When he glanced in her eyes, her breath stalled. He gave her a long, lingering look. It was the same look he’d given her at the restaurant. The one that made her feel like the most important woman in the world. The one that made her wonder if he really was interested in playing for keeps.
Her heart did a somersault.
When he’d told Isabella that Laura was for keeps, was he just appeasing her, like Laura had thought, or was it possible that Laura was the right woman?
God, did she dare hope?
Suddenly Jay glanced over her shoulder. She turned her head. “What is it?”
“I don’t know. I thought I saw something rush by. After the break-in at the lab and your apartment I don’t want to take any chances. I want to get you inside and keep you safe.”
Laura’s heart picked up tempo. She squinted her eyes and peered into the darkness. “I don’t see anything, Jay.” It occurred to her that maybe he was just trying to shift the focus away from him. Maybe he didn’t want to pursue the conversation or talk about emotional commitment.
“Come on, let’s get inside,” Jay said.
Jay gathered the bags of food while Laura fished her hand around the back seat until she found her duffel bag.
Jay circled the car to meet her. No sooner had they taken a step toward the building than two masked men came out of the shadows.
“Shit,” Jay cursed, grabbing Laura to position her behind him. “Get back in the car and lock the doors,” he said between gritted teeth. He widened his stance, preparing for battle.
“Not so fast,” one of the hooded men blurted, and pulled something out from behind his back. Light from the apartment building glistened on the blade of the knife the man wielded.
“Give me your bag.”
Confused, Laura jerked her head up. They wanted the linguine?
Standing behind Jay, Laura peered around his shoulder and nudged his back. “Give him the bag, Jay.”
The masked man’s quick, jerky movements as his gaze flitted around the parking lot alerted Laura to his discomfort.
“Not that one,” he said, shaking his head in frustration.
Geez. Well, it wasn’t like he’d specified.
Impatience mingled with nervousness and laced the man’s voice. Laura sensed he wasn’t really out to hurt them, sensed he didn’t want any more trouble than she did.
He gestured to her duffel bag. “That bag.”
Her clothes? They wanted her clothes?
Great, they were being accosted by cross-dressing thugs.
Charming.
The other man remained silent as he carefully circled them and stalked up behind Laura. There was something hauntingly familiar about the way he moved.
Laura snaked her arms around Jay’s waist. He closed his hands over hers and held her tight. Even though they were being attacked by two hooded men, she felt absurdly safe in his arms.
“You know what we’re after,” the masked man growled.
Understanding dawned on Laura. Clearly they were idiots if they thought her files were in her duffel bag. But hell, who was she to argue? They were the ones with the weapon.
“Hand him the bag,” the knife-wielding man said, nudging his chin toward the guy closing in on her. “And no one gets hurt.”
Shoot, why in the hell hadn’t she stuck with those self-defense lessons? She really didn’t want some thugs from Ad-Tech running off with her delicates.
In a motion so fast it took the two masked men off guard, Laura mustered all her strength and jabbed her elbow into the creep’s stomach as he stepped into her personal space.
He let out a whoosh of air.
Jesus Christ! She immediately recognized that ungodly scent. Come to think of it, an open coffin might even smell better.
Distracted, the knife-wielding man turned his attention to Laura. A string of profanity spewed from his mouth. With his attention directed on her, Jay went for the guy’s blade. He kicked it out of his hand and with one powerful punch knocked the guy to the ground.
Impressive!
Before Jay had a chance to come to her rescue, Laura slammed her foot down on Max’s instep, lifted her arm to take a crack at his nose, and then finished him off with a pounding to the groin. Not that she’d ever wanted to go anywhere near Max’s groin.
Thank you, Gracie Hart!
Max cursed under his breath as he cupped his balls in agony. He staggered to his feet, grabbed her duffel bag, and disappeared into the darkness.
Damn, all that work and Crouton Boy made off with her delicates anyway. She shook her head. At least now she understood why Max had been so persistent, trying to charm his way into her apartment. He wasn’t after her, he was after her formula.
Laura turned her attention to Jay and watched him pull his cell phone out of his pocket as the masked man rolled out of his reach, stumbled to his feet, and ran in the same direction as Max.
Breathless, Jay met her gaze. His eyes were full of tender concern. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “You?”
“Yeah. Where the hell did you learn that?”
Laura drew in air and shook the sting from her hand. “Last weekend I had a date with Ben and Jerry and Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous.”
He frowned in confusion. “Do you want to try that again? In English this time.”
“Ben and Jerry’s is a brand of ice cream and Miss Congeniality 2 is a movie with Sandra Bullock.” She mimicked her earlier actions. “I put Gracie Hart’s SING technique—solar plexus, instep, nose, and groin—to use.”
He shook his head in amazement. “I never knew you were a woman of so many talents. Remind me never to piss you off.”
Jay pulled a card out of his back pocket. “We need to call the detective.” He punched the number into his cell phone.
“Good, because I know who is responsible.”
Jay’s fingers stopped. “You do?”
“Yeah. Max.”
His head jerked back. His brow puckered. “Max? How do you know it was Max?”
“By his breath. I can identify him.”
He gave her a look that
