Of course, talking wasn’t all she was thinking about. There might be a few other things she’d like to do first.
Slinging the duffel over her shoulder, Annie left the terminal and started to cross the street to the taxi stand.
That was when she saw him.
Her heart practically flew out of her chest. Dean was leaning against a white car with his arms crossed over his chest as if his being there was the most commonplace thing in the world.
As if she hadn’t been worried about him every minute of the last two weeks. As if the last time they’d seen each otherhe hadn’t been nearly frozen to death, and she hadn’t nearly been shot. As if she hadn’t been longing for this moment for every minute since he jumped off that boat. As if she didn’t want to race across the street, throw herself into his arms, and stay there forever. As if he wasn’t about the best thing she’d ever seen in jeans, a T-shirt that showed off his tanned arms, and that seen-better-days de-logoed Cowboys hat.
It was only when she saw his eyes—or felt them—that she knew he wasn’t as casual as he appeared.
No, “casual” was definitely not the word for the searing intensity of those steely blue eyes as they locked on hers. “Mine” and “I can’t wait to strip you naked and screw your brains out” summed it up better.
Her heart was pounding and fluttering in her chest as she calmly crossed the street to stand before him.
He stared at her, and she stared right back. It was amazing how silence could say so much. How silence could say everything.
But he hadn’t moved. Maybe he didn’t trust himself. Maybe he felt like her: that if he started touching her he wouldn’t ever be able to stop.
Finally she spoke. “Aren’t you going to get my bag?”
“And make you feel weak and inferior? No, ma’am. You see, I’ve been doing lots of reading the past couple weeks.”
The deep drawl and “ma’am” were getting to her a little, but she managed not to smile as he rattled off a bunch of names she hadn’t heard since the women’s studies class she’d taken as an undergrad. She wasn’t foolish enough to think she’d converted him. No, it was him getting prepared for their next argument. “Know your enemy?” she said to him.
He grinned. “Something like that.”
She might not be able to bring him over to the dark side, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to try. And she was sure he was thinking the same thing. If occasionally—very occasionally—she might be a little naive, she was sure he would point it out. And if he started acting like a cynical machine, she’d make sure he had a little more compassion.Maybe they’d even each other out a little. Or maybe not. But he would keep her on her toes—that was for sure.
She tossed him the bag, which he caught against his stomach with an oof. “Don’t believe everything you read, Tex, and you need to put all those pretty muscles to use.”
“I can think of a few other uses.”
She felt a flutter low in her belly. “So can I.”
“Get in the car, Annie.”
“Where are we going?”
He gave her a sidelong glance. “It’s a surprise.”
“It better have running water and heat.”
He laughed and opened the door for her. “It’s not as fancy as that hotel you were registered at—which I canceled, by the way—but I promise to keep you warm.”
He slid in behind the wheel and she gave him a look. “I’ll bet. But one rodent, and we’re going to the hotel.”
He shook his head. “I knew rich girls were high maintenance.” He looked over at her as he pulled onto the road. “You’ve been holding out on me, Doc.”
She assumed he was talking about her stepfather. But he wasn’t. “You have over a million dollars in your bank account.”
He actually sounded pissed, which wasn’t the reaction she was used to. It was her cash reserves. She had about five million in investments, but now was probably not the time to tell him that. Her stepfather had helped her invest the money she’d received after her father’s death.
“Why would that be important? It’s savings. I don’t live off it.”
He rolled his eyes. “Only a rich person could be that delusional. Money always matters. Did Julien know about it?”
“I didn’t tell him, but he probably found out about it when he was on my computer.”
