Page 20 of Nicole's Shelter

Of course they had to hope. They weren’t out of the proverbial woods yet. She should know that. She would know that if she could think straight. Fear, desire, and unrelenting tension were a volatile mix in her bloodstream. She struggled to get a good deep breath and find her balance. “What do you want me to do?”

He glanced over. “Just sit there and be gorgeous.”

She nearly swore.

He pulled into the shortest exit line and shifted, trying to get his wallet and keep his seatbelt on. “I’ve got it.” She pulled her purse onto her lap and dug around for her wallet while he handed over the ticket. The price appeared on the display and she handed him cash.

“Not very long term,” the clerk in the booth said.

“Our plans changed. My uncle Oscar had a stroke.”

“Sorry to hear that.”

Nicole prayed the gate would lift faster as Rick dropped the change into the cup holder.

They were through. Hope gave her emotions a boost, but she was afraid of the next, inevitable drop. “What now?”

“Now we find a place to catch our breath.”

Rick reached for her hand, but she turned on the radio instead. She didn’t want more fake touches right now, no matter how reassuring. If the immediate danger was gone, she wanted to enjoy some logical, coherent thinking.

“Maybe they’ll give an update on the search for me.”

After a curious glance, he put his hand on the steering wheel. “Good thinking.”

That’s what she was aiming for. “Did you have something in mind for tonight?”

“Do you?” He wiggled his brows.

If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was flirting. “Seriously.”

“Seriously. When you left the fire, what was your plan? You led them to the airport, what did you want them to think?”

“That I’d been kidnapped. At least in the short term. That’s why I went in to buy a ticket, knowing they’d eventually see that footage too and ask more questions.”

She could feel him mulling that over. They’d just met, she barely knew him, and still she knew he was fitting pieces together, looking for a way to use that to their advantage.

“Is there a particular agency you wanted to believe that scenario? Or a particular perp you hoped they would question?”

She couldn’t stop the smile, but she kept her gaze on the road ahead. “Your interrogation technique is friendly, I’ll give you that.”

“Give me something more, Nicole.”

The heat underscoring that reply rippled over her skin. He drew her as unerringly as a moth to flame and she stared at him, soaking up his strong profile.

“More?”

He sighed, clearly exasperated. “More. Give me information, background, trust. Hell, give me anything. If it were just me, I’d drive all night and put as much distance as possible between me and the local news.”

“But you have something to do in the morning.”

“Yeah. And you have me so twisted up I’m thinking of skipping it.”

She twisted him up? That shouldn’t delight her as much as it did.

“I can’t skip it. Won’t. But that means staying in town. A move that’s obviously risky for you.”

“You too, now that you’re with me.”

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