Cade hopped up from the floor. “I think there are some blankets in the closet.”
Did he expect her to cuddle up with him in front of a roaring fire? She tossed aside her second boot. She wanted nothing more at this moment.
Gavin’s outstretched legs drooped, his feet skimming Jenna’s shoulder. Turning, she pulled the blanket over his legs. He shifted to the side and curled his legs beneath him, resting his head on the arm of the overstuffed chair.
Cade returned and shook out another blanket, which he laid over Gavin. “Electricity’s on, water’s on, but not the gas, so the only heat we have in here is this fire. He’ll be warmer sleeping in the chair than in one of the cold bedrooms back there.”
Her cheeks warm, Jenna busied herself with tucking the loose ends of the blanket around Gavin’s body. And where would she and Cade be warmer sleeping?
He pulled another chair close to the fireplace and dropped to the floor in front of it, wrapping a blanket around his shoulders. He shoved another blanket toward her with his foot. “There are a couple more blankets on the beds, if you’re still cold.”
Folding her legs on the thin area rug, she dragged the blanket toward her. “Maybe another one on top of this rug.”
“Yeah, too bad it’s not one of those bearskin rugs.”
He pushed to his feet again, the blanket hanging from his frame like a serape. He returned a minute later with a patchwork bedspread. “I’ll cover the rug with this.”
Jenna scrambled to her feet and took the other end of the bedspread from Cade. They spread it out on the floor, and Jenna sank down on the fluffy softness, parking her back against Gavin’s chair again.
Cade propped himself against the other chair, stretching his long legs toward the fire. He’d removed his boots and his bare feet poked out of the end of the blanket.
“Are you sure you don’t want to remove your jacket? It’s warm enough now without it, and yours has to be as wet as mine was.”
She didn’t want to remove any more clothing than necessary, but he had a point. Her damp jacket felt soggy next to the warm, dry blanket.
She shrugged off the blanket and unzipped her jacket. She spread it out on the floor to the side of the fireplace. Then she tugged the wig off her head and ran her hands through her short hair. “How long are we safe here?”
Cade tapped the side of his eye. “Do you want to remove the contacts, too? You probably don’t want to sleep in them and I think you can dispense with the disguise.”
Jenna reached up and pulled down her bottom lid while running her index finger over her eyeball to remove the lens. She repeated with the second eye and flicked both brown contacts onto the table next to Gavin’s chair.
Did Cade suggest that to distract her from her question? He had the wrong fugitive. “How long are we safe?”
“With that helicopter parked a half mile away?” He snorted. “Not long. They may even have a tracking device on it.”
“Long enough to get some sleep?”
“Absolutely. It’s going to take them some time to round up more transportation, especially another helicopter.” He dragged a gun from beneath the chair. “You plan to sleep sitting upright like that?”
“Do you?”
“I could sleep hanging from my thumbs with one eye open.”
“You’re not going to sleep, are you?”
“Sure I am—with one eye open.”
No point in arguing with the man. She knew better. Hadn’t she tried to talk him out of that whirlwind marriage four years ago?
Puffing her cheeks and blowing out a breath, she scooted away from her backrest, clutching the blanket around her body with one hand. She tipped over onto the floor, curling her legs to her chest, her back to Cade.
“Comfortable?”
“Uh-huh.” How could she possibly be comfortable with her long-lost, sex appeal–oozing, magnetic husband breathing down her back?
He rustled beside her and she tightened her fetal position. Her eyes flew open when a soft pillow hit the back of her head.
“Sorry about that.” He plucked the round pillow from the floor and dangled it over her face. “You might be more comfortable with this wedged under your head.”
“Thanks.” She snatched the pillow from him and scrunched it beneath her cheek. “Much better. Wake me up when the bullets start flying.”
For the second time that night, Jenna drifted off with Cade just inches away from her. She tugged the blanket toward her chin, a smile curving her lips. This was easier than she’d expected.
Her husband didn’t have the same impact on her as before.
She unfurled her legs and straightened her back. Her limbs felt heavy and her eyelids heavier as she succumbed to heavenly sleep.
* * *
THE LAST WISPS OF A PLEASANT dream floated out of her grasp, and she sighed. She snuggled into the warm, comfortable pillow and it shifted beneath her.
Fluttering her lashes, she smoothed her hand across the pillow, which had somehow made it beneath her blanket during the night.
The pillow shifted again.
She blinked her eyes and rolled to her back. She gulped and tension seized every one of her muscles, dragging her out of her drowsy comfort.
She wasn’t staring down the barrel of a gun, but this was worse. Much worse.
She was staring into the dark eyes of Cade Stark, her head was in his lap and it felt oh, so good.
Chapter Five
Uh-oh.
Jenna had looked beautiful in her sleep, her short, blond hair framing her face, her lashes creating two crescents on her milky skin. Burrowing into his lap.
She looked no less beautiful now with her blue eyes snapping to attention and a rose-colored flush marching across her cheeks. But he knew he was seconds away from losing her.
Her head shot up. “How did I get over here?”
Would she believe him if he told her she’d inched her way toward him during the night as she’d slept? Of course, he’d helped the situation along when the top of her head met the outside of his thigh by placing her head on his lap.
“You sort of rolled over here.” He held up his hands. “You’re still fully clothed.”
Her jaw tightened.
Wrong moment to try humor. It had always worked with her before, usually defusing any tension between them. But this level of tension was a whole new ball game. They’d stumbled into unchartered areas of tension, and he had no idea how to make it better.
Cuddling her while she slept had made it worse. For her.
He’d enjoyed every second of it.
She scooted toward Gavin, still snoozing in the arms of the big chair. “No problems last night?”
Other than having his beautiful wife’s head lolling against his thighs all night and not being able to make a move?
“No problems.” He tapped the cell phone in the breast pocket of his shirt. “Can’t get any service, though.”
She smoothed her hand across Gavin’s forehead. “And if you could?”
“I’d call one of my contacts for transportation out of here. We can’t fly around in a helicopter.”
“You can just call Prospero on a regular cell phone? What’s the number? 1-800-SPY-4YOU?”
“You’re a laugh a minute.” He plucked the phone from his pocket and cradled it in his palm. “This baby is no ordinary cell phone.”
“Of course not.”
“It’s untraceable. No numbers are stored on it. You can’t do things like call back.”
“But you’re still limited by pedestrian stuff like no service.”
“True.” He dropped the useless phone back in his pocket.
She yawned and stretched, then dropped her hand back to Gavin’s forehead, stroking his skin. “We can’t take the helicopter out for another spin?”
“The bird doesn’t have much gas left.”
Her hand stilled and trembled. “You mean we’re stuck here?”
“We have our legs.” He slappe
d his thigh. “Are you hungry?”
“Is there anything to eat in there?” She tipped her chin toward the kitchen.
“Nothing much. Don’t know if I’d trust any food out of that kitchen, anyway.” He hunched forward and dragged his bag toward him. “I have a few snacks in here—energy bars, beef jerky, bottled water.”
“You lead a strange existence.” She folded her arms and hunched her shoulders. “Where have you been all these years?”
“Three years, Jenna.” He buried his head in the duffel and plucked out a couple of energy bars. He tossed one to her. “I’ve been overseas mostly, but I’ve been back and forth to the States.”
“Guess I missed your postcards.” She tore open the energy bar and ripped off a piece with her teeth.
He dragged in a breath. “I checked up on you, you and Gavin.”
Blinking her eyes, she swallowed. “How did you manage that?”
“I had Prospero keep tabs on you here. Whenever I could, I staked out your location...just to see you and Gavin for myself.”
She stuffed another piece of energy bar in her mouth and said, “That’s kind of creepy.”
His gaze shifted to his son, sleeping in the chair with his hand curled beneath his chubby cheek. “Not creepy at all.”
“Is that how you knew we were in Lovett Peak?”
“Yeah.” He hoisted himself up and perched on the arm of Gavin’s makeshift bed. “Do you think he’ll eat an energy bar for breakfast?”
She ignored his question, hell-bent on a few of her own.
“Did you know those men were coming after me and Gavin?”
“I figured they might try to find you again.”
“Again?” She narrowed her eyes. “Had they given up? Was I running for no good reason after your mission went south?”
“I wouldn’t say that.”
“So they renewed their efforts after their first attempts, when they thought you’d stolen those plans or whatever they are.”
“Those plans are very important to Zendaris. He’s willing to do anything to get them back.”
She studied him across the sleeping form of their son. “How did you lose them? I take it we wouldn’t be in this predicament if you’d been able to turn them over to the government, correct? There’s nothing Zendaris could’ve done at that point. Game over.”
“Probably, but I didn’t have the plans in my possession for very long before they were snatched from me.”
“Did someone steal them out of the backseat of your car, or what? You always used to throw junk in the back of your car and forget about it for weeks.”
A smile tugged at his mouth despite their predicament, as she’d called it. “Not exactly. The plans were in a file on my computer. I wasn’t going to use regular email to get them to the CIA. But before I could encrypt them or get one of our computer guys on it, someone hacked into my computer and lifted them.”
“No trace left behind?”
“None.” He jumped up from the chair and paced to the window, running a hand through his hair. “Whoever stole those plans knew his way around a computer. We had our cyber-threat guys go through my PC, and they couldn’t detect anything.”
She yanked Gavin’s blanket over his shoulder and smoothed imaginary creases from it. “Maybe all we have to do is keep out of sight until whoever has those plans makes Zendaris an offer he can’t refuse.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Where you’re concerned, it never is.”
This time he ignored her. “The person who stole the plans may not want to make a deal with Zendaris at all. Maybe he wants to replace Zendaris as top-dog arms dealer and sell the plans to the highest bidding terrorist organization or rogue nation.”
“Then Zendaris will find out soon enough.” She spread her arms to encompass the small room. “Isn’t there some sort of terrorist network where that kind of news would travel fast?”
“There is and it does.”
“So, again, once Zendaris realizes you don’t have the plans, he’ll back off. We...Gavin and I will be safe.”
“Never did like the idea of relying on something out of my control to keep my family safe. I don’t want to sit around and wait for the person with the plans to make his move.”
“What does that mean?”
“Prospero is planning to go after Zendaris.”
“Why haven’t you before?”
Cade propped up the mantel with his shoulder. “He’s evasive, slippery. We don’t even know what Zendaris looks like. We don’t know where he lives. We don’t know if he has a family.”
“Wow, Prospero is really slipping.” She tossed her head, and her gleaming hair caught the weak light seeping into the room from the east-facing window. “I guess Jack Coburn isn’t superhuman, after all.”
Case shook his head and chuckled. “He’d be shocked to hear himself described as superhuman.”
“That’s how you made him come across. You idolized him.”
Jenna’s blue eyes fogged over with wistfulness. As ridiculous as it seemed, Cade knew Jenna had always felt he’d chosen Jack Coburn over her when he’d decided to join Prospero.
Well, hadn’t he? Just like his father had chosen the life of a con man over staying with his family. Cade had learned how to abandon his family at the knee of a master.
He shrugged off the mantel and circled behind Gavin’s chair. He leaned his forearms on the back, hunching over his son. “Coburn’s a good man, Jenna, an honorable man, but I didn’t join Prospero out of any blind hero-worship.”
“I guess I don’t blame you for joining Prospero so much as I blame you for marrying me when you knew darn well the life of a secret agent loomed in your future.”
He leaned farther over the chair, nearly touching her forehead with his. “That was totally your fault. One look at you, and I could no more resist you than I could turn down any cockamamy dare.”
She drew back. “Don’t change the subject. Do you have any idea who might have taken the plans from you?”
“Could be any number of people or groups, but whoever has them would want to keep his identity secret for as long as possible to keep Zendaris off his tail.”
“And keep him on ours.”
“Exactly.”
“Once you catch Zendaris, Gavin and I can stop running.”
“Once we catch Zendaris...” How many times had he repeated those words to himself? They’d taken on an almost-magical quality because they represented freedom for him, freedom to claim his family.
His gaze shifted to Jenna, watching as she ran her hand across Gavin’s new buzz cut. Would he be able to claim them? Would Jenna take him back?
He had to make sure she’d want nothing more.
“Yes? Once you catch Zendaris?”
Was she holding her breath or was he?
He cleared his throat. “You and Gavin will be safe once Zendaris is out of the picture.”
“I’m sure Prospero has plenty of enemies. How can I be sure there won’t be another one ready to take Zendaris’s place, ready to threaten me and my son?”
Our son.
“There’s only one Zendaris. With him, it’s personal.”
“You never did explain what happened on your first assignment with Prospero. All I know is you left me and then returned only to warn me to get lost and never show my face again.”
He braced his forehead against his clasped hands. “I know it must’ve seemed that way, but I warned you out of necessity. After we completed our mission, Zendaris found out about our families and vowed to take revenge.”
“That must’ve been one heckuva mission. What did you do to him?”
“We spoiled his biggest arms deal to date.” Cade closed his eyes as heat surged through his body, even the memories powerful enough to pump adrenaline into his veins.
“What did he expect, and how is that personal? These guys have to know everything isn’t going to come up roses for them all the time. He’s still in bu
siness, isn’t he?”
Cade glanced at Jenna, wrinkling her nose. “What do you mean?”
“I mean for Zendaris to want to come after you personally, you must’ve hit him on more than a business level.”
“Funny you should mention that.” Cade crossed in front of Jenna to grab his blanket rumpled on the floor. “We, my Prospero teammates and I, thought the same thing.”
“Were any of Zendaris’s people injured or killed during your mission?”
“A few.”
“Any women or children?”
Cade clenched his jaw. “We don’t attack women and children. That’s his M.O.”
“Okay, okay.” She held up her hands. “Family members, maybe?”
“Could be. We’re not sure.” He folded his blanket and reached for Jenna’s. “I told you, we don’t know much about him. Don’t know what he looks like. Don’t know anything about his family.”
“You knew enough to prevent that first deal from going down.”
“Good intelligence all around on that job, but we’d like nothing more than to nail the guy...in person. End his career.”
She sighed. “Sounds good to me, too.”
Gavin stirred and fluttered his eyelashes. He opened one eye, sleepy at first and then widening as he took in his surroundings. He bolted upright.
“Shh.” Jenna scooted into the chair beside him, nudging him with her hip. “It’s okay. Do you remember coming to this place last night?”
“In the helicopter.” He pointed a finger at Cade. “With him.”
“That’s Cade. He’s going to be with us for...a while. A little while.”
If he had anything to say about it, he’d be with them a lot longer than that. He’d left shortly after Gavin was born, so he had a lot of smiles to make up for.
Cade dug another energy bar from his pocket and waved it at Jenna. “Will he eat this?”
“Candy bar!” Gavin bounced in the chair, aiming a hopeful look at his mother.
“Not really.” She took the bar from Cade and ripped one silver-foiled corner. “Do you want to try it?”
Licking his lips, Gavin nodded.
Cade now regretted not getting the chocolate-covered ones. The kid was in for a rude surprise.
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