She scrunched her nose and dared him to question her. “If anyone threatens you or hurts you, I’ll kick their ass. But maybe you should give me some pointers on what to do, in case they get past you.”
“That’s actually a really good idea.” His brow drew low, seriousness dragging him under, rain streaming down his face, his clothes sticking to him as if he’d jumped in the ocean and strolled back out.
“Tomorrow,” she said, tracing the tip of her tongue over the tips of her teeth, hoping she looked sultry.
He laughed and pushed water from his hair.
Okay, so sultry wasn’t her thing.
“There is so much we need to talk about, but let’s get out of the rain first.”
She slipped her hand into his and took off toward the hotel.
At the stairs, she dropped his hand and barreled up the steps. Feet moving fast, they raced for the room, his laugh a brilliant light against a dark night.
Key ready, remembering the quirk to getting the sensor to connect correctly, she quickly disengaged the lock and swung the door open.
On the move, she dashed in and started to run for the bed.
Cole grabbed her hand and dragged her back, mouth on hers in an instant. Deep, hard, he kissed her in the doorway.
He kicked the door closed behind him and shrugged out of his jacket, his mouth never leaving hers.
16
You can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs
Nonewsmightbeconsidered good news in some circles, but Cole didn’t care to wait around to find out. First thing the next morning, Trace drove while he made call after call, every damn contact, hoping for a glimmer of something.
Nothing. Guillaume had gone to ground, so they couldn’t bring him in for questioning. Cole knew, from experience, that their entire operation was adept at maintaining secrecy. Hence the most intense job of his career.
They’d gotten an early start and pulled into Foothills by nine. Trace could have been freaking out, maybe should have been, but she was steady. Both hands on the wheel, eyes scanning the road, the rearview, listening to every word of his conversations, she breathed easy and appeared relaxed, or would to anyone that didn’t know her better. Calm, but she was on full alert.
“Nothing, huh?” Trace asked as she turned into their neighborhood. “He just disappeared?”
“That’s what they say.”
Cole scanned the house as they neared. Everything looked fine from the outside, except for the SUVs in the driveway. Instead of obvious, black shiny and matching bodyguard black vehicles, there were three different makes, models, and years of vehicles parked as if they were just family in town for a visit. “Cavalry’s here.”
Trace pulled into the driveway, at the last-minute cranking the wheel and backing in.
Cole twitched a grin when he looked over at her, loving the hell out of seeing her in full focus, a natural. She’d have been a badass in the field. No, he wouldn’t have guessed it, knowing her as the sweetheart with a wicked sense of humor and no interest in hurting anyone, but watching her instantly shift gears, she could absolutely kick ass.
The moment she shut off the engine, Cole hopped out and was greeted by an unfamiliar. No uniform for this type of guard duty, the woman was dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and hiking boots, having done her homework to dress for the job.
“Cole?” she asked, extending a hand as he neared. “I’m Janessa Novak. I’m in charge of security for you and your family.”
Still holding her hand through the greeting, he didn’t release her. “Apologies if I’m not very trusting of strangers. Convince me.”
Janessa relaxed into a genuine smile and landed a knowing look. “The boss told me to tell you that he knows you aimed wide at the captain.”
“Oh, ouch,” he said, wincing as he remembered how well that argument had gone down. His boss had seen right through him, but he never should have assigned him a fucked-up job like that to begin with. “Yeah, that’ll work.”
“He thought it might.” Janessa glanced at Trace as she came around the front of the car. “This must be Trace Perry?”
Trace came around and introduced herself to Janessa, exuding warmth and confidence with a steady handshake and genuine smile. “How are my parents?”
Janessa looked back and forth, and Cole winced at the disgusting assumption. “Trace is the daughter of my foster parents,” he mumbled, quickly adding, “we met in high school.”
