His intense gaze shot her way. In the dim light from the dash, she saw worry, anxiety and a whole lot of pissed off. “What the hell are you wrapped up in? You’d better spill the damn truth right now or I swear—”
Her eyes flew wide. “Me? You think I did this?”
“They were looking for you. They called yer damn name back there!”
Anger replaced the fear and guilt. “I’ve never seen those men in my life. I don’t have a clue what they want with me! And who the hell are you to say I’m wrapped up in anything ? You’ve been with me all week. Do I look like someone who would have anything to do with a group of terrorists?”
His mouth slammed shut. He glanced from her to the road and back again. She could practically see the wheels turning in his head, replaying everything that had happened. While she was pissed he’d immediately suspected her, part of her couldn’t blame him. His partner was either injured or dead, and everything did seem to be pointing her way.
She closed her eyes, the guilt rushing back in over everyone who’d been hurt or killed tonight because of her. “I don’t know what they want with me,” she said softer. “I don’t . . .”
Words caught in her throat.
Her eyes flicked open. “I am being honest, Tierney. I’m as clueless as you are right now and this whole thing is pissing me off.”
“That makes two of us,” he mumbled.
He made another turn, and his gaze shot to her again. In the dim light she saw his dark eyes had softened considerably. “I’m going to keep you safe. Whatever’s happening . . . I’ll get you out of it. You trust me, don’t you?”
Lauren swallowed hard, felt a wave of emotion she couldn’t define sweep over her. Finn Tierney was a man who made things happen. Regardless of what had or hadn’t gone on between them, she knew he meant every word he said. The key was getting her to believe them as well.
In the darkness of a night that had turned into a nightmare, she couldn’t bring herself to answer. The best she could do was nod.
CHAPTER 4
They ditched the Jeep in an empty lot miles from where they’d started. When Lauren threw another fit about the stolen car, Finn dug around in the glove box until he found some kind of registration, jotted down the name and address of the unsuspecting owners and promised they’d make it worth their loss when this was over. That seemed to appease Lauren for a few minutes, until he told her they needed to hoof it a mile or so till they could find another means of transportation.
Standing beside the rusted Jeep, Lauren’s eyes blazed as hot as the ruby-red pendant dangling from a chain around her neck. A pendant he didn’t remember seeing before. “I’m not wearing any shoes, in case you didn’t notice.”
He glanced at her bare feet, surrounded by rocks and dirt. “What did you do with yer damn shoes?”
He was pretty sure she’d had them on when they’d been in that stairwell. Vaguely remembered the sound of her heels clicking against the concrete floor. Then had a visual flash of her in that stairwell wearing those fuck-me heels on her slim little feet and her bare thigh wrapped around his hip.
A rush of heat slammed into him out of nowhere, lighting up his groin and pissing him off all at the same time.
“I threw them at that idiot on the roof when he came after you with that gun.”
His mind raced back to the scene. He’d heard her scream his name when all hell had broken loose, had wanted to smack her for coming back up the ladder when he’d told her to go down. He realized now she’d pretty much saved his skin. A little of his anger eased. “Did you really think throwing yer shoe was going to do any good?”
“It gave you the chance you needed, didn’t it?”
“Maybe.” He couldn’t stop wondering when she was going to freak out and lose it over the way he’d killed those two men. “But I’d have been just fine without yer help. And at least then you’d still have shoes.”
“You son of a bitch. That’s the thanks I get for saving your life?”
Pissed, he told himself, was better than a melted puddle. Safer still than turned on like she’d been in that hallway. He was still awed by the way she’d rallied when he’d turned on her in the car. He’d had terrorists crack under the weight of his stare more easily than Lauren had under his interrogation. The woman was tougher than he’d given heit over thedit for being. But she was still a woman, and they were all the same.
His gaze swept her moonlit body. Her cheeks were flushed, her hair a wild tangle, her eyes as intense as he’d ever seen. Right now she looked sexier than any photo, hotter than she had in that skimpy bikini on the beach. And staring at her in the middle of the vacant lot, he realized, hell, yeah, he wanted to thank her. Thank her with his mouth and hands
and body and finish what they’d started in that damn stairwell.
He took a deep breath, glanced around the empty lot, tried to shove the memory of her riding his hand to a blistering climax out of his mind for good. “We need to get going.”
“I can’t walk without—”
He swooped her up in his arms. She pressed a hand against his chest, glared at him again, but didn’t fight his hold. He ignored the feel of her silky skin against his arms, the heat from her body infusing his own. But when her lips turned down in a sexy little pout, it was all he could do not to kiss it from her face.
“Do you even know how much those shoes cost?” she asked. “They were my favorite pair.”