Hero for Hire Read online

  He cranked up her radio until the windows were almost shaking. She reached out and turned it off. “Was it?”

  “This is about you, not me.”

  “Was it before you came to Rio?” she asked, her voice softer now.

  When he glanced at her again, he could see her eyes matched her voice. Both were full of compassion, empathy, and such sweet innocence—God, just like Mary Jo’s—he found himself unable to speak.

  She cared about him. Despite his best efforts to be distant, she cared a lot, and that was his fault, too. He didn’t deserve her to look at him like that. Didn’t deserve any of it.

  “Rick,” she whispered, laying her hand on his arm. “Tell me. I want to understand.”

  Her touch was like a drug, easy to swallow and majorly addictive, so much so that he actually found himself leaning toward her.

  “You lost someone,” she guessed.

  “Yeah.”

  “Before here.”

  “She died in the States.”

  “You...loved her.”

  “Yeah.” He inhaled deeply and kept driving. “I was a federal marshal before. And a SEAL before that. I was good at what I did. Until I fell for a witness and let my emotions blind me.”

  “She betrayed you?”

  “No. I betrayed her. I slacked off on the job, thinking she was safe if she was with me. She wasn’t. And now she’s dead.”

  “Oh, Rick.”

  “Forget it. I shouldn’t have told you.”

  “I am so very sorry.”

  “Yeah. Me, too.” He said nothing else, and neither did she, until he pulled down his street. He’d taken a series of wrong turns on purpose, hoping they hadn’t been tailed.

  “You will not let me down,” she whispered when he turned off the car. “I believe in you.”

  “You shouldn’t.”

  “But I do.”

  He could hardly breathe. Looking at her was the most painful thing he’d done since burying Mary Jo, but she was waiting for him, open and warm and accepting. “Don’t,” was all he could say.

  She merely let out a small smile and entwined her fingers with his.

  He’d have to be a real ass to pull away, but that was what he wanted to do.

  As if she knew it, she leaned close and kissed him on the cheek, her mouth soft and sweet.

  “What was that for?” His voice was as harsh as he could muster with a lump the size of a regulation football in his throat. “For handcuffing us together, or for yelling at you, or for—”

  “For caring.” She got out of the car.

  She was out in the open and he was staring after her like a love-struck teen. Swearing at his own stupidity, he scrambled out and followed her.

  His apartment was on the third floor, and since the elevator rarely worked, they started up the stairs. No one ambushed them, no one followed, and for now, she was safe.

  Unlocking the door, he went in first by habit, checking to make sure the place was clear.

  He led her into the living room, kicking at an old sweatshirt he’d tossed on the floor. It landed under the sofa, which was also where he toed a forgotten newspaper and an old paper plate.

  “It is nice,” she said, and he had to laugh.

  “Yeah, if you like old and used and dirty.” It was dark now, so he flipped on some lights.

  “It is old, yes.” She looked around, assessing. “And used. But warm. It is a home.”

  “Face it, even your maid wouldn’t live here.”

  “I do not have a maid. I like to clean myself.”

  Why was he arguing with her? He could see the exhaustion in the fine lines around her eyes. “Look, it’s early, but I think you should go to sleep.”

  She sat on the couch and nodded, stifling a yawn.

  “Not there,” he said, trying not to notice how very appealing she looked sitting all cozy in his house. “You can have my bed.”

  Her gaze jerked up to meet his. “Rick—”

  “I’ll take the couch,” he clarified, nearly swallowing his tongue at her unmistakable look of disappointment.

  Big trouble, Singleton.

  “I do not wish to disrupt your life.”

  “Why not? I sure as hell disrupted yours.” He pulled her up, and when she stumbled, caught her against him.

  She merely sighed and put her head on his chest.

  The gesture, one of trust and even more, made him physically hurt. Damn it, damn it. “Nina. Don’t.”

  “I wish you would stop with the cool and tough.” She lifted her face, nuzzling it against his throat. “I understand, but I wish...”

  Each word she spoke had her lips tickling his skin, and the ball of attraction knotted in his gut burst into flame. “This is who I am,” he said, his teeth knocking together with the effort not to grab her and hold on. “Cool and tough.”

  “You do not have to hide yourself, not from me.”

  “Is that what you think I’m doing?”

  “Yes, but I can be strong, too, Rick.”

  Yeah, he was getting that—she was strong as hell, and it was damned arousing. He pulled back, took her hand and led her to the bedroom.

  “I have it figured out,” she told his back. “You are keeping your distance so you can protect me.”

  “The bathroom is right through there if you need it.”

  “I do not need protection from you.”

  Which left it open...what did she need from him? He was afraid he knew. “Call out if you need anything.”

  “You know what I need. You need it, too.”

  Looking down into her stubborn features, he let out his breath. “Don’t complicate things. We’re stuck with each other, at least for the night. Let the rest go.”

  “But—”

  “If you want to talk, Nina, if you’re not too tired, we will. You’ll tell me everything. About Terry, and where she is. About why you’ve got trouble tailing you. We’ll discuss it all. And while we’re at it, what was the name of that friend of Terry’s? The one in the yearbook?”

  “I...don’t remember.”

  “If you’d only tell me, I could find Terry and be done with all this. The end.”

  Her voice went cool, her eyes hot. “Good night.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” He watched her turn toward the bed, but because he couldn’t handle actually seeing her climb into it, he left.

  And wandered the apartment. He couldn’t have shut his eyes if he tried. Not without remembering the terror in Nina’s face when he’d shown up at her place on her heels, witnessing the destruction.

  She was in danger, but why? And why now?

  And from whom?

  Sinking to the couch, he tilted his head up and stared at the ceiling, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together, but he was missing too much.

  All he knew for certain was that he couldn’t let anything happen to her, not on his watch.

  That she was on his watch at all really got to him, but then again, so did her huge, expressive eyes, and the way she fit against him as if she’d been made for the spot.

  Aw, hell. This was bad. Very bad.

  Pushing to his feet, he paced the room, trying to put facts together. One, he’d gone looking for Terry and had found Nina. Two, someone besides him was looking for...what?

  Terry?

  If he and Mitch knew Terry wasn’t dead, which they did, then it was a good possibility someone else knew as well.

  But who? And who besides the authorities had any stake in bringing Terry back?

  All was silent in the back end of his apartment, too silent. He went down the hall, just to check on her, he told himself. It had nothing to do with needing to see her, or needing to assure himself she was okay.

  Still dressed, the light still on, Nina lay on his bed, curled into a tight little ball on her side. Her hands were tucked in close to her body, her mouth curved into a little frown.

  He slipped off her shoes. She didn’t budge.

  He pulle