Page 14 of Harbor

He nodded his chin toward the offices about twenty feet away from where they’d parked. “You’re going to need to go in and get the room, just in case.”

Lucia frowned. “Just in case of what?”

“My face has been plastered on the news, or something.”

For the first time since she realized what Renzo had been planning to do, those nerves and worries that Lucia had managed to suppress came rising fast and harsh in her throat. It felt like a thick ball had come to rest right in her esophagus, and she couldn’t swallow. How silly she could be at times … or naive, really. She’d not even considered how easily Renzo’s face could have been caught on camera, and then plastered all over the place for people to be on the lookout for him.

And because they’d be looking for him, they might also be looking for her.

Not that she was worried about that, really. More the fact that at the moment, Renzo’s face could be widely known. On every news station who felt like the robbery was a big enough story to play it. That made her think—had they driven far enough to stop; were they really safe right now?

Her paranoia picked right up like it was an old friend who had come to hold her hand, and keep her extra cold for the rest of the night. She wanted to ignore it, but it was fucking impossible. She had done so well, too. Ignoring her anxiety like it didn’t exist in the first place. Maybe God was having a good laugh at her while He reminded her that she couldn’t ignore anything forever.

Reality was always right around the corner.

“Lucia.”

It was the smooth, dark tenor of Renzo’s voice that drew Lucia out of her thoughts. She was grateful for that, really. There was something about the way his voice washed over her senses that just … relaxed her like nothing else did. It was like an entirely different reminder. One that said if he was there with her, everything was just fine.

“Yeah?”

Renzo reached out and stroked her cheek with the pads of his fingers. They drifted down to her jawline, and then over her lower lip, too. Soft, and slow. It caused her skin heat up under the path his fingers took and made her smile for him.

“Don’t panic,” he told her like he had been reading her mind the entire time, “we’re going to be fine. Just have to be careful.”

Oh, was that all?

Lucia didn’t entirely believe that, but right then, she didn’t think pointing it out would be a good thing. The last thing she wanted was to be upset, or to distress him. They could figure this shit out later.

Right now …

“Give me some money,” she said, “and I’ll go get the room.”

Renzo grinned, and gave her a wink that made her stupid in her head. Sexy, and playful just like that. Like their whole world hadn’t just changed, and they weren’t running from the things they had done. Like it might never catch up to them if they just kept moving fast enough.

Who knew?

Maybe it wouldn’t catch up to them.

“That’s my girl,” he said.

Once Lucia had the money in her hand, she stepped out of the stolen truck and headed for the office to get the room. The first thing she noticed about the office when she stepped inside was the fact that it seemed as though she had been thrown back in time about twenty years. The second? Someone liked their tobacco.

The balding man who sat behind the counter didn’t even look up from the news he was watching as the daily highlights played through. The bell over the door had jangled to welcome Lucia inside, but he didn’t seem to care. Maybe that wasn’t a bad thing—if he was distracted by his television, then he wasn’t paying attention to her, or who was waiting outside.

Lucia approached the counter, and simply said, “Could I get a room for the night? Two beds, if you have one. But one bed is fine, too, as long as it’s a queen or bigger.”

The guy didn’t even glance away from the television as he muttered, “One-seventy-five a night, and I’m gonna need your ID in case you trash the room.”

Fuck.

She had her ID, but she couldn’t give it to him. She was not going to put her real name down on anything that might be traced back to her.

“Or,” the guy added after a moment, “you can put a credit card on file, so I can charge it if you trash the room instead.”

Lucia raised a brow, kind of annoyed. “You just assume everyone is going to trash the room, then?”

“I prepare, not assume.”