Page 12 of Defending You
The cops didn’t smile.
They were worried about her, and she understood entirely. If she came across a couple the way they had come across them, she’d probably be just as concerned. “We’ve known each other for years. Don’t worry. I’m in good hands.”
The male cop cleared his throat. “We’re looking for a woman, reddish-blond hair, twenty-eight years old. She was spotted in the area. Either of you seen her?”
Someone must’ve noticed Cici when she’d checked into the hotel. As much as she hated the wig, she was thankful for it now.
“Not me.” Asher’s arm slipped around her waist again.
Cici had an idea. “I saw a woman with light red hair sitting at the bar.” Cici looked up at Asher. “You didn’t notice her?”
“I only have eyes for you, princess.”
That last word was probably meant to sound like a term of endearment, but she heard scorn in it.
“Which bar?” the policeman asked.
Cici nodded toward the door they’d just passed. “She was in there a few minutes ago.”
The cops thanked them, then headed for the entrance.
As soon as they were out of sight, Asher grabbed her suitcase. “Quick, before they come back.”
They ran to the main road, crossed it, and continued down a side street until they reached a black pickup truck. Asher clicked to unlock it and pulled open the passenger door. He shoved her suitcase into the backseat. “Get in.”
Cici was climbing—this thing was high off the ground—when he scooped her up and tossed her onto the seat. He slammed the door and ran around to the other side, where he slid in behind the wheel.
He pulled out into traffic, then handed her his cell phone. “Put in directions for New York, just to get us out of town.”
“Please.”
“Please what?”
“I’m suggesting that you should say please when you ask me to do something.”
“I’msuggesting that you should do what I tell you when I tell you or I’ll drop you at the nearest police station. Except in my case, this is not a suggestion, it’s an order.”
The nerve of this guy. Was this what she had to put up with, being ordered around by a grouchy guard? Never mind that he was a fabulous kisser, he was short-tempered and rude.
Maybe the police station was her best bet. She hadn’t done anything wrong, after all.
But they thought she had. Even if they believed her story, they’d take her statement, then send her on her way. They weren’t exactly in the business of protecting people.
And Forbes’s necklace would end up in an evidence locker, which was the last thing she wanted.
She hated to admit it, but Asher was her only choice. Rather than argue, she tapped directions into his phone. They displayed on a screen attached to his dash by a suction cup. So fancy.
Not that she was a snob, not ordinarily, anyway. Her snobbery only came out when she was irritated, and at the moment,irritateddidn’t begin to cover it.
CHAPTER FOUR
Asher gripped the steering wheel, eyes flicking between the road ahead and the rearview mirror. Cici sat beside him, her arms crossed tightly over that ugly sweatshirt he’d made her wear.
She’d been griping since they’d peeled out of the alley—something about how he barked orders like she was a dog, not a person. He didn’t bother defending himself. Words were a waste when every nerve in his body screamedfocus. The job was simple: keep her alive, get her and the necklace to Maine.
Emotions didn’t factor in. There was certainly no place for the electricity still buzzing through him after that mind-blowing kiss. That reaction was as distracting as all the feelings he’d carried for her since high school. His irrational belief that they belonged together had led to his impetuous invitation to the prom, which led to the most humiliating moment of his life.
Well, one of them. Funny how Cici Wright had twice had a front-row seat to his humiliation.
