Page 56 of Mountain Shadow

Sarah nodded and started talking. In the end, it was Jens who popped his head in. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but we do have to get going.”

“Already?” Sarah said. She wanted to stay in this room, which smelled so much like home.

Jens shrugged apologetically. “We can come back—if that’s okay with Cédric, of course.”

“Okay? Okay? You have no idea who you’re talking to. This is Sarah Porter. When can you come back?”

“Let her breathe. We’ll give you a call, Cédric, okay?”

Cédric nodded enthusiastically, bringing the back of her hands to his lips. “It was a pleasure, Sarah. A real pleasure.”

Sarah laughed as Jens tensed.

“Get your lips off her, Cédric. Or else we won’t be back.”

17

Jens

“Cédric took a real liking to you. I thought he was going to keep us there all evening.”

“I liked him as well,” Sarah said. “Are you jealous?”

Jens liked this teasing side of her, was glad she was still able to joke, after everything she’d been through.

“Should I be?” he asked, careful to keep his eyes on the road.

Sarah laughed, then her expression went serious again. “Thank you, Jens. I can’t tell you how much I appreciated that. It was the best gift you could have given me.”

“I have another one.”

“Another one? What is this, my birthday?”

“You’ll like it, I promise.”

“Are you sure it’s alright, that we’re just hanging out? If you need to go to the station—”

“There’s nothing I can do there. Both men were discharged from the hospital this afternoon and taken into custody by the Italian Police. One of them with a grade 3 concussion.”

“Can’t say I’m sorry,” she said bravely, but her hands shook on her lap.

His hands clenched reflexively against the steering wheel. He’d never imagined he might be the one to endanger Sarah’s life. Even as he fought off the attackers, he’d figured he was in control of the situation—until the stun gun had put him out of action. Had it not been for Sarah’s quick thinking, they might not have survived the night.

“I just wish I knew what the men were looking for. Damien and Hiro went up to the site of the crash today—there was nothing there. No drugs, no money, nothing.”

“It’s got to be drugs, right? If the mafia’s involved?”

Jens shrugged. “I guess we’ll never know.”

“This isn’t the way home,” she said, as he took another turn.

He liked the way she said home. Owning his house gave him great pleasure, but he’d never thought of it as home. The Army hadn’t been home, either. The last time he’d thought of any place as home had probably been his parents’ place, back when he was a child. And yet, over the last couple of weeks, his place had become less of a house and more of a home.

It doesn’t take a genius to know what’s changed.

He could tell himself he liked Sarah—which he did. But liking her didn’t come close to explaining what he felt. She’d awakened every protective instinct he had, but he didn’t just want to protect her from her stalker. He wanted to keep her close to him. He’d never met anyone so responsive in bed, or who shared her pleasure so freely. He wanted her physically, all the fucking time, but that was only part of it.

“What are you thinking about?” she said.