Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
There was a small click as he turned on a flashlight, illuminating the space immediately around us. We stood in an unfinished basement, pipes and ducts snaked across the ceiling. In the center of the room was a staircase that led up to . . . nothing. It had to be where the oddly placed linen closet was, converted to conceal the location of this basement. I would never have known it was here.
He didn’t say a thing, didn’t even look at me. Instead, he moved to a wall with a monitor and switched it on. Black-and-white images glowed on screen and cycled through the different camera angles. The front porch, the back yard, the living room.
I took a deep breath when I saw Derrick flattened against a wall, wearing a bulletproof vest and cradling a shotgun. The cameras repeated their sequence, but I didn’t see anything to explain what had set him on high alert.
Jason produced his phone from a pocket, tapped the screen, and brought it to his ear.
“Where’s the car now?” He listened to the other side’s answer and rechecked the monitor. “No, I don’t have a view of it.”
I couldn’t take my eyes off him, backlit by the television while my heart banged out a furious tempo.
“Understood.” He ended the call and finally turned his full attention to me. “We’ve got a car that’s done two drive-bys of the house in the last twenty minutes. It’s gone now, and we’ve got someone on it. But we’re going to stay put, just in case.”
“Is it him?” I asked.
“No.”
Relief was short-lived because now I had to face the reality I was locked in the dark with Jason and neither of us had a shirt on. In fact, his jeans weren’t even zipped or buttoned. He must have been asleep and yanked them on when he’d heard Derrick’s command.
He set his gun down on top of the monitor, making the picture bounce once. The danger outside was gone, or so he’d said, but what about the danger of our situation now? My breathing hadn’t slowed from its rapid pace, making me restless.
I wore one of my skimpiest bras because Caroline hadn’t given me any other option when she’d packed for me. Good God, I might as well have been topless.
My face heated when Jason’s gaze subtly drifted down. I didn’t mind him looking, and he was a man, after all. They seemed to be incapable of not looking. But then I got cold and crossed my arms over my chest to hold in a shiver.
He did up his fly, and I stared at the muscles in his strong arms. If he got to look, then so did I.
His defined abs disappeared beneath the boxers peeking out above the waistband of his jeans. Oh, man, had I been right. He definitely looked good under his shirt.
There was a tattoo on one bicep—a military insignia I couldn’t place. Like fast food and alcohol, visible tattoos were generally not accepted in the ballet community. Taboo. It only made him hotter, more appealing.
He took a step in my direction as he holstered his gun at his hip. He walked right up to me, only to reach into a box beside my feet and pull out a bulletproof vest.
“Put this on.”
“You think the car’s coming back?” I snatched the vest from his hands and fumbled to loosen the straps.
“No, but it’s freezing down here.”
The vest didn’t add much warmth, but at least I could cover up. “What about you?”
“I’m fine.”
I didn’t believe a word of it but said nothing.
The basement was equipped with a small arsenal. It should have made me feel safe, but the large, deadly looking guns only made me more nervous. Plus, he was standing before me, one hand on his hip, looking like sin in the flesh. I could see every flex and roll of the muscles in his powerful arms.
The ground felt unsteady beneath me, and I was so disoriented by my adrenaline and lust, the words just tumbled out. “I thought you were going to kiss me last night.”
My statement literally knocked him back.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” His gaze refused to meet mine, and his voice was tight. “Nothing happened. If something had, I’d be out of a job.”
Right. Protecting me was his job. Maybe that was all last night had been, him offering comfort and trying to help me feel safe.
But what about the look he gave you in the mirror?
“I know. I’m sorry,” I said. “Last night was . . . hard for me. You’re right. Nothing happened, and I don’t want to get you in trouble.”
His expression softened. “Nothing to be sorry about.”
11
JASON
I watched Laurel stride to the wooden stairs, admiring the graceful way she moved, even when she was full of anxiety. She sat on the second step, folded her arms across her chest, and rested her forearms on her knees.