“I can protect you from this.”
“I’m coming inside.” I went for the car door, but he reached over and hit the lock before I could get out.
When I turned to look at him, he was grinning, which was infuriating.
“What’s so funny?” I demanded.
“This is exactly what happened the first day I met you. Remember? You kept insisting you wanted to get out of the car, and I wouldn’t let you.”
“Of course I remember. You took my purse.”
The cocky look slowly left his face. “I knew,” he said gruffly. “I somehow knew, even then, that I needed to protect you.” I waited a beat and then unbuckled my seatbelt, slid closer to him on the seat and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Let me be there for you,” I breathed. “You don’t have to do this alone.”
He shook his head and turned away from me, trying to disentangle himself from my grasp, but I could tell he really didn’t want to move away. He did want to protect me, I knew that, but that wasn’t why he was pushing me away. He was pushing me away because I was getting too close.
“Colt.”
He turned his head toward me slightly. “No. It’s too dangerous.”
“Look, you want me to work with the FBI, right? With Caleb? If that’s going to happen, you’re going to have to let me in on some things. They’re going to have to believe that I know some things. And if I’m going to be working here anyway, I’m going to see things Colt.” I took his hand, rubbing my thumb over his knuckles. “You can’t keep me away from everything.”
He looked at me and sighed, considering. His hand cupped my chin and he leaned his forehead against mine. “If anything ever happened to you...” he murmured. “Jesus, Olivia, I couldn’t…”
“Nothing is going to happen to me. You have to let me in, Colt. Please, if we’re ever…” I wanted to say that if we were ever going to be together, if we were ever going to be a real couple, in a real relationship, he was going to have to let go of some of his defenses, to let some of his walls crumble. But I was too scared to say any of that out loud. I was already playing with fire, pushing him to get close to his emotions. The last thing I wanted was for him to shut down completely. “Please,” I whispered.
“Fine.” And then he was straightening up, that look of determination back on his face, his strong jaw molded into a firm line. “But you stay behind the bar, and if I tell you to go outside, you go outside.”
“Colt –”
“It’s not up for negotiation, Olivia.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “Okay.”
I started to unbuckle my seatbelt, but he stopped me.
“Wait,” he said.
“What?”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Call him.”
“Who?”
“Caleb. Call him and tell him you’re on board.”
I shook my head. “No. Not right now.”
“Call him, Olivia.” He was staring at me coolly, and I knew there was no way he was going to back down.
I sighed and took the phone, then accepted the wrinkled business card that Colt had taken from his wallet. I dialed the number.
“Caleb Smythe,” the voice on the other end barked.
“Um, hi,” I said, swallowing nervously, completely out of my element when it came to business cards.
“Yeah, who is this?” Caleb asked, sounding impatient. In the background, I could hear the rush of the wind, like he was outside. I imagined him being at some kind of crime scene, that I was interrupting him while he was in the middle a murder investigation. The thought should have been disturbing, but it actually comforted me somehow, as if me calling him was very run of the mill.
“This is Olivia,” I said.
“Olivia,” he said, and his tone changed instantly. “I was hoping you’d call me.”
“Yes, well, I did. Um, I was wondering if we could set up a time to meet.”
“How about now?”
“Now?” I started to protest, but Colt nodded his head at me from the passenger seat and gave me a look. A don’t fuck with me look.
I sighed. I didn’t want to meet with Caleb at all, much less right now. But I had no choice – and if I had to do it anyway, then I guess it would be best to get it over with. “Where do you want to meet?”
“I’m on the East Side,” he said. “Park and Royal Street, there’s a coffee shop on the corner called Molly’s. Meet me there in half an hour?”
“Half an hour?” I glanced over at Colt and he nodded. I sighed again. “Okay.”
“Sounds good.” Caleb’s tone softened. “And Olivia?”
“Yes?”
“You made the right choice.”
“Bye,” I said quickly and hung up.
Colt reached for my hand and pulled me back toward him, his hands moving in slow circles against the back of my neck.
“I don’t want to do this,” I said.
“I know. But it’s going to be okay. I would never let anything bad happen to you.” He kissed me softly, then handed me the keys. “Take my car,” he said. “If you crash it, I’ll take it out on your body.”
“Promise?” I teased.