Chapter 8 The Delivery #2
“It’s not okay. We’re about to become business partners.
” Her emotions were all over the place, like a rubber ball pinging around a racquetball court.
Never before had anyone thrown her so thoroughly off her emotional axis.
“I just want you to know I would never, ever take advantage of a coworker. I totally respect?—”
“Shut up and kiss me again.”
Tucker was afraid she wouldn’t do it, but he was even more afraid that she would. He wasn’t sure what had spooked her so badly. How she’d chosen to handle her fear, though, was a-okay with him.
“I’m terrified something bad might happen to you.
” She spoke against his lips. “And I’m not gonna stand by and do nothing about it.
” She quickly poured out her suspicions that Chip might be communicating with the narco rustlers through his electronic game.
Then she doubled down on how much she didn’t like the way Chip had been looking at him while he was driving.
“Thank you.” Tucker palmed her face, brushing away her tears in awe.
Though he wasn’t sure it was wise to read too much into the actions of a messed-up teenager, no one had ever cared about his safety like this—whether he made it home after work, whether he lived to fight another day.
Well, except for Braveheart. To have another human being care for him this way, though, felt miraculous.
Mallory was an all-or-nothing kind of gal, so Tucker knew better than to take what she was doing lightly.
She gave a laughing sob. “Now Chip knows how much you mean to me.”
So do I. Tucker was never going to get enough of her touch, her sass, and her sweetness. If she didn’t hurry and press her mouth to his again, he was going to expire.
With a shaky chuckle, she did. “I never want to stop doing this.”
He was pretty sure his brain exploded. The most wonderfully bothersome woman he’d ever met was assuring him she was no longer playing a role. She was feeling the same thing he was feeling, which changed everything.
“Then don’t stop.” He didn’t care that Chip, the Lonestar Security team, the Feds, a bunch of total strangers, and maybe a few of the narco rustlers were staring at them.
Since he hadn’t bothered putting on his gloves before leaving the truck, his callused fingers against her neck were drenched with her warmth. It was an incredible feeling .
“I meant…” She gave another damp chuckle. “I don’t want to go back to being what we were before we kissed.”
“Me neither.” Her words were music to his soul.
She leaned back in his arms. “I think we just bought you some insurance. With Chip on our side?—”
“Enough talking.” He swooped his mouth to hers. “More kissing.”
He hoped that the way he was devouring her lips wouldn’t scare her away. It had to be obvious he hadn’t kissed in a while. He was trying to be gentle, holding her tight without being too tight. Hopefully, just the right amount of tight.
“Get a room,” Chip grumbled from somewhere nearby.
Tucker heard a truck door slam. He raised his head to gaze down at Mallory’s dreamy eyes and well-kissed lips. “Wanna go grab a coffee or something?” He wasn’t ready to get back on the road just yet. He needed some recovery time.
“Absolutely!” She nodded shyly. “Everyone is going to think we’re together now.”
“Because we are.” He reached for her hand. It was the most satisfying feeling in the world to lace their fingers together and walk hand-in-hand with her toward the building.
She swung their joined hands between them. “Does this mean we’re dating?”
“Yep.” There was no denying or undoing what had happened between them. It was good, and it was real.
It also wouldn’t fit his current career trajectory. If he continued to work undercover as an FBI agent, they would send him wherever they wanted, whenever they wanted, right after he closed Mallory’s case. Unless…
Another idea formed in his head, one in which he turned in his resignation to the FBI and continued working at Lonestar Security. Gil, Dave, Gage, and Rock would never need to know that Tucker had started off in their ranks as a double agent.
A shot sounded, and the glass door in front of him and Mallory splintered into flying shards.
He dove onto the pavement, blanketing her with his larger frame.
A woman screamed, a motor revved, and a squeal of tires told him that the perpetrator was getting away, but he was too busy protecting Mallory to get a good look at the vehicle.
All he glimpsed was a dark SUV with tinted windows.
Navy, maybe? He didn’t catch a single digit on the license plate.
Police sirens blared, and the ensuing police report cost them another few hours’ delay.
When they finally returned to the truck, Chip was pretending to sleep again, but Tucker could see what Mallory meant. His eyes were moving like jitterballs beneath his eyelids, and his hands twitched spasmodically around his gaming device. He wasn’t asleep.
“I’m okay.” Tucker spoke quietly as he buckled his seatbelt. “Mallory’s okay, too. How are you holding up, Chip?”
He’d been conspicuously absent during the police report, though he’d surely heard the gunshot.
“I’m okay,” the teen rasped.
“Was it a hit?” Tucker doubted Chip would answer the question, but he was wrong.
The teen opened his eyes and nodded. His pallor was ashen. His expression was one of pure misery. He knew something, and it wasn’t good.
“But you said the rustlers aren’t after Mallory, right?” Tucker was eager to confirm that bit of information .
Chip nodded again.
Then it’s me. Despite how little sense it made, Mallory’s suspicions were correct. He’d been sent to Heart Lake to investigate a gang of cattle rustlers. And somewhere along the way, he had become the target. It was going to take more time to figure out why.
He started the motor and continued the drive to El Paso. Minutes later, they reached the theatrical center that had purchased Mallory’s steers.
It didn’t take her long to smooth things over with the facilities manager about the steers missing from the order. After assuring him three more steers would arrive within the week, he told her they were square. They shook on it, and she returned to the truck with a sizable money order in hand.
“That was almost too easy.” She clutched the check as if it were a lifeline. Considering the state of her ranch’s finances, it probably felt like one.
“You handled it well, sticking to the facts and not making excuses.” His new business partner possessed excellent people skills. “People understand things go wrong sometimes, but you stood by your product and made it right. I wouldn’t be surprised if we get some referrals out of this.”
“I sure hope so!” She hugged the money order to her chest. “I couldn’t have done it without you, though. You’re right about us making a good team.”
On their way back to Evans Ranch, he noticed a dark SUV weaving through traffic to join the line of vehicles behind them. “They’re back,” he informed her quietly. “It’s the same SUV that roared away from the truck stop after the gunshot.” He’d bet his boots on it.
She drew a sharp breath. “Chip!” She whirled around to the lanky teenager. “If you don’t start talking, you’re going to get us all killed.”
“No, I’m not.” His voice was low and tight.
“Wrong answer!” She unbuckled her seatbelt and vaulted over the console to dogpile him.
“What are you doing?” They engaged in a wrestling match, and she emerged from it waving his gaming device triumphantly.
“Give me that!” He lunged for it, but she proved too wily for his sluggish moves.
She vaulted back into the front seat with it, rolled down her window, and dangled it outside. “Give me one good reason not to throw this as far as I can.”
“Please don’t,” he begged.
“Why?” Her eyes sparked with anger.
“Because if they can’t reach me, they’ll…” He broke off the rest of what he was about to say.
“I knew it,” she snarled. “This is how you and Cruz have been communicating with the rustlers, isn’t it?”
“I’m not a cattle thief,” he protested. “I’m?—”
“One of them,” she finished coldly. “You called the hit on Tucker back there, didn’t you?”
“It’s not what you think,” he blustered, turning all splotchy.
“Oh, it’s exactly what I think! You’ve been telling them who, what, when, and where,” she accused. “We’re talking felonies here. Serious jail time.”
“I didn’t call the hit on Tucker!” His voice grew desperate. “It’s been out there for months!”
Dead silence settled over the truck cab.
Mallory pressed a hand over her heart, panting. “There’s a hit out on Tucker,” she repeated in a tremulous voice .
“Yes.” Chip sounded tortured.
“And you’re navigating his would-be assassins with this thing?” She shook the gaming device threateningly over the road.
“Yes and no.” His words ended in a wail of protest as she slammed his gaming device to the pavement.
“Not anymore.” She rolled up her window and dusted her hands.
A choking sob tore out of Chip. “I’m dead.” He shivered violently. “That was the only thing keeping me alive.”
“Not true.” She withdrew a pistol that Tucker hadn’t known she was carrying and brandished it in the air. “I’m keeping you alive. So is Tucker, though I’m not sure you deserve it after what you pulled.”
“Mal,” Tucker warned, not liking the way her hands were shaking. He hoped she had the safety on.
“Oh, don’t Mal me,” she snapped. “He’s been helping whoever’s trying to kill you, and I just put a stop to it. You should be thanking me.”
“Thank you, darling.” Despite the gravity of the situation, he winked at her.
She caught her breath. “If you’re trying to make me fall in love with you, it’s working.”
Their circumstances were far from ideal, but there was no way he could ignore such an impassioned declaration. “You should warn a guy,” he wheezed, “before dropping that kind of bomb on him while he’s driving.”
“The only proper response to what I just told you,” she admonished with mock severity, “is telling me you love me back.”