Page 23 of Hot Pursuit
“But, sir—”
“Parker.”
“Sir, I—”
“Now, Parker. That’s an order.”
Nate squeezed his eyes shut and curled his hands into fists, letting his frustration funnel through his clenched muscles, making his arms tremble. “Yes, sir.”
“Good luck, lover boy,” Leo chimed as Nate reluctantly shoved his door open and eased from the car. “I’ll grab you a hot dog from the vendor down the street.”
At that, Nate did turn. “Don’t even think about it, Leo.”
“You’ve got to get over this aversion to street food—”
“Not in this lifetime,” he grumbled and shut the door behind him, cutting off Leo’s retort.
Nate darted around the traffic as the light switched to red and then cut through the crowd gathered outside the museum, eating lunch on the famed steps. Taking the stairs two at a time, he rushed for the front entrance, skipping the line and heading directly to the security guards just inside the front door. A flash of his badge was all it took for them to let him through the metal detectors and into the museum. The grand atrium was lined with columns, topped by sweeping arches that soared across the giant two-story foyer. Clumps of people stood by the information counter in the center of the room and at the ticket booths on either end. A whole line swept along the far wall, people waiting to deposit bags and coats in the check, and that was where a spot of auburn caught his eye.
“Excuse me, excuse me,” he murmured politely, cutting through the crowd, not using his badge this time but the pretense of familiarity. “Excuse me, yes, I’m with that woman up there. Thank you.”
On and on, until the sound of his voice finally filtered into her ear. Jo turned slowly. Her red lips puckered, caught between a smile and a self-satisfied smirk. She put her hand to her chest and raised her gaze to the ceiling for a moment, shaking her head ever so slightly.
“Be still my beating heart. Nathaniel Parker, here to see me,” she cooed.
“Ask and you shall receive,” he murmured, doing his best to be charming.
Ugh, charming.
He hated that word. He’d rather be real. Authentic. Truthful in the fact that Jolene Carter and everything she stood for disgusted him.
She raised a dubious brow, almost as though she could read the thought running through his brain, and leaned into his chest. Stretching onto her tippy-toes, she brought their faces close together, far too close, and pressed her lips against his ear. Voice low and laced with innuendo, she whispered, “What exactly will I receive?”
Nate clenched his muscles and held his body stiff as a board, keeping his stance wide and his arms by his sides, not giving in to the taunt. His spine was straight. His every nerve was on high alert, prepared for two very different kinds of assault—and he wasn’t quite sure which one he preferred in that moment.
Jo released a throaty chuckle as she patted her palm against his chest. “Loosen up, Agent Parker, or you’ll give the game away.”
“Next,” an attendant announced.
Jo sighed reluctantly and dropped her arm. Nate released a long breath, watching as she stepped up to the counter and plopped her large tote bag onto the surface. After a few seconds of rummaging, she tugged a smaller shoulder bag free and slipped it over her head. The attendant took her things and handed her a ticket. Nate strained his neck trying to read the number, but when she turned back around, Jo saw. She arched a wry brow and deftly flipped the paper in her fingers, presenting him with the black block letters.
“Ticket number one hundred and eighty-two,” Jo murmured and then reached for his hand. Easily finding his mic, she brought it to her lips. “In case you were wondering. Though I think you’ll be disappointed with what you find inside.”
Nate shook her off with a frown as his gaze dropped to the smaller bag securely strapped to her body, resting snug against her hip. Not big enough for a computer—the computer. The one that if he could just for a minute get his hands on, would have all the evidence he’d ever need to get Robert Carter put in jail for life. Agents had spent an hour searching her small hotel room for it yesterday, and again this morning, to no avail. But though she was bold, he hardly believed she had the audacity to leave a laptop full of illegal activity at the coat check.
“I couldn’t make it too easy for you, Parker,” she murmured, eyes sparkling with silent mirth, silent challenge. “What would be the fun in that?”
What, indeed…he thought, holding her gaze, trying to read the secrets swirling in those smoky jade eyes, bright yet opaque and inscrutable. And then he sighed.Charming. Charming. Try to be charming.
“So, what brings you to the museum today,” he asked, changing the subject and lightening his tone, shifting to something more conversational.
Jo blinked into his face.
Once.
Twice.
And then her entire body convulsed with laughter. She doubled over, clutching her stomach around the middle as her torso shook, then raised her hands to her lips to catch the bubbling noise.
