He glanced over his shoulder once more, his gaze drawn inexorably to her face. Then he saw Rossiter watching him over the top of his sunglasses, a knowing look in his eyes.
Caught in the act. Eyes front, McBride.
Zach turned his gaze back to the road ahead.
There would be consequences as a result of his coming here, and not just in Washington, D.C. He was finding it damned hard to treat this like a job. This morning in the hospital, he hadn’t been able to keep himself from touching her, holding her hand, drawing her into his arms. Now he could barely keep his eyes off her, the idea of being alone with her for the foreseeable future far too satisfying.
But he was on assignment, and that meant putting some professional distance between them. Would she understand that? Would she understand that they couldn’t pick up where they’d left off in Arizona?
Doyouunderstand that, McBride?
Of course, he did. He was officially assigned to protect her and get the Zetas out of Denver, and he couldn’t focus on either of those things if he was busy getting her naked and doing the horizontal tango.
Then why did you buy a new box of condoms?
Well, the ones he’d bought in Mexico had been too small, and he wanted to be safe rather than sorry.
Wrong answer.
If he were smart, he wouldn’t have to worry about being safeorsorry. But then where Natalie was concerned, he’d been anything but smart or safe. And, strangely, he wasn’t one bit sorry either.
And that’s really the problem, isn’t it?
Yeah, it was.
He’d never felt this way about a woman—out of control, shaken up in body, mind, and soul. She was as necessary for him as the breath in his own lungs. He’d gladly rip out his beating heart to keep her safe. But he wouldn’t be able to do his best for her if he couldn’t keep his mind and his hands off her. And afterward, when this was over . . .
He’d had the courage to say good-bye and walk away from her once. He wasn’t sure he could do it again. But if he cared for her . . .
If he cared for her, if he truly cared for her, that’s exactly what he’d have to do.
Hunter turned right at the next light, heading west toward Riverfront Park, prompting Zach to pull out his encrypted cell phone and call Darcangelo. “ETA five minutes.”
NATALIE STARED UP in disbelief as the car turned toward the underground parking garage at the most exclusive address in Denver—the Glass Tower. “I’m staying here?”
Newly built, it rose twenty-three stories high, all shining, silvery glass. They’d run an article on it in the paper’s Lifestyle section. Even the smallest lofts sold for a million dollars.
“It’s got unparalleled security.” Gabe pointed. “Watch this.”
The car drew up to what looked like an automated ticket dispenser, like the ones at city-owned parking lots. In the front seat ahead of her, Marc rolled down his window, reached out, and pressed the pad of his left thumb to what looked like a square plastic button. The moment he touched it, the plastic button glowed red.
Zach turned to look back at her. “Biometric technology. The pad is keyed for our fingerprints. No one who’s not in the system can enter. If anyone tries to hack it, the thing shuts down and sets off a security alarm.”
In front of them, the steel garage door rose. Julian walked out, his eyes hidden behind sunglasses, the gray sports jacket he wore over his black T-shirt almost certainly concealing weapons. He walked toward the street, passing them as if they weren’t there, not even acknowledging them.
“He’s making sure we weren’t followed,” Gabe explained.
The car rolled into the well-lighted garage, the door coming down behind them, leaving Julian outside.
Natalie looked around at the expensive vehicles parked here, each parking spot marked with a number, probably an apartment number. But Marc didn’t park the car. Instead, he drove around to the back to what looked like a large freight elevator. Then he stepped out and pushed his thumb against the button—another biometric scanner. The doors opened just as he climbed back inside the car, and he nudged it forward.
“We’re driving the car into the elevator?” Natalie had never imagined such a thing. But the elevator was more than big enough.
Zach nodded. “We’re keeping you off security cameras so that not even building security knows you’re here.”
“Wow.” That’s all she could really think to say.
The elevator doors closed behind them, and Natalie felt them moving quickly upward, the motion leaving her dizzy. In less than a minute, the elevator car stopped and the doors opened.