Page 80 of Love Me Dangerous

I lean down to kiss her. She closes her eyes, her lips embracing mine. Her fingers tighten on my waist, and I pull her closer, bringing our bodies in contact, her curves against my frame. The warmth from her body pulses through me. It’s such a simple moment, but it unlocks something inside me, something rich and intense. I kiss her again, my mouth eager. She makes a little sound, like a sigh or a groan. Her hips tense against me, adding delicious friction exactly where I want it. I try to savor kissing her with the sun slowly sinking into the mountains and the soft breeze whisking through the tall grass. I’m lucky to be here at all, let alone be here with her.

Sofie’s lips linger on mine for another moment before she leans back and gazes up at me. “We should go, yeah?”

I smile and rub my nose past hers. “Yeah.”

We climb into the cab and I turn us around, then descend the steep track. At the Y, Dustin and Frances are loading up the table that at lunchtime was loaded with sandwiches and a cooler full of sodas.

Dustin’s paperwork is balanced on a rock, but his topographic map of the project areas has fallen into the grass. I slip from the cab to scoop it up, but I’m drawn in by the pink highlighter and check marks. I trace a contour line with my dirt-stained index finger. Seeing all the work they’ve done like this… it’s impressive.

“Thanks.” Dustin slips the map from my hands and tucks it under the other papers on the clipboard.

“You guys know where the recycling center is?” Frances asks, closing the truck’s tailgate.

“I do!” Sofie answers from the cab.

When I stepout of my little shower, my phone is ringing. Only two people have my number, so I hurry into the next room and dig the phone out of my pack. It’s Sawyer.

“Vander OD’d in a random motel room,” he says in a rush. “Died on the way to the hospital.”

“What?” Floris Van der Hoff was a notorious bully in school whobecame a low-level thug for Kristov. I suspect he’s the one who recruited our classmate Hayden Cole to work for him and is likely the reason Hayden got hooked on smack, which destroyed his baseball career and led to his death. Terrilynn tried to warn him, but instead, it only made her more of a target.

“Happened yesterday.”

“How’d you find out?”

“It was on the news. They didn’t release his name, but it wasn’t hard to piece it together.”

“Think it’s legit?”

“First Terrilynn, then Hayden, now Vander? No fucking way. I think Kristov’s cleaning up his mess.”

He’s right. Everyone in association with Terrilynn and her failed escape is now dead.

Everyone except me.

I try to suck in a breath, but it just hurts my ribs. “You locking your doors at night? Watching your back?”

“Of course.”

I run a hand through my damp hair. It’s getting long again—a reminder of how much time has passed since I landed in Finn River. “Good.”

“Maybe Vander’s death will put the cops on Kristov’s tail. They have to know those two were working together.”

“Maybe.” If only there was more I could do.

“Any more ideas on who jumped you?”

“No.”

“Well, it’s for sure not Kristov. He’s too busy murdering his underlings and running girls.”

“And if it was him, I’d be dead.” Even if it meant hurting Sofie, or worse. My stomach tenses, making me grimace.

“Could Sofie be involved?”

I swallow my frustration. My friend is just trying to keep me safe. “I can’t think why.”

“Not even to protect her brother or her dad?”

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