Page 53 of Close Pursuit

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“Not again!” Katie exclaimed in dismay. “You’re a freaking trouble magnet.”

She was just now figuring that out?“Act normal, dammit,” he bit out.

Her mouth smiled but her eyes were panicked. “Exclamations of surprise are normal for me. Now what do we do?”

“We keep walking while I see how bad it is.”

“What do you mean?”

“I need to get a head count and check out these guys’ proficiency.”

“Can I help?”

He glanced down at her, surprised. “I don’t know. Can you?”

“If you stop to kiss me, we can look over each other’s shoulders and check for bad guys or spies or whatever they are.”

That was an excellent idea, actually. He pulled her by the arm into a shadow next to a building and wrapped her in his arms. Dawn was warm and awake between them, but didn’t seem to mind the group hug. Katie tilted her face up to him with what looked like a genuine smile and a spark of real desire in her eyes. It would be so easy to lose himself in her.

Their lips touched and it dawned on him belatedly that this was the first time they’d everreallykissed. She tasted like mint toothpaste and something sweet. Or maybe that was just her. Either way, he deepened the light kiss, slanting his mouth against hers and moving his lips against her mouth hungrily. She reciprocated, and furthermore, touched the tip of his tongue with hers. Well, then.

His hand plunged into her hair and he cupped her head, kissing her hungrily. Only Dawn in the sling between them kept the kiss from becoming entirely carnal. Which was a good thing since he was supposed to be counting spies and not thinking about how he was going to steal the next piece of this angel’s innocence.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two men lounging on a street corner about two blocks back lighting up cigarettes.

She murmured sexily against his mouth as she swayed into him, “I’ve got two guys across the street about a block-and-a-half down. And I think I see two more in the park across the street. But they’re hiding in the shadows so I can’t be sure.”

He swore. They were never going to shake a six-man team. But at least he had a good I.D. on the tails, now. Only the FSB had the resources in this part of the world to find them so fast and launch so many operatives in a matter of hours.

“The restaurant’s just ahead,” he muttered.

“We’re going to eat with all these guys following us?”

“I doubt they’ll try to snatch us in a public place with a lot of witnesses. Uzbekistan isn’t exactly on friendly terms with the Russians. And that’s who those guys are.”

She fell silent beside him, absorbing the implications of that. He held the restaurant door for her and snuck a quick glance at the park. She was not wrong. Two more men were out there.

She let him order for her, which was a good call. The menu included such local delicacies as yak steak and eel. In deference to her American taste buds, he scanned the menu and ordered her roasted chicken. Absently, he chose the same for himself.

It had been suicide to come inside a building like this. Both the front and back exits would already be covered. But with Katie and Dawn in tow, he didn’t dare confront the Russians directly. Were he alone, he would risk a running shoot-out. But not with the girls depending on him.

Frustrated at the limitations of playing spy with his little family in tow warred with a bizarre sense of protectiveness in his gut. He wasn’t actually enjoying having a woman and child depending on him, was he? Surely not. He was a lone wolf. Always had been. Just like his father?—

The realization broke over him in a rush of horror.He was just like his father.

In a mental non sequitor borne of his mind shying away fromthatsupremely unpleasant thought, it dawned on him that Katie was being uncharacteristically silent across from him.

“How do you feel about separating from me?” he asked her.

“I hate that idea!” she exclaimed under her breath. “I don’t speak Russian or Uzbek, Dawn’s documents are iffy, I have no local currency, and I have no idea how to get home. Ineedyou, Alex.”

She wasdependingon him? That strange warmth passed through him again.

He turned over a half-dozen plans for getting out of this mess. None of them stood any statistical chance of success. He discarded them one by one in growing desperation until he was left with only one choice. The last choice. The one hehated.

This disaster was forcing him to call in favor after favor he dreaded paying back. Getting out of this would put him in debt to people he’d really rather not owe anything to. Not that his opinion mattered for squat with six armed killers waiting for them outside.

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