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He was well aware this ramshackle bucket of bolts wasn’t going to get them to their final destination, but it had worked in a pinch. He was sure he could jury-rig it for another few hundred miles.
Tex had to bug out and get to the rendezvous, leaving Easy, Jack, and Shark behind. Tex was working on logistics. Easy had five days to get to the southern shore of Lake Maracaibo where they would be coming in a nap-of-the-earth maneuver to pick them up.
He was still quite a ways from the thick forest he and Jack were going to have to hike to get there. That area was nothing but wilderness.
He was running low on gas when he pulled into a gas station and got some Venezuelan money to pay for an inn. Spying a general store across the street, he parked the truck with a full tank at the side of the station and headed there to pick up needed supplies. The sun had gone down, and it was darkening into night. He wanted to keep Jack off the grid and act like he was traveling alone. Ramos and his lackeys would be looking for a couple.
When he got back from the trip, she was still fast asleep. He breathed a sigh of relief, reliving that moment when he’d turned around and she was gone. He was lucky she was panic-running without thought or purpose. He caught up to her almost immediately with those two bozos hot on her tail.
She’d done an amazing job outsmarting not only them, but Easy as well. Her scream was what had directed him to that alley where he took care of the first man. Then it was easy to follow her after that.
He turned into the first motel he found, secured a room with the exchanged money, and fudged his name on the registration. He was fluent in Spanish and spoke it well. The guy had no idea he was even an American and didn’t even ask for ID. It was a good thing because Easy didn’t carry any form of identification when he was deployed.
He’d insisted on a room on the lower level, easy to slip Jack inside and if they had to run, easy to get out of. Yeah, he was all about the easy.
When he woke Jack up, she made a soft gasp but soon relaxed when she saw his face. “I got us a room, some food and you can take a shower.”
Shower was all she needed to hear. She was out of the truck and making a beeline to the bank of rooms.
He opened the door, and he grabbed her arm before she went inside. “I got you some clean clothes, underthings.”
She stared at him. “What? How did you manage—”
“When I stopped for gas.” She eyed the bag he was holding in his hands. “I-uh-got you some shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer and—uh—bath wash, one of those puff thingies too.”
“Underthings,” she said again as if fixated. “You guessed my size?”
He put the bag on the bed, and she immediately left to go into the bathroom. He heard the water running. She must be washing her hands. She came back out and rummaged through the bag. She pulled out a pair of jean shorts and a pretty white lace top that would hug her curves. She made a soft sound as if she was opening Christmas presents. Then she held up the bra and panties. Checking the label, her lips parted. “That’s my size.”
“I have a sister. You looked the same size, so I took the chance.” The tenderness and gratitude on her face shifted something inside him as he stared back at her, and he suddenly ached for more, the kind of more that he couldn’t deny, like when he’d decided on the SEALs, like he’d felt from the moment he was aware of that fire inside him. Something told him that she was more, and he wanted inside that maelstrom. His dick hardened, blood surging through his veins, supercharging that need in him.
“And, perfume,” her voice caught.
“Is that okay?”
“That’s so thoughtful.”
He remembered that picture of her during the briefing, that sweet face and her luminous pink skin. There had been confidence and a stubborn pride in that photo. But now battered and bruised, having gone through hell, she was standing here still strong and tough. Fuckity-fuck, she was beautiful.
She stared at him. For one long moment everything caught and held—words, breaths, gazes were suspended as the attraction hung in the charged air between them. Silence rang in his ears, then the wind picked up outside and made a whooshing noise, like his sanity was doing right now. The sound did nothing to break the tension in the room.
6
He tampeddown his sexual urges. They were inappropriate for so many reasons. She’d been violated somehow and until he knew what had happened to her, it was hands off. He was protecting her and that was the mission, priority one, not his unruly dick. She was a woman who had ambition. She would want things he couldn’t give her. Things like Jimmy Choos. Once someone developed a taste for champagne, they didn’t go back to a beer budget for long. She would be too expensive on his wallet, and he feared on his heart. He shied away from those emotions rising up in him. The cynic in him told him that if he was smart, that’s what he would do.
At one time Jeri had been all he’d ever wanted. He’d loved her with the kind of passion he suspected came only once in a lifetime. He’d proposed to her that night, and she’d turned him down flat, cut him so deeply, even four years later he felt the pain. He’d be smart to keep himself in check here.
His mission was clear and now that it was off the fucking rails, it was up to him to get it back on track. He was supposed to be the professional here, and after that fiasco inside the prison and when she had run, he wasn’t quite getting the job done. Instead of being safely ensconced on theJohn Paul Jones, waiting for a ride back to Florida and then to Dallas, she was here in this two-bit, run-down, flea-bitten dive of a motel, waiting to make a run for it at any moment.
She carefully picked up all the items and slipped them back into the bag along with the other articles of clothing he got her, like a sweatshirt in case she got cold, and other simple stuff like cotton shorts and T-shirts. When she turned away, his fascination with her increased with every sweet-hipped, long-legged stride she took. It was ridiculous, inappropriate, and absolutely impossible to ignore. She was so exquisite.
He looked over at the only bed in the room, a queen. But it wouldn’t matter if the thing was the size of New Jersey, she would be in it with him.
And, he bet, it would be so fucking sweet inside her.
“We’ve got soup, crackers, canned fruit, cheese, and the best candy barspesoscan buy in this backwater of Caracas,” he said, so cool, so steady, so in control.
She reached the bathroom door and turned to nod. “You’ve thought of everything. If I had a hero medal, I would pin it on you.” She slipped inside and closed the door. The water came on, and he knew he wasn’t a damn hero, as he thought about her naked and under the spray.
