Yu hustled across the lot, tossed the briefcase into the passenger seat and dropped behind the wheel of the car he’d abandoned when he thought Kat was in trouble.
Vince looked down at the woman at his side. His gut clenched. God, she was gorgeous. She hadn’t changed a bit. Not quite as lean maybe, but otherwise just as he remembered. That alone was far more dangerous than any other aspect of this mission.
“You ready?”
She nodded, her smile a little thin.
He led her to where he’d parked his Harley. After straddling the wide leather seat, he waited for her to join him. Without hesitation she scooted her skirt high on her thighs—high enough for him to see the sexy garters that held up her stockings—and slung one long, toned leg across the seat. She settled in behind him, then scooted even closer, her thighs clenching firmly around his hips as her arms curled tightly around his waist. As an afterthought she reached up and discarded her fake eyeglasses. She laughed. The sound was contagious and as sexy as hell.
Vince tried not to confuse the past with the present. He really did. Whatever memories her implant had transposed over her real memory, were only make-believe. No matter how real this felt, it wasn’t. When she realized the truth she would hate him just as much, maybe more, than she had four years ago. That kind of emotion didn’t sweeten with age, it grew bitter. Kat would be bitter, as she had every right to be.
He’d let her down—betrayed her.
But now he had one chance to make it up to her. A chance she would never give him under normal circumstances. He gritted his teeth against his own churning emotions. Changing her mind about him would be impossible, but he could keep her safe until this was over. No matter how little she thought of him, she would appreciate walking away from this assignment with her life. And that he could do for her.
She pressed her cheek against his back, an act of trust.
A new kind of emotion surged through him. A mixture of relief and anticipation. She trusted him, temporarily anyway.
This time he would not let her down.
At the moment he couldn’t be sure what had made her use him as her Romeo. It didn’t matter. Revenge, probably. A mistake maybe? He might never know the reason and it really didn’t matter anyway.
In minutes they were on the interstate headed back to Port Charlotte. As if sensing that he was thinking of her, she hugged him more tightly. Unable to help himself, he laid his left hand over hers and squeezed. God, he hadn’t known until now how much he’d missed this incredible woman. No one else had ever made him want to change his singular lifestyle. White picket fences and the pitter-patter of little feet had flashed, however briefly, through his mind during their days of stolen moments and hidden passion four years ago.
No other woman had made him want to see her face every morning for the rest of his life…made him ache to simply touch her the way Kat had. Had made him willingly turn his back on all that he’d considered top priority.
But that was then and this is now.
The object of his reverie suddenly tapped him on the shoulder, jerking him to attention. Vince leaned his head back to hear what she had to say. Instead of speaking, she pointed to an upcoming gas station. He nodded his understanding. She either wanted a drink or needed to use the facilities.
He desperately needed to walk off the tension she’d incited below his belt. Clearing his head with even a few seconds apart would help, as well.
The one bathroom offered by the old-fashioned, full-service gas station was on the right side of the building and all the way at the back. Vince checked out the four-by-four room before allowing Kat inside. It was cleaner than he’d expected. Apparently the old geezer who ran the fifties-style joint was a neatnik.
“Is the coast clear?” Kat teased. She leaned back against the wall next to the bathroom door. “I do have a gun, you know.” She cocked one finely arched auburn eyebrow. “And I haven’t forgotten how to use it.”
Vince resisted the impulse to tell her everything. To ask her what she really remembered, but it would be a mistake. The implant was in control, that was obvious. She would have taken his head off by now otherwise. His mission was to play this out to see if he could finger the guy in charge of WSA. As long as continuing didn’t endanger Kat’s life, completing the mission was essential.
“Just making sure the facilities were fit for a princess,” he returned just as playfully. They’d sparred like this all those years ago.
She pushed off the wall and sashayed into the bathroom. “I’ll only be a minute,” she said over her shoulder, her tone flirtatious, inviting.
Vince looked away as the door closed behind her. He had to regain his perspective here. It would be too easy to fall into the old routine of taking what she had to offer. What he desperately wanted.
Except it wouldn’t be fair to Kat. She was not herself. Had no control over the situation. He’d been a jerk with her once. He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
The door abruptly opened halfway. “I’ve got a little problem in here, Vince.” She reached out and grabbed his sleeve. “You don’t mind helping a girl out, now do you?” She tugged, pulling him to the door.
“What kind of problem?”
She had him in the room and the door closed behind him before the hesitant words were fully out of his mouth. Anticipation spiked, as did his male equipment. This was not a good thing.
Kat shoved him against the closed door and immediately started unbuttoning his shirt. “Why do you do this to me, Vinny?” she demanded petulantly.
No one had ever called him Vinny, except Kat. It touched him…but now wasn’t the time. He manacled her hands and held them still. “We don’t have time for this right now,” he urged, his whole body hardening at the prospect she presented.
“You disappear for weeks, leaving me to my own devices.” She looked up at him, those green eyes hooded, that luscious mouth puckered in a little pout. “Could get a girl in all kinds of trouble.”
“Kat, you—”
“Shh,” she purred, then tugged loose from his grasp and whispered, “I just can’t be expected to wait a minute longer.” She stood on tiptoes and brushed her lips against his.
All thought processes ceased. He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. Damn sure couldn’t speak with her looking at him that way…touching him that way.
Her fingers tangled with his buttons once more. “All you have to do is let me have my way.” Her hungry mouth captured his in a demanding kiss.
He should have resisted. Should have pushed her away. But he simply didn’t possess the strength to do it. His fingers found their way into her hair. He jerked the pins away until those silky auburn tresses fell around his hands. Her cool fingers moved over his chest sending a fire raging through him. She teased his nipples, making them bud and burn. Traced the ridges of his abdomen. Then tugged at the closure to his jeans.
Her wicked tongue thrust in and out of his mouth in time with the undulating of her hips against his rigid pelvis. He was coming unglued one piece at a time. He was hard as a rock. His mind was reeling and he couldn’t touch her all the places he wanted to at once. Her hair…the curve of her spine…the swell of her bottom. He lifted her more firmly against him. She moaned, the sound fueling the desire already out of control inside him.
She kissed him harder, then pulled free, her lips following the new path of her hands. Along his throat, over one aching nipple and downward. She teased him, dipping her tongue beneath his waistband, all the while squeezing his buttocks. Vince closed his eyes and told himself he could be stronger than this.