“I make it a point never to suffer regret. And you arenotmy friend.” It took more than a rugged chin and a pair of hypnotic blue eyes for a man to be able to call himself myanything. Though those qualities certainly helped…
Good humor faded from his eyes, leaving them as blue and cold as arctic ice. “I should have known!” he whispered fiercely, his right hand leaving his pocket to curl into a fist at his side. “I don’t have enoughmoneyto call myself your friend, do I?”
“I’m not sure we’re speaking the same language, Murphy, and I seem to have misplaced my English-to-gibberish dictionary. So, if you want to leave here in one piece, you’d better start making sense.” I lowered my aim to his gut, my gun still steady as the loathing in his expression triggered my defensive instincts.
“Isn’t this a conflict of interest?” he demanded, his tone sharp, square jaw bulging in anger. “Or doesn’t it bother you at all to set my sister free one day, then hunt me down the next? Not that I have any intention of being taken.”
I blinked, trying not to show my utter confusion. “I’m not hunting you. Unless that’s your way of admitting you brought down this plane.”
“Fuck you,” he spat, and I couldn’t resist an appreciative look at the breadth of his shoulders, surely not dueentirelyto the heavy down jacket. Frankly, I might have been tempted by his offer—I’d certainly had worse—if he weren’t turning into ahugepain in my ass.
Murphy ignored both my assessing glance and my gun, neither of which happened to me very often. “I’m not going willingly,” he snapped. “You’re gonna have to kill me.”
“The hell I am. I wasn’t hired to hunt you, much less murder you, and I don’t do either of those things without cash, half up front.” I shrugged, without shifting my aim. “But if you don’t explain yourself post-fucking-haste, I’llwillstart shooting off your toes. I’m betting my patience will expirelongbefore you bleed out. Either way, I think we’ve got awhile. Care to test the theory?”
His expression was grim now. You’d think I’d threatened to shoot off something more…valued. “Put the gun away,” he said, as if we were negotiating.
I hesitated, waiting for the magic word. For some sign that he was willing to cooperate.
He gave me nothing but a frown.
“What are you packing?” I asked searching him visually for weapons.
“Packing?” Dark blond brows furrowed above blue eyes, like clouds gathering over the ocean.
“Carrying.” I let my pistol bob slightly for emphasis. “Gun? Knife? Fucking broadsword? How were you planning to keep your careless ass alive tonight?” Evidently some people didn’t worry about such things on a daily basis.
Weird.
“Oh.” He rolled his eyes, as ifIwere the one making no sense. “Nine-millimeter, in a shoulder holster.”
“With your coat zipped?” I eyed his down jacket but couldn’t identify any particular lump beneath such bulk. “You’re either lying or you’re stupid, and I don’t like either possibility.” If I were a bad guy, instead of a sweet, gentle, forgiving soul, I’d have already shot him before he got a good grip on his zipper, much less his pistol.
“Is that all?” I asked nodding toward the gun I wasn’t even sure he really had.
“You already took my other one.”
“History’s about to repeat itself, Mr. Murphy.” I shrugged one shoulder, and my backpack slid down my arm, making my flashlight beam swing wildly. I set the bag on the ground, careful to keep the amputated handcuff beneath the sleeve of my coat from showing. The last thing I needed was for him to know someone had gotten the better of me.
That might give him false hope.
“You’re not taking my gun.” Murphy’s frown disappeared beneath a confident smile, his eyes sparkling with challenge, and with…something else. Something too warm for those arctic blue eyes. The effect was one of discord, andintriguingpossibilities.
“You’re wrong.” I smiled and felt my pulse jump at the thought of patting him down for suspicious…bulges. “You know the drill. Turn and face the wall, arms in the air, feet spread.”Wide.
He hesitated, glaring at me fiercely, bright eyes flashing. I shrugged. “There are lots of places I can shoot you without killing you. Your choice.”
Anger flashed across his expression but was gone in an instant, smothered beneath another steamy smile, betrayed only by the tense muscles in his clenched jaw. He turned slowly, meeting my gaze as long as he could, as if losing eye contact somehow meant losing the battle.
His back to me now, Murphy splayed strong, powerful-looking hands on the corrugated metal wall. I ran the flashlight slowly down the back of his coat, then his jeans, looking for anything out of the ordinary. I found nothing suspicious, but truth be told, nothing about the man was strictly ordinary either. He wasgorgeous. Truly beautiful in both the flat, sculpted planes of his physique and in coloring I found unusual in a grown man—glacial blue eyes, set against sun-kissed hair and skin.
“Is this really necessary?” He twisted his neck to watch me through one exposed eye, his face inches from the freezing metal wall.
Hell. Yes.“Standard procedure. I can’t have you pulling an Uzi on me as soon as I lower my gun.” His ass looked pretty suspicious. I was going to have to pat him downverycarefully.
Murphy laughed, his body shaking against the wall. “If I had an Uzi,I’dbe pattingyoudown.”
We’ll try it your way in minute, Cupcake.
