Guarding Sophie by Julie Brannagh Page A

me too,” she said.
    â€œLucky me,” he said.
    Her cotton nightshirt hit the floor seconds later. They luxuriated in each other, in the big, soft bed, the crackling of the fire, and the smooth slide of skin against skin. He kissed every freckle he could find, working his way back up from her toes. The stubble on his chin tickled the tender skin on her inner thighs.
    He pushed her legs up and over his shoulders. “I think there’s a freckle there,” he said. “I’d better kiss it too.”
    And he did.
    K YLE AWOKE TO his cell phone ringing in the middle of the night. He and Sophie had exhausted each other. The fire had burned to coals after they finally fell asleep. He slid out of her arms, pulling the blankets up to her shoulders so she wouldn’t be chilled as he got out of bed in search of his pants.
    The ringing stopped and started again. If he didn’t grab it, it would wake her up. The best part of last night was the way she had relaxed against him before she fell asleep, the warm puffs of her breath against his chest as she drifted off.
    He’d told her the truth about his family. She’d told him what really happened before she decided to leave Cocoa Beach. He wanted her to stay in Noel, but he understood why she might not when she told him she couldn’t stand the thought of anyone else getting hurt because they’d gotten in Peter’s way.
    â€œThe cops will catch him. I know they will,” he’d told her.
    â€œThey might not. What if I can never go home?”
    He wanted to say, “Then we’ll have each other.” It was a little early for that. After the night they’d had, though, maybe they needed to talk about it. Tomorrow morning was soon enough.
    His hand closed over his pants, and he yanked his phone out of the pocket. He turned his back toward the bed and clicked the phone on to see if he had messages. Maybe he should go in the bathroom to listen to the voice mail he saw. Nobody was calling him in the middle of the night unless it was important.
    He hurried into the bathroom, pushing the door mostly closed behind him and hitting Volume Down on his phone. Hopefully, she’d sleep. And he’d be back in bed with her as soon as possible.
    â€œHey, Kyle, this is Detective Martinez from the Noel PD. We found a stolen car on one of the roads about a mile from your place, and Peter Hutchinson’s fingerprints are in it. If he’s on foot, he could be almost anywhere in Noel by now.” The officer let out a long breath. “You might need to stay away from your house for another day or two. Ms. Hayes is not going to be able to go into work until we catch the suspect. One of the officers here has a brother who works for Seattle PD and has asked if we could borrow a police dog for a few hours to see if we can get a scent. We’ll keep you updated. If you have any questions, call me back.”
    He wanted Sophie to stay somewhere safe. They’d be fine at Abendblume while his teammates were here. He rubbed his face with one hand. He had to think of something else he could do to help her, or at the very least, keep her safe until the cops caught Peter.
    He took care of the usual bedtime preparations, shut off the bathroom light and made his way back to the bed, setting his phone to Vibrate before he put it on the nightstand and slid in next to Sophie. He reached out to pull her to his side again.
    Her voice was sleepy. “Is everything okay?”
    â€œEverything’s fine,” he assured her.
    She snuggled into him again. He lay awake as he wondered what he could do. He had to keep her safe. Somehow.

Chapter Eleven
    K YLE WALKED INTO the inn’s breakfast room to find most of his teammates already there the next morning. The girlfriends, wives, and kids were evidently still sleeping. The inn’s staff was buzzing around the tables like they were on roller skates. Considering the fact most of these guys