And why had she done that? He’d enjoyed her touch. Always had. Always would.
“I don’t want you hurt at all.” Definite, determined words from Delaney. “So how about you drive me out of this place? How about we just start driving and we don’t stop until the sun is up? Then I can regroup, I can call Agnes, and I’m sure she can help me out.” A brief pause. “I-I know you probably have your own life to get back to. I don’t want to cause any more trouble for you than necessary.”
Trouble? Walking into that church and seeing her poised to marry that jackass had completely wrecked his world. But now…
Now…
She’s in danger. She needs protection. She needs me. “I’m the man for the job.”
“Excuse me?”
He wanted to see her in the light. It had been far too long since he’d been able to drink in Delaney. Did she still have the sprinkle of freckles across her nose? Did her hazel eyes still sparkle and shift, seeming to reflect her mood? Become lighter, more golden when she was happy and a deep, turbulent brown when she was sad or angry? Did her dark hair still catch the light and reflect those nearly hidden, red highlights?
“The man for what job?” Delaney asked him, and then, he was pretty sure that she shivered.
Not that the night was particularly cold. It wasn’t. They were up in the Blue Ridge Mountains, on a winding road in North Carolina, and it was late spring. The night was brisk, not cold, but she didn’t have on sleeves, and he had cut off half of her dress.
He shouldered out of his jacket. Handed it to her.
She didn’t take it. “What are you doing?” A suspicious question.
“Trying to keep you warm.”
“I am warm.”
“Then why are you shivering?”
Her chin notched up. A defiant motion he’d seen a hundred times in the past.
A soft sigh slid from him. “I stopped because you needed a helmet.” He hadn’t taken the time to give her one at the church, mostly because the dumbass groom had been giving chase. Nash had also still been furious because the fool in the front row had drawn a gun.
“That’s not a helmet. It’s your jacket.”
He was aware. Since she wasn’t taking it, he put it on her. Of course, the jacket swallowed her, but that was the point. “The jacket is black, so you won’t be as big of a target in the white dress.” The heavier fabric of the coat covered the satin of her dress. He went back to the bike, bent near the saddlebag, and scooped up the helmet that he should have given her sooner. He returned to Delaney, slid it over her head, and tightened the chin strap. “You’re not dying, Delaney.” His head lowered toward hers. The visor of the helmet was up.
“I really don’t want to die, Nash. And that’s why we need to get out of here. We should cross the state line. I don’t exactly know how far Kurt’s reach extends, but getting over the state line feels like a good start. Then I can call Agnes, and I can get some Feds to help me out.”
Because she didn’t think he could keep her safe? Insulting. But, then again, she didn’t know what he was capable of doing for her. “No one is hurting you.” Not on his watch.
“And no one is going to hurt you, either,” she fired back immediately. “I don’t want you getting pulled into my battles. No sense in you getting hurt because you’re being a good guy and helping out an old friend.”
Her words had him frowning. “You’re wrong.”
She fiddled with the edge of his jacket. “About what?”
“I’m not a good guy.”
Delaney laughed. Soft. Musical. Sweet. A sound that he’d never been able to forget. A sound that had haunted him because it reminded him of what he’d lost. “Of course, you’re good, Nash. You’re a doctor. You save lives.”
No, he was a spy. And, on more than one occasion, he’d taken lives. They would get to that truth, but not right this second. He’d rather not have her more terrified than she already was. “And we were never friends.”
She sucked in a breath and took a step back. “That hurts, Nash.”
“You were a virgin, and I fucked you until you screamed for me. I don’t think that qualifies as friendship.” He’d fucked her on her nineteenth birthday. Right after she’d blown out her candle. He’d asked her what she’d wished for.
You.
She’d been all he ever wanted. No way could he hold back after that admission from her.
