Page 24 of Cast in Shadow
He paused and glanced over at her. He could tell by the thoughtful, almost-pleased look on her face that he’d been dead-on, so he continued.
“No, there’s more. Your targets set you even further apart from the others. You ignore some major cash cows and home in on others, particularly those whose crimes adversely affect the little guy. You go after those who are in a position too powerful to bring to justice through conventional, legal means. Then, you use your hacking skills to bring them down. You vary your targets, change your focus, but the pattern is there for anyone who looks close enough.”
“And Charley did.” She murmured the words.
“Someone else apparently did too.”
Her eyes snapped up at him. “What do you mean?”
“Abduction? Farmhouse? Ring a bell?”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t think it was me they were after. I got the feeling I was more of a plan B.”
“Who were they after then?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I told you, they seemed to think I was working with someone else.”
It wasn’t a blatant lie, but it wasn’t a full truth either. He could see her mind working, putting the pieces together.
“Talk to me. Maybe we can figure it out together.”
Zeke clamped his lips shut. They weren’t a team. The only thing they needed to do together was get to the safe house, then go their separate ways.
She snorted softly. “Something tells me I can’t afford your help.”
They rode in silence for hours. As far as road trips went, it wasn’t unpleasant. She didn’t chatter incessantly or bombard him with more questions or complain about the infrequent breaks, though he could tell by the way she shifted often that she was uncomfortable.
In fact, as the clock moved forward and they racked up the miles, it occurred to him that she was a little too compliant. He would have to stay on his toes.
They put two more states in the rearview mirror before they stopped for the night. The trip was taking longer than it should have, what with him avoiding paid routes with cameras that would snap pictures of them as they passed through electronic scanners, but he didn’t mind too much. The closer they came to completing their journey together, the less he was looking forward to it.
Like the first night, they found an unremarkable hotel. He got them a room on the second floor. He ordered food while she showered, and then secured the room once it was delivered.
When nearly forty-five minutes had passed and she hadn’t yet emerged from the bathroom, the first niggling of unease began.
Chapter Ten
Aggie
Aggie heard the knock on the bathroom door and ignored it. Ignored him. She stuck her head under the showerhead and let the pounding water massage her face and neck. The water pressure was so powerful; each drop felt like a tiny dose of acupressure on her aching muscles.
After fourteen hours in the car with her sexy mercenary, she was entitled to some private girl time.
She was attracted to him, and she didn’t want to be, damn it.
The small confines of the car meant he was always there in her range of vision. It was impossible not to notice his biceps and forearms rippling each time he moved. Or his powerful thighs flexing as he worked the gas and brakes. His sculpted jaw and masculine lips had been right there within reach, begging to be touched and kissed.
He affected her in ways she hadn’t been affected in a long time, which was both unhelpful and inconvenient, but it wasn’t as if the powerful attraction was a conscious choice. She hadn’t told her nipples to pebble or instructed the sensitive area between her legs to crave anything. They had done that all on their own.
It wasn’t just his easiness on the eyes that appealed to her. It was the black ops vibe, that sense of danger lurking just beneath the surface. Also, the fact that he didn’t make her cringe every time he opened his mouth, which—bonus—wasn’t often. The man was less interested in idle chitchat than she was, and that was a damn fine trait for a man to have. She could think of far better uses for those firm male lips of his. Had, several times over the course of the day.
Would she act on those fantasies? Absolutely, she would. In fact, she already had—in the shower and by her own hand. Twice.
But with him? No, and she wasn’t going to. He didn’t need to know she’d been picturing him naked. Or imagining running her tongue along those intricate tattoos.
