CHAPTER SIX
BY TEN O’CLOCK that night, Tara was mentally fried from constantly looking over her shoulder, being grilled by the cops—again—and, oh yeah, almost getting killed or kidnapped or God knew what.
Again.
She and Jeff had spent the last couple of hours driving random routes around NOVA—northern Virginia—to determine if they were being followed. Somewhere in Springfield,when both of them agreed they were tail-free, they’d stopped. Now, they faced each other over a sticky table at a tacky Mexican restaurant they’d found after turning off their cell phones and replacing them with the pay-as-you-go variety.
Tara nibbled at an avocado taco and sipped her water, wishing it were acerveza. Honestly, given the events of the day, she was tempted to go for straighttequila.
“I don’t think you should go back to your place,” Jeff said, before taking a bite of an enormous burrito.
Not that she was eager to, but… “You think I should let these guys drive me out of my home?” She stirred the refried beans into a swirl with her fork. “For how long?”
“Look, I know it sucks, but if I were them, I’d keep a guy on your condo in case you return.” He swigged hissoda and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Is there someone you can stay with?”
She toyed with a tortilla chip she no longer wanted. At least she knew he wasn’t using this as an excuse to come on to her. So what if that old, stupid part of her had wanted him to? “I’m not going to put anyone I care about in danger. I’ll find a hotel room.”
“You don’t have to do that,” he said on a sigh. “Youcan stay with me if you don’t mind a loft bed.”
Such enthusiasm.
Leaning back, she ate the chip in her hand, mainly to buy some time before responding. As much as Jeff intrigued her with his warm eyes and rare smiles, how much did she really know about him? Okay, sure, he’d been vetted by Steele’s in-house computer expert/hacker Valerie, as well as Kurt. That counted for a lot. Plus, Jeffalways treated her with respect and didn’t give off creepy vibes. And he’d totally had her back today.
But she had a history of trusting the wrong men. A long history of misjudging their intentions, especially in Colin’s case.
How did she know if she could trust her perception of this man, now?
And yet, wasn’t he a smarter choice than going it alone? The rest of the Steele team was gone.She wouldn’t bring danger to Jenna’s door no matter how capable her husband Mick was. Especially now that they had a toddler at home and a baby on the way. Tara was safer with Jeff than on her own. Today’s attacks had made that more than clear. If she went to a hotel and the killers found her again, she’d have no protection. She sure as hell wouldn’t be able to sleep for thinking about it.
“How is your place any safer? For all we know, they have your name and address too,” she finally said.
“How do you feel about camping? It’s easy to pay cash and stay off the radar. Unless you prefer a seedy motel.”
She couldn’t stop herself from wrinkling her nose. Of course he camped. “Like full-on tent-and-sleeping-bag camping, or something a little less…rustic?”
His smile did funny thingsto her chest, and he plowed through a quarter of his burrito before responding. “I’ve been living in my parents’ old RV until I decide on something more permanent. It’s mobile, and it sleeps four uncomfortably.”
“What a realtor might call ‘cozy’?”
“Sure.” His brown eyes twinkled in a way she’d never seen before. “Let’s go with that.”
In fact, come to think of it, despite his general friendlinesswith everyone at work, she’d rarely seen him look truly lighthearted or, well…happy.
“Okay, I’m game,” she said. “But again, for how long?”
“Let’s try through the weekend, see if the police can make any headway on who these guys are. Then we’ll reevaluate.”
“That’s reasonable, I guess,” she said with an exaggerated sigh. “You must not have a girlfriend.”
Never let it be said that she didn’texcel at subtlety.
His eyebrow shot up. “What makes you say that?”
“Because no woman I know would be okay with you shacking up with another woman for the weekend, even if there are separate beds and everything.” She sure as hell wouldn’t be. At least not outside the scope of his work for Steele. It was one thing to be assigned to protection detail by his boss. It was quite another to volunteer.
He set down his napkin, leaning forward to pin her to the seat with his warm brown eyes and solemn expression. “Tara, you know I’m not hitting on you, right?”
She suppressed a smile and leaned in, mimicking his earnest look. “I totally do.”
