Taking the Heat - Sylvia Day Page 0,1

reservations or hesitation. Nothing to shield her heart from a man who lived to be in the line of fire.

He could have died today, right in front of her. The biggest nightmare of all.

“No,” he went on. “I’ll have to get her out of town another way ... I can’t do that either. Someone leaked the safe house. I don’t know who to trust ... I can guarantee she had nothing to do with word getting out ... It’s Layla, Jim. Yeah, that Layla. Listen—I need a favor. Take everything you need out of the Bronco, toss what body armor and camping gear you can spare in the back, and head over to the gas station on Main and Seventh. Leave the keys in the ashtray and go for a walk ... Thanks, man. I owe you.”

He ended the call.

Layla blinked through her tears. She didn’t ask any questions. If there was anyone on earth she trusted with her life it was Brian. It was the way he took care of his own hide that had led to their breakup.

They pulled into a retail store parking lot. He took a spot in the very back, near the garden center, and dropped the keys in the ashtray and closed it. Then he popped the battery out of his cell phone and tossed the separate pieces on the backseat. As if on cue, Layla’s cell began to ring. She wriggled it out of the small backpack-style purse she wore and handed it to Brian, who waited with his hand held out.

As he disassembled her phone, he said, “There’s a bank inside. We both need to pull out the maximum amount we can from the ATM. When we leave, we’ll be traveling on cash to California—gas, food, lodging, the works—and we won’t be able to pull out more. We’ll need to grab clothes and toiletries while we’re inside, and we need to be quick.”

She nodded, briefly examining the crushed sunglasses in her bag before discarding them in the center console. “Are we hiding from the good guys, too?”

“For now.” He tossed her phone onto the rear seat beside his. “Let’s go.”

Layla climbed out of the car with a racing heart. Her palms were damp and her breathing shallow. When she rounded the trunk, he caught her by the hand and set off at a brisk pace. They entered the store and it felt like every eye was on them. Her ears were still ringing, whether from the explosion or her own thundering blood, she didn’t know. Her grip on him tightened.

Giving her a reassuring squeeze, Brian leaned in close. She saw the words on his lips more than heard them. “It’s okay, baby. I’ve got you.”

He’d said the same thing to her while she’d quaked with her first orgasm, his breath humid against the slick folds of her pussy. A shiver accompanied the memory, still so vivid despite the years that had passed. He pulled free of her grasp and draped his arm over her shoulders, careful to keep the loose tail of his unbuttoned flannel shirt over his holster.

“You’re in shock,” he murmured with his lips to her ear, sending another tremor through her body. “Just hang on to me.”

The warmth of his leanly muscled frame sank into her side and she soaked it up, her arm wrapping around his waist. He wore Dr. Martens and loose-fitting jeans with a super-soft white jersey T-shirt. His green, tan, and aqua flannel was so attractive she would have stolen it if they were still together.

Brian got a shopping cart and led her through the store with swift efficiency, thinking of everything from underwear and toothbrushes to disposable cell phones and two small wheeled suitcases. They separated briefly, standing across the aisle from one another while she grabbed clothes and he picked up razors. They were in the checkout line in less than twenty minutes. The ATM was next, where they withdrew a collective fifteen hundred dollars. They exited out the front entrance instead of through the garden center, and he stopped by a bench near the main doors to cram most of the clothes in one carry-on and the rest of the items in the other.

“We’re going to cross the street to that convenience store.” He reached for the packed bags, but paused, studying her. Whatever he saw caused him to straighten and reach for her. He cupped her nape in one hand, her hip in the other, and pulled her close. Their foreheads