Remy and Drake rose instantly. Gedeon followed her very closely.
“I had no idea you were contending with your leopard, Meiling,” Drake apologized. “Forgive me. I would have sped things up.”
“You’re handling it with amazin’ grace,” Remy added. “It isn’t easy.”
“That’s thanks to Gedeon.” Meiling poured confidence into her voice along with absolute trust. She sent him a look from under her lashes—one filled with love. She knew he didn’t like her to do anything personal when they were on a job because it was distracting, but right at that moment the love she felt for him was overwhelming and she had to show him. She told herself it was the way he always reacted when someone harmed a woman. Who wouldn’t fall in love with a man like that?
Knock it off, Lotus. You make me vulnerable. I can’t feel that way when we’re surrounded by the enemy.
He handed her into the boat, practically tossing her in, except he didn’t. He was gentle. He just felt as if hewantedto throw her in. Not so much when he untied the boat and stepped in himself. Lifting a hand to Drake and Remy, he started the engine. It didn’t dare give him any trouble but fired right up the very first time he pulled the rope.
He was silent as he took them through the open water and then cut through the shallow stream that would take them back to the next shortcut to their own pier.
“You can’t do that.” His voice was very low, and he didn’t look at her.
She did her best to keep a smile from her voice. “Do what, Gedeon?” Trying to sound innocent. Her freaking cat made her sound sultry. The humidity in the swamp seemed to go up a degree or two.
“You know damn well what you do to me, Lotus. One look like that from you and I can’t think straight. I’ve told you that before. When we’re conducting business, it has to stay business.”
She rubbed her palm along her upper thigh. “You’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just that at times you say things or do things that I find irresistible.”
He didn’t turn his head toward her but stared out over the shallow but fast-moving channel. She found herself fascinated by the way his fingers curled around the rudder as he steered the boat around any obstacle. The lights shone across the water, illuminating the branches caught and held by larger rocks. The channels were continually changing. Gedeon knew the swamp, but he still had to take care in the ever-changing waters.
Meiling turned her face up to look at the sky. Despite it being overcast, bats dipped and wheeled, performing their nightly dance. Insects droned and owls occasionally shrieked a disappointed cry as they missed their prey. Fingers of fog drifted through the scattered cedar trees. The light from the moon turned swaying moss to blue-gray and the fog added an extra layer of silver to the lacy veils.
A lump formed in her throat and tears burned behind her eyes. She didn’t know why she still was so unsure of Gedeon’s feelings for her. She knew Slayer was wild about Whisper. She knew Gedeon wanted her body. She just didn’t know if he was in love with her. He never said the words to her.
She told herself she didn’t need the words—after all, they were just words. Nothing special. People told their spouses they loved them and then cheated or tried to kill them, like Guy Hawkins. Words didn’t matter. Actions did. Gedeon had gutted his bedroom for her. She hadn’t asked him to. He’d just done it. She hadn’t asked him to wait to have sex with her. He’d done that too.
“Lotus, tell me what you’re thinking.”
“I’d rather not.”
“Uh-oh. Are we going to play twenty questions? Is this about Hawkins? McGregor? Or me? You’ve got your moody aura surrounding you, so I’m not certain which of us is being scrutinized.”
“I don’t have a moody aura.” She turned back to him, narrowing her eyes and trying to look intimidating.
Gedeon flashed a little grin and slowed the boat even more, so they were nearly stopped in the dark water. “Baby, you look so sweet you give me all sorts of bad ideas. Very bad. Indecent. In fact, downright dirty. That look you’re giving me right now turns me on.”
“Gedeon, drive the boat and stop looking at me. Do you not see those eyes staring at us? They’re converging on the boat, and we’re in such shallow water I think they could climb aboard and have a feast.”
“There’s that tone you use that makes me hard as a rock.” He rubbed the front of his jeans. “Why don’t you come over here and help me out?”
“I’m not coming over there. This boat is balanced just the way we are. If I’m over there with you, it throws the balance off and we could end up in the water with the alligators,” she pointed out. “Take a look around, Leopard Boy. There are red eyes staring at us from the banks on either side and they look hungry. I’m not even going to count the ones swimming toward us. Get us moving now.” She tried very hard not to encourage him with laughter.
Gedeon made a show of looking around them at the red eyes slowly going through the water right toward the boat. “They are getting a mite close.”
“You are so ridiculous,” Meiling said, covering her mouth with her fingers because it was impossible not to laugh. “Fire up the engine.”
He increased the speed just a little, going around a particularly large alligator. “That one is bigger than you are.”
“It wasn’t,” she denied. The alligator was longer than she was. Probably weighed more as well, but she wasn’t conceding that to him.
“I could get out and measure.”
“You would too, just to prove a point.” There was no hiding her laughter from him.
He looked pleased, his eyes lighting up. “I love the sound of your laughter, Meiling. It could be my favorite sound in the world. That or the way you say my name sometimes.”
