey were working undercover and got sloppy
...
took their eye off the ball.  Gabe
slipped
up
and said something he shouldn't have, something they
sh
ouldn't have know
n
about a shipment of weapons
.  The gang they were trying to bring down figured them for cops, and
Kenny tried to talk their way out of it, but they
put a bullet in
his
head.  Gabe managed to escape.
"  She took a deep shuddering breath.

"Were you a cop then?"

"Yeah, a beat cop...they were detectives.
  I've been a detective for a little over a year now.
"