Page 67 of Guarding Colton’s Witness

Chapter 28

Ryan watched Matti sleep. He’d been doing that since he woke up. She’d made a comment when talking about her family on their way home last night that Kelly was the pretty one. Kelly was extremely pretty, and if he was meeting the two sisters together for the first time, his eyes would have been drawn to Kelly. But now, to him, Matti was the prettier one.

She had a quiet beauty that revealed itself in subtle ways. The way she crinkled her nose when she laughed, the way her eyes sparkled when she talked about something she was passionate about, like her job and the children under her care. She was special, and he wanted her in his life.

He gently brushed a stray lock of hair away from her face, marveling at how peaceful she looked in her sleep. It was moments like these that made him grateful for the unexpected turn his life had taken since meeting her. As the morning sun began to filter through the curtains, he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. She stirred slightly, a small smile playing on her lips as she slowly woke up.

“Good morning,” he whispered, his heart overflowing with affection for the woman lying beside him. Her eyes fluttered open, and when she smiled at him, all sleepy-eyed and wild curls around her face, a word shimmered in his mind. Love. He hadn’t been looking for it, but now that he thought he’d found it, he was ready to embrace it.

She wasn’t.

He knew that, and although he wished otherwise, he wasn’t discouraged. She liked him, desired him, enjoyed being with him, but something was holding her back. He just had to figure out what so he could tear down that wall she’d erected.

“Morning,” she said, then yawned. “What time is it?”

“It’s early. Why don’t you go back to sleep for a bit while I scrounge up some breakfast? I’ll let you know when it’s ready.”

“I won’t say no to that.” She yawned again. “Sorry, but someone kept me up past my bedtime.”

He grinned. “That would be me, and I’m not sorry.” He gave her a quick kiss, then after putting on his boxer briefs, he left her to sleep. While waiting for his coffee cup to fill, he pulled up the security video from overnight. The cameras were motion activated, so he didn’t have to scan through hours of footage. Not expecting to find anything, he gasped at seeing a man dressed all in black appear in the backyard.

With Matti’s brothers’ help, they’d also installed motion-activated floodlights, and when they came on, the man froze. He had what looked like a crowbar in his hand. Ryan looked at the time stamp. 3:17.

The man stared at the house, then he glanced behind him, and then back at the house. Ryan had the impression that the man was debating continuing on or leaving, and after a minute, he spun and jogged away.

What if they hadn’t installed those cameras and floodlights? The man would have broken into her house again. Ryan sent the video to Wyatt, and a minute later, his phone chimed, Wyatt’s name on the screen.

“You look at it?” he said on answering.

“Hold on a sec.”

Ryan could hear him talking to someone but couldn’t make out the words.

“I’m back. Yeah, I watched it.”

“Was that a crowbar in his hand? I couldn’t quite tell.”

“It was. Listen, something’s come to my attention, and I need to talk to my captain. Let me get back to you after I talk to him.”

“That sounds ominous.”

“It’s definitely disturbing.”

Ryan was already disturbed enough without adding more to worry about. “Maybe I should take Matti and Sam away for a while.”

“Maybe. I’ll stop by in an hour or two and we’ll talk.”

He set his phone on the counter after finishing the conversation. Any appetite he’d had was gone now, but making breakfast would be something to do while he waited for Wyatt. He’d get a gun if he knew how to shoot. As a doctor whose job it was to save lives, owning a gun just seemed wrong. But he’d shoot to kill if it meant protecting Matti and Sam.

“Who were you talking to?” Matti asked.

He turned from the refrigerator with a carton of eggs in his hand. “Your brother.” There was nothing sexier than Matti fresh from bed with all those wild curls and wearing a silky white camisole and what she called boy shorts.

“I have four of those creatures. Which one?”

“Wyatt. And since you’re going to ask why, this.” He picked up his phone and brought up the video.

“This was last night?” she said when the short clip ended.