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Natalie sat up and punched the button on the alarm clock, then pushed a tangle of curls from her eyes, squinting into the hazy sunshine blazing through the curtains. She glanced around the strange motel room. One minute she’d been burrowed into Kyle’s muscular warmth, and the next it was morning and the space beside her was empty. The erotic memories of the night returned, and she flopped back onto the pillows.
Kyle.
Sure, she’d fantasized about him guiltily for as long as she’d known him, but the reality was so much better. She strained to hear if he was in the bathroom.
Nothing.
Sitting up again, Natalie glanced at his side of the mattress. The covers were rumpled, and the pillow still showed a slight indent where his head had rested. A yellowed piece of hotel stationery was tacked to the headboard above the pillow, with a note written in Kyle’s signature scrawl:
WENT TO GRAB US SOME FOOD. BE BACK BY 08:00.
Grinning, Natalie stretched, then tossed back the covers and padded naked to the bathroom. Not only was he great in bed, he was so thoughtful too. Just like Nick.
Oh, God. Nick.
She’d barely flipped on the lights when the guilt hit her like a freight train. She’d slept with her dead husband’s brother.
Gripping the edge of the vanity, Natalie took several deep breaths, eyes squeezed shut. She’d broken every promise she’d made to herself. Yes, the sex had been amazing, but at what price?
Bile rose hot in her throat before she swallowed it down.
Nick had been dead for months. Technically, she was single, available. She’d not broken any vows. But in Natalie’s heart, she wasn’t ready to let her husband go.
Not yet. Not until she’d given Nick the justice he deserved.
She jammed on the shower and stepped under the frigid water, hoping to rinse away her bad decisions. From this moment forward, things between her and Kyle would stay completely professional. There was no other way she’d survive.
After scrubbing down and toweling off, Natalie pulled on her now-dry clothes from the day before, then walked back into the bedroom and shoved her feet into her sneakers. She needed to get out of here, get some fresh air, get her priorities in order.
He’d left her a note, so she’d do the same for him. Professional courtesy, after all. They were close enough to Atlanta now that she could get there on her own. All she needed was a bus ticket.
She scribbled a quick note to let Kyle know she was okay and on her way to Atlanta alone, then grabbed her bag and charged out of the room. Maybe the drugstore he had mentioned sold pay-as-you-go phones so she could call Doug. No matter how much the thought of contacting the guy again turned her stomach, she needed the Agency to wire her some funds and give her the scoop on security at the compound.
A few minutes later, she dialed Doug’s number.
“Where the hell have you been?” Doug demanded as soon as she identified herself. “I thought you were due into Atlanta last night.”
“We were, but we got sidetracked.” She told him about the accident, the sedan that had run them off the road, where they’d stayed the night. “I need some money.”
“Right.” Doug mumbled something, to another agent, she assumed, then came back on the phone. “Funds will be waiting for you at the Wells Fargo inside the Greyhound station three blocks east. That work for you?”
“Yep. Thanks.”
“Call me when you get into Atlanta, and I’ll let you know what we find out about the security and that car you described. Where’s the SEAL?”
“Still back at the motel. His team is due to arrive this morning, so they won’t be too far behind me. Need to go. Talk to you later.” Natalie hung up, then jogged across the busy four-lane street toward the bus station. Still, she couldn’t resist one last glance back at the Shady Lane Inn.
Her heart tugged as she hurried away. But she needed to do this on her own.
For herself. For her conscience. For Nick.
11
“No way, dude! She did not run out on you again!”
Kyle gave Scotty a murderous look as the team’s combat expert doubled over in laughter. “She did not run out. She disappeared. There’s a difference.”
“Really?” Spencer looked around the motel room, his expression a mix of horror and loathing at the decor. “Well, if this is where you slept last night, I can see why.”
