Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 66515 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66515 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
I shoot to my feet and throw the blanket aside, free to run, to fight. “What is this? Where are we? Why the hell don’t you have on clothes?” I look down at myself, and I’m in my favorite jeans, my favorite pink sweater, with Converse sneakers on my feet. I jerk my attention back to him, as he sets the mugs on the table.
“I don’t remember how I got here,” I accuse.
“There’s much to talk about, baby. Let’s just sit and drink the cocoa and talk.”
“I am not your baby. You want to talk. Give me my loaded gun then we’ll talk.”
He holds up his hands. “You have nothing to fear from me. You know that. You know me and us.”
“I know nothing about you. You’re nothing you said you were. Why is the fireplace lit in Texas? And why are you shirtless and shoeless?”
“We didn’t have sex if that’s what you’re thinking,” he says. “And you damn sure better remember when we do. And as for my shirt and shoes, the Colorado snow soaked my shirt and boots.”
My eyes go wide. “Colorado? We’re in Colorado?”
“Yes,” he confirms. “We’re in Colorado.”
“Why? How? I can’t remember anything. Except—” My mind flashes back to my apartment and him touching me and kissing me and then—I grab a pillow from the couch and chuck it at him. He ducks, and I turn and start running. But he’s there, catching me from behind, arms around me, cheek next to mine.
“I’m not going to hurt you.”
“You drugged me,” I pant out. “God, I let you kiss me, because—”
“You love me the way I love you. Let me explain. Just give me five minutes.”
His arms around me are so damn familiar, his body is familiar. “Give me my gun, and I’ll listen to your lies.”
He turns me in his arms, his hand between my shoulder blades, molding me close; the other catching my hair and tilting my face to his. “I’m not going to shoot you, and you’re not going to shoot me.”
“Just poison me with damn hot chocolate?”
His hands move to my shoulders but keeps me close, his eyes meeting mine in challenge. “Why would I bring you here to kill you?”
My chin lifts in defiance. “I don’t pretend to know anything about you.”
“Please. Sit with me.” He presses his forehead to mine, his hand in my hair once more, settling on the back of my head. “Just listen to what I have to say.”
“You kissed me and drugged me. Why would I be that stupid again?”
“I had no time to explain,” he says. “We were in imminent danger.”
I shove on his chest and pull back. “Which is why you took the time to kiss me? You are so full of bullshit.”
His eyes meet mine. “It had been too fucking long since I kissed you.”
His voice is low, rasping with emotion that I feel in my chest, and the damn air around us is thick and heavy. He’s sucking me in. He’s dragging me under his spell and to what end? “It won’t work this time. I know who you are and that’s a traitor, a dirty CIA agent, not the investment banker I was supposed to marry. I know what you are. I know what we aren’t.”
“Someone set me up. I had to run. I was a hot target, and you were in protective custody before I could get to you. I made the call that ended this, fixing it so you’d be safe. It was the right decision.”
There’s hope in my chest and that makes me stupid. That makes me angry at me and him. “And now?”
“It’s not over, baby, but you’re no longer safer without me. The dark web had a call for your assassination.”
“The dark web,” I repeat, remembering a case I’d help manage at the firm involving the dark web, aware of just how illicit and real it is. “Because they think I can hurt you? Because they think I know something I don’t know?”
“Because of me, yes. Because you matter to me. Because in my lifetime in the CIA, I’ve never shown any weakness until you. I will not let them hurt you. The only one who dies is anyone who comes after you.”
“Because you’re a killer.”
“I swore to myself and I swear to you that I won’t lie to you again. So, yes, because I’m a killer.”
Chapter five
Ashley
Suddenly, all the anger I’ve felt toward this man bubbles over. “You’re a killer? Is that supposed to scare me or make me feel better? Because honestly Noah or Aaron, or whatever the hell your name is, you’ve taken everything from me. I have nothing left to lose and so I don’t choose fear for my last emotion.”
“Scare you? You’re a smart person, baby. You want a killer protecting you when a killer comes after you.” His hand slides under my hair to my neck, and he drags my mouth to his. “And this time, the killer loves you. You are the only assignment that got personal.”