Chapter Two
Gavin
I couldn’t believe that Elijah talked me into this. Natalia Van Buren was every man’s fantasy. The supermodel was sure to draw attention wherever she went, and that attention would also put me in the spotlight. A place that was just as dangerous for me as it was for her right now.
Fuck. Who knew that Elijah’s niece was the world’s hottest supermodel? I owed the man my life, so I’d do anything he asked of me, but damn, babysitting while recouping from a gunshot wound wasn’t high on my list of things.
I figured my few months off would be spent watching sports and drinking beer, not watching over the woman I’d been secretly picturing in my dreams and jacking off to for the last couple years. My dick was already twitching just thinking about being near her in person for any amount of time.
Elijah told me to meet her by the baggage claim and to observe before I approached her, because I needed to make sure she wasn’t followed from the last leg of her journey. When she came down the escalator, I almost didn’t recognize her.
“Good girl,” I acknowledged silently. She’d changed her look and camouflaged herself the best she could. If it weren’t for those turquoise eyes, I’d never have recognized her. Her eyes were a dead giveaway of her identity.
I watched her as she hung up the phone and went to the baggage claim to get her bags. She was in jeans, boots, and a hoodie. A thick winter coat was over her arm, and her purse was hooked across her body. She was dressed to blend in, and nobody seemed to be looking at her except for me.
After giving the room a final scan and watching her take her bags as they passed, I approached her. “Hey, Nat, I’m Gavin. Did you talk to your mom yet?”
She jumped, then looked over at me, her eyes widening slightly from the startle I gave her. “Yes.”
“Good. How many bags do you have? We need to keep moving,” I said, looking away from her and scanning the surrounding crowd again.
“Just these three bags.” She motioned to the ones at her feet. One big suitcase with two smaller ones and her carry-on.
“Ok, I’ll get the big one and the carry on. Can you manage those two or do we need to get a cart?”
“I can manage.”
“Good, come on. We are too exposed here.” I grabbed the carry on and hooked it over my good shoulder and took the bigger suitcase from her.
I stayed by her side and led her toward the nearest exit. The smell of strawberries tickled my nose as I leaned toward her to cut through the crowd. Being here was dangerous, not only for her, but for me. People were looking for me, dangerous people that would like nothing more than to have me buried six feet under.
“How did you get roped into picking me up?” she asked when we stopped near the door long enough for her to put on her heavier jacket.
“I owe Elijah one, and I’m off on medical leave.”
Her eyes looked over me like she didn’t think I was hurt, and I wanted to keep it that way. My arm was screaming at me since I took it out of the sling, and I was being careful not to use it too much, but I wanted to appear like I was one hundred percent healed and capable to anyone that may be watching.
“I’m ready,” she said, picking the two bags back up. When we went outside, she sucked in a sharp breath as the frigid air swirled around us. Snow covered the ground. But we would be getting more in the days to come.
“Crap.” She gasped and pulled her arms tighter to her body. “I forgot how this feels.”
“LA will do that to you.” I led her to the tram that would take us right up to my truck. The faster we got on the road, the better and safer I’d feel.
We got to the truck quickly. I used my key fob to start it before we got close and to get the heater going. I didn’t see anyone paying attention to us, and as soon as we got to the truck and her stuff loaded, I started to relax a bit.
“So, what all did your mom tell you?” I asked as I backed out of the parking spot.
“Nothing. She said she was waiting for me at the rental, and that you would be taking me there.”
“Okay,” I confirmed, but it wasn’t the full truth. Yes, we were going to the rental, and yes, her parents were there, but she made it sound like I was leaving her there and that’s where she was wrong.
The rental was a small two-story house in a quiet neighborhood in Fort McMurray. We had a two-hour drive ahead of us, and I didn’t want to be sitting next to a pissed off woman for those two hours, so I didn’t fill her in on the rest of the plan.