Chapter 6
They arrived in El Paso pretty much on schedule and checked into the hotel Rhys had chosen for their first night on the road.
They had adjacent rooms with an interconnecting door, and when Taylor agreed to his strict instructions to use that door if she needed him, he figured it was about time he stopped being quite so surprised by every instance of cooperation.
Another advantage to this particular hotel was that it had room service.
Although Taylor had accepted his decision to have dinner served in their rooms, she’d clearly been unhappy about it.
That unhappiness hadn’t settled well with him.
So, after reporting an uneventful journey to Nick, followed by a swift shower and a call to room service, here he was, pacing the room and trying not to think about how Taylor was spending her time until dinner.
There was no denying it—the damn woman was under his skin. Even though they hadn’t spoken much during the journey, it had been enough for him to become even more intrigued by her.
Just as well. He had a job to do. And access to a shower that dispensed cold water very efficiently.
As a precaution, Rhys had had both meals delivered to his room. When the food finally arrived, he checked the dishes, signed the slip and gave the waiter a generous tip, before moving his own meal from the cart to the desk. Then he knocked on the connecting door.
“Taylor? Food’s here. Are you decent?”
“Just a minute.”
Seconds later, the door opened, and the vision that confronted Rhys delivered a punch to the gut he’d never forget. Clad in a bathrobe, Taylor was obviously fresh from the tub. A subtle floral scent surrounded her, and she was… glowing. It was the only word he could think of to describe her.
“Rhys? Are you okay?”
The question gave his stalled brain a much-needed kick-start. “Yeah, fine, thanks. Sorry. Food. It’s here. If you stand back, I’ll bring it in for you.”
“Thanks.”
As Taylor cleared the way for him, Rhys pushed the cart into her room.
He took the opportunity to glance around—it was pretty much the mirror-image of his, except this one was strewn with items that clearly indicated a female occupant.
Allowing himself a small smile at the colorful disarray, he left the cart near the desk.
He turned to face Taylor. “I’ll leave my side unlocked, so just push it back to my room when you’re done with it. I’ll see to getting it taken away.”
“Thanks. Have a good evening.”
“You too. And don’t forget, keep?—”
“My door locked. I will.”
After a moment of semi-awkward silence, Rhys gave a brief nod and returned to his own room.
He didn’t even get a chance to sit down before there was a knock on the connecting door.
Puzzled, he went to open it and was greeted by the sight of Taylor, still apparently only wearing the bathrobe, standing beside the cart, which still bore the plates of untouched food.
She shrugged. “I’d rather not eat alone tonight.”
>>><<<
She’d spent longer in the tub than she’d intended, which had blown her plan to be dressed and presentable by the time dinner arrived. Consequently, she’d had to answer Rhys’ knock on the door dressed in nothing but her bathrobe.
Although she’d been able to relax physically while wallowing in the tub, her mind hadn’t gotten the memo—it had been busy debating whether or not to tell him the full story, and if she did, how to do it so his eyes wouldn’t glaze over with boredom. In the end, she’d decided to hold back for now.
“You’d better come in then.”
“Thanks.” She was about to push the cart back into his room, only for him to take over and guide it to the desk where his own food was laid out, still untouched.
“You get set up on the desk, while I fetch your chair.”
The food was delicious. Taylor was hungrier than she’d thought, but what surprised her most was how relaxed she felt in Rhys’ company. Even though conversation was sporadic, she didn’t sense any awkwardness between them.
“So, what’s the plan for tomorrow?” She’d been wondering how much further they had to travel.
Rhys took a drink from his glass of water. “I know by American standards today’s drive wasn’t unusual, but tomorrow’s is going to be even shorter. We’re staying the night in Tucson, and then the day after, it’ll be straight through to our final destination.”
Their final destination—also known as the significant detail that he insisted on keeping from her. “Right. Are you ready to tell me where we’re going?”
He gave her an assessing look. “On one condition.”
Taylor sat up straight. He was capitulating? “Which is?” she asked warily.
“You do not, under any circumstances, call Charity, Nick or anyone else, and tell them where it is. Remember, it’s to protect them as much as you.”
When he put it like that, she could hardly disagree. “I won’t tell, I swear.”
He gave a single nod. “San Diego. We’ll be staying in an Airbnb near the beach for two weeks, exact address to follow. I’m told it’s also fairly close to the Naval Air Station.”
A light bulb went on Taylor’s head. “Coronado? This contact of Ghost’s what do you know about… him?”
She assumed the Delta Force operator’s contact was male, and if they were heading to the city that played host to a certain naval base, it wasn’t a tremendous leap to imagine the contact was also a member of US Special Forces.
“Only that he calls himself Wolf. Could be his real name, could be a nickname. That’s all I know about him, but Nick trusts Ghost and Ghost trusts him, therefore I trust him.”
“You said we’ll be near the Naval Air Station. Is that in case we need help? From Wolf? Do you think he’s a SEAL?” The thought sent a shiver down her spine. She sighed. “I’m sorry.”
Rhys’ expression reflected a surprising variety of emotions in a surprisingly short amount of time, from a brow furrowed with confusion to eyebrows raised in surprise. “What the hell for?”
“Getting you involved in this mess.”
To her further surprise, he shook his head.
“You didn’t get me involved in anything, so there’s no need to apologize.
Besides, you aren’t responsible for ‘this mess’.
Whatever the threat is, someone’s behind it, so the responsibility lies with them.
And yes, I believe there’s every chance Wolf is or was a SEAL. ”
What he said made sense. It also made her wonder where the responsibility did lie—with her father, for sending the package to her, or with whoever had created the reason why he’d sent it.
Taylor sighed—again. “About ‘this mess’—it’s complicated.”
“Complicated.” Rhys nodded thoughtfully. “If you tell me about it, it might help to uncomplicate it?”
Despite her earlier decision, she was tempted, but only for a moment. “Would you mind taking a rain check on that? I’m really tired.”
As she stood, so did Rhys—she certainly couldn’t fault his manners. “Thanks for the company. What time are we having breakfast?” She wanted to make sure she was ready in plenty of time.
“Eight hundred hours, with a view to being on the road around nine?”
For someone who was former military and used to early starts, that was probably closer to lunchtime. She appreciated the consideration. “Room service again?”
“I’ll put the orders in. Any preferences?”
She’d taken a look at the menu but none of the choices had particularly piqued her interest. “I’ll have whatever you have.”
Rhys nodded. “Okay. I was going to do that in about an hour or so—if you change your mind about what you’d like before then, let me know.”
“Thanks, I will.”
She should have expected the escort to the connecting door. He reached for the handle, but didn’t immediately open the door.
“Taylor, I’m not your enemy.”
Hearing him say such a thing was sobering. “I know. If it helps, I’ve never really thought of you that way.”
As the words left her lips, she recognized them for the truth. While she might have displayed a certain degree of animosity toward him, there’d never been any real bite to it. How could there be, when she was so drawn to him?
“Same here. Sleep well. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Same here? If he’d never viewed her as an enemy, exactly how had he viewed her? One question, but so many potential answers. One possibility made her pulse quicken.
This time she did make it back to her own room. Out of habit, she checked her cell phone and found a missed call from Charity. She wondered briefly if her friend had somehow picked up a long-distance vibe about needing to talk, then shook her head at her own foolishness. She really was tired.
“Tay, I was getting worried when you didn’t answer. You okay?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine. I was just with Rhys.” She chuckled. “And no, I haven’t killed him.”
“Yet,” Charity added darkly. “It’s okay, Nick did mention he called. Please tell me he at least found a half-decent hotel for you, and didn’t make reservations for something in the back of beyond that looks like it belongs in a war zone.”
Taylor pinched her lips together to stifle another laugh. “No, he didn’t do that. It’s a pretty nice place. I can’t complain. It has room service, and our rooms are adjacent.”
“So, you had dinner in your rooms tonight?”
Taylor winced. She couldn’t lie to her friend, not when this whole situation had arisen from a lie of sorts. “In a way. We had it in his room.”
Charity groaned. “Please tell me he didn’t tell you you had to do that for reasons of safety? So help me… If we’d had anyone else available?—”
While she might have welcomed the assignment of another operative a few days ago, the idea wasn’t so appealing now, for reasons she wasn’t ready to dissect.
“No, it’s okay. Seriously. It’s a good thing you didn’t have anyone else available, because it means business is going well.
And… it was my idea to eat together. I mean, he’s not so bad, now I’ve spent some time with him. ”
Silence. Taylor’s brow furrowed. “Charity? Are you there?”
“Just picking myself up off of the floor. Who are you, and what have you done with Taylor? I really thought you’d have killed each other by now. Glad to hear I’m wrong.”
Taylor heard the subtle insinuation underscoring her friend’s words.
“Yeah, well, don’t start with the romantic fantasies.
You might have fallen for the accent and all, but I’m doing no such thing.
And if this goes the full two weeks, there’s plenty of time for me to kill him yet.
This is still day one. Are you any closer to finding out what’s going on? ”
“Nick’s finished his assessment of the financials.
Based on his findings, he’s passed everything over to an expert in the field for a full, detailed report.
He’s also still waiting to hear more from the company counsel about the contracts, and from a friend with friends in high and low places about the technical information. ”
Charity paused; Taylor could sense her discomfort with the matter, as if her friend didn’t want to upset her. “It’s okay. You can tell me whatever it is that’s bothering you.”
“The deeper he’s digging into the information, the worse his bad feeling about it all is getting.”
Taylor’s stomach rolled. How bad was this going to get? “I’m not sure I can add anything useful, but you know I’ll do anything I can to help.”
“The best way you can help is do what you’re doing right now, Tay. We know you’ll be safe with Rhys—he’ll take good care of you.”
Taylor knew exactly what her friend meant, but a wayward part of her brain conjured up thoughts of him taking care of her in an entirely different way.
This conversation needed to take a diversion, and fast. “I hate feeling so out of control of my own life. This is worse than when I first left New York. And I totally hate that I’ve dragged you into it all. ”
“Enough already. We’ve done that to death. You can’t handle this on your own. All you have to do is let us help, like we agreed. Stop fighting it, Tay, because it’s a battle we are never going to let you win.”
The solid statement helped to ease a little more tension from her soul. “I guess you’re right. Okay, I give in.”
“Good. Now go get some sleep. It’s getting late, and you’re on the road again tomorrow.”
A statement against which Taylor could not argue. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll call you when we get to the hotel, let you know we’ve arrived safely.”
“Make sure you do.” Charity paused. “It’s going to be all right, Tay. Have faith. Rhys’ll be bringing you home before we know it.”
Taylor had no doubt he would. She just hoped she was still breathing when he did it.