“Done.” It’s a risk going back to her house to get her things, but a risk I’m willing to take to avoid leaving her there with a target on her back. “I’ll take you tomorrow.”
Relief crosses her face, and she takes a calming breath, her slim fingers curling down over the tips of my fingers pressedagainst her palms. Warmth spreads through my hands and up my arms. With the threat of her leaving eliminated, my heart can beat normally again.
Christ, I’m in so much fucking trouble.
The green in her eyes shines behind the dancing gold as her gaze holds mine. The orange glow of the setting sun reflects off the gold, making them gleam. “Thank you.”
Being this close to her tugs on something in my gut, something that wants nothing more than for her to be happy. Letting my eyes slide over her smooth skin, I’m drawn to her lips. Full pink lips.
Reluctantly, I release her hands and take a step back. If I don’t get away from her, I’m going to do something I can’t take back. With a nod, I say, “You’re welcome. We’ll need to go early.”
She nods. “Okay.”
I don’t want to do it, but I break eye contact with her and walk back into the house.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
KINLEY
THE BACKof Abbot’s SUV is loaded with my art supplies and a couple more bags of my things. I worried he would give me a hard time about the amount of stuff I piled into his car, but he helped me carry everything out without a word.
We had to go to the FBI headquarters in Tulsa, switch to a different car to take to my house and then come back and transfer everything to his SUV in a basement garage. It was all very cloak and dagger.
Even though I’ve been gone for a short time, everyone was happy to see me, especially Dad. He may come across as a crotchety old geezer, but he loves us and would do anything for us. Mason took my new phone and programmed in a burner number and reinforced his previous order while telling me to call him if I need anything.
I know I’m usually a pain in their asses, but I think hemisses me.
My niece, Gray’s daughter, Lainey Rai, hugged me hard. “When are you coming home?”
She turned twelve this year and is almost as tall as me. Sliding my hand down her back over her soft brown braid, I kissed her temple. “Soon. I promise.” She almost made me cry.
Now we’re on the highway and Abbot is quiet, lost in thought. I watch his profile for a moment before he briefly glances in my direction. “What?”
Tipping my head as I look at him, I sigh. “You’ve not said much, Special Agent. Are you mad?”
Another quick glance and he shakes his head. “No, why would I be mad?”
“I don’t know, maybe it’s just something about being stuck in a car with a man who is being quiet that gives an air of petulance or, I don’t know, ego goo.”
The smile I was trying to get lights up his face as he glances in my direction again before refocusing on the road. “Ego goo?” He says it slow like it’s the most ridiculous thing he’s ever heard.
“Yeah. Like the angry courtroom scene in the movieGhostbusters, the toxic pink goo bubbles over, affecting everyone around it. Only in this case, the reason for the goo is you, being quiet, or stewing, or whatever men do, making ego goo bubble over and splatter.”
His smile stretches bigger the longer I talk, and I want nothing more than to kiss those perfect lips. “Baby, I can’t imagine what kind of three-ring circus is going on in that head of yours.”
I don’t correct him for calling me baby this time. I think he does it to push my buttons, but something about it makes me feel connected to him. I look out the window at the trees whizzing by. “You just leave my circus alone, it entertains me.”
When he pinned my hands against the wall last night, my panties instantly got wet, and I wanted him to kiss me right then. I wanted to feel him hold me against the wall with his body and feel those soft lips against mine again. I almost thought he might.
But he let go.
He didn’t want to, I could tell when he looked at my lips, desire was in his eyes. But he did.
The only good place to set up my easel is in the dining area, where there is a lot of natural sunlight. He didn’t complain, he helped me carry everything in and told me he was waiting for my security (i.e.: babysitter) so he could go to work. I assumed it would be Swan, but another guy steps through the front door.
This guy is tall like Abbot, with chestnut brown hair that is cut in a military buzz type of fade, and he’s clean shaven. They all seem to be well-built. He has friendly blue eyes with crow’s feet from laughing on each side.
My dander immediately goes up, my thoughts are on the men catcalling during the meeting the other day and the fact that this guy could be one of them. I’ve never deluded myself into thinking that men are gentlemen all the time, or especially when there is a group of them together. I have brothers, so I know men are assholes sometimes.
