“You okay?” Adam lifted her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist.
“Fine.” She didn’t open her eyes. If she looked at him, he’d know she was lying.
“Eve.” The tone he used suggested he wanted to pull the truck over and spank her ass for insubordination, or disobedience, or whatever the hell liars got spanked for. She wasn’t entirely opposed to the idea, which should have served as a warning, but she was in a mood.
No idea which mood.
Her emotions were all over the map.
“What?” To say she snapped would have been an understatement.
To his credit, he didn’t sigh with impatience the way Parker would have. Instead, he brushed his thumb back and forth over her knuckles, soothing her with his gentle touch. “You can still change your mind.” The truck slowed to a roll, then stopped altogether. “Stay here with my team. They’ll make sure you’re safe while I take care of the Matthews. Then you can go wherever you want and do whatever you want.”
Jeez, he made it sound easy. Give him the green light, and he’d take all her troubles and worries and make them his own. If life were that simple, she might have accepted his offer, but she had twelve other women to consider, and they needed her to do the right thing.
She opened her eyes and shook her head. “You don’t understand.”
He let go of her hand, put the transmission in park, undid both their seat belts, and lifted her over the console and into his lap, her back to the driver’s door. “So tell me what I don’t understand.”
Temptation clawed its way through her belly, and she tamped it down. This was her fight, and she’d see it through to the end. “Can’t,” she said, peppering his jaw with kisses after it turned to granite before her eyes. “But I’ll tell you my plan if you promise not to stop me.”
He moved his chin out of reach and looked down his nose at her, his wary expression indicating he was altogether unimpressed with her mad negotiation skills. “Tell me your plan.”
“Promise not to stop me.”
“Eve.”
“Adam.”
Silence.
Extended silence.
He waited.
She waited.
At an impasse, she wiggled her ass, crossed her arms and ankles, and settled into a comfortable position. She could do this all-goddamn-day if he wanted to.
The index finger on his right hand twitched twice where it sat against her thigh. He was agitated. She was the reason. He wasn’t used to being challenged. Unfortunately, for him, the rules regarding the chain of command didn’t apply to her.
She wasn’t a soldier, she wasn’t an employee, and she wasn’t his.
Eve needed to keep the Matthews alive and getting them into custody as quickly as possible was paramount. Adam on the loose posed too big a risk. One she wasn’t willing to take. The way she saw it, this showdown would go one of two ways.
Either he trusted her and changed his mind about going after the Matthews, or he kept to his original plan, and she told the authorities he was a threat and on his way to California. She had no other options. To keep Bryan and the judge alive, she had to get them into custody one way or another.
“Fine,” Adam said, his gaze liquid mercury as it bored into her. “Tell me your plan, and I promise not to stop you.”
About to push her luck with a victory lap dance, Eve reconsidered when his hand slipped up her thigh, his fingers squeezing with enough pressure to make her self-preservation instincts kick in. Mr. Bossy Pants wasn’t happy about acquiescing to her request, but try as she might, she couldn’t keep a grin from taking over her face. “That really hurt, huh?”
“You have no idea, princess.” He tangled his hand in her hair and bringing her closer, he kissed her hard and fast. “Now spill.”
Snow crunching under the tires,Adam pulled up to the front of the lodge and cut the engine on the F-250.
“Uh, where’s my truck?” Head on a swivel, Eve swept her gaze over the empty lot, a frown pulling at the corners of her plump lips.
“In the barn out back. You’re not going to need it,” he replied as the front door flew open and Davis leaped from the porch, skipping every step on his way to the ground. Hot on his heels, Jeff scrambled his fat body down the four steps one paw at a time.
