The sound had him on his feet before he even understoodthe trigger. Ignoring his raging hard-on and racing pulse, he slipped his Beretta from the holster at his lower back. “Stay here.”
Tara nodded, her flushed cheeks and glistening lips calling to him like a Siren.
Fuck. He was in so much trouble. Ignoring the tingling in his fingertips, he glanced out the front window.
A tow truck idled in front of the RV, its yellow lights flashing.
Jeffholstered his weapon before answering the side door to a twiggy, twenty-something man in a reflective vest who stood at the edge of the road.
“Hey,” the kid said. “Roadside assistance. Need any help?”
Jeff used his body to block Tara from view. “Oh, no thanks. We’re not having mechanical problems.”
The guy’s dark brow wrinkled. “All right, but I’d suggest you take the nearest freeway exit.This isn’t a safe place to stop.”
Jeff nodded and gave the man a brief smile. “Absolutely. Thank you.”
He waited for the kid to leave before closing the door, and turned to find Tara standing directly behind him.
“I’m sorry,” she said when he returned to the tiny kitchen. “I shouldn’t have—”
“Don’t be.” He cut her off without meeting her gaze. If he looked at her again, he’d want to pickup where they left off. “I was there too. No regrets.” Except that the kiss had ended too soon and they were both still fully clothed. “But we can’t afford that kind of distraction right now.”
What if he got so lost in her that he missed a threat?
“Right,” she said, her voice clipped. “No worries.”
Shit. He took a deep breath and studied her face. “So, you’re not pregnant, and you’re notsick. Do you want to tell me what happened?”
“Not really.” Crossing her arms, she met his gaze briefly before focusing on her feet. A long sigh escaped her lips. “I have an idea who might be after us.”
“You do?” The back of his neck tingled. He wasn’t going to like this.
Her chest rose and fell slowly, and she nodded. “Remember the guy with the tattoo I mentioned? From the pictures on Mars’scamera?”
Jeff couldn’t stop his lip from curling even though he hadn’t seen the images himself. His imagination was plenty, thank you very much. “Yes.”
She cleared her throat and hugged herself tighter. “I did some searching and figured out who he is.”
He straightened. “Holy shit, really? It was that easy?”
“I had an advantage of sorts,” she said, her voice rough as she dug the toe ofher right foot into the linoleum. With a defiant look that belied her posture, she looked Jeff in the eye. “I slept with him once.”
Tara forced herself to hold Jeff’s gaze. His lips parted, then slammed into a fine line as he broke eye contact. His jaw muscle worked overtime.
When his eyes widened and his gaze flew to hers, she knew he’d fully processed what her confession meant.
Yes.She’d fucked a pedophile.
She wanted to disappear. Just turn to smoke and blow away. She’d thought she couldn’t feel anymore humiliated about her past. Ha. The joke was on her.
It can always get worse. Hadn’t she learned that lesson yet?
“Damn,” he finally said, then paused. “Now I understand your, uh, response.” His gaze flicked toward the bathroom. “But you didn’t recognize his pictureor the tattoo before?”
She stood and hugged her middle, turning toward the tightly drawn curtains. If only she were in full armor—makeup, hair, dress—maybe this wouldn’t be so hard. Maybe she wouldn’t feel like a turtle on its back, its naked underbelly exposed to the world.
“Not until I did a search and found an old photo from a frat party. The tattoo looked familiar, but it’s been six orseven years. And we weren’t dating or anything.” Getting the next sentence out was like forcing a wad of gum through a straw. “We were only together for a few hours.”
