Chapter 16
ALMOST A ROM-COM MOMENT…
NELSON
Someone had sabotaged our escape. I scanned the area for signs of an ambush. The area appeared quiet. But with the howling wind and the snow, I could easily miss something. I gritted my teeth and plowed on through the gathering snow.
I needed to get Morgan away from here. All the way to Willow Lake, if possible.
In the meantime, I was going to do my best to forget Morgan found me attractive.
That wasn’t important. Really. A lot of people found me attractive. I wasn’t being vain, but in my line of work, my looks had come in handy. It’d be silly to pretend they hadn’t. But I doubted Morgan’s interest was anything more than a skin-deep attraction, magnified by my having saved him.
“We should brainstorm a fabulous escape plan.” Morgan skipped and bopped through the snow at my side.
As he became more comfortable with me, more of his personality peeked through his disguise, right down to the way he moved. When he’d crafted his Rudy Tada persona, he’d obviously tried to become the opposite of his natural behavior and appearance.
“We’re going to Willow Lake, where we’ll figure out how to keep you safe.”
“Right. You mentioned that. But how are we getting there? Dog sled? Skis? Helicopter?”
“I have a bike.”
“Oh! I haven’t been on a bicycle for eons.
How are we going to do this? Am I going to have to balance on your handlebars?
That sounds very rom-com, somehow, although now that I think about it…
I don’t know if I’ve actually seen that in a movie.
But I need to warn you, balancing on handlebars doesn’t sound like something I could do for the long haul. ”
“Motorcycle, not bicycle.”
“Cool, cool.” He nodded. “Yeah. That makes more sense. I can totally see you on a motorcycle.” He tugged his cloak tighter around his body. “So, just to have everything out in the open, would you be okay if I laugh when we do that? I tend to laugh when I’m scared.”
“There’s nothing to be scared of.”
Morgan didn’t look convinced.
“But if you need to laugh, go ahead.”
“And the bubbles?”
Right, I’d forgotten about the bubbles, although I wasn’t sure how. “We’ll be going fast enough that if you laugh up some bubbles or whatever, they shouldn’t last long in the wind.”
“Oh good.” He smiled at me. “Because I don’t think I’ll be able to hold in my laughing much longer.”
Damn it. Now I wanted to hug the guy and tell him he’d be okay.
That he was safe. That he didn’t need to be scared.
Every protective instinct inside me—ones I didn’t know I had—sat up and howled, and I wasn’t even a wolf shifter.
I’d obviously been around the pack too much lately if I was thinking like a wolf.
“Don’t suppose we could go to my place on the way, hey?” Morgan mused. “Grab a change of clothes and stuff.”
That would be a horrible idea. “It isn’t safe for you to go back to your house.”
“No, probably not.” He sighed. “But are you sure?”
“Those people were after you for some reason. I bet they already ran the plates on your car and are hacking into the records to find out your information.”
“It isn’t my car. It’s a rental. Give me some credit.”
“So you didn’t rent it under your own name or use your own ID?”
“Oh…” He rubbed his chin, smearing the dampened makeup onto his hand. “Well…”
“You used your own ID, didn’t you?”
“Well, maybe, but… Only because I wasn’t wearing my disguise when I picked it up, so I couldn’t register it under Rudy Tada.
” His face twisted, showing his disappointment.
Then he shook his whole body, and I got the sense he was shaking off the negativity like a dog shook off water.
“Okay, let’s shake a leg, or whatever it is people say when they go on a motorcycle. ”
I put my hand on his shoulder and looked in his eyes. He was wearing a smile, but it didn’t seem genuine. And I hated that he thought he needed to hide his emotions from me… and that he was so scared to begin with. He turned away from me.
“Morgan, wait.”
He paused and met my gaze. What was it about this man that made me want to protect him and give him the world?
“I swear to you,” I said, “once we know it’s safe, I’ll take you home. Until then, we’ll figure out how to get some clothes for you and anything else you need.”
“You don’t need to convince me, handsome. I’m already going with you.” He batted his eyelashes at me.
I recognized the fear beneath this flirtation. But with the snow wetting his face, his mascara and eyeliner had become messy circles of black, and that made him look even more vulnerable. I swallowed hard, before any promises slipped past my lips.
After a long moment, I nodded. Then I led him over to where I’d stashed my bike under the canopy of the trees by the side of the road.
“Oh! Is this it?” Morgan skipped over to it.
I couldn’t see the hotel parking lot from here, but a sense of urgency still clung to me. We needed to leave before that wolf caught Morgan’s scent again.
But I needed to check my bike before I started it up. It wasn’t something I could rush. Old habits died hard, I guess.
When you worked with one of the top SC teams, you made enemies.
I didn’t think anyone had touched my bike in the few hours since I’d parked it, but I’d still check it to be sure.
This mission had already gone to shit; I wasn’t taking anything for granted.
I methodically examined my bike. Luckily, I’d done this same thing enough times it’d become routine.
“Whatcha doing?” Morgan jumped up and down and rubbed his hands over his arms. “Why aren’t we leaving?”
“Just give me a minute,” I said as I finished up.
As far as I could tell, the bike was fine with no signs of tampering.
I opened the top case, where I stored the helmet.
I rarely bothered with one. If I crashed, I could shift into my shadow form and save myself.
But the others on the team needed helmets, so I’d gotten used to carrying one with me.
I’d almost taken it out after we left the SC to make more room for my geocaching supplies. Now I was glad I hadn’t.
I handed the helmet to Morgan and wished I hadn’t left my leather jacket in the limo. That was shortsighted of me and not at all my norm. This job had apparently been going sideways even before I realized it.
I dug around in my saddlebags for something Morgan could wear, because he couldn’t stay in his cloak.
I found a crumpled sweater in one and pulled it out.
It was a start. He needed an extra layer or two.
Then I rummaged through the other one and found Teague’s jacket.
He must have stuffed it in there when he last borrowed my bike.
I shook it out, then I held everything out to Morgan.
“Put that on. Then this jacket.”
Morgan didn’t take the clothes. Instead, he twirled in a circle, so his cloak fluttered up around him. “I already have clothes and a fabulous cloak.”
“You’ll freeze if you don’t change.”
“Oh, very well.” He huffed out a sigh and took the sweater. He scrunched his nose as he eyed it. Then he leaned over and peered into the saddlebag. “Don’t suppose you have it in a different color? Black is so… blah.”
“Says the man who is already dressed from head to toe in black.”
He glanced down at what he was wearing, as if he hadn’t remembered. He sighed again before doing as I asked. When he handed me his cloak, I tucked it into the empty top case.
Morgan shivered as he pulled the sweater over his head.
The garment was probably cold, but it’d warm up with his body heat.
He rolled up the sleeves, which were too long for his arms. He reminded me of a little kid playing dress-up in his older brother’s clothes—I refused to think father’s.
Sure, I might be old enough to be his grandfather or his grandfather’s grandfather, but I didn’t feel paternal toward him. Not at all.
In fact, seeing him in my sweater…
I swallowed hard as I pushed the jacket toward him. He tugged it on. It was too large for him too. But at least seeing him in Teague’s jacket didn’t trigger any weird possessive feelings like my sweater had.
“Now the helmet.” I handed it to him.
“Where is yours?”
“I don’t wear one, but you don’t get that choice.”
He pouted but pulled it on. His fingers fumbled with the chin strap until I nudged his hands out of the way and did it for him. I don’t know why. I never checked the strap when Teague or one of the others borrowed it. It was probably better not to think too much about that.
I tugged the cashmere scarf from my throat and slipped it around the vulnerable expanse of Morgan’s neck. I tucked the ends into the collar of his jacket, trying to ignore the way his pulse fluttered under my touch and the way I wanted to feel it under my lips.
When he was as warm as I could make him, I swallowed hard and stepped back.
“Good. Let’s get out of here.”