Page 81 of Off the Grid
Leo shrugged. “It’s standard FBI procedure to get contact information for recent kidnapping victims. Must’ve been in your file.”
“Mm-hmm, sure.”
Abort, he thought with a swallow.Denial isn’t working. Time to go on the offensive.He knew just what to say. “Hey. Now thatyoumention it, why didn’t you call me?”
McKenzie snapped her face forward and lifted her fingers to scratch at the back of her neck. “You said in case of emergency.”
“No,” he countered. “I said in case of emergency,or anything really.”
“Right, like in case I saw anything suspicious, in case I thought I was in danger—”
“In case you were bored and wanted to go out for dinner. I heard from the guys there’s a great Thai restaurant around the corner from your building.”
McKenzie stared at him blankly, then scrunched her entire face in frustration. “Well, why the hell didn’t you just say that before?”
“Why didn’t you call and ask?”
“Well—” She broke off with a sharp exhale and glanced out the window. Leo flicked his gaze to the side, watching her intently. She sighed and turned to find his eyes. “Well, maybe I was scared.”
He reached across the seat and cautiously laced his fingers through hers. “Well, maybe I was too.”
“Praise the Lord,” she muttered as she tightened her hold and pulled their clasped palms onto her lap. “We actually agree on something.”
“It’s about damn time.”
They grinned. The celebration was short lived as he pulled up outside the hotel where McKenzie would be spending the night. Through the glass doors, he could make out glossy marble floors and a massive flower arrangement that probably cost more on its own than his entire stay at the hotel he’d been assigned downtown.Gotta love that government budget.
He knew it didn’t make sense—that he had a great job, and solid savings, and a position in society that demanded respect—but still, he didn’t feel as though he belonged here. Not the same way McKenzie did as she slipped out of the car without a moment’s hesitation, without even a goodbye.
She glanced over her shoulder. “Aren’t you coming?”
“Didn’t you hear my boss? I need to get my ass to the field office.”
She rolled her eyes. “Well, I know that. But don’t you want a key to the room?”
He froze, tilting his head as he eyed her and arched a brow. “Do you want me to have a key to the room?”
“I thought we just went over this?”
“Did we?”I feel like I would’ve remembered that conversation.
“Didn’t we?” She shook her head. “Leo, in the name of being brave, I’m going to say this one time and one time only. I like you. And you’re leaving at the end of the week, so I feel like it would be advantageous to us both to make good use of the time we have left before you do. So…” She dipped her chin, staring at him hard, as though silently adding,Do you understand what I’m trying to tell you?
Do I?He wanted to be sure, because he had a feeling that once they started down this road, there’d be no turning back. At least for him, and he had to know if she was ready to take that leap too. He’d been a marine, and now a Fed, but asking this question still for some reason felt like the bravest thing he’d ever done. “And what about after this week?”
“After…” McKenzie trailed off, glancing up toward the sky. His chest clenched. He didn’t breathe until she looked back at him, eyes glittering with humor. “After, we do what everyone else in the world does. We figure it out as it comes.”
That was good enough for him.
Leo shifted the car into park and got out. McKenzie took his hand as the butler opened the front door of the hotel. They walked in side by side. By the time he left, he had a key burning a hole in his suit pants and a mind full of all the things he planned to do to her later.
Later.He sneered as he eased the car from the curb, heading downtown. Was there a more frustrating word in the English language? All he wanted to do was turn the car around, race up to that hotel room, and give the wordnowa new meaning. Or maybe the wordyes. Or maybe—
The phone in his pocket buzzed.
Thank God for a distraction.He needed to cool his jets, get to the office, and interrogate the suspect to make sure no one came after McKenzie again. Then he needed to find this bastard Henry Waineright and give him a piece of his mind. After that, they could have all thelaters they’d ever need.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket and stared at the screen. It was a message from an unknown number—well, unknown to his phone, but after staring at that same number for the past two days, he had it memorized.
