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“It’s Andrea. We’re a go. Wheels up in sixty, Worthington Airstrip.” She ended the call and I stood right there in the middle of Black Thumb and took it all in. This was happening with Jarrod. Finally.
And I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. I found Reese right away, chatting with Penny and Bo near the front bar, and went to her. All the while hoping for the best. “Hey.” I rubbed a hand along her lower back. “You got a minute?”
“Eager to have her all to yourself?” Bo’s arched brows told me that Rafe’s words held more truth than I wanted to believe.
“Just something private to discuss, if you don’t mind?”
“Not at all. Have fun.” Bo was undisturbed by the glare I sent her way, walking away with a mischievous look and a casual shrug.
“What was that all about?”
“Gossip,” was all I said. “Want to grab some fresh air?”
Reese nodded, but there was wariness in her gaze as she motioned for me to lead the way. “Sure. What’s going on?”
“Agent Witherspoon just called. Andrea. We got the warrant to head down to Mexico and get Jarrod.”
Her eyes rounded in surprise. “That’s great, Jackson!”
How could I have avoided falling for a woman who got so excited for me? I could see now that I had been powerless from the beginning. “It is. Except we leave in sixty minutes. Fifty-six, now.”
“Oh.” That one word held so much damn disappointment I thought I might drown in it. “I guess that means our barbecue sauce escapades have to be postponed.”
“I’m tempted to have a literal raincheck drawn up, just to be sure.”
Reese’s lips curled into a smile and she bumped her shoulder against my arm. “Be careful.”
“I’m always careful, but now I think I have more of a reason to be. Don’t I?” It was the coward’s way to get her to talk. Now that the moment was here, though, I had no clue what to say.
“Do you?”
“I think I do,” I told her honestly and rested my hands on her shoulders so she had no choice but to look in my eyes and see what I was trying to tell her. If only my mouth worked like it should. “And when I get back, I think we both have some things to talk about.”
There it was, that hint of fear I’d seen in her eyes a few times over the past few weeks. When she was happy or content and then she’d remember something, like it suddenly wasn’t real. Maybe she didn’t think it would last.
All that mattered to me was that she doubted us.
“You don’t have to say that, Jackson. You’ll be careful, which means you’ll be fine.”
“You tellin’ me that or yourself, sweetheart?” My hands slid up and down her shoulders, trying to soothe us both for a situation I had no experience with.
“Both, I guess.”
“I will be fine, Reese. I’m damn good at my job.” She smiled softly but there was still that sadness there that I couldn’t get rid of. “I’m telling you that so you won’t be surprised when I come back and my first stop is your doorstep.”
“Cake or pie?”
“Yes. And you.” A sexy little blush stained her cheeks. “And to talk. The question is, will you be ready to listen?”
She let out a shaky breath and I could see the uncertainty in her eyes just as I saw the desire that she wanted to be ready. That was enough. “I’m going to try like hell to be ready, but that’s all I can promise.”
“That’s good enough for me,” I told her and pressed her body up against the brick wall of Black Thumb. The time for talking was over, we could pick that up when I got back. When life returned to normal.
Right now, I had to get my fill of her—enough to last me a few days, maybe a week if Jarrod proved to be as elusive south of the border as he had been in the continental United States. And that was just what I did. I dove into her mouth and tasted her, teased her while my hands roamed up and down her back, making sure they remembered every inch of her.
This kiss, it was more than goodbye. More than be careful. It was the start of something. I could feel it, dammit. And, yeah, it scared me, but I also wanted it. Badly.
“Jackson,” she panted when I pulled back. “Be safe.”
“I have to. How will I get another of those kisses if I don’t?” The last thing I saw before I went home, grabbed my go bag, and left for Mexico, was the sight of Reese’s sexy smile, soft and sweet and unsure. Vulnerable.
Only one word came to mind. Mine.ReeseJackson was in Mexico. He wasn’t on vacation, and he wasn’t necessarily safe, either. He was down there in the modern-day wild west, chasing down a bad guy. It was his job and it was admirable work. Honorable work, even.
