Frustration had her tossing up her hands. “Brody, don’t you get it? It’s not that I don’t want you to understand what’s going on here, or that I wouldn’t rather have you with me, but that I can’t ask it of you.”
That took him back. “Why not?”
“Why not?” She sputtered for a moment, trying to figure out a good reason why not. She ended up trying something new-the whole, unadulterated truth. He deserved it. “Because I’m afraid for you. Okay? I can’t do what I have to do while I’m worried about you.”
His eyes softened, but his tough guy stance did not. “I’m a big boy, Mad. I can take care of myself.”
Actually, she’d noticed that. In fact, with his walking-talking attitude and all that sinew-wrapped maleness oozing from his every pore, he could more than handle himself.
“You’re going to Stone Cay?”
“Yes.”
“To talk to the asshole on the phone.”
“Hopefully not, no. To stop my sister from talking to the asshole.”
“Okay.” He straightened. “I’m doing this,” he said when she opened her mouth. “You can kick my ass for it later. That’s the deal. Take it or leave it.”
She stared up into his determined face. He had badass attitude written all over him. He wouldn’t back down. He never backed down. And suddenly, she didn’t want him to. “Take it,” she whispered.
Staying right where he was, he met her gaze evenly. Fiercely. “So we’re a unit on this. On Sister Rescue 101. Right?”
“A unit,” she agreed. For now.
“Until it’s done.”
She sighed. “Brody-”
“Until it’s done.”
He wouldn’t budge. And no matter that she wanted to do this alone, she couldn’t. “Okay, yes. Until it’s done.” Great. Yet another plan. How the hell did this keep happening to her?
With a short nod, Brody turned and left the suite without another word, and she let out a slow breath.
What had she just done?
Brody made a stop in Miami for fuel and Customs, then landed in Nassau at ten that night, just ahead of a mother of a storm that he was grateful to have missed.
Nassau, the bustling hub of the Bahamas since the shipwrecking days of Blackbeard, wasn’t really visible in the dark, but he’d been here before. The city always reminded him of any small Massachusetts town set down amongst palms and pines and iridescent sands.
Normally, calm waters and cooling trade winds were the trademark here, but not tonight. Tonight, the winds drove the treetops nearly to the ground, and though he couldn’t see the water, he could hear it, whipped into a frenzy. The air was heavy, beyond muggy, and so hot that his skin steamed.
Or that might have been lingering temper.
He’d nearly missed her. If he’d sat around with his thumb up his ass at the cabin for another ten minutes or if Shayne hadn’t stalled her…
Luckily, that hadn’t happened, and here he was. Letting out a breath, he grabbed Maddie’s overnight bag and his own duffel bag, and stood on the tarmac as the storm hit hard. When a bolt of lightning slashed down, followed immediately by a deafening crack of thunder, the lineman who was attempting to tie down the Lear shook his head. “Got in just in time, mate.”
True. Brody had flown in worse, but not much. The clouds completely zapped out the stars and moon, and in air as thick as a down blanket, the rain came. Drenched within seconds, he looked up as Maddie came off the Lear. She’d changed into skinny jeans, boots, and a long jacket belted at her trim waist, the hood up over her head blocking her expressions from him.
She hadn’t told him jackshit. Big surprise. He might have won round one, but she wasn’t conceding the match. She’d have been just as happy to be alone on this little adventure, and given what a pain in his ass she’d been, he’d have liked nothing more than to let her be.
Except for one thing. Several, actually.
He could feel her nerves just beneath her cool surface, not to mention her fear.
And then there was the fact that he couldn’t stand the thought of walking away from her, danger or not.
As a result, he was sticking to her like super glue.
Holding the handrail for support, she came down the stairs in rain coming down in sheets. A gust of wind blew the hood from her face, revealing how pale and wan she was, and looking just vulnerable enough to sucker punch him with her eyes alone.
It was stupid, asinine even, but suddenly, he wanted to hug her, baby her, which would have been as smart to his physical well-being as babying a spitting cobra. Wrapping his fingers around her arm, he guided her quickly down the last step.
“Thank you.” She surprised him by not pulling away. Her hair blew in his face, her scent coming to him on the wind as the rain pounded both them and the tarmac, sounding like a pack of angry bees. She slid her hood back over her head as together, they ran across the tarmac.
Just inside the small metal hangar that served as the private sector of the airport, they shook off some of the rain and looked around. There was a single wood desk, behind which sat a mountain of a man smoking a cigar and eating a sub sandwich at the same time, all while gabbing on a telephone about some “fucking Cessna.” Above them, the rain pounded the metal building, making it shudder and moan.
When the man hung up the phone, Maddie walked up to him. “Have you seen me already tonight?” she asked.
The guy blinked. “Huh?”
“Have you seen anyone who looks just like me come through here tonight?”
The guy took her in from top to bottom. “Lady, I’ve never seen anyone like you before. You’re hot.”
“Okay, thanks for that,” Brody said dryly, pulling Maddie away from the desk.
There were several couches for waiting purposes, and beyond that, a vending machine stocked the usual heart attack-inducing items. Brody headed directly for it, taking Maddie with him. “Name your poison.”
She curled her upper lip. “From there? No, thanks.”
He pulled some change from his pocket. “You’re a food snob.”
“Yes.” She eyed him as he bought himself three milk chocolate bars. “Seriously, where do you put all that crap?”
He patted his stomach, and she let out a low, disagreeing snort.
“And what does that mean?” he asked, wondering if he’d just been insulted.
“Like you don’t know that in spite of your hideous junk food habit, you have the best abs on this side of the equator.”
Un, no, he hadn’t known that, but that she thought so made him grin like an idiot. “What about the other side of the equator?”
“Shut up, Brody. You inherited good genes, and you know it.”
He didn’t know how to tell her that the only thing he’d inherited was his mean gene. Oh, and his pickpocket abilities, which he’d honed as a youth. Yeah, that had come in handy. Thanks, dear Dad.
“Someday, you’ll be old with a big belly,” she said. “One that flops over your belt.”
“Flops over my belt?” Now there was a disturbing image.
“I’m just saying, you’d better watch the chocolate. It’s going to sneak up on you.”
“Maybe I burn it off trying to help people.”
“People who didn’t want your help,” she reminded him. Turning away, she walked toward the front desk, but Brody hooked her good arm and brought her back around.
“What?”
“Where to?” he asked.
Her eyes flickered, and she pulled her hood back up, hiding from him, goddamnit. “Getting a cab.”
“To…?” he inquired.
“About that. I’ve been thinking.”
“Shit.” He bent down a little to see beneath the hood and looked her right in the eyes. “Save your time. You
