Chapter 7
SEVEN
That was a tactical error. Now I can't move. Definitely can't spin her around, or I'll be busted.
My cargo pants are imitating a circus tent.
Worse…the heat that's pooling in my lap is a bad sign. This problem isn't going down anytime soon.
“If you can be a good girl, I'll uncover your mouth.”
Good girl.
Fuck! Did I just good girl her?
“I’m not your good girl,” she mumbles between my fingers. “You going to throw me back in that make-shift cell.”
Wait. What the hell? Who does she think I am?
“I'm not putting you in any cell. I'm getting us out of this building.”
When I uncover her mouth, she glares at me over her shoulder in the glow of the Exit sign. “What if you're lying?”
“Argh,” I growl. This girl. “Give me five minutes and I'll prove myself.”
I point to the camera lens in the corner and as if I’ve waved a magic wand the overhead lights come back on.
Shit. Is that Beast’s work or something else?
“As good as our guys are at keeping the video cameras blocked, I don't want a chance of us showing up on some security feed.”
She goes stiff when I scoop her up and head around the corner. The woman weighs nothing even with all her lush curves.
I've rucked heavier gear.
Man what it would be like to…
No!
Thinking about her below me does not help the erection issue at all.
With gravel tumbling around my vocal cords, I cue up my mic to update the team. “JT here. Package one in custody. Over.”
“Copy,” Truck replies. “Guards secure. I'm going to search for package two.”
I carry Rosalie into the stairwell where I put her on her bare feet and back her into a corner.
She looks at my kit pointedly, glancing at my tactical vest, my thigh rig, my combat boots.
“Do you have an ID somewhere in all that gear?”
My brows go up until they bump the band of my backward baseball cap. “Do you always ask so many questions?”
“Kind of, yeah.” She scrunches her nose, cutely.
“How about we chat later. Right now, I've got a job to do.”
But we need to get some things straight. Namely her clothes. Because the rest of the team is NOT seeing her like this.
“Listen up, I need your full cooperation. This has to happen fast before we're detected,” I warn, as much of a reminder to myself.
Her expression has gone from defiant to worried and seeing the small crease between her brows makes my stomach clench.
Something in my chest twists. I don't like seeing her afraid. Especially not me.
“It's okay,” I reassure her. “I've done this before. My teammate is in the building, and our team leader is keeping an eye on us too.”
Biting her lip, she nods. “You look like you should know what you're doing.”
Is that a compliment?
My heart beat revs up a notch.
“It comes from lots of practice,” I assure her.
Something about the way she's looking at me causes me to feel both hot and cold.
Just do your damned job.
“Back to what I was saying. Here's the plan,” I drop my voice to a whisper near her ear. “We're exiting the building and we're going to be moving in the dark to a spot over a klick away.”
“That's a mile?” She asks, totally serious, following everything I say.
“You're close. A kilometer.”
I smooth her shirt down, refusing to do the same with her skirt. There's no way I'd be able to think straight—or walk—if I smoothed my hands over her hips.
“My teammate will meet us, then we'll get you somewhere safe.”
She listens intently, absorbing the words as well as every movement of my mouth.
“Once we start moving.” My words are getting huskier and huskier. “I need you to stay close. Do everything I say. Do you copy?”
She nods, but when she pushes her hair back her hand is shaking. “I understand.”
“I'm sorry I scared you,” I say, swamped with guilt.
I should have made my intent clear the moment I saw her. But, no. Instead, I talked about her breasts.
Way to fucking go, JT.
“Do you feel safe with me? Because I need you to trust me.”
Her next question hits me out of left field. “Do you want me to lie?”
“Never. Never lie to me Rosalie. You have my word, I'll never lie to you.”
“I think I trust you, but I was scared,” she says, fiddling with a small gold chain at the base of her throat. “Try being chased by someone like you.”
Her admission makes me feel ten times more guilty about scaring her.
“I know, sweetheart. I'm sorry.”
Growling, I plant my hand on the wall above her head.
“I was just so caught up, and I acted like a thoughtless bastard.”
Guilt devours my insides until I'm hollow.
“I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was here to rescue you when I got you out of the ceiling.”
She narrows her gaze and pokes a finger into my chest plate. “You were too busy looking at my boobs.”
Yep.
The tips of my ears start to feel hot.
“Guilty,” I admit, a grin tugging at one side of my mouth. “But how could I not? They were right there in my face. I mean RIGHT there.”
“Oh stop!” With a moan, she laughs. “It was pretty terrible.”
“That wasn't terrible in my book. Terrible is sleeping in a muddy trench when it's forty degrees,” I reply. “Sorry I was an ass,” I add sincerely.
She laughs again, more nervous this time. “It's okay. But don't expect to get away without payback.”
I tuck that loose strand of hair back again, feeling the silky texture of her dark curls before letting my hand drift down to her shoulder.
I stare at her, gut punched. Again.
Rosalie's an intricate puzzle that I want to solve. That's something I've never felt about a woman before.
The red flag starts waving. Not about her. About me.
Too bad I'm going to ignore it.
“Duly noted, I'd just appreciate it if you waited until we're out of enemy territory,” I say about her desire for payback.
“I can do that.” She looks up at me with a trusting look that buckles something inside of my chest.
When I rip my gaze away and look at the floor, and I realize she's still barefoot.
“Forgot to give you these.” I pull out the pair of small shoes from my left cargo pocket.
With a frown, Rosalie looks at them, looks at me. Looks at them again.
I expect her to do something. Do anything. But she just exhales.
“Tell me they're not the wrong size.”
She laughs, scratching her head as she wiggles her toes.
“No, those are definitely mine. I'm sorry, I'm just in shock that you remembered to grab them,” she adds softly. “That's the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.”
The words hit harder than they should.
How is that possible? Something as simple as remembering her shoes should not be a foreign concept to her.
It feels weirdly natural when I kneel down in front of her and tap the bare curve of her calf.
She lifts one foot, letting me slide the narrow black shoe on. As I do, her hands find my shoulders for balance. Like we’ve done this before.
Her touch is warm and far more powerful than the kick of a shotgun.
“Other one,” I rasp, huskily.
She lifts the left foot, offering it to me as her toenail polish catches the light. When my fingertip accidentally brushes her arch she laughs and shivers.
Heat builds across my chest until I start to sweat in a matter of seconds.
We're both tensely silent when I stand, towering over her.
I clear my throat. Twice.
“That was really nice.” She looks up into my eyes. Searching deep enough to rattle me.
“It's nothing.” Inside, I'm a tangle of sex hormones and self loathing. She's a job, I remind myself.
A difficult job.
I'm not in the market. That's been a solid promise to myself for a decade.
“I didn't want your feet to be at risk,” I snap too sternly.
“What about my heart?” she says with a saucy little smirk. “Getting down on a knee for me is pretty darn Cinderella.”
“I didn't realize hearts are so easily affected by shoes,” I lie.
She may as well have kicked me in the face back there too. My brain is off-line right now.
“I'm no Prince Charming. Come on,” I motion her forward with a grumble. “I'm a SEAL with a mission, which means it's time to move out.”
She follows me, sticking close. Together, we move like we've practiced it before, hustling down the steps until the sound of my boss's voice invades my head.
“JT, what were you two doing up there in the stairwell for so long. The heat signature was pretty cozy.”
“Fuck off,” I growl as he starts to laugh.
“What was that?” Rosalie asks, her smaller feet pattering on the steps behind me.
“Just a jackass whispering in my ear.”
We've gone down one landing when Beast's voice erupts in my ear. “Incoming! We've got two men approaching the back door of the building. Floodlights are coming on in the parking lot. Get out of that stairwell now! Over.”
I whirl around, “Go. Fast.”
A weird sensation hits me. The hairs on my arms rise up.
“What's that sound?” Rosalie stops suddenly, fear widening her eyes.