Page 52 of Second Chance for Mr. Alden

I gave a reluctant nod.

“Gage said that the security guards already filed a police report about Jess’s attempted kidnapping. He’s going to call his contacts in the police department and let them know you’ll reach out to them with a statement soon.”

Thank God, Gage was on top of that. Last night, it was the farthest thing from my mind to call in the incident. My main objective had been to keep Jess safe.

“There’s another phone in the bag, the address of where you’ll be staying, and cash. I grabbed you both a coffee and a few breakfast sandwiches for the road. Left them in the car.”

I let out a breath. “Thanks, man. I owe you.”

“Remember that if I ever need to call in a favor.” He smirked.

“I will.” And I would. I didn’t take favors for granted in this business. Without them, we might not survive.

After Jess and I changed, we went outside to see our new ride. The dull gray paint barely reflected the sun overhead, and scratches of red on the side of the nearest door suggested it might have been in an accident at some point.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Jess’s head dropped back, and she stared at the sky for a minute. She trudged to our new vehicle with a resigned sigh and tossed a look of longing back at the garage where Dahlia was still hidden.

She gave the car a once over and straightened her shoulders. Giving the roof a pat, she said loudly, as if giving the car a pep talk, “Okay, El Dorado, I’m going to give it to you straight. You have a tough act to follow. D is my first love. You better not give us any shit on the way up to Rhode Island, or we’re going to have problems.”

My chuckle was cut short by her glare.

She opened the passenger door and climbed inside, still mumbling. I was fairly certain she was instructing the car on acceptable behavior.

“It’s not as pretty as your last ride, but it’s in good shape, Jess. No one will look twice at you in this thing,” Sam said, leaning against the trunk, his arms crossed over his chest.

“You sure about that?” I raised a brow. Jess could turn heads in a messy bun and sweats.

“No one looking for Jessamine Sulton will look twice at this car.”

“That we can both agree on. Thanks again, Sam.” I hopped in, adjusted the seat, and looked at Jess. “You ready to hit the road?”

“Yup.” She lifted a coffee from the cupholder and gave a little sigh after her first sip. “I needed this caffeine so bad.”

“Same.” I took a sip from the other cup.

Jess pulled two sandwiches out of the white paper bag. “Want yours now?”

I waved to Sam as I backed out and moved onto the main road. I had a general idea of where I was going and had always had a good sense of direction. “No, I’m good.”

She shrugged. “Suit yourself. Don’t complain if I eat them both. I’m starving.”

“You know I could just leave you on the side of the road for pulling a stunt like that,” I teased.

Her eyes widened in challenge, and a smile she couldn’t hide lit up her face. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Try me.” I shot her a playful scowl.

God, I missed this back-and-forth with her.

“You know what I think about dares, Alden.” A mischievous glint entered her eyes.

Oh, I knew. She’d never met a dare she didn’t like. Jess had only picked at her food last night, and I wanted to make sure she had enough to eat today. She didn’t need to know I had an ulterior motive for daring her to eat all the egg and cheese sandwiches in that bag.

After she’d stuffed herself, she flipped on the radio, and we sang along to whatever song came on. It was nice to forget for a little while why we were on the run. Every second on the road reminded me how easy it was for us to fall back into our old patterns.

How easy it was to just be together.

Soon Jess’s voice faded, and her soft snores filled the car. A smile stretched across my face as I glanced at her. Her nose twitched as a lock of hair tumbled down and across her face. Tenderly, I brushed it back and tucked it behind her ear.

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