by Angi Morgan
“Yeah, but will we be burying the man I consider my brother along with it?”
“You’ve done what you can to protect them. Now we move forward, find the killer and clear Travis of the bogus charges.”
Jesse wasn’t one hundred percent certain he could accomplish that as an armchair investigator, but it was better than being suspended. He hoped Garrison wouldn’t wait three days to call in. Now that the company was aware of the situation, they’d be there to protect him until his name was cleared.
They just needed to know where he was first.
Chapter Twelve
Kenderly adjusted the curly wig one last time on Garrison’s head. He suggested the wig changed him more radically than dyeing his hair, and he was right. She had a scarf covering her hair and huge sunglasses to add to her costume when they went outside.
Both their styles might be a little retro ’70s but were absolutely accepted in Austin. The wig changed Garrison’s overall appearance. He’d been tall compared to her while she was barefoot, now he was ridiculously lofty.
Their complexions were more like beach lovers, four or five shades darker than they should be if properly applying makeup. It looked so fake to her. She was completely filled with doubts about being able to pull this off. She was bound to totally muck up retrieving the jewelry box.
“Do you really think this is going to work?”
He pointed to the mirror. “No one’s going to recognize us. No way. I could pass my twin sister on the street, and she wouldn’t know me.”
“You have a twin? Seriously? That’s so cool.”
“Yeah, most people think so. Just imagine not ever celebrating your birthday alone with your friends. Believe me, it’s demoralizing when you’re an eight-year-old boy and forced to ask girls to your party.”
“I bet that’s not the case now.”
They got to the front door where he kept his hand on the knob, delaying their departure. “I’ll admit that Avery is sort of cool. You’ll like her. She’s nothing like me.”
“I’m sure I will.” A layer of the unknown disappeared between them. He’d made fun of himself but also shared. Progress, but they were still strangers. “You’re sure the key you found in Rose’s desk works on the door?”
Kenderly didn’t have his confidence that everything would work out perfectly. She shouldn’t have allowed him to talk her into trying to find the captain’s car. If he touched her again he might just discover she was shaking down to the tennis shoes he’d bought her.
“Yes. I’ve checked it twice. Remember who to call if something goes wrong or we get separated?”
“Your friend Jesse at Company F in Waco. I’m to tell him I’m Christy, the dog sitter.”
“Right. But nothing’s going wrong since no one is going to recognize us looking like this.”
And the police wouldn’t expect two fugitives to return downtown. Or at least she hoped they wouldn’t.
Maybe she was more willing to help than she believed. If it was possible to find the jewelry box and discover what Isabella wanted her to have, then she was definitely willing to try.
“You ready?” he asked.
The sincerity of his expression and deep concern in his eyes made her melt. She didn’t totally understand the need he had to risk his life to keep a total stranger safe or recover the jewelry box that may or may not have evidence inside. But in that moment she understood the attraction of every fairy tale where a handsome prince rescued the maiden in distress.
“Wait.” She latched her free hand on to his arm. “Garrison, I know why I’m taking this risk. But why should you? If you just stay out of sight for a few days, your ranger friends will clear your name. Now, don’t laugh. You’ve told me they will, and I have to believe they will. So it’s just a matter of time. Tell me. Explain why we shouldn’t stay here and watch television until Rose gets back.”
He leaned against the door instead of opening it. “When the murderer showed up at my aunt’s house instead of the real videographer, the captain and I had doubts about who we could trust. The Rangers. Sure. It goes without saying that we’d never doubt them. But the others.” He shrugged.
“One day you’re going to have to explain that loyalty sentiment. I’ve never experienced it. Who else would have known?”
“Other agencies are involved trying to gather evidence against these two crime families. Local PD to the FBI. It’s never been a secret. And somewhere along the line, the Tenoreno organization found a person who could be cracked...or bought. There goes our security. Why am I willing to go after your jewelry box? We don’t know who this mole is. What if they breach the team that inventories the car? We can’t take a chance that the box might disappear. We’d never know if it’s important or not.”
“You want to get to it before the people who betrayed you. All right, then. Thanks for explaining this time.” She tried to open the door.
Garrison covered her hand with his, but he remained leaning against the thin door. “You don’t have to do this if you’re too scared.”
“It’s not that I’m scared as much as...” She lowered her voice to a whisper, almost afraid to admit the truth. “I don’t want to mess up. I don’t want us to get caught.”
He shook his head, dismissing her fear as he pushed a lock of her hair under the scarf, leaning forward slightly. “You have the most expressive eyes.”
Was he about to kiss her? She loved the flutter of anticipation in her tummy and her racing pulse. Would it feel as good as last night? He leaned closer with a mischievous but genuine grin. He used his thumb to smooth her cheek.
“There was a weird spot of makeup,” he whispered and continued his descent to drop his lips closer to her ear. “If I kiss you right now, you know we’re not going anywhere. So I’m not going to kiss you. Not until I know we have time to finish.”
The man was too sexy for words. And too darn practical. He also needed to be taught a very important lesson. He wasn’t completely in charge...at least not about when they should kiss.
Kenderly slipped her hand from his, and before he could straighten to his full height, she stroked the back of his neck. His eyes brightened with surprise, and before he could finish arching an eyebrow, she pressed her lips to his.
He might be able to wait, but why should she? The sexual tension would distract her and make concentrating on his instructions impossible.
So she kissed him. His arms wrapped around her waist. His strength brought her chest into his body, her feet lifted from the carpet. Their mouths slashed against each other. Open. Closed. Noses softly bumping as they turned their heads, not caring about anything else.
The flutter in her belly spread across her shoulders and breasts. She paused half a second to look into the blazing fires that were now his eyes. His skin temperature grew. She could feel the heat, or maybe it was her own.
Her feet, snug in the new tennis shoes, floated to the ground. Her hands drifted down his arms, stopping at the muscles under her fingertips. He was breathing hard and inching away, ready to stop.
So she kissed him again. And he kissed her back. Madly. Hungrily.
She might have touched him first with her lips, but he had total control. His nails gently grazed her scalp as he shoved the scarf from her head. His palms cupped her cheeks as he caressed her lips with one sensuous kiss after another. She untucked his shirt, needing more of his burning flesh under her hands.
“Dammit, you taste good,” he said between their lips, continuing their exploration.
“You bought minty toothpaste,” she answered between each new sensation.
“Yeah.” Then he shook his head as his tongue tasted her again. “No. This is all you.” Another taste. “Yep, all you.”
No one had ever kissed her like this. Not. Ever.
Garrison kept he
r next to him, his lips firmly against hers as his knuckle grazed her breastbone. Even through her shirt she felt her skin sizzle with anticipation. The tension she’d felt since last night... Well, there wasn’t a measurement she could put to it that would be accurate.
It was so intense, so fast, so...much.
His kisses moved close to her ear and then down the back of her neck where there wasn’t any makeup.
“Wait,” she panted. “The makeup. You were...you were right.”
“About?” He nipped her at the curve where her shoulder met her throat.
“We need to take care of...you know that thing.” She hoped he knew because she certainly didn’t anymore. He sucked a little on her sensitive skin, and her knees went weak. His arm around her waist secured her next to him.
Take care of what?
He swung his mouth to hers again. She couldn’t think...just feel. As quick as the last kiss began, it ended.
* * *
GARRISON STAGGERED BACK, catching himself with the door.
He could think enough to reach out and keep Kenderly from crashing in the opposite direction but not much past that. He stiffened his elbow at the last second to keep from bringing her supple body against him. Tempting him again.
Damn, he wanted her. He hurt, he craved her so badly.
At arm’s length he was still tempted.
He didn’t think she wanted to stop any more than he did. She’d continued to kiss him while she said wait. His lips had taken a different path. Given her a chance. She could have asked him to stop at any point. It would have been easier than forcing his body to back away on its own. He’d warned her that this would happen.
The pull between them was stronger than anything he’d experienced.
But somewhere in the backs of both their minds, they knew they had to put this on hold. The contents of the jewelry box were important. They needed to get to the car before anyone else realized it was there.
Kenderly’s breasts rose and fell with her rapid breathing. He could feel her hand shaking in his. Or maybe his was shaking in hers. Didn’t matter. He had a job to do, and she had to stick with him. She’d pass out or hyperventilate if she didn’t slow her breathing down.
“How’s my makeup?” He grinned at her, expecting the same reaction as always. A laugh and a scolding remark.
She took a deep, long breath, throwing her head back a little. Stretching her neck in a way that made him want to forget about retrieving the evidence and dive back into their kiss.
“Sweet, sweet Thelma. Is being flippant your reaction to every situation? Do you feel anything other than your smile splitting your face in half?”
“What about you? Can’t you just enjoy the moment? I thought we had a pretty good one, so I smiled. What the hell’s wrong with that?” He was lost.
Having avoided women who could potentially make him turn down this road, he’d never traveled to a place where it mattered what someone thought. Laughter and a smile had always worked before. Every situation.
“Nothing. It doesn’t matter. Let’s just go and get this over with.” She covered her face with her hands, then dropped them before spoiling her makeup. “I’m messed up. It’s not like we actually care about each other anyway.”
Whatever it was, it probably mattered a hell of a lot more than he could figure out. The two of them had crossed so many lines in two days that his sense of direction was fouled up. Lost was a good word for what he was experiencing. Or maybe it was just plain inadequacy.
She pulled her scarf back into place, adjusting it and dabbing the dark black outline of her eyes. He twisted the dead bolt and opened the door a crack, then slammed it shut.
“Hold on a minute.”
“What now?” Kenderly tilted her head back to look at him.
Bonehead of a move as it might have been, he stopped himself from bending toward her for another kiss. He stopped the action, but not the desire.
“I, um... I’ve never been around a woman like you. That’s hard to admit. But I picked up on it real fast. So you might give me a break for the learning curve.” God, he sounded like a wimp. “I’ve lost track of what we’re really talking about.”
She laughed, then reached up and straightened the wig sitting on his head. A curly black mess he’d forgotten all about.
“Then maybe we need to get back on track and take care of business.” She placed her hands on her hips, acting proud of her work transforming his looks.
Ridiculous and lost. “Will I be a jerk if we leave now?”
“Not at all,” she whispered.
That elusive remark was put on a hook in his mind. He had every intention of finding out what the hell they’d been talking about. Just not at this moment.
Right now, he had to put their lives in danger to see if he could eventually keep her safe.
Chapter Thirteen
The light blue sedan was still on the street where Garrison had parked it late Friday night. The key was in his pocket, and he’d seen Oaks punch in the code to the lockbox where he’d placed the jewelry box. So getting the jewelry box wouldn’t be that difficult.
Unless the cops or anyone else following them was waiting for them to come back to it. The police might not know the significance of the car, but the SOB who had shot at them knew they’d left his aunt’s house in it.
“Are we supposed to act like we don’t know each other?” she asked behind her grande café au lait skinny extra foam.
The name of her coffee made him want to laugh, but he held back, draping his arm around her shoulders instead. “Sure we do. If anyone’s watching, they saw us get coffee together and sit together. Yeah, we can talk.”
“So the reason we’re just not getting into the car and driving away—because that would be much more convenient than riding public transportation—is that someone might be watching the car.”
“Right.”
“And if they’re not, why don’t we take it?”
He and Kenderly had grabbed coffee and were sitting on a bench near the parked car. “One or both groups might have attached a tracker. We can’t risk it.”
“Aw, yes.” She sipped. “The old tracking device ploy.”
The bench they’d chosen didn’t have a cover. His face itched from the sun shining in his eyes.
“We’ve been here half an hour, and I’ve barely seen anyone around at all. I feel exposed like this. Can’t we just get this done and leave?”
“We agreed—”
“No. You dictated. I’m sitting next to you as a result. This is your decision.”
“Whoa there. We’re in this together. If you want to leave, then we will. There are better things at the apartment I’d like to...explore.” Yeah, he looked her body over. Deliberately. Slowly. He was attempting to take her mind off their situation. He might have, but he also got a look that needed no interpretation.
“Please, take me seriously.”
A couple of minutes later, a guy who looked like a regular Joe passed with his hands in his pockets. A couple left the bar across the street. The bar didn’t seem open, so they might have worked there.
Little things caught his attention. Like Kenderly’s shoes already had scuff marks on them. He’d noted that the jeans he’d purchased fit her, which meant the underwear worked, too. For some reason he’d never had a problem guessing a woman’s size.
“I am so glad it’s not hot out here. I feel like my face would melt off.” She fanned her cheeks like a beauty queen.
“I feel the same way. So I can joke now?”
“I don’t think you could stop if someone were sticking bamboo shoots under your nails.”
“I think that’s where I’d draw the line.” Garrison’s fingers curled into fists as he thought about what it might feel like. “I
bet it’s hard to laugh when you’re screaming. Although, it might give the interrogators a shock if I did.”
“I bet...” The words rolled around while she turned to him with a grin. “I bet you could pull that off. Laughing is the first place you go. Is there anything you don’t laugh at?”
“There would have to be incentive to stop.”
“I bet you couldn’t do it.”
“Do what exactly?” Although he turned his face slightly to her, movement in the bar window caught most of his attention. A guy wearing a ball cap low over his eyes kept darting close to the glass.
“I bet you can’t go two hours without attempting to charm someone.”
Easy as pie. There was no one around to charm. Except Kenderly. “What do I get when I win?”
“You mean when I win. Anything you want, no questions asked.”
“I can think of quite a few things. Foot massage. Back massage. Foot massage again.”
“Whatever you want for the rest of the day.”
“It’s a bet.”
Their plan was to sit for an hour and observe the car. Sip coffee and take a look to see if anyone was watching the sedan. He could handle not smiling, or charming people. Right?
Laughter didn’t equal charmer, did it? Was it cheating on the bet if he asked her? Aw, hell. He had to forget about it and concentrate.
If he were here as a ranger, he would have had backup to send into the bar and check out who seemed to be watching them. Or not watching them. He couldn’t make a determination.
“I might...” he began, but the bar door opened, and the guy he’d noticed meandered slowly out, heading in the opposite direction. He staggered a bit from side to side. So maybe they’d both been watching for cops.
About to nudge Kenderly and share a staggering story of his own, he stopped himself. Would that be charming? Wait a second. Was everything he said really that predictable? Damn, it was going to be a long two hours until this bet was over.