Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
Luke tapped at the screen on his armband, checking the cameras positioned a mile away from the home. He’d get alerted if anything larger than a squirrel passed the one-mile line. In the middle of the night, a deer had woken his ass up, and he hadn’t been able to fall back to sleep.
Now, it was quarter past six, and he decided he’d do a couple laps around the property before Eva woke.
“Where are you going?” Eva asked from behind, taking him by surprise. No one ever got the drop on him. He was off his game.
He turned to see her mid-yawn. Her hair was messy in a sexy kind of way, and she was in silky pink pajama bottoms with a matching top.
She’d forgotten a bra, and so he forced his focus back to her eyes.
“For a run. Do you want to join me?”
“Uh, you know that expression, if you see me running, it’s because someone’s chasing me? Well, that’d be me. I don’t run.”
He grinned. “What do you do to stay fit?”
“I think our definition of staying fit is drastically different. You probably spend three hours a day in the gym to look like that.”
“Hardly. All genetics.”
“Funny.” She peered at the front door, her brows drawing together. “Is it safe to go out there?”
He pointed to his wrist. “This place is off the grid, but I also have cameras, so don’t worry.”
“What about the fact that it’s twenty degrees out?”
“Honey, when you’ve swum in waters below zero, this is like a walk in the park.”
“SEAL,” she mouthed, which induced an eye roll from him.
Persistent. “I’ll be back soon.”
“I can make us coffee and breakfast while you’re out.”
He nodded. “That’d be great. Thanks.”
As his hand wrapped over the doorknob, she added, “Be safe.”
“Will do.”
Once outside, he sucked in a breath of the crisp Pennsylvania air. It was the second week in January, and they were in the mountains, which reduced the temperature even more. But the weather never bothered him. He’d been conditioned to handle all kinds of environments.
On his fifth lap around the edge of the property line, Jessica phoned him. He hoped to hell she had good news.
“What’s up?” he asked, his breath catching visibly in the air. “Ender awake?”
“Not yet, but I have an idea.”
“Yeah?” He glanced back at the two-story house a hundred feet or so behind him, ensuring Eva wasn’t in sight.
“I think you should show your face at the Turkish consulate in New York on Monday.”
“We ruled that out as a possibility a few weeks ago.”
“Yeah, and a few weeks ago, only Ender Yilmaz knew what you looked like. Malik didn’t have any photos of you.
We had no choice but to find Ender to try and draw out Malik.
It’s a different game now. If there’s anyone dirty at the consulate, then Malik will have sent a photo of you so they could be on the lookout. ”
“That’s a big if. He’s not going to show his face in Manhattan, even if I show mine.”
“Malik will have eyes on the consulate. All you need to do is walk in the building.”
“We can’t operate in the city. Too many people. Too many possible problems.”
“So you get in and out quick,” she replied.
“And then what?”
“We’re working on a plan. I know you have your hands full babysitting, so let us handle this.
” His sister sounded confident, and he knew she was brilliant, but he hated not being actively part of the strategizing.
He’d always helped make the plans, and this was killing him.
“We have three days until you need to be in New York. We’ll think of something by then.
And maybe Ender will wake up in the meantime. ”
“What about Eva?” he asked. “Am I bringing her with me? Will I pass her off to one of our guys in New York once we’re there?”
“No,” Eva shrieked from behind.
Had this woman really snuck up on him twice in one morning? “I gotta go.” He ended the call and faced her. “What are you doing out here?”
“You were gone longer than I expected, so I got worried. I came to find you.” She had ski pants and a matching pink jacket on. His guy had packed everything for her, so it seemed.
“And if something had happened to me, what would you have done?” He arched a brow, genuinely curious.
“I’m resourceful.”
“Sure, you are.” He strode closer to her. “Let’s go inside.” He could hear the clicking of her teeth. How long had she been outside, if she were still cold in that getup? This woman was becoming even more trouble than he’d anticipated.
“I don’t want to stay here alone, nor do I want to be passed off to someone else.” Once inside, her hands landed on her hips.
“Well, I’d obviously never leave you alone.” He closed the gap between them, her cheeks losing the tinge of rosiness from the cold air. “But, I can’t exactly keep you with me forever.” Even if he did wonder what she’d be like in bed, or maybe on a desk, with her glasses back on.
“As amazing as forever sounds”—she actually rolled her eyes, which had him fighting back a smile—“I barely trust you, which means I certainly won’t trust some new guy.”
“Why’re you being sexist? What if it’s a woman I have protect you?”
And the pink on her cheeks was alive again. “Why would you go to the Turkish consulate? Were those men who took us Turkish?”
He progressed closer to her, and she inched back, bumping into the staircase banister. “How much did you hear?”
“Enough,” she bit out, but confidence didn’t carry with the word. A crease in her brow formed as she studied him from his running shoes to his fleece jacket. “You’re going back out as bait, huh?”
He removed his jacket and draped it over the banister. “Did you make coffee?”
She tilted her chin up. He’d take that as yes.
He left the foyer and made his way into the kitchen.
Mid-pour, he heard her soft steps from behind.
Why hadn’t he heard her outside? He really did need a vacation if this five-foot-five woman could get the drop on him.
He made a mental note to tell Will he’d be taking a few weeks off once this operation was tied up.
“I won’t go anywhere or stay here with someone new . . . not unless you tell me the truth. Fuck classified.”
He almost dropped the coffee mug at the sound of her curse. She had appeared too delicate for such a word, but maybe he’d misjudged her, as she had him.
“Well, I can tie you down if I have to. Staying here right now isn’t an open invitation; it’s a requirement.” His voice deepened, and he slowly turned to face her. “If you’ve misunderstood the arrangement, perhaps I need to re-explain.”
There was a quick glimmer of something in her eyes, something that said she wanted to be tied down by him, and not in the way he’d meant.
Not that he’d ever tied up a woman—after cuffing and binding people in war, the last thing he wanted was to simulate any scenes in the bedroom that took him to any place dark.
He cocked his head and smoothed a hand from the base of his throat down his chest as he considered what to do with the stubborn woman before him.
“Let me be clear.” She edged closer, leaving less than a foot between them. She was invading his personal space, and for some reason, it didn’t bother him.
“Yeah, Hollywood? What do you want to tell me?” He dropped his gaze to her mouth, unable to miss what he knew he’d catch—an angry but sexy twist of her lips.
She stabbed a finger at his chest. “I’m here because you got me into something dangerous, and I’d prefer to keep my limbs intact. I’m not your prisoner, and last time I checked, kidnapping was illegal.”
He brought his mug to his lips while casually capturing her wrist. He took a sip of his coffee, and she wrapped a hand over his, trying to break free. “Princess, I can do whatever the hell I please.”
Her eyes flicked up to his face. “Princess. Hollywood. If you’re going to choose a nickname to try and offend me, at least stick with one.”
He released her, and she stumbled back, her nostrils flaring. From her neck to the tips of her ears, she was flushed. And he had the desire to trail his lips over the reddened flesh, to distract her from the nightmare he had, in fact, dragged her into.
“You may be trying to come across as rough and tough—some badass commando,” she said, emphasizing the last word, “but there’s more to you than that.
You ruined your operation to save my life, and so whatever this thing is you’re doing right now .
. . well, it doesn’t fool me.” She whirled around and strode with her head held high out of the kitchen.
At the sound of her shoes running up the steps, his heart settled back to its normal beat, and he dropped down onto a bar stool at the kitchen island. The woman had balls to talk to him like that.
Why the hell did that have to turn him on so damn much?