Free Homeland Security (Defenders of Love Book 2) by Unknown Page A

on clearing her name and stopping Nathan from whatever he had planned.
    He leaned down and kissed her softly on the forehead and then stepped back, his arms dropping from around her. "What do you say we get out of here and go see the powers that be over at the hospital?"
    "Okay. As long as we can grab something to eat on the way. My stomach is trying to digest itself, I'm so hungry."
    Kaiden laughed. "I know what you mean."
    As he turned away to grab a long sleeved tee from the back of a chair, Katie admired the lean, hard muscle of his back and shoulders. A few minutes ago, all of that would have been hers if Kaiden's boss hadn't shown up.
    "Damn it," she muttered, the frustration radiating to parts of her body that had been left alone for far too long.
    Kaiden turned to look at her, concern in his ethereal blue eyes. She really loved his eyes. Nathan's had been blue too but compared to Kaiden's his had been dull and lifeless. "What's wrong?"
    "Oh, nothing," she replied, offering up a small smile. "I was just thinking I forgot to brush my teeth."
    He obviously didn't believe her but he grinned anyway. "You want to go ahead and I will get dressed out here?"
    "Yeah, okay. Thanks."
    As she brushed her teeth, Katie thought about the last twenty four hours. One minute she was carrying around a broken heart and a bruised ego, the next her home was trashed, her job probably lost forever, and Kaiden James had walked back into her life.
    Just like when they met in the hospital, her body experienced a whirlwind of sensations whenever he touched her. Katie found it harder and harder to trust herself with Kaiden nearby and as much as she longed to run back into that bedroom and throw him down on the bed, she had to get her head on straight. There could be no more of anything between them, not if she valued her sanity. When all of this was over, even if she didn't land herself in federal prison somewhere for letting Nathan ruin her life, Kaiden would ride off into the sunset again. She got the feeling a man like that only stayed attached to one thing and that was his job.
    With a deep sigh and heavy heart, Katie rinsed her toothbrush. Some women weren't meant to find love.

Chapter Seven

    Kaiden glanced over at Katie as he drove toward the hospital where she worked. It bothered him that she had returned to being silent and distant again. After their little rendezvous that morning he had been hopeful that they were on the way to starting something once this case was all wrapped up. Something he suspected had the potential to be pretty great.
    So, why had she suddenly shut down on him again?
    "Did I do something to upset you?" he finally asked when he couldn't stand the silence any longer.
    "No."
    "Are you sure? I mean, an hour ago…?"
    "You didn't do anything wrong. I thought I should stay focused on this thing with Nathan first."
    She looked out the window the entire time she spoke so he had no way of reading her expression. Kaiden resisted the urge to pull the truck over but he did reach for her hand. When he found it, she tried to pull her hand away but he resisted her attempts with his solid hold. "I'm sorry if Hunter made you feel uncomfortable."
    "It's fine, really." Again, she attempted to pull her hand from his but Kaiden held on. "I think we should concentrate all our efforts on figuring out what Nathan is up to now so I can try to get my life back."
    "The life you had before you met Nathan or…"
    "The life I had twenty four hours ago before some government desk jockey thought I was a terrorist or an assistant terrorist or whatever."
    This time when she tried to pull away, he let her. What she said had truth to it. The case had to be the primary objective, especially now that they might have a target. Or at least a target location.
The weekday traffic was light so they made it to the hospital in under ten minutes. Kaiden pulled his truck into the visitor's parking lot and found a spot under a tree he could back into.
    Tactical