Listening to Lacey made him rethink his stance on frivolous travel. The way she saw the world and people opened his eyes to the possibility that maybe there was more out there than he’d realized.
Shane stared down at her, tucked against his chest, clothes on, half on top of him. They’d moved to the back seat earlier, and though it was wider, he would have rolled into the floorboard already if he hadn’t scooted both the front seats back as far as they would go. It made their little nest a snug fit, but that was okay. He had Lacey right where he wanted.
And that was the problem.
He couldn’t remember the last woman who’d left this much of an impression on him. Who drove him crazy by breathing. And he’d known her—what? Four days? Half of that was spent avoiding her.
It had to be the Jamaican air.
He turned his head and coughed to choke the laugh.
Yeah. Right. Blame it on the island.
The only way for him to have saved himself from the attraction driving him toward Lacey would have been to leave her where he’d found her. With her kidnappers. There wasn’t a world that existed where he’d do a thing like that. Which meant he had to figure out what to do about it.
Was there anything to do, though?
Lacey wasn’t like most women he dated. Really any woman he’d ever tangled with, period. His typical girlfriend was quiet, kept to herself, didn’t make a fuss when he left...
Damn.
Had he ever been with a woman who’d really wanted him? Or was he just a passing convenience for them?
As much as Lacey drove him crazy, he knew where her heart lie, what her passions were. She didn’t do anything half assed. Even a fling with him.
And that’s what this was. A fling. A dangerous flash in the pan that was bound to leave scars. He couldn’t tangle with a creature like her and expect to be left unscathed. When she was done with him, there might as well be the letters L-A-C-E-Y carved into his heart.
Chances were high that as soon as they touched US soil, she would flit away and he’d never see her again.
That didn’t sit well with him. He was staring down the barrel of a firing squad of feelings. What the hell was he supposed to do when she was gone? What else should he have expected from her?
She was a free spirit, who would never be happy in one place, or maybe even with one person. That knowledge was a ding to his ego, but denying the truth was ignoring a big chunk of who Lacey was at heart. He’d barely met her and he knew that much was true.
He kissed her brow.
What he wanted was a week of today, a bed and a whole case of rum to drink off her tits, but that was unwise. Appealing, but trouble. Lacey left her mark wherever she went, and he wasn’t a fling kind of guy. It just wasn’t in his genetic makeup.
No, they’d both be better off if this was it. They could chalk it up to the danger, adrenaline, life-affirming need. There were a dozen different names for it, but for him there was just one.
Lacey.
She wasn’t the logical choice of a woman for him, but she was the one who’d fallen into his lap and wouldn’t be ignored. Part of him admired—and resented—her freedom. He’d gone from high school and his parents telling him what to do, to boot camp and drill sergeants. Even now, technically a civilian, he was still taking orders. He’d never be the kind to throw caution to the wind—people got hurt when that happened—but maybe it was time for him to do something selfish. Something...new.
He watched the bits of sky he could see out of the window fade from blue to orange to indigo, the stars coming out in force to chase the storms away. He’d like to see what the sky looked like in other parts of the world, and not be watching his six for enemy combatants.
What would that be like?
He had no idea.
Perhaps he’d ask Lacey for pointers on where to start.
Speaking of starting...
It was time.
They’d hidden out, bided their time, and now they’d make a go of it again and hopefully reach Montego Bay.
“Lacey? Sweetheart, wake up.” He brushed her hair from her face and wiggled the fingers on his arm trapped under her. Pins and needles stabbed his nerve endings, but he still wouldn’t move her before she was ready.
She groaned and turned toward him, burying her face in the crook of his neck.
Shane chuckled and wrapped his arms around her.
“I know, it’s been a long couple of weeks for you, but it’s almost over. Come on.” He smiled and stroked her back. On a whim, he bent his head and kissed her cheek.
She turned her head, finding his lips with hers. Her hand curled into a fist, bunching his shirt up in her grasp. She sighed, a pleasant, sated sound he could listen to all night.
“Time to go,” he said.
“Do we have to?” She blinked at him, her eyelids still heavy with sleep.
“Yes.”
“Five more minutes?” She buried her face against his shoulder.
“To what? Sweat?”
“I was going to say cuddle, but I guess that’s a more truthful description.”
“Rain check that five minutes until we get to a hotel.”
“I like the sound of that.”
Shane did, too. He was pretty sure they’d have at least one night before this mess was put to bed.
“Fine.” She sighed and sat, perching on the seat between his legs.
He pushed up, scooting to his side of the truck before other ideas took root. He’d only had the one condom, after all, and they had places to be.
Shane got out of the truck, keenly aware of Lacey on the other side. He stretched and did a little mental exercise, running through what to do, the dangers and goals, in the hopes of killing his post-nap boner.
It didn’t help all that much.
He grabbed his vest from the front seat and slid it on over his shirt before climbing behind the wheel. Lacey was already sprawled in her seat, by all appearances ready to crash again.
Shane started the truck, turned and eased them back, pushing through the brush until their wheels were back on the road.
They could either go the way they’d come, or continue north.
What would Shane do with a limited number of men, resources spread across an island and a payday at risk?
He’d go for the bottleneck. The one point they would all converge on.
The airport.
Shane turned, pointing the nose of the truck south, toward Ochi Rios, and the fastest route to Montego Bay. He went slower, headlights off, windows down.
“What’s that sound? That buzzing? Is it a bird?” he asked after a while.
“No.” She laughed. “Crickets.”
“Doesn’t sound like any cricket I’ve ever heard.”
“It’s the Jamaican field cricket. I think...the only place it’s at in the US is Florida, but I could be wrong. I am a reptile girl, after all.”
“And what kind of reptiles live in Jamaica?”
“Lots. There’s iguanas, boas, anoles, geckos. I’d actually hoped to maybe spend a week working at the crocodile conservatory. The local population has been poached to almost nothing and they’re trying to bring it back.” Lacey turned her face into the breeze, eyes closed.
“Why’d you pick reptiles? Seems like...an odd thing to focus on.”
“You always know where you stand with a reptile. Their behavior is fairly predictable. In general, they’re driven by the need to eat and reproduce. As long as you know what they’re after, you can be a step ahead of them. You don’t get that with mammals. We’re swayed by our attachments.”
“Predictable. That’s not a word I would have thought appealed to you.”
“My psychologist friend says it’s rooted in my Middle Child Syndrome.”
“Oh?” Shane was a middle child of five. He knew all about being overshadowed by more successful siblings.
“My parents only had my older sister and I, but they kept trying for another kid for years. I know
I resent them for feeling ignored and passed over. My older sister is amazing. She really is, and maybe if I’d been more like her things would...be better. I always liked animals better than people—which is why I started veterinary school. Things happened and I had to switch to a shorter degree plan.”
He didn’t need a neon sign to sense that they were treading deep waters. Whatever made her switch her path had set her on a different life course than the one she was on now.
“I should be recording this. Actually...I think I’m still recording.” Lacey peered at the pack attached to her belt.
Hold on... Did that mean...?
“You were recording...this whole afternoon?”
“Oops...” She glanced at him. “I haven’t uploaded it!”
Shane swallowed.
“I’ll delete it, I swear.” She chuckled.
He turned at the first cross street, the highway not far away.
“I’m sorry. I’ve never done that before.” Lacey chuckled. “This trip is full of firsts.”
“It’ll be over soon.”
“It hasn’t all been bad. Whatever doesn’t kill you, right?”
“There are worse fates than death.” He peered both ways at the highway intersection, waiting for a long enough break in the flow of vehicles to dart out. Like letting your team down and getting one of your best friends shot and nearly killed. Cisco was still in the hospital and that was Shane’s fault.
“Are we talking about me or you, now?”
“Does it matter?”
“I guess not. How long ‘til we’re in Montego Bay?”
“Little over two hours.”
Then home, and back to life as usual. Somehow, that didn’t hold quite the same appeal as it usually did.
8.
Lacey was ready for a real bed, uninterrupted sleep, a shower, and a change of clothes. Another stretch spent sleeping in the stolen truck was not her idea of restful. Still, it’d made no sense to pass the airport to join the rest of the team, just to double back for their crack-of-dawn flight.
Besides, it was rather cozy cuddled up in the back seat of the truck with Shane. It wasn’t that hotel-comfy rain check, but she couldn’t shake the feeling of safety when she was pressed up against him. As though nothing in the world could come between her and Shane. She didn’t let herself think too hard about that. Who had feelings that deep over someone they just met? It was silly.
He seemed to have gotten over his aversion of her, skipped the middle ground and gone straight to sweet, hand-holding and kisses. Once again, she didn’t know what to make of the man.
They were having fun. That’s all it was. She was hardly his type, and it wasn’t like she’d ever had a relationship last more than a few months.
Hell, she was probably guilty of up and disappearing on a few guys and never giving closure.
But this, with Shane, was different. The more she thought about it, the more it made her squirm. And not in a fun way. Shane was the kind of guy who’d expect commitment and more from a girl he was with. The kind of stuff Lacey couldn’t do if she was still going to support herself. Usually, she didn’t bat an eyelash about smiling and bidding a guy goodbye, but something about Shane had her wishing she could be different.
His phone beeped, breaking the silence. He checked the screen, the green light casting odd shadows in the cab.
“It’s time,” he said.
“You don’t have to make it sound like we’re in a horror movie.” She shivered and wrapped her arms around us.
“Just be prepared.”
It was hard for Lacey to imagine Marcos wanting the newlywed couple so badly he’d come after them here, but Shane and the others seemed to think he would. Then there was the chase yesterday, and she wasn’t entirely tossing the idea out.
Shane started the truck and they rolled out of the alley.
The sun had barely begun to turn the horizon gray. Night still swaddled the city. Damage and debris from the storm were everywhere. Windows were boarded up, tree limbs hung low, and driftwood was piled along the streets.
The airport would be a circus today.
“You sure we can get out today?” she asked.
“Kyle arranged it. You remember the plan?”
“Plan? What plan?” She glanced at Shane. “We arrive at the airport, we go into the airport, we find our terminal, we go home. That’s not really a plan.”
“You weren’t listening.”
“Not true. But I might not have been totally awake.”
Shane sighed and turned the wheel. There were only a few other vehicles on the road at this hour.
“We will approach the airport from the cargo entry, leaving the truck at the employee parking lot. From there, we will enter the airport and locate the private cargo plane with—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. You said nothing about us flying on a cargo plane.”
“You said you were listening.”
“I heard you say something, but not that.”
“Well, now I’m telling you the bigger picture.”
“Oh, boy.” Lacey sat back in the seat.
She’d flown on a few cargo jets, out of necessity. They weren’t exactly comfortable. Still, she wasn’t paying for this, and Shane’s team was getting her home. Beggars couldn’t be choosers.
Shane turned down a lane bordered by chain-link fence and rusty signs declaring the property on either side restricted for airport use only. He turned them into a small lot, the guard gate up and the lights out.
“How much do you know about security in Jamaica?” she asked.
“It exists.” Shane parked the truck between other vehicles and killed the engine.
“People who work for the security companies take their jobs very seriously.” She eyed the empty guard shack.
“As they should. Come on.” Shane got out of the truck and tugged his shirt down. The vest was clearly defined under his T-shirt. He screamed military.
“How exactly are we getting into the restricted area of an international airport?” Lacey didn’t think she was going to like this answer.
“We just do.”
“I think you should let me go first,” she said.
Shane turned his head, staring at her with that hard, unyielding look of his.
“You scream American, military, and problem. Jamaicans are laidback and friendly.” How did she politely say that she could likely sweet talk them through, faster than he could bully them into trouble? “Just—wait here, okay?”
She ducked in front of him and opened the door to the small building serving as the entrance to this part of the airport. The waiting room was lined with chairs, the lights were dim, and the young man behind the counter looked half asleep.
“Morning, ma’am.” The guard set the front legs of his chair back on the ground and straightened in his seat.
“Good morning.” She smiled back.
“You’re up mighty early.”
“You’re telling me.” She chuckled. “We were supposed to meet our delivery guy before the storm hit, but we didn’t make it. Our cargo has been sitting out there, and we were told that today was the earliest we could get to it.”
“Oh, man.” The guy shook his head.
“Pease don’t tell me that’s a no.”
“All I can say is, today will be a busy day, yeah, man.” He shook his head and smiled. “You know, someone was in here yesterday asking about a blonde American woman. Do you have friends here?”
“Oh... That must be Kyle.” Lacey amped up her smile.
“Your friend seemed very worried about you. Red hair?”
“That’s him.” Lacey was going to be sick.
“What’s our chance of seeing the cargo?” Lacey cradled her head in her hands. “Our car got washed down a hill and everything went with it. Please, please, tell me something is going right?”
“Do you have—?”
Lacey shook her head. She didn’t have an ID, passport or even a receipt with her n
ame on it.
“Oh, wow.” He tapped his fingers on the counter.
“Please?” Lacey glanced over her shoulder at Shane. “My boss is really crabby, and—is there any way you can get us in to inspect the cargo?”
“You don’t know where it is or anything?”
“No, I do. It’s supposed to be with a plane, N-number is...are you ready?”
“My system is down. I can’t look up the plane.” He tapped the keyboard. “You know what, if you’re going to be in and out today...if you could just sign in here for me, and I’ll keep a look out for your friends.”
“That would be—amazing. Thank you. Really. You’re saving my neck.”
Lacey jotted down her kindergarten teacher’s name and Burt Reynolds.
If Marcos was here looking for them, then the last thing she was going to do was plant her signature on a page.
She stuck her head out the front door and waved Shane inside.
The security guy buzzed them through to a small warehouse. Lacey waved to the guy before they ducked outside into the gray morning.
“Holy shit. Holy shit.” Lacey paused and doubled over.
“What? What’s wrong?” Shane asked.
“Marcos was here yesterday, asking about me.”
Shane’s eyes went wide. He gestured at the building. “You didn’t—”
“No, I used the name of my first teacher and you’re Burt Reynolds. It was all I could think of in the moment. Holy shit. Why is Marcos looking for me?”
“You have video evidence he is every bit the monster we know him to be. Come on.” Shane wrapped his arm around her and glanced around the open tarmac. He pulled out his phone. “Marcos probably has people with eyes on the place. The others should know.”
Lacey shivered and buried her face against Shane’s shoulder while he made the phone call.
This was all so surreal.
She listened halfheartedly to Shane’s side of the conversation. He directed the others to hold their positions until he and Lacey made it to the plane.
What if Marcos’ men were here? What if she was about to walk into a trap? Would they leave her alone if she promised to never turn them in?
Yeah, she couldn’t do that. Marcos had to pay for what he’d done to her and many before her. She couldn’t pretend she wasn’t going to go for blood, given the opportunity.
Dangerous in Love (Aegis Group Alpha Team, #1) Page 9