“Kinsley, hold on,” Gabriel said, touching her arm. A jolt of electricity shot through her.
“Why?” She needed to hear him out. She had no idea what he’d done for the military or since but the way he dispatched the men in ski masks caught her attention. Gabriel seemed to know how to handle himself in the face of danger and she was totally out of her element here.
“You two have to split up.” He said a little too quickly. It was probably their shared past that had a little piece of her wishing she heard a little jealousy in his voice.
She exchanged glances with Blake.
“He needs medical treatment and that’ll expose you to unnecessary risk.” Those words didn’t sound reassuring.
“It’s my fault he’s in this position—”
“I took on this job, Kinsley. Whatever happened is not your doing.” Blake made a point that she wasn’t quite ready to concede.
“Even so, it’s my book—”
“I hear you but it’s a weak argument at best. We could easily spin this thing around and say that all this is my fault because I’m the one who made a big splash out of the book,” he said.
“Speaking of which, I need a list of all the names who received an early copy,” Gabriel said. His physical size was impressive. The military had done good things to his six-foot-four frame, filling it out with muscles she didn’t need to notice. She told herself that it was down to pure biology. She was in danger and on a primal level needed to evaluate who could help her fight off at attacker. Gabriel had done that in spades earlier.
“Done. The minute I get hold of my laptop,” Blake said.
“Which is where?” Gabriel asked and the urgency in his voice was another shot of how dire the situation was.
One some level, Kinsley knew but that state of denial was a force meant to protect her brain from short-circuiting.
“I’m not comfortable being away from each other right now.” She could put her foot down on this one issue.
She looked to Gabriel, expecting an argument. Instead, he was calm.
“I can see that you care about him,” he said.
“Of course. He’s more than my publicist. We have history,” she said. The admission didn’t go over too well with Gabriel but what did he expect? She had history with him, too, but it was nothing like her and Blake.
“So do we and I doubt you want to spend the next few days alone with me but that’s what you’re going to do.” Gabriel’s dark eyes were practically slits and his lips had thinned. There was something else in his expression, too, that warned her not to push him. “If you care about Blake like I think you do the best thing you can do is stay away from him while this whole situation is straightened out.”
Those words were a knife to the chest. Kinsley wouldn’t argue because she knew down deep that they were also true.
“I’ll keep my phone on,” she said to Blake.
“I’m sure Mr. Fabulous here will keep you safe. You’re better off with him. I’d only slow you down,” Blake said.
“Heal fast.” She gave her friend a peck on the cheek and heard Gabriel’s hard footsteps falling away from her. He was doing it on purpose, she realized, because he would be stealth otherwise.
“You know that guy personally?” Blake glanced around like he didn’t want Gabriel to hear what he was saying.
“Not in a long time but, yeah, we were close once.” Kinsley wasn’t ready to tell the whole story and maybe never would be. Gabriel obviously worked for some super-secret agency. He’d disappear as fast as he’d appeared and she figured any evidence she’d actually seen him would disappear, too.
And that got her heart racing, considering she’d lost sight of him already.
As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Gabriel seemed like her best chance at survival.
Blake squeezed her hand. “You be careful with him.”
That was an odd thing to say.
“We need to go now,” an EMT said.
“I’ll see you soon,” she said to Blake, hoping it was true.
And now she had to find Gabriel.
Chapter 5
A moment of panic struck Kinsley as Blake disappeared around the corner. She was alone. All hell had just broken loose and Gabriel was nowhere in sight. Before she could think about her next step her feet were moving in the direction he’d gone a few moments ago.
Her heels clicked on the tile floor, echoing in the hallway. The place seemed empty. She picked up her pace as panic drove her feet to move faster.
As she rounded the next corner, she barreled into Gabriel. It was like slamming into a solid wall.
He immediately grabbed her to keep her from losing her balance and his touch sent electricity pinging down her arms. There was so much heat filling the space between them that she had to take a step back in order to gain her perspective. Between the current and the all-male spicy scent of his aftershave she needed to put as much space between them as she could.
Taking a step back didn’t help. It only ushered in more of his scent.
Kinsley put her hand against the wall to regain her balance.
“Whoa, there.” It didn’t help matters that his deep baritone skimmed over her sensitized skin.
Or the fact that it had been a long time since she’d had such a visceral response to a man. A little voice reminded her that no other man had caused that much chaos to her senses. She told it to shut up.
“It’s been a long day. I’m fine.” She tried to dismiss him.
But he brought his hand up to cup her chin and tilt her face toward his. His gaze roamed
