By the time they’d cleared the D.C. area and had entered Pennsylvania, Reid became aware that he had a bigger problem than the cramp in his leg. He’d been trained to use all of his senses, and sitting in the tiny space with Nell, he’d found that he was definitely using all of them.
First, there was no escaping her scent. He still hadn’t come up with a description. But he’d smelled it before, perhaps in the gardens at the White House at night. He’d kept his eyes on the road, but he had excellent peripheral vision, and he’d been trained to use it. Therefore, in the space of thirty miles, he’d become very aware of the soft curve of her lips when she smiled, and that the sun lightened the color of her hair. He’d also had time to study her hands. They were small, the fingers slender. She wore her nails short with just a sheen of pink polish. A lady’s hands. And twice so far, he’d caught himself imagining what they might feel like on his skin. He’d found out when they’d both reached to turn the radio station at the same time. Her fingers had just brushed lightly against the back of his hand, but the burning sensation had shot right to his loins.
“Sorry.” They’d both spoken at once.
She’d laughed and held up one hand with her little finger extended. “Pinkie wish.”
“Pinkie what?”
“We both said the same word at the same time. Now we’re supposed to link our little fingers and make a wish. C’mon.”
“Okay.” He linked his pinkie finger with hers and felt the arrow of heat shoot through him again.
It gave him some satisfaction that her hand trembled just a little as she placed it back on the wheel. But he shouldn’t be hoping she might be feeling even some part of the attraction he was feeling. Because he shouldn’t be feeling this way; he shouldn’t be wanting Nell MacPherson.
The problem was, like it or not, he did. And the desire to have her was growing with each passing mile.
“Well, are you going to do something about it or should I?” Nell asked him.
Everything in his body went hard as he turned to stare at her. “Do something about what?”
“The static on the radio. What did you think I was talking about?”
Not going there, Reid thought. “What do you like?” But even that question had his mind wandering beyond her taste in music. How did she like to be touched? Tasted?
“I have pretty eclectic tastes.”
Good to know.
“But Piper’s been listening to that classic station for three days now. I need a change. Do you like the Beatles?”
“Who doesn’t?”
This time he kept his hands to himself as she punched some buttons and “I Want to Hold Your Hand” blasted into the small car. Listening to it didn’t solve his problem. He wanted to do a lot more than hold Nell’s hand.
She lowered the volume. He tried to do the same with the desire that was thrumming through him. He had only briefly touched the woman, not yet kissed her on the lips. His hormones hadn’t run this hot since he was in college.
Not since the last time he’d seen Nell beneath the stone arch.
Grimly, Reid shifted his attention to the side view mirror again and watched that for a while. “Pass a few cars,” he said.
While she did, he kept his gaze fixed. He saw what he was looking for when the highway began to climb.
“There’s been a silvery-gray sedan three cars back for a while now,” she said.
Surprised, he shot her a sideways glance. “You noticed it.”
“You said it was possible he’d follow us, so I thought it might be a good idea to keep a lookout. That car was behind us when we drove onto the beltway. It got ahead of us about twenty miles back, but we passed it when traffic got congested again before the last exit.”
The woman had good eyes. He, too, had noted the cars that had followed them onto the interstate, but he’d lost track of the gray sedan after it had passed them.
Because he’d been thinking of Nell.
A sign for the upcoming exit flashed by. “Cut back into the right-hand lane and take your speed down to just below the limit.”
Nell did exactly as he asked. Within minutes, the car directly behind them cut into the passing lane and drove by. The gray sedan merely slowed and kept its distance. Before long, several more cars passed.
“What now?” Nell asked.
“A break,” he announced. “We’re going to take the next exit ramp and stop for some coffee, stretch our legs and see if the gray car follows us.”
A break sounded like a very good idea. The fast-food chain they stopped at had a drive-through, so Nell was surprised when Reid told her to park. The gray car not only followed them onto the exit ramp, it turned into the restaurant behind them. By the time Nell eased her Fiat into the parking slot and turned off the engine, the gray car was moving past them toward the drive-through lane. Nell caught a glimpse of the driver in her rearview mirror and gasped.
“What?” Reid asked.
“The driver of the car that’s been following us. It’s the woman who came up to me in the café and asked me to autograph that book. I’m sure of it.”
REID TURNED TO face Nell and blocked her view of the car. “Don’t look at her again and stay right where you are. I’m going to get out and come around to your door.”
Nell’s mind raced almost as fast as her heart while Reid took his time extricating himself from the front seat and circling the front of the car. She summoned up the image of the woman who’d approached her on the sidewalk and compared it to the quick glimpse she’d gotten of the driver. The same hair, the glint of gold at her ear. It was her all right. Though Nell badly wanted to, she didn’t look at the gray car again. Another vehicle drove past. In the rearview mirror she could see it was a big SUV with at least half a Little League baseball team packed into it. In her peripheral vision, she saw it follow the gray car into the drive-through lane.
Then Reid opened her door and extended his hand to help her out. When it closed over hers, the effect on her system was instantaneous. She stilled in her seat. All thought of the autograph lady faded from her mind as it filled with Reid. Just the sight of her hand lost in his had all of her senses heightening. She noticed the contrasts first. His hand was larger, broader, and his skin made hers look even paler. His palms were hard. She felt the pressure of each one of his fingers as they tensed on hers. There was power there. Danger. It pulled at her in a way nothing else ever had. Her body heated so quickly the hot afternoon sun felt cool on her skin. When she looked up to meet his eyes, she saw the same intensity that she felt in the grip of his hand. The gray of his irises had darkened. His hand tightened on hers and for a moment she thought he would help her up and then right into his arms.
She had to find out. Her mind was already racing forward, anticipating what would happen when her body was pressed fully to his, what she would feel when his mouth closed over hers.
Before she could move, he stepped back and shifted his gaze over the top of the car. Then he dropped her hand and closed the door. She made some kind of sound, but he was already moving around the front of the car. Biting down hard on her lip, Nell desperately tried to gather her wits. The time it took for him to insert himself into the front seat again helped. A little. But her heart pounded so hard and so fast she could hardly hear him when he finally spoke.
“She’s gone around the corner, and she’s trapped by the two cars that pulled in behind her. She’s probably expecting