She released the breath that had been spackled to her lungs. “I only need a few things.”
“Okay,” Devon said. Although his stare traveled over every inch of the store, he kept to the whole eyes-on-you, no-exceptions routine as she walked down the first aisle, her skin prickling with awareness at how closely he shadowed her every move.
“Don’t you need to get some things too?” she asked, sliding a toothbrush and a travel-sized tube of toothpaste from the shelf.
“One or two.”
Kylie waited out the dozen or so heartbeats of silence between them before finally sending a pointed look down the aisle. “Did you want to go do that while I finish up?”
“I’ll wait.”
He rocked back on the heels of his boots to look at her without budging, and something inside her chest snapped. Kylie wasn’t stupid—she got how dangerous her situation was right now, and how much worse it could be. But the shelves only came up to her chest. They were low enough to make the entire store visible, and the whole store had four, maybe five aisles, max. She didn’t want to run free, but she did want to get the hell out of there as fast as humanly possible. Other than a young woman with a baby on her hip, a man in a pair of overalls who was eighty if he was a day, and the lone clerk behind the counter, the store was empty; plus, she wasn’t completely soft. Was a handful of paces to choose her deodorant really too much to ask when the place was obviously safe and sound?
Kylie dropped her voice to a whisper, tucking back a strand of hair that had escaped the lopsided perch of her hat. “You said you need to keep eyes on me, right?”
“Kylie—”
“It’s fifteen feet, Devon. And it’ll cut our time in half.”
He swiveled a gaze around the store, a muscle tightening over the smooth angle of his jawline. “We’re leaving in two minutes. Don’t dawdle.”
His footsteps sounded off against the faded linoleum as he moved to the next aisle. Even though he was still in Kylie’s direct line of sight, the space let her breathe. She grabbed some toiletries, pausing for only a second in the hair care section before aiming herself at the rack of clothing by the far wall. The selection was pretty sparse—just a handful of touristy T-shirts and some basic supplies, but she managed to score a package of utilitarian cotton panties and some men’s tank top-style undershirts, along with a hoodie.
On her way back to Devon, Kylie plucked a king-sized Snickers bar from the end cap display, tossing it on top of the supplies in her basket. After witnessing a murder, being chased by a vicious criminal, and watching her cell phone get blown into a billion sky-high pieces, really, she deserved a little slice of indulgence. Especially since Xavier Fagan was still out there, and Kylie had no doubt he’d do whatever was necessary to hunt her down and put a bullet in her skull for what she’d seen.
On second thought, she’d earned a hell of a lot more than a candy bar, even if Snickers was her favorite. Like a nice long bubble bath, with an hour-long massage on top.
Add a couple of sheet-ripping orgasms to the list, and you’ve got yourself a party, sweetheart.
“Did you find everything you needed?” Devon asked, appearing from the other side of the brightly colored candy display, and Kylie nearly blushed herself into spontaneous combustion.
“Uh huh,” she managed to choke out, holding up the basket and following him to the register. One blond brow went up as he caught sight of the Snickers bar, but Devon remained thankfully quiet as they paid for their items and headed back to the car.
“There’s a motel around the corner. Looks like a good place to get some rest.”
“Okay.” Kylie pulled off the baseball hat, what little hair that had remained in place spilling sloppily over her shoulders. She might feel too wired to close her eyes, and the shot of sexy impulse that had just unexpectedly popped her in the sternum hadn’t helped to calm her, but still. A nice, hot shower and a place to stay hidden sounded like heaven right now.
Except that she had to go into yet another public place in order to get them, and God, would this stupid panic ever ease up?
“Don’t worry. This will only take a minute,” Devon said, and the gruff reassurance sent a prickle of heat over her cheeks.
“It’s that obvious, huh?”
His lifted shoulder was answer enough. “You did fine in the store. Chances are, snagging a room will be even easier.”
“I don’t suppose I can talk you into letting me stay in the car while you run inside.” It was a long shot, Kylie knew. But for some reason, the car felt safe. Secure.
Devon’s eyes flashed, amber-brown and full of no. “It’s my job to protect you. That means you go where I go. No exceptions.”
He skimmed a glance through the windshield to take in the small roadside motel, and even though she had no idea what she was looking for, Kylie did the same. The place looked like a direct relation to the El Monaco, right down to the hourly rates and the mismatched letters on the VACANCY sign. While that might be a titanium-hard pass under normal circumstances, right now, staying at a place without cameras rolling or questions asked did seem pretty smart.
Kylie stuffed her hair back under the baseball hat and followed Devon out of the car. A fresh hit of adrenaline tightened her chest like a steel band, threatening to swallow her right there on the pavement.
But then he turned to look at her, his expression steady and sure. “Just a walk in the park. I promise,” he said.
“Sure. If the park is on fire and everyone in it wants to murder me,” was what she wanted to say. But Devon’s stare refused to waver, and despite her rising panic, Kylie took a deep inhale.
Devon had her back. She could do this.
