Courting Danger

His fingers drummed along the steering wheel as he sat half a block down from Luxxor Limited in a spot between streetlights. The Jeep was his own. The address he’d given the car service was nearby, but random. Neither they nor his escort could trace him back to his home or his vehicle. He knew he should just keep going, but something inside him had called him back. He’d used her, and he’d done it intentionally for his own benefit.

He just wanted to make sure it didn’t have lasting repercussions for her.

The tapping of his fingers slowed. He hadn’t thought that part through. He’d been honest with her about some things, and having to improvise on a date for tonight’s reception had been one of them. She’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time – from her vantage point anyway.

He didn’t want that to cost her her job.

‘Damn it,’ he swore. His breath shone in the cold confines of the car, but he didn’t turn on the engine. He didn’t want her Security boys to see that he’d returned. He could deal with the cold.

Hell, he needed a cold shower anyway.

He dropped his head back against the headrest. He was used to adjusting course when plans fell off the rails, but he hadn’t been ready for her. When she’d come around the corner in that office upstairs, his train cars had smacked into one another until the only thing left revving was his engine.

God, she was something. Beautiful, sweet, smart and yet in some ways hardened and skittish.

He’d been trained to hunt, but he’d found himself in the strange position of gentling her and getting her to trust him. He’d needed her for tonight, and she’d come through with flying colours. He’d been the one who’d been a trainwreck. Around her, he’d never really gotten his cars back on the rails. She was sharp enough to notice.

His phone rang, punctuating just how bad that was. He answered, but kept his gaze on the scene around him.

‘Yeah?’

‘Who the hell was that on your arm tonight?’

‘A date.’

‘I could see that. Who was she?’

‘Nobody you need to worry about.’

‘Where did you find her?’

Oh, no. That bit of info wasn’t on the need-to-know list.

‘I picked her up when Romero went down with food poisoning. Don’t worry, she’s none the wiser. She got to eat some good food and dance to a decent band.’

‘I saw the dancing. Looked like you were both starstruck.’

She’d been clear-headed enough to make you, buddy. He kept the thought to himself. They were trained to blend in, but she’d noticed the man on the other end of the line.

The more he could divert attention away from her, the better.

‘You’ve cut her loose, right? One and done?’

He was working on it. ‘You let me worry about her.’

‘She can’t get in the way.’

‘She won’t.’ He wouldn’t let her.

‘All right. We’ll talk more tomorrow.’

Not about her they wouldn’t.

He hung up and smacked the steering wheel.

‘Hell.’ He’d nearly fucked everything up tonight. He’d gotten sloppy. Why couldn’t she have just been an escort? This would have been so much easier if she were.

Yet Rielle Sands was better than that.

Way better.

Movement caught his attention, and he stilled. They’d been in there for ever, but he finally saw a big guy exit the building. It was the one who’d been with her freaked-out boss.

Crap. He hadn’t only drawn the attention of private security. The guy had cop written all over him. He watched as the man checked the shadows as he moved to his car. His jacket hitched up an extra inch on his right-hand side, where the bulge of a gun was barely noticeable.

But he noticed.

He kept a close eye on the man until his dark sedan pulled away from the kerb. Only then did he shoot another look at the fourth floor. The lights were still on up there.

He waited in the darkness as the temperature dropped. Two cars stopped at the Security entrance to drop off a man and then a woman. Escorts, he assumed. They checked out together and headed for the Metro entrance a block away.

It was only a few minutes later when the upstairs office went dark. His gaze focused on the employee exit. Counting in his head, he timed the elevator’s descent. He was only two seconds off before two women appeared in the lit Security office.

The plate-glass windows offered no shield to his view.

‘Rielle.’ She wasn’t wearing the dress any more, but he could have ID’d her a mile away without a scope.

Finally. She and the shorter blonde walked out to the parking lot together, and he nodded. That was good. They didn’t seem to be arguing. Her boss seemed to have calmed down. Nina, Rielle had said her name was.

He barely noticed her.

It was the taller woman with the light-brown hair that had all his attention. That hair felt like silk. He knew, because he’d been fighting to keep his hands off it all night.

He just needed to see that she was OK. If she was angry, so be it. The strong emotion would serve her well, although it didn’t fit her sweet personality at all. He just couldn’t take tears. He couldn’t hurt her. She was like that pretty doe in the forest. He didn’t want his harsh world encroaching upon hers.

He blew out a breath when the two hugged and got into separate cars.

‘OK, good.’ He could leave things now.

He watched her get into the grey SUV, and he started the engine of his car. Air began to blow from the heater, but it was just as cold as the air outside. He’d been sitting long enough for the heating coil to cool down. It was time to put the transmission in gear and drive away.

But he waited.

She was driving home alone, a pretty young female, way too late after dark in DC. It wasn’t safe.

He knew.

So, once she pulled out of the parking lot, he positioned his vehicle behind hers. He stayed half a block back and didn’t make any sudden moves.