Jaci Burton (20 page)

shined a bril iant smile up at him. “And, oh, did we ever make

up.”

Rick slanted a grin down at her. “Yeah, we did.”

“Can I see you on the balcony for a second?”

Rick nodded at Bo. Ava grabbed his hand.

“It’l be fine.”

At least Rick hoped it would be fine. It was finesse time. Bo

slid the door closed so Ava and Lacey couldn’t hear what was

being said.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

“What are
you
doing here?” Rick figured turning the tables

on Bo would give him some time to think.

“Fol owing you. Did you make the drop?”

“On my way down here. Money’s in my bag.”

“This is messed up.”

Rick leaned against the wal and let a smile slip out. “Why? I

don’t see what the problem is.”

“You don’t?”

“No.”

“You know what’s happening here, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then tel me again why you’re here.”

“To see Ava. I didn’t like what happened between us in

Vegas.”

“So she means more to you than you told me earlier.”

Rick turned away, hoping Bo would think he was

embarrassed about revealing his emotions. “I guess she

does. I didn’t know that until she was gone. I missed her.

Maybe I care about her more than I let on to you that day. I

don’t know. Anyway, after I made the drop I decided to head

on down and talk things over with her.”

Bo didn’t say anything, just paced the balcony. Rick turned

to face him again.

“Bo, this isn’t going to change anything. I have my bike,

Lacey and Ava have their car. I’m not traveling with them. The

operation wil stil go as planned.”

Bo dragged his fingers through his hair. “I guess you’re

right.” He lifted his gaze to Rick’s. “Next time let me know what

you’re doing so I don’t think you’re up to something.”

Rick clapped Bo on the back. “The only thing I’ve got going

on is getting back in the good graces of that woman in there.”

Bo looked inside the room. “Can’t say I blame you. She’s

prime.”

“That’s what I thought. Nice piece of pussy like that doesn’t

come around al that often. I figured she was worth the trip.”

“Just stay away from the other part of the business that’s

going on down here.”

“That’s not why I’m here.”

He just intended to stop it from happening. Or at least

prevent it from happening the way Bo had it planned.

Because despite his cousin being family, Bo was a scum-

sucking bastard for setting up his girlfriend this way. The man

had no honor. And once you lacked honor, there was nothing

left. Rick felt no loyalty to his cousin anymore.

Bo was going down. Which meant Rick was going to be his

shadow until they left Mexico.

Fortunately, Rick was very good at that. It was his job.

“So, now what?” Rick asked, trying to act nonchalant.

Bo visibly relaxed. He threw his arm around Rick’s shoulder

and reached for the door. “Since we’re both in Mexico with our

ladies and it’s not time to leave yet . . . we might as wel party.”

Bo knew how to put a party together in a hurry. After they’d

gone back inside the room, Bo had grabbed Lacey and said

he was going to get a suite, then invite some people in for a

smal get-together that night.

Apparently Rick’s idea of a smal get-together was different

than Bo’s. By nine that night there were over fifty people in

Bo’s suite, an ostentatious, oversized, top-of-the-hotel

apartment that must have cost Bo a smal fortune.

The drug business must be lucrative for his cousin.

And keeping Ava in the dark about everything was getting

more difficult. One look at this suite and she arched a brow,

wrinkled her nose, and turned to Rick.

“What does your cousin do for a living again?”

Rick shrugged. “No idea. I think he’s in sales. That’s why he

travels so much.”

She cast him a dubious look. “Uh huh. I think you know more

than you’re tel ing me.”

“No, I just don’t make it my business to pry into what my

cousin does for a living. He’s got his life and I’ve got mine. I’d

like to leave it that way for now.”

She sighed. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

Ava wasn’t stupid—one of the things he admired so much

about her. She wasn’t buying the
sales
angle at al . He

couldn’t blame her. Anyone with half a brain knew this whole

setup smel ed like someone in the drug business.

He turned her to face him. “You look beautiful.”

She cocked a brow. “And you’re trying to distract me.”

Partly, yes. But she did look amazing in a red dress with tiny

straps over her shoulders. And the top kind of swooped down

with this extra material that covered her breasts. Every time

she bent over, he thought her breasts would spil out. They

didn’t, but the cleavage was tempting. The dress hit her right

at the knee, and every time she moved, so did the bottom of

the dress.

Swish, swish, swish.

She had great legs.

Hel , she had great everything. She’d make a stel ar agent,

because she was damned distracting, which made it hard for

him to do his job.

This was going to require his best juggling—and

undercover act—ever.

She’d pul ed her hair up tonight, giving him access to her

throat. He pressed his lips against her neck, inhaled her

sweet scent. Damn, she smel ed good. No perfume, just soap

and her shampoo and the sweet scent of her skin. He kissed

her, letting his tongue slip out to lick across the softness of her

skin, ending up at her ear.

“I like distracting you,” he whispered.

He heard the catch of her breath. She clutched his arms.

“When you do that, it makes my nipples hard.”

He smiled. “Good, because it makes my dick hard.” He

pul ed her close, and she tilted her head back.

Whether in jeans and a T-shirt, or dressed up like a

socialite, Ava was a beautiful woman.

Why the hel she wanted anything to do with him he didn’t

understand. He was one lucky guy. And even though this was

temporary, he intended to enjoy every second of it.

“You want a drink?”

“Sure.”

They made their way to the bar. Rick ordered a beer for

himself and a glass of wine for Ava.

“I don’t see Lacey,” she said, her gaze searching the room.

Rick spotted Bo off in a corner talking to a few guys.

“There’s Bo. Maybe he knows. Come on.” He took Ava’s hand

and headed in that direction. His motive, of course, was to

ease in and see if he could overhear something of what was

being said. It might be nothing at al . Then again, it might be

important.

Bo had his back turned to them, so when Rick moved close,

he was surprised to discover them talking in Spanish.

Fortunately, Rick knew enough Spanish to understand what

was being said. Something about taking care of things later

tonight, when the party was in ful swing. And Bo was counting

on being able to slip away. Now that Rick was here, he’d be

able to see firsthand how things were done.

Perfect.

But Ava was frowning and he’d bet she’d understood every

word, too. Not good.

Rick nudged Bo with his elbow. “Hey.”

Bo smiled and made room for Ava. “Evenin’. Don’t you look

pretty.”

Ava gave Bo a return smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Thank you. Where’s Lacey?”

Bo rol ed his eyes. “Stil in the bedroom getting dol ed up.

That woman takes forever to get ready for a party. Why don’t

you go see if you can hurry her up? Al the way at the end of

the hal .”

“I’l do that. Thanks.”

Ava turned to slip away, but Rick grasped her wrist and

planted a short kiss on her lips.

Her lips lifted, her cheeks darkening a dusky pink.

Sometime tonight he was going to find time to make love to

her. While she was wearing that sexy red dress.

“You look sad and pathetic whenever she leaves a room.

You got it bad, man,” Bo said with a laugh. “Be careful, or we’l

be planning a Hel raiser wedding.”

If only his cousin knew what was real y going to happen. A

wedding would be the least of his worries. Rick managed a

wry smile. “She’s sweet. Like nobody I’ve ever met before.”

“Give her a few months with our gang. We’l squeeze the

sweetness right out of her.”

When hel froze over. Hopeful y this assignment would be

finished by the time they crossed the border. Then Ava could

resume her life in Las Vegas—go back to school—back to

the safety of academia, where she belonged. Not out here on

the fringes of drugs and destruction.

Look at what it had done to Lacey. He wouldn’t al ow the

same thing to happen to Ava.

Ava walked out with Lacey, and the truth was right there.

Lacey, though only with the Hel raisers for a year, had the

look of a jaded biker chick about her. It started with the way

she dressed—tight dress cut up to there—hel she probably

figured everyone had seen it al anyway. If she so much as

bent over even a little, the mystery would be gone. And the

look in Lacey’s eyes as she scanned the room said she’d

been there and had done just about everything. Lacey’s lips

lifted as if she’d just entered heaven. Innocence lost.

With Ava, the innocence was stil there in the way she took

in the party atmosphere with a wide-eyed look. Rick took a

glance around the room and tried to see it through Ava’s eyes

—the free-flowing alcohol, the drugs moving about the room

un-hidden, the way people kissed and fondled as if they didn’t

care who saw—and this wasn’t even a Hel raisers party. But it

was the lifestyle, and one Ava wasn’t yet accustomed to.

If he had his way, Rick was going to get her away from this

as soon as possible.

You sound like her father now.

Maybe her father was right. Maybe he understood why

Senator Vargas wanted her out of a lifestyle Rick had always

found acceptable.

For Ava, it wasn’t acceptable.

She smiled when she saw him. Lacey made a beeline for

Bo and Ava came his way.

Dammit, he liked that she only had eyes for him, liked

seeing her walk, that skirt swishing around her fabulous legs.

The

look in her eyes was a punch to his gut—dark,

smoldering, barely banked sensuality that with one kiss, one

touch, he could stoke into an inferno.

When she reached him, he pul ed her into his arms. Despite

his better judgment, he was unable to resist her.

“When you smile at me like that . . .”

She let the end of her sentence trail off.

“Yeah?”

“It makes me think al kinds of dirty thoughts.”

He shook his head. “You? A proper young lady with a

master’s degree?”

She tilted her head back and laughed. “A proper young lady

with a master’s degree who real y likes having sex with you.”

“Consumed by it, are you?”

She laid her palm on his chest. “I wasn’t before. I am now.”

His cock twitched. “You’re good for my ego.”

“You’re good for al of me.”

Son of a bitch. Women did not give him warm feelings and

an unfamiliar tightness in his chest. This wasn’t happening.

Not to him. He didn’t fal in love. He didn’t even know what love

was. Love wasn’t for a guy like him who’d grown up in foster

care, who’d never had the care of even one parent, let alone

two, who’d spent al his time on the streets, who’d never had a

woman tel him she loved him. He didn’t know the meaning of

the word love.

Did he?

No. He didn’t. Ava was an assignment. A fun assignment,

for sure, but just an assignment. And when it was over, he was

walking away. He was always walking away first, before

someone walked away from him.

What the fuck would he do with love? With a woman in his