“Ava.” He pulled her upper body across the console and she rested her head against his chest as he stroked her hair back from her moist face.
“I never expected you to come to my aid like that. The pen was for your own protection. You shouldn’t have put yourself in danger. Snyder would’ve been only too happy to shoot you dead if he’d seen you before you pulled that ninja move.”
“I know, but I had to take the chance. You’ve taken so many chances for me.”
He kissed the top of her head. “I appreciate it more than I can express. I’m just sorry it came to that. I never wanted to put you in a position like that.”
She wiped her nose on his shirt. “Desperate times, desperate measures. Speaking of desperate, I need to check on Cody. He left the restaurant ahead of us. What if Snyder harmed him?”
“Call him.”
She placed the call, holding the phone against her ear. “Yeah, yeah, I don’t expect you to have anything yet. I’m just calling to see if you’re okay.”
She paused and nodded to Max. “Just checking. Everything’s fine and we still need that lab and the chemicals.”
She ended the call and dropped her phone in the cup holder. “He’s okay. I didn’t want to tell him what happened. He doesn’t need to know any more than he already does.”
“Do you think he’ll suspect anything when he finds out a man died of a heart attack in the bus station bathroom minutes after we met for breakfast?”
“Cody pays very little attention to anything that doesn’t involve Cody.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” He threaded his fingers through hers.
“I’m fine. I’ll be fine.”
“Let’s get back to the hotel, monitor the news and relax.” He started the engine and pulled back into the stream of traffic.
“Maybe we can schedule those massages at the same time.” Grabbing the back of her neck, she tilted her head from side to side as if to get the process started.
“I mentioned the massage for you, not me.”
She jerked her head toward him. “Why not? You’re the one Snyder was holding at gunpoint. You need it more than I do.”
“I can’t.” He hunched his shoulders. “I don’t really like massages.”
Was there any good way to tell Ava that he didn’t like to be touched? Except by her.
“I understand.” She placed her hand on his thigh and he didn’t even flinch under the gentle pressure.
He didn’t need to explain. She got it. She got him.
He pulled in front of the hotel and left the car for the valet. As they walked into the lobby, he whispered in her ear. “I’m taking it as a good sign that there are no police here to greet us.”
“Nobody saw what went down. That bus stop was deserted. I think it’s mainly used during ski season as a shuttle stop and at lunchtime.”
They got into the elevator with another couple, and Ava stopped talking. As soon as the couple got off, she turned to him as if she’d never stopped. “There weren’t any cameras there either. What are the police going to find when they check his ID?”
“A man who has a convenient next of kin only too happy to take care of all the details.”
When the elevator reached their floor, she straddled the doors holding them open. “Do you have convenient next of kin?”
“Absolutely.”
“What about Simon Skinner? He had a fiancée—Nina. He talked about her all the time.”
He corrected her. “He had a fiancée. They’d split up. She left him.”
“So, Tempest won’t even notify her?”
“No, but I wanted to notify her. It doesn’t seem right. She’ll never know what happened to Simon.”
“It doesn’t, but don’t you think Tempest is going to be monitoring her now? They might suspect that you’ll contact her.”
He unlocked the door to their suite and pushed it open. “You’re probably right.”
“Like I said before, you need to worry about yourself right now. Look at Snyder. You were all ready to rush off to warn him and he was on his way to capture or kill you.” She swayed on her feet and he caught her around the waist.