Page 50 of Jacob

Jacob took her hand. She felt that touch throughout her body, warmth shooting through her. “Tired?”

“Yeah,” she sighed. “But not tired like after a long walk. More like tired after taking ten biochemistry exams. Wrung out and anxious.”

“Well, I wouldn’t know about that. Never took a biochemistry exam. But I do know about being wrung out and anxious and I imagine some good food and wine—or maybe a beer—are in order. Apparently, the country is known for its Pilsners. Maybe a decent meal will help.”

“And a good night’s sleep.”

Alex looked up, feeling Jacob’s stillness.

“Uh-uh.” His face was drawn, nostrils white, voice husky. “You’re not spending all night sleeping. I have plans for a chunk of the night. The way I’m feeling now, we’d be having sex for eight hours straight, but I’ll try to restrain myself. Let you getsomesleep.”

She blushed crimson red. She could feel the blood rush to her head and heat course through her body. Oh my God. What was the matter with her? She was a grown woman, pushing middle age. How could she blush at the mention of sex with Jacob?

Well. Probably because sex with Jacob was something completely new. Something she’d never had before and which should have a different name, because the sex everyone else understood was something completely different.

He was looking at her intently, heat deep in those dark, dark eyes.

She should say something sophisticated. Witty, even.

“Gah,” was the only thing that came out of her mouth.

“What are you going to have?” he asked and she blanked, completely. Was he asking her to suggest new sex positions? They hadn’t swung from the chandeliers yet, since there’d been no chandeliers in the plane. There were definitely chandeliers here. She looked up, wondering whether they’d support his weight.

“I’m going to try the baked cabbage with caviar.”

Her eyes widened. Was that code for something? Some highly complex sex position.With caviar.Maybe requiring unusually lithe limbs, something available only to few people?

He tapped the menu and reality whooshed in. The menu. Food. He was asking her what she wanted for dinner.

This was terrible. Alex had always been all business when travelling for work. Now she had had what felt like 50 IQ points surgically removed from her brain, and was going to be good for nobody if she was unable to keep her head around him.

Particularly if they were supposed to save the world.

She cleared her throat, glanced at the menu and chose the first thing she saw.

“Baked farm beetroot with roasted greens and goat cheese.”

“Sounds good. Do you want to unpack and maybe put on pajamas while I order?”

God. Jacob was doing his best to make her comfortable, to please her. She needed to stuff her brains back into her head. And dampen down her hormones.

“Yeah. Um, thanks. I think I’ll take a shower, too.” She fled as he picked up the hotel phone. She had herself more in hand by the time she came back into the living room part of the suite. The bedroom was nice, bland and comfortable. The shower was fine. She’d unpacked and put her things away. Those mundane things had helped calm her down, make her feel more at ease.

Jacob stood when she entered the room. He’d set up dinner on an occasional table, having even found a tablecloth somewhere. He seated her and seated himself and pulled the silver domes off their two plates. Everything looked good and smelled good.

She closed her eyes as she put the first forkful in her mouth. There was an explosion of fresh flavors. “Whoa. This is good stuff.”

His mouth quirked. “Yeah. Wait until you try the beer.”

Her amber beer was in a tall glass that sweated. She tried a sip and her eyes opened.

“Told you.”

“Can we have alcohol? If we’re on a mission?”

He sipped his dark ale. “Yeah. Nothing’s going to happen tonight. Nick went to look at the lab, but it’s dark and empty. And there’s a snowstorm going on. We’re better off tomorrow, when Nick has an appointment with an informant early in the morning. Plus, Nick has some more men arriving tomorrow morning. We need to plan things, not go off half-cocked.”

“Makes sense. I’m just scared Elias might be hurt, or?—”

---