“Missed. This.”
Her whole body jolted at his words. She couldn’t suck in a deep breath and the frantic drumming of her heart echoed in her ears as it pounded and pounded and—
Pounded.
“The door is locked. Don’t worry. He won’t get in.”
That wasn’t just her heart pounding. Someone was pounding on the window. Oh, no.
Her mouth opened, but she didn’t know what to say. Ali surged upright. She needed her shirt. Her bra was kind of on. Ali yanked it back to actually cover her breasts. Her shirt was behind Jinx. So were her jeans. She lunged for them.
Jinx caught her and pushed her back. “Don’t regret it.”
“I-I don’t.” She would regret the driver seeing her mostly naked if that door opened. And she… “You didn’t…”
“Didn’t what?”
“Didn’t come, Jinx!” Heat burned in her cheeks.
“I’ll come when I’m buried in you and your nails are leaving marks down my back.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek. “In other words, as soon as I get you in my place. Because the first time I have you again, I will be taking my time.”
That was…a lot. And hot. A hot lot.
“Don’t put up walls.” A low warning. “I have you again. Not planning to let go.”
Her body was still doing little aftershock bursts of pleasure. She wasn’t exactly planning to run anywhere. Except maybe to the nearest bed. His bed. Ali managed a quick nod.
He handed her the shirt. Her jeans. And her panties. She fumbled and twisted because getting undressed in a limo was way easier than getting dressed. But soon she was finally presentable. Mostly. Ali schooled her expression as Jinx opened the door.
The driver was waiting to the side. “Sure as hell took you long enough,” he muttered.
A familiar mutter.
The burn in her cheeks flared red-hot. Odin. How the hell had Odin become their driver?
“Figured instead of tailing behind, it would be better for me to be watching from the front. Got the destination from the driver and sent him on his way as soon as the limo arrived.” Odin had a ball cap pulled low over his face. Like that helped to disguise him in any way. There was a reason Odin hadn’t ever been given much undercover work. The man was huge, and there was never any blending or hiding him.
“No one tailed us,” he added. “We’re good.”
Good, and they were…where, exactly? She could hear the crash of waves. She could smell the salty air. They were at the beach, obviously, but when she turned her head and scanned the area, Ali gave a low whistle.
They were in front of a massive beach house. One perched high above the sand. Lights glowed from its many windows. Two levels. Three? The bottom seemed to be mostly a garage area, with heavy columns supporting the white structure. The second and third levels were big and sprawling, and the whole place just screamed money. A whole lot of money. “Who owns this place?”
“A friend,” Jinx replied.
“The same friend who had the limo ready at a moment’s notice?” she asked. Jinx certainly had interesting friends.
His fingers laced with hers. “How did you know?”
“Call it a lucky guess.”
A soft laugh. “You know I love it when you get lucky with me.”
She could only shake her head.
“The friend in question is out of the country right now, so I’ve been crashing here while he’s away. Part of that whole ‘how can I ever repay you’ bit I mentioned earlier.”
Odin was an immoveable wall near the vehicle. “It’s got state-of-the-art security. This is the best place for you to stay.”
She wasn’t going to argue. Ali would be more than happy to stay in the million-dollar mansion with the awesome security, thank you very much. “Sounds good to me.”
“I’ll be close by tonight,” Odin assured her. “Just in case he’s better than we think and he managed to tail you here.”
“Or…” Ali added as she stared up at the house. “If he’s already aware that this is where Jinx has been staying. There may have been no need for a tail, not if he knew we would wind up at this location.”
If this guy was as good as she feared, even the awesome security wouldn’t be able to keep him out.
“It will seem like I’m leaving,” Odin added quietly. “All for show.” Then he headed for the front of the limo.
Jinx’s fingers tightened around hers. “Ready?”
Ready to go in the house? Or ready for what would happen once she was inside and they were all alone? Her gaze slid from his and tracked down the beach. Far in the distance, she could see the glowing lights of what she suspected was a tall condo building. And there was one other house close by, but it appeared to be empty. No glowing lights, a shuttered look about it. It seemed that they would certainly have plenty of privacy. In terms of security, that was both good and bad.
“Ali?”
She released a quick breath. “I want to go inside.” I want you. Just as she’d wanted him before. He’d asked why she’d agreed to those drinks with him on that last, fateful night. Simple…
She’d wanted Jinx from the first moment they’d met. Every time that she’d glanced into his eyes, she’d felt that same hot awareness but she’d tried to hide the truth from him. Every time she’d seen his slow smile, her stomach had done a little flip. Jinx had become a serious weakness for her.
She hadn’t thought they would work together again. She’d heard rumbles that Jinx had been planning to stop the missions. War and Odin had already been out. The night he’d offered her the invitation for drinks, she’d decided…
Why not?
What could it hurt?
Turned out, it could hurt quite a lot.
They headed for the house. Climbed up the long line of stairs that led to the second level. He pulled keys from his pocket. Opened the door. Waited.
His words whispered through her mind as she crossed the threshold.
You’re still worried you’ll fall in love with me. Thought we’d covered that one before.
Jinx was so very wrong. She didn’t worry at all that she would fall in love with him. How could she?
She’d been in love with him for a very long time. And that had been the real reason she’d agreed to drinks on that unforgettable night they’d had together.
Chapter Eight
Do not screw this up. Do not screw this up.
“If we’re in the house, how does that bait the jerk after me? I thought our plan was to go out and catch his attention.”
He finished setting the alarm. Turned toward her. Ali was staring out of the giant floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the beach. She couldn’t see the waves, not in all that darkness, but come dawn, the view would be unforgettable.
The view was the whole reason he was in that house.
And she was the whole reason he’d gotten it in the first place. Not the time for that talk, though. Later. After he’d managed to get one whole night of fucking her repeatedly off his to-do list.
“We already caught his attention.” His voice was low. A little too savage. That wouldn’t do. He had to play this scene just the right way. Jinx tried again. “You know, what with the whole motorcycle sabotage bit? And then, to make sure I was waving a lovely red flag at him, I had the limo arrive at Armageddon. Because nothing says not-subtle like a big limo in the middle of the road.”