Page 29 of No Reason to Trust

“Yeah. You’re right.” He put his hand on her back to guide her out the alley, and for a moment it felt like she leaned into him. Then she edged away until there was at least a foot of space between them.

“Let’s not discuss anything about this until we’re alone in our room,” she said, swallowing hard. “I don’t want any flapping ears to overhear something they shouldn’t.”

“Absolutely,” he said, clearing his throat. “Do you still want to go to a restaurant?”

Livvy shook her head slowly. “No. I just want to be back in our room. Behind a locked door.” She sucked in a breath. “I could hear guys talking, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying. I was expecting them to find you any moment. I actually had climbed the first few rungs of the ladder before they closed the window. When I didn’t hear anything else, I figured you were safe.” She blew out a breath. “Let’s just order room service.”

“Sounds good to me.” he said. He glanced down at her. “You want to pick up some beer or wine on the way back?”

She shrugged. “If we see a place, sure. But I don’t want to linger in this neighborhood.” She finally smiled. “I’m afraid people will see the guilty look on my face.”

He studied her for a moment. “No guilt,” he finally said. “But you do look frazzled.”

She elbowed him in the side. “You wanna see frazzled, bud? Look in a mirror.”

He draped an arm over her shoulder, surprised when she didn’t shake it off. Maybe she’d been as shaken as he had been.

He nodded to a neon sign in the middle of the next block. “There’s a liquor store. We’ll get some wine.”

They picked up a chilled bottle of sauvignon blanc, then turned for the hotel. By the time they reached the block the hotel was on, it was full dark. The streetlights and the neon signs on the shops kept the area well-lit, but the alleys were black holes between buildings. Jake picked up the pace. He’d draped his arm over Livvy’s shoulders, and he felt her shivering. She was nervous, and it was contagious. Even though they were a mere block away from the hotel, he wouldn’t feel safe until they were in their room.

When they walked into the lobby and the elevator arrived, he was pleased there was no one else waiting for it. He guided Livvy into the car, pressed the button and only relaxed once the car began moving upward. The first stop was their floor, and Jake had to restrain himself from running to their room.

When they were finally inside, with the door locked and the safety lock engaged, he set the bottle of wine on the table and collapsed onto the couch. Livvy slid onto the chair that was diagonal to the couch, flopped against the back cushion and blew out a long breath. “How’re you doing?” she finally asked.

“Recovering,” he said. “Thank God we got the cameras installed and got out of the room before that group of men reached their floor.” He shivered. “Although being trapped in that tiny closet was no fun.”

“And seeing you disappear onto that roof was no fun, either,” she muttered.

One side of Jake’s mouth curled up. “We work well together, Livvy. Thank God you’re backing me up on this assignment.”

“I’m glad I can do it,” she said. Frowning, she added, “Depending on what we hear and see from those cameras, there may not be a meeting after all.”

Jake studied her for a long moment. “You saying we might just shut this thing down if we hear something we don’t like on the recording?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

Jake started to speak, and she held up her hand, palm toward him. “No decisions until we listen to the tape tomorrow and the next day. Because I’m guessing they’ll discuss their plans ahead of time.” She leaned toward him. “On my job in Brighton Beach, after I got away from that kid and his father, I thought about what had happened. I realized it had been set up ahead of time. The kid knew what he was supposed to do, even though he acted like he didn’t want to do it. And his father was insistent.” She frowned. “Like it was some rite of passage to kill a law enforcement person.”

Jake leaned toward her. “You’re lucky to be alive,” he said.

“I know damn well I’m lucky. But my point is, I’m sure those guys I visited had talked ahead of time and planned out their strategy. I saw the father and the kid exchange looks. Saw the kid’s reluctance and the father’s insistence. Which was why I didn’t let the kid get behind me. If he was gonna try to shoot me, he’d have to do it to my face. And I was right. He didn’t want to do it.”

“So we’ll spend tomorrow listening to any conversations they have. Plan our moves accordingly,” Jake said. He slapped his hands on his knees. “Let’s order dinner. I didn’t think I’d be able to eat anything, but I’m starving.”

“Me, too,” Livvy said. She handed him a menu.

* * *

After they ordered dinner, Livvy unscrewed the cap to open the wine. She found two wine glasses and poured. When she handed Jake his glass, her fingers brushed his, and he stilled for a moment. Then he sucked in a deep breath. Nodded at her. “Thanks.”

“I’ll put it in the fridge to keep cold,” she said, irritated that she sounded breathless. Even more irritated that the quick brush of her fingers against Jake’s made her heart stutter in her chest. She didn’t want to be attracted to Jake Dunbar, but she was. She liked her life exactly the way it was, and Jake would be a distraction that could blow her careful plans to smithereens. She’d planned on getting established in her career before getting seriously involved with anyone. Once she was on solid footing at Blackhawk Security, once she knew if it was a long-term job or just a way station on the way to something else, she’d have plenty of time to find someone and fall in love

But when she glanced over at Jake and found him watching her, a tiny voice in her head laughed at her.Go ahead and plan out your life, it said.I’ll get some popcorn and enjoy the show.

As if Jake hadn’t been affected at all by that quick brush of her fingers against his, he took a sip of his wine and set the glass on the table. If she hadn’t been watching very carefully, she’d have missed the way his hand shook slightly as he set his glass down.

She huffed out a breath. At least she wasn’t the only one who’d felt that zing of electricity shoot from her hand to Jake’s.

---