by Karen Anders
“Keep your hands in plain view, Mister!” The man’s hand shook and Austin wondered if this was the first time this guy had pulled his weapon. Staring down the barrel of the gun of a nervous, tense deputy shut Austin up.
“Slowly turn and put your hands on top of the counter.” The deputy frisked Austin and then he took each of his hands in turn and handcuffed them. The cold steel sliding around his wrists made him look immediately at Maxie. She was watching him intently, her big blue eyes filled with…guilt. It surprised him for a moment that when the deputy hauled on his arm he didn’t move. Guilt? He expected triumph or joy, at the very least gloating. But no, instead she looked at him as if this would be the last situation she could ever hope to see him in.
“Come on, Mister.”
“There’s no need for excessive force, deputy.” Maxie put her hand on the deputy’s arm. He too seemed to fall under her spell. Austin felt sick—he should be worrying about how he was going to keep Maxie from running, not about moon-eyed saps.
She smiled and had the audacity to look relieved to have the deputy there to protect her, as if Austin were a low-down kidnapper. “I was hoping I could call my family. Do you mind if I use the phone for just a second.”
Austin immediately searched out the phone. It was close to the back door. “If you let her use that phone…”
The deputy shook Austin. “I told you to shut up.” The deputy eyed him and then Maxie. “I think it might be better ma’am if you accompany me to the Sheriff’s office. You can use the phone there.”
“Look, if you just give me a chance to speak,” Austin tried again.
“Save it.”
In the patrol car, he once again tried to give the deputy an explanation, but was told to wait until they got to the office, which didn’t take long.
Once there, the deputy wasted no time in removing the cuffs and placing him in a cell. Maxie, Austin noted sourly, was helped into a chair as if she was an invalid.
Austin leaned against the cement-block wall and stared at Maxie through the strong iron bars. The jail-house was modern and well-kept. Two narrow cells lined one wall. At the far end of the room, there was a table holding a coffeepot and a fax machine.
Near the door was a large bulletin board cluttered with posters and announcements. The sheriff’s desk was modern and shiny, its surface strewn with file folders along with a neat stack of papers on the corner, a phone and a humming computer.
Austin focused on her face, then on her lips as they moved. Her damn mouth was so sexy, and he knew she pulled him into that kiss because she wanted to distract him. He knew it was a ploy, but it felt much too real to be fake. Just like she was faking her kidnapping story and using the deputy’s hormones against him. If Austin wasn’t jealous of the way the man looked at Maxie, he might feel sorry for the guy.
He would kick himself if he lost her again, that is, if she managed to make it out of this office without him yelling down the rafters. He was still about twelve hours away from Sedona, and their jaunt into the drugstore, which had landed him in a cell, was eating up precious time. The sooner he got this skip to Sedona the better for his libido, heart and temper. She made him feel so many different levels of emotion. He wasn’t sure which way was up anymore.
Austin jerked upright and went to the bars, his hands curling around the cold iron. If that man leaned over her one more time…
Just then the deputy rose and disappeared into the back room. Maxie was out of her chair and to the front door in two seconds flat.
With her hand on the knob, Austin was about to call out. But just then, she jumped back, the door opened and the sheriff walked through. The crestfallen look on her face gave Austin a little satisfaction. At least now he could get someone to listen to him.
“Well, what have we got here?” the sheriff asked, just as the deputy came out of the back room with a glass of water in his hand.
IT HAD TAKEN all of fifteen minutes to explain to the sheriff who he was, to get out of the cell and then out of the office. Maxie did a quick calculation in her head. Taos was two hours from here and then Albuquerque another three. She was sure he could make Albuquerque by nightfall. Then it was another eight hours to Sedona, a drive he could make easily in one day. She could be back in custody tomorrow.
Maxie was worried about the embezzlement charges. Since she’d been arrested, there wasn’t a single day that had gone by that she didn’t think about them. It was because of the arrest, that she was going to let her sister down. Again. She couldn’t bear it. It was Dorrie who had taken her in when she’d been unable to cope at home anymore. And it had been her sister who had helped her get the bank job. How could she face Dorrie if the license was rejected and they couldn’t open on time? How could she face her sister, knowing that everything they worked for, every minute of every hour they had toiled, was for naught. They would lose everything. To compound it all, Maxie would find herself convicted of a crime she hadn’t committed and spend years in prison.
She needed more time. More time for Jake to discover the electronic trail the police barely bothered with when her co-worker accused her of embezzlement and they’d found her account filled with over a million dollars. And then that money had vanished. Been transferred again and even the police computer crime experts couldn’t find it. Maxie had faith in her friend Jake and he’d told her to stall as long as she could. She had to stay hidden until he had a chance to follow the confusing trail, and clear her name.
When they were outside the office and headed toward the car, Austin took out the cuffs, but hesitated in snapping them around her wrists. She could see him remembering how the hard metal felt, the helplessness, the embarrassment. With a savage oath, he snapped the cuffs around her wrists.
“Not fun to be innocent and on the wrong side of the law. Now you know how I feel,” she said softly, meeting his eyes head on.
“Is that why you did it?”
“No. I was trying to get away. You don’t seem to understand my situation.”
“I’ve tried to tell you, blondie. I don’t have to understand your situation.”
She resisted when he tried to load her into the car. “Please, Austin. Let me go. I swear you can bring me in as soon as the license comes through.” A bad case of the shakes hit her. Closing her eyes tightly, she acknowledged how scared she was now. So damned scared. Determined not to let fear overwhelm her, she made herself concentrate on taking deep breaths, making her muscles relax.
“I can’t trust a skip trace. You must think I’m stupid. Manny has a lot of money tied up in you. You’re going back now.”
“All I am is money to you. Why doesn’t it surprise me that you care so much about the payout? I guess you wouldn’t be in this line of work if you cared at all about people.” The fear tightened in her gut, panic clawed at her throat. She wasn’t going to convince him.
“That’s a low blow and you know it. Caring about people has nothing to do with being a bounty hunter. This is a job. Pure and simple. I’m taking you in for jumping bail. Pure and simple. Now get in the car.”
The panic broke free, and she hit him hard in the midriff, knocking the air from his lungs. Before he had a chance to draw in enough air to catch his breath, she was hotfooting it behind the drugstore. He caught her near an empty loading dock. He reached out. She shied sideways in a desperate attempt to avoid his grasp.
He caught her again, her back against his hard, immovable chest. He wrapped his arms around her upper arms. In her haste to get away, she pushed backwards and he lost his balance, his back slamming into the wall of the drugstore.
Panting with exertion and fear, she pleaded, “Let me go. Please.” She twisted in his grasp working with all her might to get free.
“It’s all right, Maxie. It’s okay. Calm down,” his voice low and soothing. He turned her twisting body in his arms so that he could make eye contact. She pushed against his chest with her manacled hands. “Let me go.”
“I can’t, Maxie. I can�
�t.”
She collapsed against him. With a tenderness and concern that shocked her, he pressed her face into his neck, stroking her hair.
Closing her eyes against the sudden welling of tears, she clenched her jaw, feeling as if she were about to shatter.
She heard him swear. Then he gripped her chin, and brought her head up, forcing her to look at him. “Listen to me. I’m sorry that I was insensitive back there. The truth of the matter is you were right. It was uncomfortable being accused of something you’re not. I didn’t like it. And I do care about people, but I also have a job to do.”
Startled into stillness, transfixed by his touch, Maxie stared up at him, the urgency of his words registering. She closed her eyes and forced herself to pull it together.
Focusing on what he’d told her, she met his gaze, showing with a small nod of her head that she understood. Austin eyed her, his eyes dark, and then he gave her head a gentle little shake. “Okay?” he asked, his voice soft and husky.
“I had to try to escape.”
“I know. It’s natural. There’s always a place in the process of getting from point A to point B, when it’s clear to a skip he’s going back to face whatever it is he’s run from. You hit that place. I understand your panic. And I’m sorry.”
She nodded again, and when he tugged, she followed him back to the car. As soon as they were situated, he leaned over and unlocked the cuffs. “I guess while we’re in the car you won’t need them.”
Something gave way around her heart and she shivered. Feeling almost too raw to speak, she reached out and put her hand on his forearm. “Thanks.”
Austin stared at her for a moment, the muscles in his jaw hardening, and then he turned and hit the steering wheel with his fist.
Already weak from her panic attack, Maxie looked at him, her stomach dropping away to nothing. Not sure what to make of his behavior, she softly whispered his name. “Austin?”
He turned back to look at her, his expression tight, his voice harsh. “You are making this so…difficult.”
He clenched his hands, a feeling of despair washed through her, and she removed her hand from his arm. Lacing her fingers tightly together in her lap, she fought to contain the tears.
Austin shifted, and then he cupped her jaw, lifting her face, “Don’t, blondie,” he whispered gruffly. “Please don’t.”
She looked up at him. Her eyes were awash with tears and Austin brushed his knuckles across her cheek, and then brushed at her hair. His expression etched with strain. He swallowed hard and continued to look at her, his eyes dark and tormented. Then, he let loose a long, shaky sigh. He adjusted the way he was sitting and pulled her across his legs, gathering her up in a tight, enveloping embrace.
Maxie slumped against him, unable to handle the chaotic feelings that rushed through her. His compassion was much too much to manage and she curled up in his arms, thrusting her wet face into the arch of his neck. He urged her head even closer, his breath warm against the side of her face. He didn’t say anything.
The shrill ring of Austin’s cell phone pushed them apart. He retrieved it, pressed a button and held it to his ear. “Taggart.”
He listened for a moment, and then pinched the bridge of his nose, his voice strained. “I got her. Another day and a half and I’ll be back in Sedona.”
Sensing his immediate retreat, Maxie separated herself and moved over onto her own seat, anguish once again sweeping over her. The defenses were back up, and she was once again alone. She started to tremble when the cold steel settled around her wrists.
“I’m sorry, Maxie. I can’t take any more risks.”
WHEN THEY PULLED into Albuquerque, the largest city in New Mexico, it was late. The city sprawled over sixteen miles from the lava-crested mesas on the west side of the Rio Grande to the steep slopes of the Sandia Mountains on the east, and extended north and south through the Rio Grande Valley.
Austin was in a foul mood. Twenty minutes after passing through a deserted downtown, he stopped at the first hotel he came to. It was an elegant hacienda-style inn and looked comfortable enough.
So he’d had a lapse in judgment. Those beautiful blue eyes had filled with tears and he’d caved, but Manny’s call had put him back on the straight and narrow. He looked over at her, but he couldn’t help the pain he felt in his heart. He had to be tough though, because the little lady was good at playacting. He’d seen her in action in the Cimarron Sheriff’s office. Who knew when her tears were genuine or just a fraud? Even though, he admitted to himself, those tears in Cimarron looked real. Oh, get a grip, Taggart. She was just a good actress and he’d almost fallen for it.
She bit her lip and looked out the window when he once again locked her handcuffs to the steering wheel. He left the car to pay for the room.
As he returned to her, his cell phone rang.
“Hello.”
“Austin. I just got home for summer break. I thought you’d be home by now.”
“Hey, brat. I had a little bit of a problem with this skip, and I’ll be there the day after tomorrow.”
“Is the guy dangerous?”
Austin laughed, but without any humor. “It’s a she and she’s very dangerous.”
“Austin, please be careful.”
“I just mean she’s beautiful and treacherous.”
“Oh, I see. She’s dangerous to the heart and libido.”
“Definitely the libido. I don’t have a heart.”
“Right, Austin,” she said softly. “You were so mean when you put everyone else ahead of your dreams.”
He rubbed the back of his stiff neck. “I take care of my family, Jess. They don’t give medals for that.”
“They should. So, you’ll be here tomorrow?” The expectation in her voice made him smile.
“Yup. See you then.”
“Bye, Austin.”
AUSTIN UNLOCKED Maxie’s handcuffs and grabbed the bags from the back seat. Once inside the spacious room, he dropped their things to the floor and dug out his toothbrush and toothpaste. He pulled her over to the bed, which was draped with a colorful quilt, and handcuffed her to the metal frame. The room had a table with an oak desk and two chairs to match.
“I have to go to the bathroom.”
Austin sighed. He unlocked the cuffs. “Go ahead and you might as well brush your teeth, too.”
While she gathered her belongings, he checked the small, very clean bathroom, satisfied that the window was too narrow for her to squeeze through. He did worry that the room opened up to a courtyard, but when he looked out, he relaxed. It was an enclosed courtyard.
Maxie went into the bathroom and closed the door.
After a few moments she came out. He swallowed hard. She was dressed in a pair of pink panties and a tank top without a bra. “Is that what you’re going to wear?” He cleared his throat as his voice squeaked slightly. She was at it again. He was sure she was trying to distract him with this show of her sexuality. Yet, he couldn’t help the way his body responded.
“Why? Does my lack of modesty bother you?”
He cleared his throat again. “Um, no. It’s just that you really don’t know me that well.”
“I don’t know you that well, but you don’t get off manhandling women. You told me so yourself.”
“So I did.”
“Just think of me as a paycheck and it won’t be so hard on you.”
Austin frowned as she sat down on the bed and searched through her bag. He pulled out the cuffs just as Maxie opened up a bottle of lotion.
She looked up at him with those big, blue eyes. “Austin, my wrists are chafed. Couldn’t I have a breather from the cuffs? You can see me through the open door of the bathroom. How far could I go dressed like this?”
He looked down at her reddened wrists and took in her attire again. Against his will, sympathy surfaced. It gnawed at his gut and made him feel—ah, hell—made him feel like a jerk.
Austin tried to play it off by shrugging, hoping she hadn�
�t seen the pity in his eyes. He went into the bathroom, careful to keep the door open and her in sight. Shucking his T-shirt, he proceeded to wash away some of the filth and sweat of the two long days of tracking the angel from hell.
He heard her gasp and he turned his head. She was standing behind him, her eyes on his torso.
“Oh no, Austin.”
He looked down and frowned. “What?”
She reached out and he held his breath with anticipation.
“The bruises.” Her voice caught.
He looked down again and shrugged. She was responding to the huge bruise he’d received two days ago. It covered his shoulder and disappeared into the waistband of his jeans. “Took a hit with that chair.”
Her fingers trailed over his shoulder and down to trace the strong ridges of his ribs, her touch whispering over his skin.
He gripped the edge of the sink, sucking in his breath when he felt her first soft kiss against the sensitive skin of his shoulder. Her compassion took him by surprise and he felt a twinge on his heart. But he ruthlessly squashed it. He wasn’t born yesterday. He’d been alone most of his adult life until his grandmother, mother and sister had needed him. He gave, but he never took. It was too painful when the person he had depended on turned out not to be true. Maxie wanted to get away and she would use any means to do so.
“You don’t have to pretend to care about the bruises.” He couldn’t trust her. She had made two attempts to get away from him just this morning.
“I’m not pretending. How could you think that?”
Red-hot sensation coiled in his abdomen when he felt the brush of her fingertips at his waist. His breath sucked in with a soft, startled sound and he closed his eyes against the tightening in his groin.
He grabbed her hand and drew it away from his body.
“I’m sorry. Does that hurt?”
He swore softly and tried to regain his control, marveling at how a woman could be such a mosaic of both virtue and sin. “Surely you can’t be that naive. Do you know what you do to a man when you touch him, angel? It makes me hard, stretched-to-the-limit hard.”