Page 20 of August

Seconds clipped by. His palm stayed in place. She couldn’t help but admire the size of the hand on her leg. Comforting. Masculine.

Possessive.

“You’ve been doing that a lot, lately.” The words blurted from her mouth before she could stop them.

He didn’t look her way, but his eyebrows quirked. “Doing what?”

She jiggled her knee. “Touching me.”

If her words surprised him, he didn’t flinch. Nor did his hand move from its comfortable position. “If you don’t want me to, just say so.” Again, he didn’t budge.

She wet her lips and drank in his body. When it came to August, nothing was simple. There was no cut-and-dry or black-and-white. Everything was gray. Whatever the hell that meant.

Unease coated the back of her throat but she pushed away her jitters. Eventually she’d have to confront August about how things had been left between them. “I didn’t say that,” she said slowly. She immediately regretted those words even more than she regretted saying anything about his touching her in the first place. “I mean. Ugh,” she grumbled. “Never mind. I just—It seems a little intimate, don’t you think?”

“Am I touching you intimately, Georgia?” His question came out on a low, seductive drawl.

Her brain grappled with the sexy intonation while stumbling over her full name. “You know what I mean,” she finally spat out.

“You’d rather us be at odds with each other?”

She blinked. “I’m confused. You think that if you’re not touching me, we’re at odds?”

He chuckled. “No. I mean we can hash this out in more ways than one.”

“What’s there to hash out?” She cringed at the angsty note in her voice. He was getting under her skin, pressing her buttons in the subtle way he was so good at. And not just those buttons. Because he was also very, very good at pushing one in particular.

“Do you think we have nothing to discuss?”

“Don’t answer a question with a question,” she replied flatly. She dragged her fingers hastily through her strands. Why was she letting him irritate her?

Simple answer: because she wanted him.

He laughed, this time good-naturedly. Lifting his hand from her thigh, he said, “Okay, hands off. I get it. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

She pressed her tongue to the back of her teeth and stared at the bridge ahead. A river snaked below it, the moving water glistening in the sun. The beautiful scenery would usually have been enough to tame her growing anger. Not today.

He hadn’t made her uncomfortable by touching her. In fact, she resented the level of comfort it gave her. Too much from a man she’d had a fling with. And too much from a man who got on her last nerve and enjoyed it.

He reached over and tweaked her chin. “I love it when you’re pissy.”

She jerked her face from his hold. “Well, you’re gonna love me a whole lot then, because—”

Bang!

Gigi gasped and whirled around to look out the back window. “August!”

The truck behind them collided with the back of the SUV again. Gigi choked on a scream, fear anchoring her to the seat.

August cursed. “Hang on.”

She looked out the windshield and gripped the door handle as August accelerated. Cold sweat trickled down her spine. She tensed, waiting for another impact. Her mouth sour, she watched the large black truck fall back. “He’s getting distance to gain more speed.”

August tossed her his phone. “Call Rami. Tell him we need backup.”

She fought down a whimper as she snagged the device and quickly found Rami’s number in the call history. Logic told her the effort was useless. They were too far from Seattle.

They’d be dead by the time Rami got to them.

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