First Night Read online

  Brandon pulled Merri into his arms and held her tight against his chest.

  He was so glad she was safe.

  He’d realized a few hours ago that his life would be immensely sad without her.

  All he had to do was convince her that he was worth the trouble of getting to know.

  Maybe that would take a while.

  But he had plenty of time.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chicago Police Department, 4:00 p.m.

  Brandon had been here for two hours.

  The police had taken both men from the church into custody.

  The district attorney was reviewing the evidence Brandon had given him.

  All good. Except that Merri was in the hospital and this crap was keeping Brandon from going to see her.

  He wanted out of here.

  “Mr. Thomas.” Detective Morales, Whitehall’s replacement on the case, entered the room. “You may go home now. You’re a free man.”

  Brandon didn’t remind him that he didn’t actually have a home at the moment.

  “Thank you.” He hesitated before walking out the door of the interview room. “Does the D.A. have enough evidence to take down Mathias?”

  That was what mattered to Brandon. The guy responsible for Kick’s death should pay.

  Morales smiled. “That and more.”

  Brandon was satisfied. He walked out of the interrogation room, down the long corridor and out of the building.

  He had no idea where he’d left his car last. A taxi would do just fine. Anything to get to Merri.

  A dark sedan rolled up in front of him. “You need a lift, Mr. Thomas?”

  Ian Michaels.

  “I want to see Merri,” he said, making no bones about it. Brandon wasn’t so sure this guy liked him, but right now he didn’t care. He just wanted to get to Merri.

  “Headed that way,” Michaels agreed.

  From the precinct, it took ten minutes to reach Mercy General.

  When Brandon got out, he was surprised that Michaels didn’t do the same.

  “I’ve already checked in on her,” Michaels told him. “She wants to see you.” Michaels allowed the corners of his mouth to tilt into a smile. “That says a hell of a lot about you, Thomas. I hope you won’t make her regret her faith in you.”

  Ian Michaels drove away then. It was just as well, because Brandon had no idea how to respond to the man.

  Of course he wouldn’t make Merri regret wanting to see him. Would he?

  He was willing to take the risk. As long as she was.

  As Brandon rode the elevator up to her floor, he considered that the D.A. had agreed to allow one of Kick’s friends to have an exclusive on the breaking Mathias story as long as Kick got the byline. The Trib was willing to do whatever necessary to get the story of the decade.

  Chicago’s Crime Commissioner Goes Down for Dirty Deeds.

  Merri’s door was closed. Brandon started to knock but remembered that she wouldn’t hear him so he pushed the door inward one slow inch at a time.

  When she didn’t object, he came into the room and sat down beside her bed. She was sleeping, he realized, and he let her be. He got comfortable in the chair next to her bed and closed his eyes. He couldn’t remember when he’d slept more than a couple of hours. Before Kick’s murder, he supposed.

  Cool fingers touched his face, traced a path along his jaw.

  His eyes fluttered open and he smiled. “You’re awake. How do you feel?”

  “Like hell.”

  He stood next to her bed so he could look at her and hold her hand. “You look like hell.”

  “Thanks. You really know how to sweet-talk a girl.” She tried to smile, but then touched her bruised and broken lips. “They won’t let me go home.”

  “When the tests are finished you can go,” he promised. She didn’t have any head injuries, contusions or concussions. But there were possibly a couple of cracked ribs and other bumps and bruises. She would be checked thoroughly before being released. “You may even have to stay the night.” Michaels had mentioned that on the way over here.

  “No way am I spending Christmas night in here,” she argued. “I’d rather be home.”

  He inspected her fingers one by one. “I’ll stay with you. That is, if you want me to.”

  “It’ll be boring.”

  “I don’t care.”

  “I’m pretty cranky.”

  “What’s new?” he teased.

  “Here you are asking me to stay the night,” she said softly, “and you haven’t even kissed me.”

  “I think I can remedy that.” Brandon leaned down and gently brushed his lips across her cheek. That was the most he dared with her all banged up.

  She arched an eyebrow at him. “If that’s the best you can do, we’ve got trouble.”

  He stared at her lips, wanted nothing more than to taste those sweet, bruised lips. “If you’re sure.”

  She grabbed him by the shirt front and pulled him down to her. “Kiss me, damn it.”

  He kissed her, softly, on the lips. She made a sound that sent an ache through him. The taste of her was addictive.

  When he pulled his lips from hers, he swept the hair from her cheek with his fingertips. “We make quite the pair.”

  She took his hand in hers and kissed his palm, then winced.

  He grimaced.

  “We’re two of a kind,” she agreed. “I think tonight will be the first night of many.”

  “But I don’t have a Christmas gift for you.” He’d scarcely had time to think about the holiday.

  Another of those wicked grins tugged at her battered lips. “Yes you do and I can’t wait to open it.”

  “We’ll open it together,” he murmured before brushing a kiss to the tip of her nose, about the only part of her face that wasn’t bruised and battered.

  “Merry Christmas, Brandon.” She stared deeply into his eyes. “This is the best Christmas ever.”

  “Ditto.”

  He sealed their sweet words with more kisses. He lightly touched his lips to every place that bastard had damaged. But mostly, he just wanted to touch her with his fingers…his mouth…and too many other parts to mention.

  She was right. This was the best Christmas ever.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Colby Agency, Jan. 1, 8:00 p.m.

  “A toast.” Victoria held her glass high. When her entire staff had reciprocated, she said, “To all of us. May our New Year be filled with beauty and wonder and, most of all, peace.”

  The clinking of glasses and the murmurs of agreement went around the room.

  Merri didn’t have to hear the words and cheers; she remembered what they sounded like. She drank deeply of her champagne, then stared into the dark eyes of the man at her side. Her bruises were clearing up. The swelling was gone and she wasn’t sore anymore.

  Kick Randolph’s story had seized attention all across the nation. His family was so proud. The mayor of Blue Island had even named a day in his honor.

  Work at the Colby Agency was as steady as always. The prospects for the New Year were all favorable.

  Merri was considering asking Brandon to move into her place with her. He’d been living in a hotel for the past week. They’d spent every possible moment together. They might as well live together.

  Maybe in a couple of months she would take him down to Nashville to meet her parents. They would love him.

  She, though she’d scarcely known him more than a week, was pretty sure she was in love with him.

  Time would tell.

  And between now and then, they would live life to the fullest. Not regretting, not looking back. Only forward.

  Her cell phone vibrated in the glittery little purse hanging from her wrist.

  She couldn’t imagine who it was. Her family had already called and wished her a happy New Year. Steven had sent her a text, to which she did not respond. She wasn’t giving him reason to hang on. They were over. He needed to get on with his life just
as she had.

  Tugging the phone from the small bag, she slid it open and viewed the incoming call.

  Mason Conrad.

  A shock rattled her.

  Hadn’t she made herself clear yet?

  She couldn’t hear herself think out here, so she ducked into the nearest office and answered the call.

  “Walters.”

  She read the words he uttered as they filled the screen on her cell. “Merri. It’s good to hear your voice.”

  She frowned. “Happy New Year, Mason, but I’m right in the middle of a party. I should let you go.”

  She watched as more of his words spilled across the screen. “Wait. We never talk anymore. Why don’t I come up there and we’ll spend some quality time together.”

  Oh, no. She’d fallen for that one before.

  “The truth is,” she said frankly, “I’ve found someone, Mason. I don’t want you to call me anymore.”

  She stared at the blank screen in anticipation of his words.

  “For real this time?”

  He was referring to the doomed relationship she’d had with Steven.

  “Yes, Mason. For real this time. I love this guy. As a matter of fact—” she screwed up her courage “—I think I’m going to marry this one. I’ve known since the first night we met that he was special.”

  “Great,” he finally said, the word appearing on the screen with all the flatness she felt certain he’d said it.

  “Yes, it is great. I love my job. I love my life. And I love the man. So just back off.” The phone was abruptly lifted from her fingers. She looked up to find Brandon standing close behind her.

  “You should listen to her, dude,” Brandon warned. “We’re together now and nothing else matters.” Brandon pushed the End Call button and set her phone on the nearest surface. “Now—” he pulled her into his arms “—that’s the first time I’ve heard you say you love me.”

  “I guess I was just a little afraid that it might be like a fleeting spell or something. You know, like Christmas magic.”

  “And what did you conclude?”

  “That this is real.” She kissed his chin. “And that we complete each other somehow.”

  “And,” he said rubbing of his nose against hers, “that this is not only a new year, but a new beginning for us.”

  Forever.

  The word echoed in her mind as his lips closed over hers.

  This was the real thing.

  And it was finally Merri’s.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-4490-4

  FIRST NIGHT

  Copyright © 2009 by Debra Webb

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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