Mmm. Laughing and kissing wasn’t a combination he’d tried before.
He drank her in. He liked it, liked her. Too much.
“We’d better find a way out of here,” she said.
They helped each other up, and got to the street. The dog continued to bark, and he hoped it didn’t alert their kidnappers.
“What if our captors are out there, looking for us?” she asked. “What if we flag down the wrong person?”
“Let’s put some distance between us and them.”
They stuck to the shadows. They were in an industrial area and there was no one around.
As they crossed the street, he saw some homeless people sitting in the darkness, watching them carefully.
“We’re in New York City, there should be someone around with a freaking phone,” she said.
They turned down another street.
If they could get to a phone, he could call for help.
A moment later, he heard the drone of an engine.
A motorcycle came into view. The guy wasn’t going very fast and didn’t look like he was actively looking for anyone. Liam decided to take a risk. He stepped onto the road and waved with his uncuffed hand.
The motorcycle slowed to a stop and a young man pushed up the visor of his helmet.
“You guys okay?” He eyed their bare feet.
“Actually, we’re not,” Liam said.
The man looked at their handcuffed wrists, their disheveled, wet clothes, then looked up.
His eyes widened. “Holy shit, you’re… Are you really…?”
“I am,” Liam said. “I don’t have my wallet on me, but I really need your bike. I’ll give you double what it’s worth.”
Aspen made a choked sound.
“I’ll give you my phone number, and you can call me tomorrow, and I’ll pay you.” Liam smiled. “I’m good for it.”
The younger man stared at him, his mouth hanging open.
“Do we have a deal?” Liam asked.
“Hell, yeah.”
The man scrambled off his bike.
“What’s your name?”
“Harry.”
“I’ll give you my private number, Harry.” Liam rattled off the digits and Harry yanked a scrap of paper and pen from his pocket.
“No one will believe this,” Harry breathed.
“Will you be okay?” Liam asked.
“Yeah, I live around the corner above my father’s shop. Man, I have a billionaire’s number.”
With a salute, Harry jogged off into the night.
“He’ll probably sell you out to the tabloids,” Aspen said.
“There’s my cynical private investigator.”
She eyed the bike dubiously. “So, can you operate a motorcycle?”
“I’m sure it isn’t hard.” He swung his leg over the bike and checked the controls.
Her gaze narrowed. “You look pretty comfy there.”
He grinned at her. “I was just kidding. Mav, Zane, and I have taken some bike trips.” He gunned the bike’s engine. “Climb on.”
She edged closer. “How?”
Crap, the whole handcuff situation made it tough. “You’ll have to sit in front of me, facing me.”
Aspen looked up at the sky. With a shake of her head, she managed to get on the bike in front of him. She plastered herself against him and wrapped her free arm around him.
“The things I do for my work,” she muttered. “Don’t crash, Kensington.”
“Trust me, Ms. Chandler.”
He took off.
She gripped him tighter and he felt her shiver.
Time to get out of here, and get her safe.
Aspen
I was officially a block of ice.
Even the warmth of Liam’s body couldn’t fend off the giant shivers racking my body. He patted my thigh.
I glanced around the streets and noted that we were almost at his place. We whizzed down Fifth Avenue. We must look like crazy people. Some cars honked at us.
The aches in my body were making themselves known. My wrist stung, my feet were sore, but the cold was the worst.
We turned, approaching his building, and I saw the cars out front, and lights from police cars.
Oh, shit.
Liam pulled the bike to a stop. The small crowd turned to stare at us.
We were a mess. Wet, barefoot, and on a motorbike with our chests pressed together.
Zane and Mav pulled away from the crowd.
“Jesus, Liam, are you okay?” Zane flicked a glance at me, then back to his friend.
“We’re okay,” Liam said.
Mav looked like a volcano about to erupt.
An attractive, black-haired woman touched Zane’s arm and he pulled her close.
“We were worried, Liam,” the woman said.
“The police found your Aston in the middle of the road, open, abandoned,” Mav said.
“Witnesses said you and a woman were dragged away by masked men,” Zane added.
Liam helped me off the bike and then he slid off. Our handcuffs clanked and everyone stared.
A police officer cleared his throat. “Mr. Kensington, if you’re okay, I’ll cancel the citywide search for you.”
“Thank you, Officer,” Liam said.
“The Aston’s in your garage,” Zane said.
“And this must be yours.”
I looked up to see the dark-haired woman holding out my bag.
“Thanks.” I took it.
The woman smiled. “I’m Monroe.”
I nodded. I’d read the stories about her—she was the owner of a locksmith store, and daughter of a thief. She was also the woman who’d captured the heart of Zane Roth.
Fishing around in my bag, I sighed with relief when I found my personal phone. I pulled the device out, and glanced over at Liam. He was talking to the police.
I saw several missed calls from my sisters, and my belly clenched. I dialed.
“My God, I was so worried,” Juno said.
“I know. Sorry. Something came up. I’m okay, Juno.”
There were murmurs. “Aspen!” Briar came on the line. “We were about to call the police.”
“Briar, I’m fine. Look, I don’t know when I’ll be back. But I’m safe, I promise.”
“What’s going on?” My sister’s voice changed. “My God, are you with a guy?”
Mav, Monroe, and Zane were watching me. I turned slightly away. “It’s work-related.”
“It’s a guy! Juno, she’s with a guy.”
I huffed out a breath. “Briar, cool it. I’ll see you both tomorrow. Get some sleep. Don’t worry. I’m the big sister around here, remember?”
They both made smoochy kiss noises. Kill me now.
“Sisters?” Monroe said. “I’ve got a younger brother.”
I just smiled, not saying anything.
Then a giant shiver wracked me. Liam glanced my way, frowned, then pulled me closer to his side.
“Look, we’re freezing. I’ll call with a full statement tomorrow.”
The officer nodded.
“I need to get Penn dry and get these cuffs off.”
“I’d remove the cuffs for you,” the officer said. “But those don’t look like standard police issue.”