Page 16 of Rear View
“And your friend back there?”
Said friend stuck his head between the seats and offered a salute. “Alec Hawkins.”
Zoya tore her phone from her pocket, raised it and snapped pictures of both of them. Scurrying around the front of the vehicle, she got another of the plate. She stabbed a finger Xavier’s way. “Thank you for this, but if anything happens to her, I will cut you.”
He raised his hands in surrender. I wanted to laugh, but the pain in my stomach held me back. That and my brain was too addled to think straight. Not that I was scared, because for some reason I couldn’t explain, I just…wasn’t. Regardless, if Xavier fell out of line, I had no doubt his testicles would end up on Zoya’s key ring.
“Don’t move,” he told me, “I’ll get your belt.” His ice-colored eyes held mine like he asked permission.
“Okay.” I blinked, surprised at the immediacy of my response. I didn’t know where it’d come from, but nothing in me alerted. No panic. No adrenaline spike. I was weirdly calm.
He grabbed the strap, then pulled it around me, his chest brushing mine when he clipped it at my hip. I sucked in a low breath and shivered.Why had that felt good?
“Cold?” he asked.
“I’m alright.”
The frown that pulled his brows was deep. “That true?”
A knot twisted my chest. Muscle memory told me to lie. That hewasa stranger. My bizarre reaction or not, he could be trouble. And for some reason I’d have to look deeper at when I wasn’t suffering a potential head injury, I decided to be honest.
I shook my head. “No.”
That frown settled and he shrugged out of his jacket, baring his tattoo-covered arms before he set it over me. A small moan escaped my lips when his heat soaked deep into my skin. He swallowed hard, then tapped his knuckles on the roof and headed around the car.
Zoya tucked my bag down by my feet, eyes so wide, they practically bulged when her attention glided from Xavier to me.
“Excuse me, miss.” The security guard, whose name tag read Stan, scurried closer. “I need to get your information before you leave.” He had short black hair, a goatee, soft onyx eyes, and I guessed he was in his early fifties. He looked kind enough, but a face meant nothing, and the idea of sharing anything personal with him had my throat closing over.
Zoya slid in, cutting me off from Stan. “I’ve got this.” She gave me an eager smile. “I’ll come as soon as I’m done.”
“You don’t need to,” I told her.
She rolled her eyes and pressed a peck on my cheek. “Don’t be an idiot.”
I didn’t deserve her. “Good luck on your exam.”
“Girl, please,” she taunted, then closed the door.
The Jeep dipped when Xavier climbed in, his leather seat creaking under him. He filled the vehicle, making it seem smaller for his presence. But again, I wasn’t afraid.
Considering I was hunted by a stranger—a stranger who could’ve beenanyone—shouldn’t there have been something?Weird. Notably weird.
“That car you got back there is kinda strange, Xavier.” The second the words were out, the heat of a blush burned my cheeks. What the hell was wrong with me?
Alec snickered from the back while another laugh rumbled from Xavier’s chest before he said, “We drive rally.”
I pinched my brows together.
His grin deepened when he dropped the e-brake and moved the shifter into gear, steering us away. “We race.”
“Both of you?”
“I’m his co-driver,” Alec put in.
My face twisted, because I had not one clue what that was. I adjusted my position, and a stabbing pain shot through my abdomen. I pressed my hand over it as I sucked in a sharp inhale, and the pain shifted to my ribs. Leaning forward, I curled into a fetal position.
“You good?” Xavier brushed my elbow, his voice thick. When I didn’t respond, he pushed, “Talk to me, darlin’.”
