Too Much to Lose (9 page)

I whirl and shove my hands in
my jeans in a bid to hide my erection. “Nothing. Just burnt my mouth on the
coffee.”

Her hair is piled on her head
in some messy bun thing, revealing the arch of her neck. My scalded, dry mouth
is tingling at the idea of tasting it. Those leather trousers hug her rear
again. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear she dresses to tease me but let’s face
it, she could probably wear a sack and I’d still find her hot.

“Sorry, I was never very good
at making coffee.” She tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“You want to go for breakfast?”
I spill out. I
had
meant to work up to it. I’m so off my game, it’s not
even funny.

“Oh, um…”

“As a thank you, for… you know—”
I motion to my bloodied T-shirt and grin “—saving your life.”

Even under the make-up, I see a
blush pervade her cheeks. “I really am grateful…”

Jess twists her fingers
together and I spy a battle raging in her eyes. Part of me wants to scream at
her to run. Send me away. Then I’ll have no choice. I won’t be able to complete
the job. But why does she deserve to get away with stealing?

“Sure, okay. Let’s go for
breakfast.”

“Great.” A huge lump of guilt
jams in my throat.

She grabs her coat off the
couch and goes to shrug into it. I snatch her wrist and frown. “How did you get
these?” Bruises are scattered all along her forearm, marring her skin.

She blinks and glances at the
purple marks. “Oh, it must have been when you… you know, pushed me.”

I drop her arm. “Shit.”

“It’s okay. You saved me,
remember?”

“I didn’t realize you’d been
hurt. You should have said.”

“It’s only bruises. I didn’t
really think about it. I was more concerned for you.”

I skim a finger along her arm,
bitter regret burning in my stomach. “You’re really something, princess.”

Jess laughs. “Why? Because I
didn’t complain about a little bump?”

I shake my head. “That’s no
little bump.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m not
that easily hurt.”

“Somehow I doubt that.” I’m
beginning to doubt there’s a dishonest bone in her body. Which is dangerous
territory. Why would my client waste money sending me after her if she didn’t
take the money? She’s clouding my judgment somehow, emitting some weird
brainwashing signals.

“Are we grabbing some food or
not? Any later and we’ll miss any chance for breakfast.” She says this with a
smile but there’s wariness in her eyes. I need to play this more carefully or
she’ll clam up completely and I’ll never find out anything.

I grab my leather jacket while
she stuffs some money and her keys into hers. “Damn.” I pluck at my T-shirt and
she laughs.

“You do look a little dodgy all
covered in blood.”

“I’m not exactly covered… but
it does look bad. Do you mind if we stop at my place so I can grab a change of
clothes?”

“Your place?”

“Yeah.” I’m not sure I intended
for this to happen either. It’s one step too close to her seeing everything. If
she realizes I’m investigating her, I’m screwed. But I’ve got to use this chance
to dig deeper. “Unless you’ve got something…”

“Definitely not.”

“I’m only about fifteen minutes
from here.” She puts the tip of a finger to her mouth and nibbles the end. I
have never wanted to be a finger so badly. “You don’t have any plans today do you?”
I press, knowing she doesn’t. I’ve followed her long enough to know she does
very little on Sundays.

“No.” Jess releases an audible
sigh. “Come on then.”

“It’s not that much of a
hardship spending time with me, is it?”

A reluctant smile twitches on her
lips. “No, of course not.”

“Good, cause I plan on spending
a lot of time with you from now on.”

Jess

We pull up outside a Victorian
terraced house, all red brick and tall windows. It takes me a moment to realize
we’ve reached Hunter’s house. The place he’s on the verge of losing. Funny, I
didn’t picture him living in a normal house. I clearly know nothing about him.

He turns off the engine. “Here
we are. You can wait in the car if you want.”

Curiosity has me shaking my
head and he shrugs. We climb out, push through the small wooden gate and I
stare at the bevelled windows as he unlocks the door. I still can’t figure out
how I ended up here. There’s definitely this burning need to find out more
about him driving me, but I’ve never given into inquisitiveness before. Why
now? Why with Hunter?

He flicks a grin in my
direction and motions me in. My stomach flips. Probably because he’s so sexy.
What am I doing? Why have I put myself in this situation? I’ve already shown I
have no sense when it comes to Hunter. I should never have let him kiss me or
even remotely encouraged him.

“Wait in here.” He motions to
the door on the right. “I’ll just grab a change of clothes.”

I blink as I step into the
living room. The dated furniture and dog ornaments are not what I was
expecting. My surprise must show as Hunter laughs.

“Not exactly a man cave,
right?”

“Well, I—” God, I’ve probably
insulted him but I never expected a guy with scruff and a leather jacket to own
miniature cottages.

“It was my mam’s house.”

“Ah.”

“Haven’t got around to
redecorating.”

I shove my hands in my coat
pockets and gaze around. “Is she—”

“Dead?”

“Well, I wasn’t going to—”

“Cancer. Three years ago.”
Sorrow flits across his face before being carefully buried under a wry grin.

“I’m sorry.”

He lifts a shoulder. “It was a
blessing in the end that she went. She was pretty sick.”

Several photos sit on the
mantelpiece. I take the time to study them, unsure what I should do now. I’ve
spent so long avoiding people, I think I’ve forgotten how to interact with
them. I guess it makes sense that I’ve fallen under Hunter’s spell. He’s the
first man to show me any attention that is more than just perving on me or
wanting to feel me up. My lips curl upwards as I spot a photo of what must be
Hunter and his mother. He still looks like a bad boy even though he couldn’t
have been more than fifteen. I bet he broke hearts at that age.

“She’s beautiful.”

“She was.”

I want to cry. He sounds like a
little lost boy all of a sudden and not like the confident man I think I know.

“I’ll be two seconds.”

I don’t turn around. I’m a bit
scared as to what might happen if I look at him. Maybe I will cry or he’ll
finally figure out who I am beneath my disguise. He could, I suspect, if he
looked hard enough. Part of me longs for that. I’m so tired of lying and
hiding. But that part of me secretly hopes whoever finds out will also accept
me and that won’t happen.

Footsteps sound upstairs and I
hear a floorboard creak. To distract myself from the thought that he’s
stripping off at this very moment, I eye all the miniature dogs and trinkets.
Hunter’s mum died a while ago. Why didn’t he get rid of this stuff? There
really is more to the man than meets the eye.

I sense him behind me before I
hear him—a pricking sensation on the back of my neck. I don’t turn, my breath
stays trapped in my chest. I’m frightened of seeing him. Frightened of what he
does to me. Everything has me feeling so vulnerable.

Continuing my study of the
house, another photo catches my attention. This time Hunter is probably twenty
and sitting on a massive black motorbike. “You ride?”

“Yeah.”

I move along to the final photo.
Hunter is even younger and there’s a man in it. They’re sitting on the beach,
eating ice creams, just the three of them. My heart pangs. That was how things
were with my parents before they were killed in the car crash. I only have
fuzzy memories but I remember happiness and laughter.

“That your dad?” I ask to
distract myself from the ache in my throat.

“Yeah. He might be dead too.”

I turn to face him.

“He left years ago. Haven’t
seen him since we moved from Ireland.”

Why can’t I keep my mouth shut?
I don’t know why but I hunger to find out more about Hunter. “I’m so sorry, I
didn’t mean to—my parents are dead too,” I spill out as if that will somehow
comfort him.

“You want to see it?”

I snap my head up. “What?”

“The bike.”

Relieved he’s given us a way
out of this awkwardness, I nod eagerly. “Definitely.”

He leads me through the kitchen
and out the back of the house to the garage. “Do you ride?” he asks as he opens
the garage to reveal a gleaming black Harley.

“Wow.” I shake my head. “No,
but I had a few, uh, boyfriends who did.”

There’s a slight smile on his
face and I see how much he loves the bike. Stepping into the garage, I skim my
hand over the leather seat. The bike looks a little old but well cared for.

“Used to be my dad’s. A Harley
Sportser. Mam had it shipped over from Ireland. Not sure why. Guess she wanted
to keep something of him with her.”

“It’s beautiful.” I come around
to stand behind the black motorbike and when I look up, he holds me prisoner
with his gaze, something he seems to do a lot.

The proud smile is gone and in
the dim light of the garage, his expression could almost be considered
menacing. A furrowed brow and penetrating eyes suck the breath from me. He
flicks his gaze from me to the bike and back again.

“Hunter…” I start, fumbling for
a way to break the intensity.

“You want to go for a ride?”

“What?”

“A ride?”

“Well, I…”

“We’ll grab some breakfast on
the way. You’ll be safe with me, I promise.”

The man doesn’t give up easily
that’s for sure. And while I trust him with my life, I’m not sure I trust him
with my heart. My ex, Pete, taught me the hard way that even those you love
don’t always accept you for who you are. After losing my job, my home and my
friends, I can’t go through that again. And this time there is more at stake. I
have a proper job and an apartment instead of drifting from hostel to hostel.
Christ, I even spent time on the streets when I had to outrun my past. I just
can’t do it again.

Hunter edges closer, breaking
my thoughts. I gaze up at him and see only sincerity. His eyes spellbind me,
the blue of them dark in the shadows and the green bit almost black. How can I
say no to this man?

“Sure, why not?”

“Wait here.” He turns sharply
and stalks across the garage.

God, the man is so
unpredictable. It’s hard to tell what he’s going to do next. I’ve never met a
man so complex or confusing. Or fascinating. He lives in a house that is
trapped in a time warp, he clearly cared deeply for his mother, he reveals
little about himself but tells me how attracted he is to me without any
preamble. Brash honesty combined with an air of mystery. I long to figure him
out.

I run a hand over the leather
seat again and imagine him riding it. I won’t have to picture him soon enough
but I know this is him. Where he belongs. Maybe I’ll be one step closer to understanding
him after this. I imagine being on a bike is about control for him. His take
charge attitude appeals to me, I have to admit. There’s only so much
independence a girl needs. Sometimes it would be nice to rely on someone else
to make the decisions.

Hunter returns to my side and I
shudder as a thrill makes itself known.

“You cold?”

“No, I’m fine.”

He eyes me and thrusts a
leather jacket and helmet at me. “You’ll need these. The jacket might be a bit
big.” He glances down. “At least your trousers will do.”

I finally take notice of what
he’s wearing. Leather, a black T-shirt and more leather. Seriously? My knees threaten
to give way completely. Then he helps me peel off my thin jacket and shrug into
the leather one. It feels soft and well worn. His fingers skim my shoulder and
I tighten my muscles so I don’t shudder again. The tangy scent of leather and
Hunter encompasses me and my mouth dries. I stand, frozen while he does the
jacket up as if I’m a helpless child. He takes the helmet from my limp fingers,
swipes a finger over my nose and places the helmet on.

“What do you want to eat?”

I lift a shoulder.
You.
Shit, where did that come from? “I don’t mind.”

“We’ll pick something up and
find somewhere nice to sit and eat.”

“Sounds good.”

My stomach twists, not from
hunger, but from anxiety and excitement. Is this a date? It feels like it. I
try to remind myself I have no interest in dating but apparently my limbs don’t
get the message as they follow Hunter while he wheels the bike out and motions
for me to climb up behind him. I snap shut the visor of the helmet, fill my
lungs with a deep breath and get on. The engine thrums between my legs, the
smell of oil and leather surrounds me.