Page 57 of Once a Killer

“What?” she asked.

He glanced at her, and she saw bemusement in his eyes. “Later,” he murmured.

They had two hours before they left the lab, and they were the longest two hours Bree had ever spent. She was intensely curious about who had called Jameson. What he’d wanted. Clearly, Jameson was going somewhere, and she was going with him.

What was it about? Where were they going? And the most important question?

Would it be safe?

Chapter 20

Two hours later, as soon as they were in the car, Jameson said, “That was my old advisor, Theo Graham. He wanted me to give a session at a conference he’s chairing but I told him I couldn’t.”

“Yeah, that’s off the table.” She slanted him a look. “We had a similar situation recently where our protectee was a keynote speaker at a conference, and it was a nightmare for both her and her bodyguard.”

“You heard me tell him no,” Jameson said, but his hands tightened on his knees. “I won’t have second thoughts.”

“I’m sorry if this is something you wanted to do. But it’s just not possible,” she said. She brushed her fingers over his arm to soothe the ‘no’, and it felt as if she’d touched him with a live wire. Electricity jumped beneath his skin. Headed straight for his cock. He wanted to reach for her but knew he couldn’t do that while she was driving. He curled his fingers into his palms instead.

At the next stoplight, he couldn’t stop himself from reaching across the console and brushing his fingers over her arm. Touching her soft skin sent ripples of need rushing through him. “I know that, Bree. That’s why I told Theo I couldn’t do it.”

The light changed, and he really wanted to keep his hand on her. But he drew it away. Stared out the windshield so he wasn’t looking at Bree.

Wasn’tyearning.

“But we’re going to the reception the night before the conference,” he continued. “I thought it would be a good opportunity to talk to Theo. Find out if he knows of anyone else working on a program similar to mine.” He shook his head. “It was like Theo was listening to us talking right before he called.”

“Someone was,” she said softly. “Although we were being pretty careful about whispering.” She reached over and squeezed his arm, and goose bumps pebbled his skin.

“Yeah,” he said. “But all they heard was me talking to a friend. Agreeing to meet him in a couple of weeks.”

She frowned. “What are you going to do about being gone from the lab? About keeping an eye on your four engineers?”

“Not a thing,” he said immediately. “The cameras I installed will watch them, and I’ll review the tapes. But I’m counting on them to keep an eye on each other. They’ll all be in the lab, and if one of them does something strange, something out of the ordinary, the others will know it. It’s possible one of them might sneak back at night to search my office, but they wouldn’t find anything, and their search would be on the surveillance tape.”

“Okay,” she said. “I can deal with a reception.” She shifted on her seat, then slid her hands up and down the steering wheel. He watched her shift again and knew something was wrong. Bree wasn’t a twitchy woman. She was quiet. Restful. Made no unnecessary movements because she was always watching, and he liked that about her. Liked that she didn’t need constant movement and activity.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Her hands tightened on the steering wheel. “What makes you think something’s wrong?”

“You’re fidgeting. You never do that. You’re always calm. Quiet. So what’s up?”

She slanted a quick glance at him, then stared out the windshield again. “It’s stupid,” she muttered.

“I doubt it, because you’re not a woman who does stupid things. So tell me what’s going on?”

Her knuckles whitened as she gripped the steering wheel. “I don’t have any conference-reception-appropriate clothes,” she muttered. “Only bodyguard clothes. Pants. Shirts. Casual stuff that can hide a gun and a knife. Nothing dressy.”

“Not a problem,” he said, relieved it was something so minor. “We’ll go shopping this weekend and get you something.”

She hunched her shoulders. “I don’t want to drag you shopping.” She sounded defensive. Like she’d be subjecting him to torture.

He had a moment of doubt. What had he volunteered for? But instead of backtracking, he said, “It’ll be fun. A new experience for me. I’ve never gone shopping with a woman.”

“I hate shopping,” she said beneath her breath.

“Nothing to hate,” he said. “We’ll find a dress for you to wear.” He grinned. “Something with pockets to hide your weapons.”

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