Page 50 of Hunted

“I know you have a car in the garage,” he told her. “I saw it out there the first night. But even if White’s thugs didn’t do something to disable it before they broke in that first time, we couldn’t drive through all this snow.”

She smiled mysteriously. “We don’t have to walk.”

“What are we gonna do, Lexi? I still haven’t sprouted wings, and I don’t see any sled dogs nearby.”

“Sled. No dogs.” She laughed and Romano went silent, just listening. He loved to hear her laugh. Her voice was like smoke when she spoke, but it became a drugging smoke when she laughed. Entrancing. Mesmerizing. The fragrant smoke of enchanted incense. Her eyes added to the magic by lighting when she smiled. He liked that. And he liked the way the dimple in her left cheek seemed to wink at him, and …

I’m not ready for this.

Right.

She lowered her head, and a dark wavy lock fell across her cheek. He tucked it behind her ear. The feat was accomplished before he remembered to tell himself not to do that. She looked up again, still smiling.

“There’s a snowmobile in the shed. And we have gasoline stored out there, too. We won’t need to walk into town.”

“Oh.” It was all he could think of to say.

“So can I go with you?”

He was nodding before he could stop himself. And the next thing he knew, Lexi was in the hall closet, pulling out heavy coats and boots and mittens and a couple of plaid woolen scarfs. “Helmets are in the shed, with the machine,” she told him.

Romano nodded. He had a small bag of his own packed and waiting near the door. Things he’d need if it turned out the lawyer hadn’t returned yet. Some of it from the duffel, other stuff scavenged from around the house. He ought to be thinking about how he would handle that eventuality, because there was no question Lexi would argue.

She’d changed. Right before his eyes, in just a couple of days, she’d changed. There was something … that core of strength he’d sensed in her from the start, maybe. It wasn’t so deeply buried anymore. She didn’t have to fight so hard to find it now.

Apparently brushes with death agreed with the lady.

He realized he was standing still, staring at her, with what had to be a silly smile on his face.

It was no wonder she’d stayed up here, Lexi thought, as she watched the last traces of the red-orange sun blazing from the horizon under a cloudless, multihued sky. It would be dark soon. The snowmobile sped over the snow, zipping easily under pines with limbs drooping from the weight of the snow. It was beautiful here. Before, she’d seen it as a refuge. A place where she could hide from life and its frequent disappointments. Tonight, she was beginning to see the truly breathtaking beauty around her.

Maybe because of the company.

She tightened her arms around Connor’s waist, figuring she might as well take advantage of the current excuse to hold him. He was tense and tightly strung. More now than he had been before they’d made love. She hoped that was because he couldn’t deal with his feelings, and not because he didn’t have any. She had no idea how to act toward him now.

He seemed to want to pretend last night had never happened. She couldn’t forget it even if she tried. She was in love with Connor Romano. And she was afraid of that. Because it would be just like her to love another man who couldn’t love in return. First her father. Now Connor. What was the matter with her?

He maneuvered the snowmobile through the forest, and then over the fire trail, then veered off it before they got anywhere near the camper, and cut through the forest down to the road that led into Pine Lake. As he drove, fine white powder rose in an arch behind them, and ice-cold air chilled her right through the heavy gear she wore. At least her face was protected behind the helmet’s visor.

In the distance, a huge white circle stood out amid the snowy trees. The lake for which the town was named, almost completely frozen. Then the tiny village loomed into view ahead. When they came to Jim McManus’s house, there still wasn’t a sign of anyone there.

Lexi’s heart fell when Connor pulled in anyway, driving the snowmobile around to the back before killing the engine. He tugged off his helmet. Lexi dismounted the machine and removed her own.

“I don’t think they’re back yet.”

“I think you’re right,” he said. He swung a leg over the machine and got off, then lifted the seat and pulled a little canvas bag from underneath. “As usual.”

He started for the house and Lexi hurried to keep up. “What are you going to do?”

“Something you’re not gonna like.” He stopped at the back entrance, opened the storm door and tried the next one. “Locked.” Opening the bag he’d brought along, he pulled two pointy things out and inserted them into the keyhole.

“Connor!” Her whisper was loud and insistent. “You can’t just break in.”

He glanced over his shoulder at her, eyebrows dancing up and down. “I just did.” He opened the door and stepped inside without a sign of remorse. His form was swallowed by the darkness. There was a soft click, and then the glow of his flashlight. “Come on, Lexi. We don’t have all night.”

She hesitated in the doorway, gnawing her lower lip. A “snap” broke the silence of the night like a gunshot, and she spun around. Squinting, she scanned the back yard from one side to the other. The rising moon’s light made everything clear, right up to the tree line. She couldn’t see a thing beyond those first few trees. Standing motionless, she listened, waited. Goose bumps rose on her flesh when she saw something move. Her breath whooshed out of her when she realized it was a pine bough swaying in the wind. But what was that noise?

“Probably just an animal. A deer or something,” she assured herself, remembering the deer she and Connor had seen before. And their snowball fight. And she felt warm and safe again.

---