Page 49 of Hunted

“To the camper.” He glanced down at her with a wary frown.

“I told you, I’m not going back to the camper.”

He swore a long stream, turning in a slow circle, ruffling his hair with one hand. “I thought we settled this.”

“We didn’t settle anything. I said I was staying here and I meant it.”

“And what about White’s thugs?”

“What about them? They’ll find us just as quickly if we leave. There’s no way we can get out of here without leaving clear tracks in that new snow out there, unless you sprouted wings overnight.”

He opened his mouth. Then he closed it again. Finally, he lifted his hands, palms up. “Okay. All right. We’ll stay.”

Lexi felt her brows shoot upward in surprise. She tilted her head, questioning him without a word.

“When you’re right, Lexi, you’re right. We’re staying.”

She smiled fully.

And he smiled, too, as if he knew every thought that went through her mind. So she held his gaze, and she thought about the way it felt when he kissed her, when he touched her. His smile faded, and his gaze dipped lower, skimming over her neck and down the front of her robe.

“It’s cold,” he said. “Why don’t you get dressed while I try to find something for breakfast?”

Chapter Twelve

He wanted.

It had been a very long time since he’d wanted like this. Every time she looked at him with those big brown eyes, he had to fight the urge to pull her into his arms. He wanted to hold her very close, very gently, and rock her and warm her, and whisper soft words into her ears. He wanted to kiss her. At the oddest moments, for no apparent reason, he kept wanting to cover her moist, warm lips with his. He was craving her taste. He’d never experienced feelings this intense. Not ever. And he didn’t want to experience them now.

Dammit, I’m not ready!

Hell, there was no use dwelling on this now, anyway. There was one thing in his future, and only one thing. The capture and execution of White. Romano had nothing to lose. That was his biggest advantage. He wouldn’t be able to pull this thing off if that was no longer the case. Nothing to lose meant nothing he wouldn’t do. Nothing he wouldn’t give up. Nothing he wouldn’t risk to get the bastard. It was his mission in life, his one chance to make up for letting his family down. He might end up in prison because of it. He might end up dead because of it. But that was a price he was willing to pay.

Already his determination was compromised. He was not willing to risk Lexi’s life to get to White. Which was why he had to get that formula and get her the hell out of here before White showed up.

By late afternoon the house was warm and the water was running again. From the looks of the robin’s-egg sky and blinding end-of-day sunlight slanting low, he figured the main roads would soon be cleared, if they weren’t already. No plows had passed Lexi’s cabin, though. Not all day. Still, the main roads would be fine by now. If the lawyer was coming home today, he’d be able to get through. And if he wasn’t, Romano could make his way back to the man’s basement office.

He sat on a cream-colored settee with scrolled hardwood arms and legs, near the window, drinking coffee. Lexi came in and sat beside him, and he almost slipped his arm around her shoulders, like it was natural. Like they were a couple. His body seemed to function on autopilot when she got near him. It had all these impulses that just came without consulting his brain for permission.

“I don’t think I thanked you for coming after me last night,” she said. “I can’t imagine how you managed to carry me all the way back here. Your shoulder hasn’t even healed from that gunshot wound.”

His shoulder. Funny, how he hadn’t given it a second thought last night. It ached now, and common sense said it must have been hurting then. But he’d been too focused on Lexi to notice.

“Thank you, Connor. You saved my life.”

He liked it better when she called him by his last name. It was less personal. “You can thank me by promising not to leave me like that again.” He blinked twice. The words hadn’t come out the way he’d intended. “I mean?—”

“I promise.”

Intense, those eyes. And she was reading more into this whole thing than there was.

“It’s about time I head out,” he managed to say, thinking it a good idea to change the subject. “Maybe McManus is home by now. I’ll take you to the camper, get you settled in there before I go on into town.”

“You’re going alone?”

He nodded. “After last night— after you almost froze to death in the woods last night, I mean—I don’t think hiking down this mountain is exactly what you ought to be doing.”

“Jim won’t give you my father’s things if I’m not there.” She sipped her coffee and a tendril of steam rose in front of her face. “Besides, we don’t have to walk.”

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