I think there might be some things in the refrigerator that’ll be fresh enough to eat. I could fix us some eggs…after I take a shower, of course.”
“Okay. That’ll be fine. But you’ll have to give me directions to your place.”
“Just keep heading south for about twenty miles. I’ll tell you when to get off the interstate.”
Despite her momentary lapse into a ridiculously lust-filled haze over the man, her cover had held. Apparently, Steve had convinced his old army buddy, Michael, that the FBI wasn’t simply out to prove Marcus guilty. An investigation might prove him innocent, as well.
And, moreover, it might be prudent to have a bodyguard around to help keep Marcus alive while he awaited his trial.
So she was in. But she intended to do everything in her power to find the evidence that would make the case hold. She felt sure this rich playboy lawyer was somehow involved in money laundering for the drug cartel.
She knew Marcus came from a very wealthy family with all the money in the world to hire legions of lawyers and private investigators. And Dana was determined to get to the evidence first so she would have a bargaining chip to help convince him to turn on his racketeering buddies and become an informer.
That is…if she could keep herself focused on the assignment and off Marcus’s intense brown eyes.
Glancing into the rearview mirror, Dana caught sight of the same black SUV that she’d noticed earlier. “Hope you don’t mind if we take a detour. Hang on.” She whipped the wheel hard to the left and stepped down on the gas.
“What the hell?” Marcus jerked his head around to stare at her as she ripped in and out of traffic.
He cursed under his breath when she two-wheeled it past a car going seventy, hit the next exit ramp and locked the brakes. He struggled to balance himself on the seat while Dana maneuvered the boxy sedan down the ramp and blasted past the stop sign at the bottom.
She finally slowed down to the speed limit and looked around. “You have any idea of where we are?” she asked.
“That was some driving exhibition,” he muttered. “What do you think you were doing?”
“Saving your butt. The driver of the car that was following us didn’t look like any Sunday driver.”
“A car was following us?”
Dana nodded, pulled into a convenience store’s lot out by the air pumps and shut off the engine. “I understand you have some involvement with a drug cartel. I’m no expert, but I’ve seen the kind of cars those guys drive around town. A car like that had been following us since we pulled away from the jail. I figured it was time to shake them loose.”
Was she kidding? “The drug cartel…why on earth would they be following me?”
“Maybe they’re afraid you’ll turn state’s evidence against your friends. Have the feds offered you a deal for information yet?”
He wiped the back of his hand across his mouth and tried to think. “I spent all morning in interrogation. But no one mentioned any deals. I got the distinct impression they already had plenty of evidence against me. At my arraignment, it sounded like the federal prosecutor’s office wasn’t interested in any more information…or any deals.”
She’d turned in her seat to face him, and he noticed that her body seemed poised for action. Ready to fight or flee at any wrong move. Tense and in perfect control of herself and the situation. This was some bodyguard that Michael had hired.
Now that Marc’s breathing was steadier, he decided to covertly study her, trying to remember everything she’d said. “Did you just say something about the cartel thinking I would turn on my friends? I don’t have any connection to the cartel. I don’t even know anyone that’s in a cartel. Why would you think I did?”
“You were arrested for racketeering, weren’t you?”
“Yes, but I’m innocent. I’ve been framed.” Damn. The woman had the most gorgeous dark brown eyes he’d ever seen, but if she didn’t believe in him… “Look, Dana. If you believe I’m guilty of what they say, maybe we’d better rethink this bodyguard deal.”
She twisted in her seat and checked out the back window then turned the key in the ignition before she answered him. “I’m not paid to believe anything, pal. I’m a professional. It’s my job to keep you alive.”
Backing out of the space, she never looked at him, but her voice was strong. “You need a bodyguard and I’m the best. It doesn’t matter what I think.”
He laid a hand on her forearm. “It matters to me. Will you at least give me a chance to prove it to you?”
She stopped the car and stared down to where his hand touched her arm. “I’m just your bodyguard. I’ll be right beside you until the trial. If you find any new information, I’ll be there to see it.” She glanced up and for a split second there was an odd expression on her face, then she tugged her arm out from under his hand.
In that instant he’d seen a different kind of emotion in her eyes. He’d begun to think of her as simply tough and beautiful. But buried deep in that gaze was something more.
Her expression reminded him of buried yearnings and crazy childish desires. It was totally out of context with the controlled and strong person he was beginning to know.
He’d seen a scared little girl buried deep in those eyes. A girl looking for someone who would love and care about her. It made him want to protect her. Made him want to insist she stop the car so he could change places and drive her around. Made him have a crazy vision of moving in front of her while bad guys pointed guns in her direction.
“So…” she began. “Let’s get on with it.”
The sexy, “tough guy” was back. And just that fast, Marc’s protective impulses turned to something more primitive. Visions of her in bed, tangled up in his arms, appeared in his head.
“Yeah, okay. We’ll talk about it.” If he could manage to get past the pictures in his head—and also past some strong impulses a lot lower on his body, too.
“If I head south on this surface street, can we get to your place by the back roads?” she asked.
He nodded, but couldn’t find his voice. Whoo boy. It had been a long time since he’d felt anything at all. Now suddenly he had tender images and sexual fantasies about a woman he’d just met?
These emotions must be originating from the events surrounding his arrest. Adrenaline, from fighting for his freedom, must be their root cause. He was just over stimulated, that’s all.
Well, he had to put a lid on all of these powerful sensations. His life depended on being clear and focused.
And now that he thought about it a little more, Dana might be erotic as hell and have a body built for making love, but what did he really know about her? Something just didn’t sit right. And he decided to find out what it was.
“This is your place?” Dana was thoroughly amazed.
She couldn’t remember the last time
