been taken over by aliens.
Or maybe that was her, because suddenly she was leaning into him, her gaze glued to his lips, the lips she wanted back on hers.
Crazy.
They were in the Sierras, on the run from some big bad-asses who wanted her dead.
And she wanted another kiss.
His head was bent. He was trying to see her, and meanwhile his fingers-
She actually closed her eyes to better absorb the sensation, which if she could think, would mortify her. It’d been too long, much too long, since she’d been touched in any pleasant way.
And the truth was, she wanted his arms around her, wanted his mouth back on hers, and wanted him to never let go while he was at it.
Insane.
He lifted his head and in the dark met her gaze. “You okay?”
“Yes.”
He was quiet a moment. “How do I believe anything you say?”
Not knowing how to respond to that, to the absolute truth, she just swallowed and looked at him.
He shifted closer, a small movement that upped her pulse rate. “A beautiful liar,” he murmured, a mere breath away and getting closer with each passing heartbeat, which, granted, came fast enough to warrant a heart attack warning.
He was looking at her mouth, his eyes sleepy and sexy enough to have her closing the gap herself, just shifting a little bit closer-
“But still a liar,” he whispered, and then in direct opposition to those words, he kissed her.
Chapter 7
Noah’s mouth was warm, deliciously warm, against Bailey’s frozen one. All of her was frozen, and as she pressed close to him, she wished that they could stay like this forever.
And for one glorious moment, he did stay, kissing her long and wet and deep, oh God, so deep. She could feel his arms around her, and nothing, nothing had ever felt so right. She slid her hand across his nape, through his silky hair, holding his head because she didn’t want this to end.
Obviously her brain wasn’t firing on all cylinders. But then Noah changed the angle of the kiss, and a sound of pure pleasure escaped her, and then again when one of his hands slid down her side and up, beneath her sweater, his fingers fanning gently across her ribs to barely, just barely, brush against the underside of her breast.
The sensations were so lovely, she prayed they would never stop.
But then he pulled back, and she saw why.
A car went whipping down the highway. A nondescript SUV, moving way too fast.
Looking for her and Noah…
That had her brain firing at top speed, and she let out a breath, trying to control her racing heart. She carefully drew air into her lungs, uncomfortably aware of her body, quivering and tense and still straining toward his. “Smart move, hiding.”
Noah didn’t say anything, didn’t move.
How did he do that? she wondered. Was he totally and completely unaffected by this odd and inexplicable attraction? Or maybe it was all adrenaline for him, a release of that energy, nothing more. She slid a glance his way and found him looking at her with such a great intensity it blew her hair back, and…and when she took a peek at his button fly, she found something else.
Okay, he wasn’t unaffected.
That shouldn’t have made her feel better, but selfishly, it did. “Can we go now? And get to the resort?” She needed to get there. She had no idea how she’d gotten so lucky as to have him get rid of the bad guys for her, but he had, and she had things to do. “Noah?”
“Not yet.”
Not yet? Maybe he somehow missed her urgency-
A second car whipped by on the highway. Also a nondescript SUV.
She stared after it in shock. “Two? There were two of them?”
Noah waited until the taillights faded from view, then started the engine of the Jeep.
“How did you know there was a second car?” she asked, dazed.
“Wrong question.” He maneuvered them back onto the highway, going back the way they’d come.
“What do they want?”
“Yeah, there’s the right question.” He looked over at her, because they both knew the truth. She knew what they wanted. She’d taken too long getting the money, and Stephen and his thugs had gotten antsy. They didn’t trust her.
And now they wanted her blood to go with the cash.
Noah turned into the resort. The road in was a mile long, lined by a vista of rugged mountain peaks that couldn’t be seen on a dark night like this. Thick with snow, the road forced Noah to take it slow, utilizing the four- wheel drive. Finally the tight, narrow curves opened into a large parking lot at the base of the resort. Though the buildings were unfinished on the inside, in true Alan style, the outside of the place looked ready and welcoming. Always the cart before the horse with Alan. The main lodge was a four-story cabin-style building with snow three feet thick on the roof and icicles hanging down along the eaves, making it look like a gingerbread masterpiece. A deserted one-there were no lights, no other cars, nothing.
Noah pulled into the front row. “It looks finished.”
“Not on the inside.” Turning in her seat, she glanced uneasily behind them. “We lost them?”
“No. They’re still back there, lying low.”
Her stomach dropped at his easy acceptance of the trouble they were in. “I don’t see them.”
“That’s because they don’t want to be seen.” He had one arm along the back of her seat, the other on the console in front of her. He looked big, bad, slightly attitude ridden, and…worried.
About her.
She didn’t want to see that, didn’t want to know he cared.
“Truth time,” he said quietly.
He was surrounding her. It would be so easy to sink into his strength. Instead, she fumbled behind her for the door handle, pressing away from him. “Thanks for the ride, I’ll just-”
He slid his warm hand to hers, halting her movements. “What? What exactly are you going to do, Bailey?”
Find the money.
Turn it over.
And then hopefully live to a ripe old age somewhere warm, somewhere quiet.
To that effect, she shrugged off Noah’s hand and opened the door of the Jeep. Icy night air instantly hit her in the face, sapping the very breath from her lungs. Her feet sank into the snow. Already she couldn’t feel her fingers, but she managed to grab her bag. “Take good care of yourself.”
“Bailey, wait-”
“I can’t. But thanks. Thanks for…” She offered a feeble smile. “Everything.”
“Damn it, hang on-”
She shut the door. She imagined him swearing colorfully, but it was now or never because she was losing her nerve. The strain of keeping the truth to herself, and therefore keeping herself alive, was seriously beginning to wear on her.
She turned toward the gigantic resort in front of her. With Alan’s death, construction had come to a grinding halt.
Actually, that had happened when it had been discovered that he’d siphoned all of his money out of the business accounts. He owed millions of dollars, and yet the money had vanished into thin air.
Or so she’d thought.
