“Sounds good,” Jace said. “I’ve already talked to Logan about moving things forward. Orchestrating a sting op sooner rather than later.”
The rusty razors were back, attacking her mind with every horrific scenario she could picture. A sting operation. A million things could go wrong.
“I have a matter to discuss with you, Burns. Mind if we speak privately for a moment? Sorry, Ms. Nelson. I’ll give him right back, I promise.”
“No problem,” she assured.
Jace tapped the screen and brought the phone to his left ear—the one farthest from her. After a moment’s pause, he shot her a look. A flicker of something flared up behind the blue in those eyes, but for the life of her, Amy couldn’t read it.
Frantic flames roared in her chest and rushed down her arms. Like wildfire, the scorching heat spread into her fingers where it pulsed and ached.
Maybe he is just using me.Acting like he’s into me so I’ll do what he says. She’d once mused Jace should go into acting with a face as handsome as his was. Perhaps he’d been acting all along.
“The man’s kept his face hidden for all these years,” Jace said. “Why does he want to step into the light now?”
Sutton’s reply was too soft to detect.
Amy rubbed her sweating palms over her jeans. Of course, she was worried about the case, but taking precedence was an entirely different matter:WasJace using her? Like Clay Ashton and Connor Belder had? Each pretending to like her while using her to gain some selfish desire of their own. At least Jace’s motives weren’t selfish. Even if hewasusing her—which she wasn’t entirely convinced he was doing—he was doing it for the sake of protecting not only her but countless other women and children too. It could also be that he was ready for a taste of the public now. Her recent sponsorship deal could be a great stepping-stone for someone like Jace, pushing him into new levels of fame. Not that the idea jived with his private protection business, but who knew?
She thought back on everything Jace had shared from the beginning. Details of the Tammy Brinkman case. They’d arranged a sting operation in order to catch the criminals who put her at risk. They’d have to do that here. She’d known that for the most part. It wasn’t like Jace had kept that a secret; he just hadn’t beat her over the head with the ugly details. She was glad. The truth was, she didn’t want to imagine Jace looking her in the eye and telling her to swim in a pool of shark-infested water so they could make their catch.
Sure, there’s a risk. But we’re willing to take it.
And then what if things went wrong?Well guys, we didn’t save Amy but at least we caught the bad guys. What do you say we catch a bite to eat? Greek, anyone?
“Right, right,” Jace said. “And removing the devices will only raise suspicion, so we’ll plot out what we say… use it to our benefit instead.”
Jace circled the plaza and came to a stop in front of Cone Toppers. “Sure, tomorrow morning.” He pulled the phone from his ear and activated the speaker once more. “He’d like to say goodbye.”
“Ms. Nelson?” the man said.
“Yeah?” her voice wobbled.
“Chin up, love. You’re in good hands. Jace Burns is the best man I have for this particular scenario.”
“Thank you,” Amy said. Of that, there was no doubt. That had never really been the question, had it? It had more to do with where his heart was: the mission, or her?
Jace ended the call and looked over at Amy.
She met his gaze, a deep, overwhelming sadness sinking into every fiber and vein. She loved him too much for this.Thisbeing the fact that he might not love her in return.
He reached up and cupped her cheek, his brow furrowing in the low light.What are you thinking, Jace? Are you wondering if I’d risk my life for this? Because I would. I will.Whether he loved her or not, Amy had a heart for the cause now. And she’d play her part, whatever that was, to put these guys behind bars.
The idea put at least one of her fears on mute. She tried to quiet the other fear too.
He’s not using you. He’s trying to protect you. Jace genuinely cares about you. He does.
“Well,” Jace ran a hand through his damp-looking hair as clean scents of foamy soap filled the car anew. “Let’s go get that ice cream.”
She watched for that dimple to appear, but it didn’t.
Amy nodded, pushed open the door, and tried to imagine just what the next few days would be like. And if they survived, both Jace and Amy coming through in one piece, would Jace want to continue dating Amy, or would he simply move on to his next mission without a glance behind?
