Savor the Danger
Page 59

“Huh. So one shooter went after the other? That explains why one had a silencer, and one didn’t.”
“Yeah. And it’s anyone’s guess why they were both scoping out Alani’s house.”
“Competition maybe. Is there a bounty on my head that I don’t know about?”
“Who the hell knows? Low-life creeps seem to gravitate to one another. All I care about is disabling them, fatally if necessary.”
“That plan works for me.”
Alani stood there frozen, her mind cramping, her heart picking up speed. Hearing them talk about “fatally disabling” people made it so damn real. Not that she’d waste a moment feeling bad for anyone involved in human trafficking. She knew firsthand just how traumatic the enterprise could be.
When the men fell silent, she hurried into her room and started throwing together her most necessary items. She didn’t want to take too much because she didn’t want Jackson to think she was moving in on him.
The temporary relocation was only a necessary part of keeping both her and Jackson safe. Nothing more.
Even after the men joined her in the bedroom, she continued to think about what she’d overheard. Their assumptions nagged at her until finally she couldn’t stand it anymore.
With her suitcase packed, she found a change of clothes but paused before going into her bathroom.
Trace fixated on the box of condoms on her nightstand.
Defiantly, Jackson gathered up the box and dropped it into her suitcase.
Both men looked at her, Jackson with tempered heat, Trace with irascible discomfort.
Awwwwk-ward. Determined to get their thoughts on something less personal, Alani announced, “I listened in.”
Trace’s brows climbed up.
Jackson asked, “To what?”
“You two talking. About the shooters, I mean.”
The men shared a look. At least they seemed to have forgotten about the condoms.
“Two shooters, right? And you assume they were both out to get Jackson. Or me. Whatever.” She flapped a hand. “But I was thinking… What if one of them was trying to help?”
“Then why be lurking around in the dark in the first place?” Jackson asked.
Trace agreed.
But Alani wasn’t put off. She hugged her clothes to her chest, looked at each of them in turn, and stated the obvious. “You guys sometimes lurk in the dark, but you wouldn’t be out to hurt an innocent person. Think about that, okay?” And on that parting shot, with both of their faces registering surprise, she went into the bathroom to change.
SLUMPED IN THE PASSENGER seat beside Jackson, Alani slept on the drive to his home. That suited him, because it gave him time to think.
To come to grips with what she’d done to him.
He used to be an easygoing guy. He knew what he wanted, he went after it, he had a lot of fun.
He had a lot of sex.
He had plenty of women.
Now…he glanced her way. As always, her pale hair, falling forward to hide half her face, made him think sexual thoughts. Like how it felt in his hands, against his shoulder.
How it’d feel on his abdomen, his thighs.
She’d dressed in slim jeans and a loose casual tee. Before falling asleep, she’d kicked off her sandals.
Her hand, palm up, rested beside her sweet little tush on the seat.
She looked open, trusting. Delectable.
Even sleeping, her breathing steady and deep, she turned him on like no other woman could. He shifted, his gaze constantly scanning the horizon. They’d finally left the more congested suburban area and were on the rougher back roads leading to his property. There’d been no trouble, no sign of the ritzy silver BMW. No one following at all.
But he wouldn’t relax, not until he had her safe in his home.
In many ways, the land he’d bought was similar to Dare’s. Wooded, near a lake, private and overrun with nature. He was so secluded, he could drink his coffee outside buck naked, and no one would see him.
Again he glanced at Alani. Maybe he could talk her into that. He’d love to see her bare under the morning sun.
He enjoyed seeing her naked, period.
Actually, more than enjoyed.
He looked at her, and it was beyond lust. Beyond mere attraction. Beyond anything familiar.
Beyond anything comfortable.
In the past twenty-four hours, he’d run the gamut of emotions, from tormented and furious, to hot and possessive, to demonstrative and…needy. Shit.
Uncertainty burned over him, and he didn’t like it. He flexed his hands on the wheel and tried to concentrate on the rising sun. It broke over the land in a great crimson tide, so breathtaking that he wanted Alani to see it, too.
He reached for her hand, twined his fingers in hers. “Hey, babe.”
She shifted, wincing at what appeared to be a kink in her neck.
“C’mon, sleepyhead. Open those mesmerizing eyes for me.”
Blinking, she yawned, stretched her back and turned heavy eyes on him. “Jackson.”
She sounded and looked like a woman fresh from an orgasm. “Yeah, still me.” How he could remain so fired up, he didn’t know. He’d always had stamina and a strong sex drive, but this was getting ridiculous.
“Hi, you.”
He smiled, lifted her hand and kissed her palm before returning both hands to the wheel. “You’re a heavy sleeper.”
She rubbed at her eyes. “I guess.” She yawned again. “God, I need coffee.”
“We’ll be at my place in a few more minutes. But I wanted you to see the sunrise.”