She shook her head. So much had happened, she couldn’t even begin to talk about it. “You’re right. We can’t go anywhere near campus. How about a restaurant at Hamilton Place?”
“I could go for a steak. Outback?”
She made a left turn and headed towards the interstate. That would work. She may not have been in town long, but she’d become quite familiar with the mall.
“I know Daddy can track my phone and my car. Other things, too. The shoes I wear most often, my winter coats. My wallet. I don’t think there are cameras in here, but I guess I don’t really know. He says he has to keep track of me like this so he can find me if I’m kidnapped. He hired a local security firm. I’ve had his people on me for planned outings, but the experts said the first couple of weeks weren’t as big of a threat — not until any would-be kidnappers could take the time to watch me and learn my schedule. I’ll have a security team following me around starting Monday.”
Because the people who’d taken her mom were considered top-notch professionals. If they came after her, it would only be after they’d observed her for months.
“He has a point about keeping you safe.”
“It’s about control, Danny.”
“McGyver. My friends call me McGyver.”
She shook her head. “You’re my Danny.”
He rested his head on the headrest and sighed. “Okay.”
“I am not insufferable!”
He chuckled. “Remains to be seen. It’s good to see you, Blueberry. I’ve missed you.”
“You really aren’t mad?”
“Not at you. Not even a little.”
Chapter 3
He couldn’t stop breathing her in. How many times had he picked up a stray scent and thought it her? Or seen the glint of blue sparking somewhere and been taken back?
His Blueberry was right here, and he might get his heart broken all over again, but it’d be worth it. He closed his eyes and breathed her scent. Even nervous as fuck, she smelled heavenly.
And when she got out of her car and walked into the steakhouse with him, he had to push his wolf down to keep from reaching for her hand. He didn’t have the right, yet, but damn, she was a woman now. Comfortable in her skin, and completely at home in the short skirt, heels, and oh-so-snug knit shirt that showed off her ripped abs. His Blueberry apparently still worked out.
She’d been a vegetarian at fifteen, but she ordered a steak and ate it with gusto. His wolf wanted to feed her, but he kept his hands to himself — though it took a monumental effort.
“Why Chattanooga?” he asked her. He needed to know what fortunate bit of fate had brought her back to him. Atlanta would’ve been within that two-hundred-mile circle. Northern Florida was outside it, but she’d always been able to work her father just outside his original lines.
She rolled her eyes. “Even with Daddy’s money, my grades were never going to get me into an Ivy League school. He isn’t above buying a building or two for extra consideration, but he wouldn’t bribe an individual.” She pulled a black band off a copper bracelet and used it as a ponytail holder. “Once I blew it at Tulane, I guess I’ve been on a downhill spiral. I mean, at first, I was mostly serious about classes, but then I kind of wasn’t.” She shrugged. Uncomfortable. “I’m serious about them this year, and I still struggle with math, but I’m figuring it out. I need a degree if I’m ever going to get out from under my father. I mean, I can’t do anything. I need to follow his rules so I can get my trust fund. I’d like to think I can make enough money to support myself eventually, but if I can’t, the trust fund will have to...” she stabbed a piece of steak with her fork. “Once I get it, I never want to have to ask Daddy for money again.”
“You really aren’t going to work for the company?”
She shook her head. “No way. Daddy’s trying to get me interested in the marketing side of things, since I guess I’d be able to use some of my art skills for commercials and ads, but I don’t even want to do that.”
“If you need a math tutor, I’ll volunteer my services. Anything else giving you trouble?”
“This stupid Mathematical Models, Functions and Applications class might kill me, but then I’m done with math except for statistics. I’ve failed it twice at other colleges. I can get past the first one, but the second one makes my brain hurt. I’m taking Statistics One again this semester, in the hopes I can finally pass Applied Statistics next semester.” Another sigh. “Basically, this year is all about passing the classes I’ve already taken and failed, so it’s kind of a bitch.”
“Why are you living in the dorms?”
“Daddy’s rule. It bites, but just a little longer and I’ll be out from under him. He who has the gold makes the rules.”
Other people might wonder why she didn’t just tell her dad to fuck off and then go wait tables or something, but McGyver understood. Iris’s dad had spoiled her as a child, to the extent she thought luxuries were necessities. He’d practically crippled her emotionally, so her self-worth was all tied up in what she wore and what vehicle she arrived at school in. McGyver had started making her believe she was important as a person, and not because of her last name or her designer clothes, but her father hadn’t tolerated that. His princess had to remain a princess in a high tower. Untouchable. Unreachable.
But if she was going to UTC and living in a dorm, perhaps some of that had broken down, without her asshole father realizing?
As much as he wanted to promise he could take care of her needs and some of her wants, he knew better. It’d just come off as creepy.
“Buy some clothes and shoes and don’t tell anyone. Use cash. I’ll pick you up Saturday morning without your phone or your purse, and we’ll lose any security who might try to keep up. Let me show you my world? My house, my friends. Take pictures of your math problems and send them to me Friday, and we’ll work on that Saturday, too. I promise it’ll make sense after I’ve explained it.”
“Then there’ll be an online thread to you.”
“I have an email address no one will ever trace to me, Blueberry. I can hide online, and I can teach you how to keep stuff from your dad.”
McGyver wasn’t afraid of her dad, but if his Blueberry needed to play it straight for a while, he’d help her.
Chapter 4
Once upon a time, Iris would’ve been thrilled to buy clothes merely to bypass her father, no matter the reason. But then her mother’s abduction had shaken them all to the core and changed her life forever.
She’d snuck away a few times since then, but never when it was part of her regular schedule. Iris was more careful now.
And she considered, over and over, why she was doing this now. If she was smart, she’d turn her back on Danny and forget she saw him, but Iris had never been smart when it came to him.
So she bought designer jeans, a sexy little Harley Davidson cut-out tee, a black leather jacket, and heavy black boots supposedly made for riding motorcycles, though why that was necessary was beyond her. Still, she’d never had problems dressing to fit whatever look she needed. She also bought new panties and bras, because she’d once found a tiny tracker in a bra when she hadn’t even been looking for it. A black scarf to hide her hair, and heavy-rimmed glasses. She stocked up on cash since she’d be out and about without her credit cards. She hated feeling paranoid, but her dad had made her this way.
When she sent the math pages to the email address Danny gave her, she made it sound like they had an appointment for a tutoring session Saturday. The new security company was already following her electronically, but she told them she’d be staying in over the weekend to study, so the team would officially start Monday.
She was certain her dad had cameras placed so the team could watch her. At the very least, they’d know when she entered or exited the dorm, but the odds were good he’d had cameras installed inside too. Illegal, but her father believed himself to be above most laws. Especially the ones that annoyed him.
The dorm was two bedroom
s with a common living area of kitchen, living room, and bathroom. So far, Kelsey had proved to be a good dorm mate.
Saturday morning, Iris put the new shirt and jacket into a store bag, and wore a white silk shirt tucked into the jeans. Three blocks to the library — all uphill — had her blood pumping. Or maybe it was the effort of trying to look casual while she wondered if she was being watched by the new security company’s control room. Did they know she’d left her dorm? How many cameras did they have up in the vicinity of her building? Had her father sent someone to follow her to tutoring after that email? Had she already set off alarms by leaving without her purse and phone? She didn’t know. She hadn’t done anything sneaky in so long, she didn’t know their protocol anymore.
She put her shirt and jacket on in the library’s bathroom, turned the shopping bag inside out, stuck the white silk shirt inside, and threw it in the trash. She wrapped the black scarf around her head so it covered her hair, put the glasses on, and waited until she heard a loud motorcycle.
How had she forgotten the adrenaline rush of sneaking? With her pulse racing, she exited the library, accepted the full-faced helmet from someone she hoped was Danny, put it on, and threw her leg over the bike.
She jumped a little when she heard Danny’s voice, clear as a bell despite the motorcycle’s noise.
“Feet on the pegs. Lean forward and wrap your arms around me. Pat my stomach when you’re ready.”
“How can I hear you?”
He lifted one arm and looked down. “Feet on the pegs, Blueberry.”
She lifted her feet, put them on what she hoped were the pegs, wrapped her arms around him, and tapped his abdomen. The less time they spent here, the better. Her stomach seemed to stay at the library when he took off, despite the fact he drove smoothly.
“Are there microphones in the helmet?” she asked.
“Yeah. You aren’t wearing anything you already had?”
“New jeans, boots, socks, shirt, jacket, undies — even the scarf is new.”
“Glasses? Keys?”
“Glasses are new. I had to bring the dorm key card. I can’t even use the elevator without it, but I bought an RF-blocking slim wallet that fits in my pocket. I only have it and some cash with me. No credit cards. Not even any ID.”
“Cloth, leather, or metal wallet?”
“Metal.”
“Good. That should block whatever’s inside. The cloth and leather ones just block a specific frequency range. They’re designed to block payment cards but not location cards.”
Years of sneaking out had given Iris a reason to know this, but why did Danny know? Before she could ask, he said, “We’ll ride around a little before I take you to my house. I’ve blocked the license plate so cameras can’t get an image. Even if he figures out you changed in the library and got on the motorcycle, he won’t be able to find out anything about the owner of said bike. We’re good, Blue.”
“How do you know I changed in the library?”
“Because you’re smart.”
She squeezed him a little tighter. No one else had ever thought she was smart.
“Feels good to have your arms around me again. Have you been on a bike before?”
“No, but it isn’t as scary as I thought it would be.” They were driving over the Veteran’s Bridge, and she took a few seconds to look around. The river was beautiful beneath them. “Even now that you’re going faster. I feel safe.” She’d always felt safe with him.
McGyver roared into the Hixson area, made a left, snaked through residential neighborhoods without traffic cams, and finally pulled over on the side of the road under a grove of trees. With no houses or other vehicles in sight, he took the orange skin off his Blueberry’s helmet, the bright blue skin off his, and the turquoise skin off his gas tank and fenders. He stowed them away to use later, lifted Iris’s face shield to get a look at her, closed it, and handed her a bright pink jacket.
“Change.”
While she switched her jacket, he took his long-sleeved purple shirt off and donned a short-sleeved black one.
And tried not to get pissed when he smelled fear and arousal from his Blueberry. What the fuck had made her afraid of a shirtless male? He’d certainly never done anything to make her afraid of him.
“You came prepared,” she noted.
“We’ll use the Olgiati Bridge to get back over the river, and wander around a little before I take you to my house. I have all your favorite breakfast foods. We can talk while we cook.”
Raw pain and fear flashed over her features, and her scent went sour again. What the fuck? He stowed their things and told her, “I’ll never hurt you. Today is breakfast and tutoring.” And talking. A lot of talking. “When you’re comfortable with it, I’d like to take you to the clubhouse and introduce you to my brothers, but that can wait.” He’d hoped to do it this evening, but he’d have to figure out why she was scared of him, first.
McGyver had accounted for every security scenario except the supernatural. If her dad had hired Drake Security, it was possible a werewolf or other supernatural would smell him on her, and there was no way to prevent that without telling her about werewolves. Even then, they might not be able to work around it. “Do you know the names of any of your security people?”
“I only met them this week. Daddy had my old team watching me before — his people — but there’s a good local firm, and he believes they’ll do a better job on their own turf. The leader of my team is Kenny, but it sounds like Bob and Jake will be my everyday team. Oh, and there’s a girl who’ll go with me if I want to go clubbing. Her name’s Cora. If I need someone in the dorm with me at night, it’ll have to be her, too. Campus rules.”
Fuck. Cora worked for Drake Security, and she was most definitely a wolf. His house would be okay today, but this would complicate things long-term.
“It’s safe for me to take you home today, but I’m familiar with that security company, and they’re damned good. I’ll have to make other arrangements if we want to keep seeing each other. Still do-able, but it’ll take some extra attention to detail.”
“I give you a few names, and you know who they work for?”
“Yeah. Our club is friends with the owner.” And Cora’s best friend had a friends-with-benefits thing going with one of McGyver’s brothers, but there was no sense bringing that up.
She squeezed him a little tighter. “You should take me back.”
“I’m not a kid anymore. I won’t do anything to put you at risk. They won’t track us through the side roads and back onto the interstate heading the other direction. Even if they look, they won’t recognize the bike, helmets, or people. We’re both wearing standard black riding boots, same as most every other bike rider.”
“They can track your phone, too. They’ll know it’s the same bike because of your phone.” She took a breath. “And if you don’t have a phone, the very fact a bike has two riders who don’t have a phone will look suspicious.”
“How’d you get to be so smart?”
“Years of shaking a security detail, but I haven’t tried since I got into town. Plus, this company is new, so I haven’t had a chance to test the boundaries. I honestly don’t know how inescapable it is here.”
“I have two phones on me, neither of which can be traced to me. They were giving off a different ID when I picked you up — I switched them when we stopped to change. I know what I’m doing.”
He felt her take a deep breath and let it out, and he couldn’t help his smile. Iris had been all over the news during her mother’s funeral, and seeing pictures of her had cut him to the bone. He’d never expected to see her in person again, much less have her on the back of his bike.
He changed lanes so a semi would block them from a camera, and focused back on their conversation. “I’ll drop you off about a half-mile from my house, and someone named Harmony will walk you through the woods and to my back door. If the Drake control room decides to watch the entrance to our neighborhood on a hu
nch, since they saw you get on a bike, they won’t see you enter our neighborhood. They’ll see me drive up in a yet different shirt, and in my regular helmet, on a different colored bike. Alone.”
“Who is this Harmony to you?”
“She’s the wife of one of my brothers, and I promise she’ll be nice. She also has her own security cred — if something worries her during that half-mile, she’ll abort and we’ll meet up somewhere else.”
Chapter 5
Iris wanted to ask Danny if he did illegal shit, but she didn’t want to hear the answer. It was too easy to tell herself he was friends with the security company’s owner, and that was how he knew how to avoid them.
Though she knew, deep down, his club had likely learned how to avoid being detected so they wouldn’t get caught breaking the law. Masking one’s movements from the cops and from a security team took the same skillset.
What was she doing? She just had to finish out the year, get her diploma, make it to her twenty-fifth birthday, and then she could see whoever she damned well pleased. What the everloving fuck was she doing with Danny?
Because she’d never been able to tell him no.
Because she still loved him from the bottom of her heart. Because just riding his bike, her body against his, her arms around him while the landscape flew by — everything was right with the world.
Nothing had been right since the day she’d been literally ripped from his arms, and she’d never seen him again.
And now he was here. Long hair, broad shoulders, deep voice. A man. No longer a boy. Would he drive her as skillfully as he drove his bike?
She shook her head. She was a woman now, no longer a child. She had to think with her head, not her damned heart.
They took the interstate around the base of Lookout Mountain and out of town, but then exited the freeway and climbed Lookout Mountain, rode the crest a while, and rode down it on a winding, off-the-beaten-path road that should’ve been terrifying on a bike, but was exhilarating.
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