Saved by a Dangerous Man (2 page)

“He’s not!” I cast about for something else to throw at him but came up empty. “Why would you think
that
?”

“You were acting so weird.” He gave himself a good push off the desk, and his chair slid toward me, rolling easily on the thin carpet. He propped his arms on my folders and laced his fingers together. “Spill it,” he said, batting his eyelashes. “Girl talk time!”

“It’s complicated.”

“Complicated. Cory doesn’t want a relationship? Girl! No, he didn’t!”

I laughed despite myself. “Let’s pretend you’re saying that because
you
can’t imagine ever settling down and not because you think he’s out of my league.”

Rob shrugged. “I didn’t get a good enough look to comment on that. It was dark, after all. But… he shakes hands like he knows his way around a gym.”

Oh, Corbin knew his way around a lot more than that, but I kept the thought to myself.
 

Rob sat up and slumped on the desk again, exhaling hard.

“What now?”

“I can tell you want to tell me,” he said. “So do it. Doooo eeeeet. What’s his deal?”
 

When I didn’t answer, Rob’s eyes went solemn. He waited.

“Cory is…” Oh man, I really did want to tell him. To confess everything. To get a second opinion… and maybe absolution. “He’s got legal troubles,” I said warily. I could admit that much.

Rob’s face went a little stiff, and his gaze darted toward the immense filing cabinet that housed the finished and inactive cases. “Is he, uh, someone we were hired to catch?”

“No!” I said quickly—and too vehemently. “Of course not.” My heart pounded in my mouth. Once Rob knew, I couldn’t take it back. Couldn’t make him innocent in all this.
 

“What’s going on?” Rob grabbed my hand. “You can trust me. You know that. If nothing else, you’ve got leverage.”

“Leverage?”

He pursed his lips and inhaled, making a high-pitched sound like someone taking a hit. “Mom and Dad don’t know.”

They didn’t know because it had happened while he and I were visiting some friends at college. Rob had taken the fall for our friends, and campus security banned him. It was only one joint anyway. Comparatively speaking, his secret and mine were light years apart.

The solemness was back in his eyes. “That you
won’t
tell me… it’s weird.”

“We never really talk about our love lives. You didn’t volunteer how you earned that black eye—” My phone rang, and I gratefully grabbed it.
 

Henry Heigh’s number flashed. “It’s nothing,” I told Rob firmly. “Excuse me.”

He was still looking at me. I turned away and leaned forward. “Hey. What do you need?”

“Good morning. Are you packed and ready?”

In fact, I wasn’t. I planned to go, but I really didn’t want to, and I’d dealt with that by avoiding preparations. “I’m at work.”

“Butch is giving us a ride, so I’ll pick you up at 3:20 instead of 3:00. You know Butch?”

“Not yet,” I said, “but I look forward to meeting him. Anything else?”

“Don’t forget your bikini,” he said, and hung up.

Rob cleared his throat. “A bikini? Where are you going?”

I turned back around. “Eavesdrop much?”

“Cory taking you away from the snow and ice?”

I thought about not correcting him, but there was a good chance the truth would come out. And anyway, I didn’t like lying to Rob more than necessary. “Not Cory. Henry Heigh. I’m… going to Florida with him.”

He looked flabbergasted. “Henry?” All of the reasons for his confusion were left, thankfully, unstated.

“Um, it’s a long story. And I do need to get home and pack.”
 

My brother’s baffled expression was heartbreaking. “I feel like you don’t love me anymore.” He watched as I wiggled into my coat. “Are you on drugs? In a gang?”

“I wish.” With that, I heaved myself to my feet.

Rob grabbed my arm. “Audrey. Whatever’s going on, you can trust me. I might not have a solution. Hell, I probably won’t. I’m not full of sage advice. But at the very least, I promise I can listen, and I would never judge you. Ok?”

Tears stung my eyes. I quickly blinked them away. “Maybe I’ll take you up on that.”

But I knew I wouldn’t. I loved him too much to drag him into it.

I checked my toiletry pouch for the third time, then stuffed it deep into my carry on, zipped the bag closed and lugged it to the front door, where I dropped it with a thump. I stared at it. It had belonged to Corbin. Looking at it reminded me that he didn’t want me to do this.

For a long moment I stood there, paralyzed by creeping doubts. It wasn’t too late to cancel. After all, I’d only agreed to go the morning before. Getting on that plane with Henry would mean that I had bulldozed through all of my carefully erected boundaries.

The only person who would be disappointed if I canceled was Henry. And me. But I would also be disappointed if I went, for different reasons.

Sometimes I didn’t even know who I was anymore. Twenty-four years old, 5’4”, dark-haired, green-eyed, that was indisputable. Bounty hunter… when I wasn’t helping my outlaw boyfriend. A liar, apparently. A terrible sister. A spy? A slimy feeling slithered along the inside of my ribs and twisted into a writhing knot. Poor Henry. I was untrustworthy, certainly.
 

But I clearly planned to go, so why was I dithering? It was weak. I exhaled, tried to visualize the tension fleeing my body.
 

When that failed, I opted for action. After pacing around the rickety kitchen table—my cramped apartment didn’t have enough room for me to take four steps in any direction without encountering a jutting wall, a corner, an appliance, or a crooked hallway—I poured a glass of water and forced myself to drink it.

Stop thinking. You made your decision.

So I returned to the bag, unzipped it, raked my eyes over the jumbled heap of lightweight clothing and wondered what I might be forgetting for my spontaneous midwinter trip.

The problem wasn’t preparing for a different climate so much as bracing for my travel companion. Henry was hellbent on arresting Corbin—and unfortunately, he had every right to do so. He wanted Corbin for the same two million reasons that I’d set out after Corbin in a blizzard. Two million and one, if you counted bragging rights.

As if it weren’t stressful enough that I was accompanying Henry in an effort to get information on his dirty FBI contacts, I also had to deal with his feelings for me.

Feelings
might be a bit strong. Unless interpreted in a purely tactile use of the word. Henry expected that something would happen between us during this trip. I was ostensibly single. We’d gone out several times, had mostly enjoyed ourselves, and he’d kissed me once.

By agreeing to go out of town together, I was expressing an interest in seeing him.

Mrs. Mannerly’s Etiquette Compendium
didn’t cover that situation
.

My phone buzzed with a text.
We’re here!

I jammed my feet into my boots, tied the laces, and was getting into my coat when the phone buzzed again. This time, the phone number showed as 000.
 

I stared at it a moment. I hadn’t expected to hear from Corbin so soon. My mouth dry, I quickly read the message:
Check your bedroom windows.

Odd
. Corbin had never been inside my apartment, and he had no way of knowing that even on the coldest nights, I slept with my bedroom windows cracked and often forgot to close them in the morning. It was the only way I could manage the mustiness.
 

Frowning, I walked through my short hallway and across the tiny, dingy kitchen. The floorboards squeaked underfoot, marking my progress. I pushed the bedroom door open. Even with my coat on, the change in temperature was staggering. The nearest window gaped open, cold gusts of wind billowing the blue polka dot curtains. I hadn’t left it like that.

A dark form stirred in my peripheral vision.

I gasped and lurched to the side, too startled to scream. But I wasn’t fast enough, and a large hand clamped over my mouth.

Thankfully, I didn’t need to get away from my surprise visitor; my body knew him long before my mind tallied the details. Because I would recognize Corbin’s warm, masculine scent anywhere, not to mention the press of his hand on my mouth, the solidity of his large body pushed up against me.

“It’s just me.”

As if he were ever
just
anything.
 

Corbin eased his hand from my mouth, then moved in to kiss me. He licked at my lips, delaying my protests. My eyelids fluttered, blurring the image of his gorgeous face—square jaw darkened with stubble, full lips, vivid blue-green eyes, dark hair that curled around his ears—into my mind.
 

He murmured something unintelligible, the words buzzing against my lips. Then he delved deep, claiming every inch. It was a sloppy kiss, possessive, his tongue practically fucking my mouth.

By the time he released me, my legs had transformed into rubber and my pulse spiked into an almost continuous hum. Even though it had only been a day since he’d cooked me omelets in his mountain home, it felt like a year had passed. My body wanted him. Badly.

And then I remembered. I shoved him away, panicked. “Henry’s outside!”
 

A smile tugged the corners of Corbin’s lips. “I’m aware. Or did you think I was trying to make a dramatic entrance?” He went to the window, shut it, then checked the flimsy locks. When he turned, the frown on his face warned me that he had something to say about my lack of home security. I, however, wasn’t interested in hearing it.

“Henry is hot on your trail and you’re
here
?”

“My trail is leading him to Florida, not to your bedroom.” He surveyed the room, his hands on his hips like he had all the time in the world. “Nice place, by the way. Homey.”

There wasn’t any sarcasm in his words, but he couldn’t possibly find my sagging bed and shabby furnishings the least bit appealing. My basement-level apartment had nothing to recommend it except price. And maybe an utter lack of pretension.

“Especially the bed,” Corbin continued. “What size is that? Twin?”

I snorted. “One-track mind. How are you here? I thought you left.”
And why didn’t you arrive thirty minutes earlier?

The muscles in Corbin’s face tightened, and the mood in the room turned somber. He seemed to repress a sigh, almost as if his playful manner had been a ruse that had left him exhausted. Pulling me close, he leaned down until his forehead rested against mine. His fingers caressed my cheek, my neck. “I was able to briefly come back.”

“Why?” I murmured even though I didn’t expect an answer. Not where his job was concerned.

“Several reasons, but the most important is that I want to change your mind,” he said softly. He sounded a little surprised, as if he’d only just realized it at that moment. “Don’t do this.”

The doorbell rang, and I stiffened. “It’s Henry,” I choked out.
 

“Please, Audrey. He’s dangerous. Let him go on his wild goose chase alone.”

“Dangerous? That’s hilarious coming from you.” I tried to break free, but he anchored me against his broad chest. Despite the temperature outside flirting with a winter record, Corbin wore nothing warmer than jeans and a lightweight, mottled gray T-shirt. The beating of his heart, so strong and alive, only made me that much more afraid for him.
 

My phone buzzed in my pocket.
 

“Corbin, I have to go.”
 

“You don’t.”

It was unfair. Other couples got to know each other. To be seen in public together. Corbin and I would never have anything except stolen moments. It made me wish for another crippling snowstorm to shut down the world and give us both a reason to disappear for a few days.

He cradled my face between his large hands and lifted my chin. His blue-green eyes stared into mine, hypnotizing me. This man. Rugged and handsome, he looked like he could have sauntered out of a whiskey campaign. He leaned in, the soothing scents of coffee and woodsmoke drifting around me.
 

“You don’t have to.” He said it quietly, drawing out the words like a private prayer. The hopelessness in his deep voice flooded me with a nauseating guilt. Whatever happened on this trip to Florida, I would never be able to pretend that Corbin had really wanted me to go, even if my doing so would benefit him.

 
Besides, we both knew I was too stubborn to change my mind. At least, I knew it. Maybe Corbin just thought I was crazy.

“I
want
to go.” And it was true. I did. I just hated what going would make me. “Don’t move,” I said as I extracted myself from his warm grasp.

I made the reverse trek through my little apartment and opened the front door.
 

Henry Heigh stood on the front stoop, sunlight gleaming brightly off his sandy-brown hair. “Ready for surf and sand?” His long wool trench coat made him look more like a banker than the accomplished bounty hunter he really was. Sunglasses masked his perceptive brown eyes.
 

I stared at my reflection in the dark lenses and tried to ignore the illogical and disconcerting notion that Henry somehow
knew
that Corbin was inside.

Henry raised an eyebrow and smiled, flashing perfect teeth. “Audrey?”

“Uh… almost finished.”
 

Behind Henry, a gleaming white sedan idled in the street, the color contrasting with the hills of filth-frosted snow piled along the curbs and sidewalks. The driver, a frightfully large man, bowling-ball bald, raised an enormous hand at me. After a moment, I waved my fingers at him in reply.

Henry edged closer, enough that I could smell his aftershave.
 

“I’d invite you in,” I said quickly, “but it’s a mess. I spilled juice all over my kitchen and have to wipe it up.” And now I knew what kind of liar I was: a terrible one. “Can you tell your friend I’ll just be a few minutes?”

The wattage of Henry’s smile dimmed. “Give me your suitcase.” He rolled his broad shoulders, reminding me why I’d allowed that one kiss.