Chapter 15 #2
He unbuckled his belt and turned in his seat. “Wait, what? She gave you a gun?”
Julia shrugged. “Yeah, we went to go look for you last night, but y’all showed up as we swung open that exit door.”
Finn gave her a look of surprise. “You’re serious? You were going to come rescue us, huh?”
“Why is that so amusing? I might be a question mark, but I’m pretty sure Harper can handle herself.”
He cupped his mouth as if imagining such a rescue, and his eyes crinkled at the edges. “While I appreciate your chivalry, Luke and Wyatt won’t believe your story.”
“Why not? They know how stubborn I am.”
“So, you admit you’re stubborn?” He arched a dark brow.
“When it comes to helping those I care about, yes, and I think you’re the same.”
His mouth closed tight, the crinkles at the corners of his eyes now gone, and she immediately mourned the loss of the softer, more playful, happier side of him.
“Why wouldn’t they believe my story?”
“Because they know if I didn’t want you getting on this plane, you wouldn’t.”
“You’re so sure about that?” She angled her head and leaned closer in challenge. “How? How would you have kept me prisoner?”
His lips tipped up into a smile, and desire pooled in his irises, causing her stomach to ache in a surprisingly good way.
Oh my God, am I turned on by violence?
No, not violence.
It was the lengths to which Finn would go to protect others. Protect her. He’d made it clear in both his actions and his words how devoted he was to fight bad guys and the injustices in the world. He was a hero.
But he’s still vulnerable, the fight-or-flight mode in her mind reminded her. No magic armor unless she counted the chest plate that saved him from a bullet the other night.
More questions filled her mind, but she needed to pull herself back to the present before the quicksand of insecurity dragged her under. “I’m just so sorry you’re now in the middle of all of this.”
“And I can’t imagine what would have happened if your reporter friend hadn’t put me here.
” He leveled her with another dark look, one that said he was thinking about the moment she was nabbed off the street and that he felt guilty about it.
“I froze,” he said as if knowing she’d follow along with his thoughts.
“I did, too.”
He shook his head. “I’m not allowed to freeze like that.” He reached for her hand, interlocking their fingers for the briefest of moments, then abruptly let go of her palm. “Sorry, I’m trying to—”
“Keep some distance between us?” Yeah, she was still following along with his thoughts. They were riding the same wavelength. On the same frequency. “I’d had a similar idea after the, um, shower.” A shower she’d never forget. And she’d be reliving that memory over and over.
Finn cleared his throat and remained quiet, avoiding eye contact.
“You shouldn’t feel guilty for what happened,” Julia told him a few minutes later, clasping her hands in her lap and facing forward inside the small private jet piloted by an American ex-pat living in the UAE. Thankfully, they had the cabin to themselves.
“Those two seconds could’ve cost you your life,” he answered gravely. “Two seconds I can’t ever get back.”
“The only seconds that matter are the ones right now. Because I’m here on this plane, thanks to you. If you hadn’t found me on the street—”
“Please don’t finish that sentence.” Finn stood and set his palm on the ceiling, which was only a few inches above his head. He rubbed his right quad with his free hand and grimaced.
“Sore from the camel ride?” she asked to lighten the mood a bit. But instead of answering, he hung his head like a man who’d failed.
But he hadn’t failed.
He was keeping the promise he’d made to help her save Oliver, and he was bringing her along like she’d begged him to. She owed him so much and more.
“I don’t want to imagine any situation where something bad happens to you,” he murmured darkly in that deep, take-no-prisoners tone he’d been using since they left New York.
She considered unbuckling her seat belt and standing to loop her arms around his hips while looking up at him to say, Same.
So much the same. Especially now that she’d seen him in action in a very literal sense.
Shooting. Fighting. What if something had happened to him?
What if Finn hadn’t been wearing a plate the other night when he got shot?
Or he’d been struck in the face? No, she couldn’t handle it. Not hand-able. Nope.
“You really think those men were only trying to abduct me for ransom like that man said?” she found herself asking, trying to break through her dark thoughts.
Finn drew his arms across his chest, but the plane hit some turbulence at that exact moment, and he was thrown in her direction.
He quickly caught hold of the chair arms, maintaining his balance while leaning over her. Fast reflexes.
He stayed there, leaning in close, adjusting his balance as turbulence continued to jostle the plane. But that pensive, dark look in his eyes had her inhaling a shaky breath.
Her gaze journeyed to his lips which were inches from hers, and unable to stop herself, she asked, “Why didn’t you kiss me in the shower?”
The turbulence stopped, and he took the chance to escape their too-close position to stand upright.
“Don’t tell me you’re gonna pull a Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman on me and say kissing is too intimate and—”
“In this scenario, am I the prostitute or Richard Gere?” He grinned, and just like that, those happy smile lines by his eyes were back, and she’d give anything to keep them.
“I’m impressed you’ve seen that movie since you haven’t even seen The Mummy.”
“Okay,” he said while holding a palm out, “Pretty Woman is kind of a classic from our generation, and The Mummy ain’t no Star Wars.”
She chuckled, forgetting about her problems for a tiny moment, and allowed that handsome mouth to free her thoughts and blot out her worries.
“I’ll have to be the judge of that.” But would they ever have a chance to watch a movie together? Would they become friends after this? After they pulled off a miracle and saved her best friend?
Finn dropped into the seat facing her this time and stretched out his legs. Thankfully, he’d changed his pants and shirt before their flight. No more blood visible on him, either.
“Not going to answer me about the kiss?” she whispered a few quiet moments later.
“Should I have kissed you?” He brought his legs closer to the seat, bending his knees and setting his forearms flat on his thighs, then lifted his chin and pointed his stunning green eyes her way as he waited for an answer.
“I don’t kiss people I work with, so I guess not,” she said with a shrug, trying to play it off as no big deal.
“So,” he began, straining to bite back a laugh, one that would surely be deep and husky, and she’d love to hear it, “you just let them—”
“Don’t you dare finish that,” she warned in a playful tone.
“Mm-hmm.” He sat upright, leaned back against the seat, and crossed his ankle over his knee, sitting more casually now and less like a man contemplating life’s greatest mysteries. “What about friends? Do you kiss friends?”
“I don’t, no. Are we friends?”
“At this point, I’d say I’ve already fired myself as your bodyguard, so we don’t work together. As for friends, I don’t know, Jewels.”
Jewels. There went her stomach again—book-boyfriend butterflies provided by a real man. And yes, Finn was all man. Every inch of him.
“But Oliver’s your friend, and we need to save him.” Finn swept his attention to the ceiling as if it were more entertaining of a view. “You mentioned ID tags back at the hotel. You panicked when you thought you lost your luggage. Were they Tucker’s?”
“Yes, and I wore them up until Oliver made me take them off about five years ago.” She closed her eyes.
“Oliver became like a second brother to me after Tucker died. While he was in the Army, we stayed in touch, and once his service ended, we talked every week no matter how busy our lives became. Life is about connections, and I’ll fight to the death to protect the ones that are important to me.
” She grimaced. “Wrong choice of words because I can’t let him die. ”
“If he’s innocent, I promise I won’t let that happen.”
Julia’s eyes flew open. “If?” She couldn’t have anyone working with her doubting Oliver’s innocence, not with Michael already starting to question it. “If only the police would let me talk to him. It’s driving me crazy that he never got a phone call.”
“Dubai has one of the lowest crime rates in the world because their laws are pretty damn harsh. But Harper and Jessica will find out the real story.”
“Jessica will be in Dubai, too?”
He nodded. “Bravo is en route. They’ll land before Echo Team. But we’ll be splitting up. Not all staying at the same hotel. We don’t have any safe houses to use, so we’ll be posing as tourists again.”
“Bravo. Echo. Safe houses.” She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “Who are you really?”
“If I tell ya, I’d have to . . .” And for obvious reasons, he opted to cut off that famous line. “Why don’t you get some sleep. Real sleep. No faking it like you did while you masterminded a scheme to get us on the plane.”
“I’m not a liar. I mean, I did lie. But it was for Oliver.” She reclined her seat but didn’t lie down with it. “I’m still sorry.”
Finn shrugged as if it were no big deal, but she wasn’t buying that. Or the smile he allowed to sit on his lips like a crescent moon. “You can apologize to me after your brother punches me in the face.”