Page 16 of Cast in Shadow
Smart woman. But then again, he’d already known that about her. He hadn’t expected her to be so ... he searched for the proper word ... magnetic. Even hurt as she was, an energy buzzed around her, filling the car’s interior and ghosting over his skin. And when he’d touched her? It had been like completing a circuit, that weird energy coursing into him. It had been unexpected and ... unnerving.
He’d have to make a point not to touch her again.
They drove for a while, long enough to put a decent distance between him and the farmhouse. Thankfully, she nodded off somewhere along the way. He was surprised she’d lasted as long as she had. She was a tough little thing.
Once they neared the state line, he selected a midrange hotel among other midrange hotels, one with enough similar, common, nondescript cars in the lot that they’d blend in. He swung around to the rear of the building and backed into a parking place so the plate wouldn’t be easily seen, and then he gently roused her.
She blinked at him with sleepy eyes. “Where are we?”
“A hotel. We’ll be safe here for the night.”
“We?”
He slipped on a team cap and a pair of glasses, then reached into the backseat, where he pulled something out of a bag. “I’m going to get us a room. Do me a favor and wait here. If you don’t, it’ll waste time and effort, and that will make me cranky.”
Her lips quirked. “Well, we certainly wouldn’t want that.”
He got out of the car and shrugged into a lightweight zippered hoodie, one large enough to conceal the finer details of his build. He walked away, hoping she heeded his words. Surely, she had to know that if he’d planned on hurting her, he could have done so multiple times.
He procured a room easily enough. When he returned, he was disappointed to see that she wasn’t in the passenger seat, where he’d left her. He’d just resigned himself to go after her when she popped up from behind the car and he realized what she’d been doing.
“The plate number won’t tell you anything about me,” he told her matter-of-factly.
“It’ll confirm you’re a car thief.”
He sighed. “I prefer the term borrowed.”
She huffed, then asked, “Did you get a room?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I need ibuprofen, a hot shower, and food—in that order. Then, you can start answering those questions.”
“Are you always this bossy?”
“Yes. It’s one of my more endearing qualities.”
He stifled a smile as he pulled the large bag out of the back and looped it over his shoulder. Her spirit and practicality were admirable.
They entered the building through a side entrance. When he saw a rather large group waiting for the elevator, he guided her into the stairwell instead. The less people they came in contact with, the better. Ignoring her feeble protest, he scooped her up and carried her to the third floor. His inner caveman wouldn’t allow him to watch her hobble up two flights on a bad ankle even if he had made up his mind not to touch her again.
“White knight complex, huh?” she said, her eyes holding amusement as she looped one arm around his neck and shoulders.
“No. I’d just like to get into the room before dawn.”
She huffed softly. He gritted his teeth and ignored the feel of her body pressed against his.
He’d chosen their room carefully, equidistant from the stairwell and elevator, at the back of the building with a view of the lot. Once inside, he quickly deposited her on the bed farthest from the door. He removed the large bag from his shoulder, then reached in and extracted a smaller one.
“My stuff!” she exclaimed, recognizing the go bag he’d lifted from her apartment during his search.
“I grabbed it when I went to your place. Thought it might come in handy.”
Looking thrilled, she picked it up and hobbled toward the bathroom. “A pierced and tatted white knight who thinks ahead. Be still my beating heart. Sorry, I’m calling first dibs on the shower. Can you get us something to eat? Something semi-healthy if possible.”
She didn’t wait for him to answer before closing the door behind her. Shaking his head, he searched out local delivery options, then placed an order for something he thought she’d like. That done, he proceeded to secure the room by ensuring the windows were locked, closing the blinds, and placing weapons out of sight but within reach.
Then he called Charley. “I’ve got her.”
