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“The night’s cool,” Black Jack commented as they neared the door. “Did you bring a jacket?”
He glanced at her, his gaze raking over her bare shoulders as he took in the diminutive black dress she wore and flat strappy sandals.
“I’m fine.”
The night was indeed cool, just as it had been earlier. Her jacket was still in her car, in the parking lot behind the bar. She hadn’t wanted to cover the dress. It was one of the most flattering articles of clothing she owned. Stopping just below her thighs, the short hem showed off her tanned legs while the snug material cupped her breasts.
She’d wanted him to look at her. She’d wanted him to see her as more than a courier, a source of information. She’d wanted him to see that she was a woman.
How vain, she told herself, as he opened the door and stepped out, drawing her behind him. Instantly, her heart nearly stopped in her chest as his strong arm circled her shoulders and drew her to him.
“The car’s parked in the side lot.” His voice was low as he bent to her. “Were you followed?”
Always on guard. Always aware that your life could end quickly if the slightest mistake was made. She had learned that lesson already, she didn’t need a reminder.
She shook her head. “Not as far as I could tell.”
She wasn’t an amateur, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t make a mistake. She was as certain as she could be, though, that she hadn’t brought danger with her.
She could feel the steady watchfulness that he carried like an invisible shield. It made her want to lean into him. She wanted to soften against him, feel both arms surrounding her, holding her to his warmth.
She was losing her edge perhaps. She couldn’t explain the hunger that assailed her, because it was so much more than simply a hunger for touch. Or perhaps it wasn’t. Perhaps it was just the touch she needed, human warmth to combat the chill that seemed to have taken hold inside her.
“The car should still be warm,” he stated as he pulled his keys from his jeans pocket and flicked the remote sensor.
Lillian remained silent as he drew her to the car, opened the passenger-side door, and helped her in. She watched as he closed the door, then loped around the front of the car to the driver’s side.
She should have insisted on using her own vehicle. If she were driving, she would have felt in control, or at least a bit more in control than she was as his passenger.
“Any particular destination?” he asked as he closed his door and pushed the key into the ignition.
Lillian shook her head. “Just wherever.”
“You didn’t feel safe in the bar,” he commented as he put the vehicle in reverse and pulled out of the parking slot. “Do we have a situation?”
Yes, they had a situation. At least she did. Her panties were getting wet. Dear Lord, she hadn’t had this problem in a long time.
“We’re clear.” She lifted her shoulders in a shrug as she looked at his image in the window rather than turning to him. “Perhaps I’m just restless tonight.”
“Perhaps, hmm?” There was a thread of amusement in his voice. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you restless, Night Hawk.”
How she was beginning to hate that code name. She wanted to demand that he use the name she had been given after her “death.” A new name for a new life that wasn’t really a life after all.
She turned to him then, watching him carefully. “Do you ever get restless, Jack?”
She didn’t call him Black Jack. Using the name Jack made it seem more personal to her somehow. It made him seem closer.
His lips quirked at the name. “I rarely have time to be restless.” There was a hint of the same darkness in his tone that all Elite Ops agents held. A deep-seated regret, a sense of loss. They had all lost everything dear to them because of something they had been unable to control. A stark reminder that they were human, despite the arrogance that had come to them in their former lives.
For Lillian, she had been so certain that her life was charmed at one time. That she was smart enough, fast enough, lucky enough to survive the life she had led without it ever catching up with her.
How very wrong she had been.
“I get restless.” She let a mocking smile tilt her lips as he glanced at her. “And the night is beautiful, you must admit.”
“I admit this.” He handled the car smoothly as he took a turn through the heavy St. Louis traffic and headed for the river, before he surprised her by saying, “The night isn’t nearly as beautiful as you are tonight, though.”
A surge of sensation shot through her stomach, tightening her womb, then traveling quickly to
