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I shrugged. “I’d guess not much.”
“Do we have a plan?”
Did she seriously think I was as inept as her team? I arched an eyebrow. “I do. Do you trust me?”
She widened her eyes and opened her mouth to answer me. Then she paused. The look on her face changed, softened. If I didn’t know better, I would guess that in that moment she decided she did trust me, and maybe liked me a little bit, too.
“I trust you to get me out of this,” she answered.
I nodded. “Good enough.” I handed her an empty black backpack. “Put your belongings in here.” I glanced at her bare feet with her red-painted toenails. “I’m guessing those sexy heels you wore last night aren’t great for fast escapes, so I’ll find you something else.” Kerri was forever leaving clothes and shoes and even spare purses at my place, so I should be able to keep that promise.
“You thought my shoes were sexy?”
Without her in them, no. With her in them? Definitely not what I should be focusing on.
I stepped past her and started packing my computer, cords, and chargers into my own backpack. “The security company I work for is sending over a cleaning service van that we’ll use for our escape. We’ve done that a few times to move high-profile clients who are being hounded by the press. You’ll crouch down in the back until we’re sure we’re past your stalkers. Bennet is working on securing a safe house for us and will send the coordinates any minute.” I glanced up at her. I didn’t like the pallor of her skin. “You okay, Red? You look pale.”
She shook her head. “I’m fine. Thank you for doing this. I—”
“How about you pack now and show me your appreciation later, after we make sure we don’t die?” That would give me a little something to fantasize about, at least.
She still didn’t look as well as I would like. “Fuck me,” she said.
“You and me both,” I said.
That put a very specific, very arousing image in my brain. The look on her face as we stared at each other suggested her thoughts had gone down the same path as mine. The attraction between us was undeniable, and an eventual reckoning was possibly unavoidable. At least I hoped so. But now was not the time. We cleared our throats in unison, I broke our gaze and leaned back over my desk, and Red left to pack.
Every cell in my body—those in certain parts more than others—screamed that I should follow her. But the only thing I needed more than having her body was keeping it safe. Live first, fuck later. Maybe not the prettiest mantra ever, but it sounded pretty damn aspirational to me.
* * *
Samantha
I madea beeline for the bedroom. His bedroom, his bed, his scent on the pillow, which I willed myself to ignore. We’d had a moment there, a wild, unguarded connection between two people used to hiding their secrets from the world. We had glimpsed the truth about each other and I had let down my guard with him in a way I couldn’t with anyone outside of HEAT. It had been intoxicating, but now it was over.
I forced my mind back to a logical pathway. My unconventional career meant an unconventional lifestyle. I’d resolved the difficulty of enjoying male company and an active sex drive while simultaneously hiding key parts of my life by having a number of trusted partners, each in a different city, each happy to stick to casual, friends-with-benefits relationships. My “roster,” as my teammates had affectionately named it.
While I packed up my few things, I lectured myself about why I could not add the sexy, virile man in the next room to that list.
He knows too much about me already.
He is not my type.
He is not a fellow doctor looking for a quick and healthy hookup.
He could learn more about me all too easily.
He is not a known quantity.
He makes me want to tell him my secrets.
And the most damning of all: Heis probably a monogamist.
But dammit, no matter how hard I tried to convince myself it was terrible idea, I knew I was falling for Evan Prescott.
* * *
I crouchedon the floor in the back of the white van. Evan had hustled me in here five minutes earlier, but after all our rushing around in his apartment, we were now just sitting here.
