“Okay, good.” Marissa looked to Harley. “I can see you’re upset I asked her that, but a woman shows up wrapped in a towel wearing a man’s shirt, you have to wonder.” She eyed his bare chest almost appreciatively now. “Ill see if I can find you a shirt and grab her some clothes. Come with me and I’ll show you where you two can get cleaned up.”
Nora stood warily and gripped Harley’s hand, not ready to let him out of her sight. Her feet stung, and she was exhausted, but she didn’t want Harley to have to haul her up the stairs. He had to be just as tired as she was. The first step she took caused her to wince, and Harley scooped her up anyways.
She leaned into him, his bare chest against her cheek, and listened to his steady heartbeat. He was so strong, the way he managed to stay calm through everything when she felt as if she wanted to just give up. To say to hell with it. She was just tired of running.
“I only have two rooms, which luckily are both empty at the moment,” Marissa said as she walked up the stairs. “I’m sure you’ve noticed, but this isn’t a normal B&B. I take people in who have nowhere else to go. Those who I get the impression they don’t deserve the trouble they are in.” She pushed the door open to a room at the end of the hall and stepped inside to turn on the light.
The room was surprisingly large. A couch and table with two high-backed chairs sat against one wall, a window with shutters between them. A large bed was centered on the wall opposite of the door and a large fireplace flanked with bookcases flanked the other wall.
Gold floral wallpaper covered the walls that also held some of Gerry’s paintings. His style was unmistakable, as was his red signature at the bottom. A man of many talents indeed, it seemed, she thought with a slight smile.
“There’s a first aid kit in the bathroom, and I’ll be right back with those clothes,” Marissa said, and closed the door behind her.
Harley carried Norah into the bathroom and set her on the edge of the large marble bathtub.
Norah watched as he pulled open the cabinet and let out a breath of relief when he pulled the kit out.
“Harley, I can clean my own feet,” she said when he turned the bath water on and put some soap in.
“This is my fault, so I will make sure you are okay.”
“How is this your fault?”
Harley shook his head and began cleaning her feet. She sucked in a pained breath when the water stung the open cuts.
“I should have covered our tracks better. I got too relaxed.”
“You covered them very well, Harley.” She gritted her teeth against the pain. “You got us out of there.”
“You got hurt.”
“I stepped on some rocks and twigs, I’ll recover.” She sucked in another breath and he stood.
“You have some splinters as well.” He grabbed some tweezers and Norah bit her lip when he dug into her already sensitive skin to pull out the pieces of wood.
When he was done, Harley rinsed the bathtub out and filled it with clean water. He added some soap from the collection of bottles on the edge of the tub and helped her stand.
“Go ahead and take a bath. Ill set your clothes on the bed when Marissa brings them in and put some antiseptic and bandages on your feet when you’re done.”
He turned to leave, and Norah pushed the panic down in her chest. It was silly to freak out. He was going to be just in the other room, and they were in a new place. One that Gerry had assured them was safe. So why did she feel that Harley was her lifeline? That without him she wouldn’t survive?
“Harley?” she asked softly. Tears filled her eyes and she took a painful step towards him.
“You’re safe now, Norah.” He wrapped his arms around her when she came to him, and she let fall the tears she had been pushing back since the second he burst into the bathroom.
“I’m sorry. I told myself I wouldn’t be weak the next time we ran into them. I’m so damn scared.”
“Norah, you almost died. Again. You’re not weak, you’re human.”
“You aren’t afraid.” She said it simply, and he wondered how she could have possibly missed how terrified he was. Not for his own life—he had accepted the danger he was in from the day he became a cop—but for hers.
She had begun to matter so much to him that he worried if he ever lost her, he would lose himself as well.
“I am afraid,” he admitted, and pulled away to look at her face. “I am terrified that something is going to happen to you. I should have grabbed you some damn shoes,” he said, smiling, and cupped her cheek. “Take a bath and relax,” he said, and kissed her forehead.
She watched as he turned away and then removed the towel and his shirt, and climbed into the fragrant water. Her feet stung again, but as soon as she was submerged in the water, the warmth of it engulfed her and the pain subsided.
* * *
SON OF A bitch, that was close, Harley thought to himself as he sat on the bed staring at the closed bathroom door. Her feet hadn’t been as bad as he had worried they would be, but she was definitely going to be sore for the next few days. Now that the adrenaline was wearing down, he was feeling the exhaustion. By his best guess it was close to four a.m., and he had been up since six the morning before.
Harley opened the door at the knock. Gerry and Marissa stood on the other side, and she handed him a bag full of clothes.
“I keep clothes around in various sizes for those who I house. You two should find something that fits.”
“How is she?” Gerry asked, worried lines on his face.
“I think she’s still in shock, but it’s wearing off. Her feet weren’t as bad as I thought they were going to be.”
“How in the hell did they find you guys? And me?”
“I have no idea. Tom must be more resourceful than I thought. They shouldn’t have fucking found us. I worked my ass off to make sure that cottage was untraceable and that you were in no way linked back to me. I’m so sorry, Gerry.”
“Don’t be apologizing on my account. This isn’t the first time I’ve been on the run, and probably won’t be the last. There’s some things about me you don’t know, Harley. We need to talk.”
“Not tonight, Gerry. Let the boy rest,” Marissa scolded him, and turned to leave.
“Don’t worry about me.” Gerry slapped his shoulder and then turned. He hesitated and looked back at Harley. “You just be there for Norah, and get some sleep.”
Harley closed the door and turned to see Norah standing in the bathroom doorway wearing a towel. His mouth shouldn’t have watered, he shouldn’t have been attracted to her in that moment, but it did, and dammit, he was.
“Marissa brought us some clothes.”
“She seems like a nice woman.”
“She does. Apparently there’s a lot more to Gerry than even I knew.” Harley laughed slightly and set the clothes on the bed. “You can take your pick; Marissa said that she had various sizes.”