Evan had once been on the receiving end of such smiles, but that was long ago. Now he was just happy that she wasn’t overtly angry with him over his foolish tackle, though it had lingeredunder the surface when he’d caught her looking at him on the helicopter ride to Sacramento.
They could be stuck together in this small car for hours, and it would be best if they got everything out in the open and moved on so they weren’t distracted. “We never talked about why I tackled you.”
She was stowing her phone, and her hands stilled. “No.”
“I know you didn’t like it,” he rushed on before she shut him down. “But the only way I couldbreathe was to be sure any bullet would have to go through me first. You didn’t need me to do that. I get that. You’re beyond capable, and I’m sorry if I embarrassed you.”
The moment came rushing back. The gunfire. Bullets pinging everywhere. Her body a sure target. He could have lost her and couldn’t bear the thought. Nor could he bear the thought that she was still angry.
He reached out to cup her cheek and waited for her to flinch. To recoil. She just sat staring at him. But what did he expect? That she would instantly forgive him?
“I know you still blame me for Olin too, but...” He couldn’t keep babbling on. Not when emotions he couldn’t put a name to swam in his gut. He slid his hand around the back of her neck and drew her closer.
She made a sound of surprise but didn’t tell him to back off.
He forgot about the job. About the people rushing around them and cars honking. He pressed his lips against hers, setting a fire inside his body he knew only she could douse. He let go of everything but the feel of her lips on his and deepened the kiss.
Warm, wonderful emotions swam through him. Love. This was love. He knew it in a heartbeat. He was in love with her.
Her hands went up around his neck, tangling in his hair, drawing him closer. She kissed him back, his heart lurching.
A horn honked. The sharp sound echoed through the air andbrought him down to earth again. He pulled back, got control of his breathing, but kept his gaze locked with hers.
“I know you’re attracted to me,” he whispered, fighting desperately hard not to tell her he loved her and send her running away, “but I hope you can forgive me for everything, and we can see where this might lead.”
CHAPTER 25
MACK WALKED UP TO THE CAR,and as he talked with Evan, Kiley touched her lips. Evan had kissed her in front of her teammates. And she’d let him. Not only let him, but there wasn’t a single moment when she thought to tell him to stop. She couldn’t believe she’d let it happen. Encouraged it even. And that was the last place her focus should be directed. The very last place.
Evan looked at her. “What do you think?”
Case in point, she had no idea what they’d been discussing.
Mack peered at her. “You okay? You look flushed.”
“Fine,” she said quickly and hoped he thought the heat had put the color in her face. “What did you say?”
Mack tilted his head, his eyes assessing. “Ibrahim Waleed flew in on a different airline.”
She couldn’t believe she’d tuned out such an important discussion, but she was determined to focus now. “If the brothers go separate ways, we’ll tail Ibrahim. Our comms will only work for two hundred miles or so. If it bugs out, we’ll stay in touch by phone.”
Mack’s eyes narrowed. “Be careful. Ibrahim is more dangerous than Nasim, and we know Nasim’s no saint.”
She nodded, and Mack headed back to his car. She connected her phone to the USB port, not only to keep the battery charged but also to allow easier communication if needed, then fixed her earbud in her ear and turned on her comms unit. Evan put on his device too, and she mentally prepared for conversing thisway with Sean and Mack. They would all be using push-to-talk on their mics to keep the chatter to a minimum, allowing private conversations in the vehicles.
“Goldilocks picked up baggage and is headed our way.” Mack’s voice came over the earbud. “Brother Bear not with him.”
Kiley rolled her eyes at the code names Mack had chosen in the event someone overheard their communications. In the helicopter, they’d decided on Goldilocks, but Mack had obviously called an audible and added Brother Bear.
“We should take a good look at Ibrahim’s photo so we recognize him.” She pulled up his picture and held out her phone.
“I’d rather look at him than his brother,” Evan said. “Nasim hides his ugly two-faced nature, while Ibrahim’s glare says it all.”
She had to agree. Ibrahim displayed his meanness for all to see. Even so, she sure didn’t like looking at his picture. She put on a baseball cap and got out of the car. She pretended to be looking at her phone when she was actually watching the crowd. She wished she could use binoculars to scan the area, but she couldn’t draw attention to herself.
“Goldilocks exiting middle door by you, Mack,” she said into her mic. “Scanning the vehicles.”
“Got him,” Mack said.
