“You don’t need to babysit me,” I bristle.
“Yes, ma’am. I do. Hell, I’d stay with you all day if you’d let me. But I reckon you’ve had about enough of my overprotective ass for a few hours. So you stay inside while I do what I’ve gotta to, and when I come back at seven, I’d like to take you to dinner. If that’s okay with you.”
I pull my hands away. “Jasper Blade, are you flirting with me?”
“No ma’am. I’m tryin’ to ask you out on a proper date. Somewhere quiet, easily secured. Maybe even a little romantic. After that, we’ll see what comes next.”
Jasper scoots closer so only the center console separates us, slides his hand into my hair, and cups the back of my head. His kiss sends goosebumps racing along my arms, down my back, and all the way to my toes. Strong fingers gently caress the column of my throat. I moan into the touch.
His lips follow the curve of my jaw until he finds the shell of my ear. “I want you, Emmylou Marsh. Sleeping next to you last night—who am I kiddin’, I was countin’ stars the whole time.”
I shudder. Jasper toys with the top button on my blouse. Shit. Anyone could walk by and see us… “Stop,” I whisper. “Not…here.”
He pulls back by inches. First his lips. Then his hands. Then his bulk and heat.
My breath stutters in my chest. I’m so damn needy, I’m tempted to suggest we find a hotel. Or go back to my place. But then I remember the photos of my mangled car. Of the remains of the cell phone that set off the bomb. I have work to do.
“Tonight. Okay. A…date,” I manage. “At seven.”
Jasper reaches over and cups my cheek. “I need to hear you say it, Emi. You won’t go anywhere alone.”
I want to rail against his demand. To tell him I’m not a child and I can protect myself. But I don’t. Because he’s right. I’m in trouble, and I need to be careful.
“I’ll stay inside.” I cover his hand with mine. “I promise.”
Jasper
This day has been goin’ downhill ever since I got out of Emi’s bed this morning. I shoulda’ stayed there. Made her stay with me. Then we might be able to pretend everything’s normal. That no one’s out to kill her.
Instead, I’m checking every corner of the Channel 5 lobby. Their security ain’t half bad. No one gets past the front doors without badging in. A uniformed attendant monitors the reception desk, and from the way he carries himself, he’s former military.
“You’ve walked me right to the door,” Emi says, a little of the sass back in her tone. “No one would be stupid enough to come after me here. There’s always a camera on somewhere in this building.”
I don’t like leaving her. But we aren’t a couple. And she’s right. If the cartel is involved, there’s no fucking way they’d attack the station. No. They’d go after her and her alone. Make it look like an accident. Because that’s plausible deniability.
“I’ll be right back here at 7:00 p.m. When you hear from the FBI, you give me a call.” Leaning in, I brush my lips to her forehead. “You might be the most interesting woman I’ve ever met, Ms. Marsh. Stay safe today. I want to see what this is between us.”
With a smile, she walks backward all the way to the security doors. “So do I.”
“He’s not here, Jasper.” Sergeant Parker Elmore rounds her desk, her blond hair swinging in a high pony tail.
“Then where is he? The sombitch was supposed to call me back two hours ago.” The bullpen is mostly quiet this time of the afternoon on a Friday. Billings and McGrath are already gone. Parker’s surrounded by paperwork, which means my brother dumped it all on her before he took off.
Her blue and gold eyes darken. “The same place he is every Friday.”
Fucking hell. “I thought he’d rented that apartment to live in. Not as his weeknight crash pad.”
Parker rests her hip on the edge of AJ’s desk and rubs the back of her neck. “He’ll never give up the house, Jas. You know that. It’s his last connection to Grace.”
She’s right. The place on Lady Bird Lake was their dream home. Floor to ceiling windows, a fully outfitted custom outdoor kitchen, fire pit, an insulated man cave for AJ, and an art studio for Grace with a water view.
He stayed there for a year after she went missing in case she found her way home, but Billings and McGrath—two of his lieutenants—finally convinced him that living in that big house all alone wasn’t good for him.
“I’ll head out there next. But…I don’t suppose you know anything about Detective Nolan Mitchell over at Austin PD, do you?”
“Nope,” she says. “But I’ll put some feelers out—if you do something for me.”
“What?”
