night.”
They were out of the center of town and the traffic moved at lightning speed. Dakota glanced at the GPS on the dash. “At this velocity, our ETA is two minutes. I’m taking a power nap. It was a long flight, and I didn’t get any sleep. Wake me when you need me.”
His eyebrows rose at that loaded statement. “White-knuckle flyer?” Another thing she’d never told him. One more he could add to the list.
She wedged her back more comfortably between the seat back and the door frame, and closed her eyes. “If God wanted us to fly, he would’ve given us wings.”
“He gave us planes instead. There’s no time for a nap, we’re almost there.”
“Hmm,” she murmured, already drifting. Within seconds, her breathing indicated sleep.
Rand glanced over at her. “You’re a complication I don’t fucking need right now, Dakota North.” His lips curved into a thin, humorless smile. “Thank God I’m immune.”
THE HOTEL WAS TUCKED away in a cul-de-sac on the edge of town, too far away from the tourist destinations to offer much trouble for anyone but the locals. This was the kind of low-rent dive where casino losers came to lick their wounds as they counted their euros before going back to try their luck one last time. Night and day compared to where the wedding had taken place.
Rand parked the rental in a patch of shade under a stand of spindly palm trees in the weedy parking lot and glanced at his sleeping ace in the hole. He’d never met anyone who could fall asleep so fast, and so deeply. He knew a hundred ways to make Dakota wake up smiling.
He didn’t plan on using any of them ever again.
Right now, there was no point waking her. She needed, according to her, something tangible to hold, so until they found something the waiter might have left behind, he preferred she stay where she was. It was unlikely they’d even find anything. In which case, he’d have one of his men return her to the airport.
He was torn between the desire, no, the need to believe her tracking claim and the urge to be as far away from her as possible. The shadows of his once-frozen emotions were once again a tight, hot knot in his belly.
He peered through the window as he locked the car doors. Dakota flipped an arm over her eyes to block the sunshine but stayed asleep. He shook his head. How could she look so bonelessly comfortable curled in the seat like that? How could she look so normal ? The liar that she was didn’t show on her sleeping face. Instead, she looked beautiful and achingly innocent.
Looks, he knew, were deceptive.
Resolutely, he turned away and headed for the portico of the small hotel. The sun felt good on his shoulders, but back here in the alley there was no scent of ocean, just a sense of desperation and the stifling pressure of lost dreams. There was a reason the lavish casinos didn’t allow Monaco residents inside to gamble.
He didn’t gamble for money. Hell, Rand didn’t gamble at all. He’d bet everything on love once and lost his ass. Lesson learned. Case closed. He didn’t need her, he needed her skills. If she really had them.
He wasn’t into woo-woo. He’d tried to keep an open mind when Stark talked about the strange new sixth sense he’d developed the year before. While traveling in Venezuela, Zak and his brother, Gideon, had been kidnapped by terrorists. The details were grim. Rand could only imagine the burden Zak carried over his brother’s death. When Zak sold ZAG Search on his return and started Lodestone, he’d tried to persuade Rand to join forces, thinking their two companies complemented each other. Security and tracking.
Probably would too. However, Rand had declined the partnership offer. He savored his independence. As a stuntman, then stunt coordinator he’d known to check every trick himself, seven ways from Sunday, no matter who told him it was safe. He was used to relying solely on himself, and he’d been slow to hire people for his company as it grew; it
They were out of the center of town and the traffic moved at lightning speed. Dakota glanced at the GPS on the dash. “At this velocity, our ETA is two minutes. I’m taking a power nap. It was a long flight, and I didn’t get any sleep. Wake me when you need me.”
His eyebrows rose at that loaded statement. “White-knuckle flyer?” Another thing she’d never told him. One more he could add to the list.
She wedged her back more comfortably between the seat back and the door frame, and closed her eyes. “If God wanted us to fly, he would’ve given us wings.”
“He gave us planes instead. There’s no time for a nap, we’re almost there.”
“Hmm,” she murmured, already drifting. Within seconds, her breathing indicated sleep.
Rand glanced over at her. “You’re a complication I don’t fucking need right now, Dakota North.” His lips curved into a thin, humorless smile. “Thank God I’m immune.”
THE HOTEL WAS TUCKED away in a cul-de-sac on the edge of town, too far away from the tourist destinations to offer much trouble for anyone but the locals. This was the kind of low-rent dive where casino losers came to lick their wounds as they counted their euros before going back to try their luck one last time. Night and day compared to where the wedding had taken place.
Rand parked the rental in a patch of shade under a stand of spindly palm trees in the weedy parking lot and glanced at his sleeping ace in the hole. He’d never met anyone who could fall asleep so fast, and so deeply. He knew a hundred ways to make Dakota wake up smiling.
He didn’t plan on using any of them ever again.
Right now, there was no point waking her. She needed, according to her, something tangible to hold, so until they found something the waiter might have left behind, he preferred she stay where she was. It was unlikely they’d even find anything. In which case, he’d have one of his men return her to the airport.
He was torn between the desire, no, the need to believe her tracking claim and the urge to be as far away from her as possible. The shadows of his once-frozen emotions were once again a tight, hot knot in his belly.
He peered through the window as he locked the car doors. Dakota flipped an arm over her eyes to block the sunshine but stayed asleep. He shook his head. How could she look so bonelessly comfortable curled in the seat like that? How could she look so normal ? The liar that she was didn’t show on her sleeping face. Instead, she looked beautiful and achingly innocent.
Looks, he knew, were deceptive.
Resolutely, he turned away and headed for the portico of the small hotel. The sun felt good on his shoulders, but back here in the alley there was no scent of ocean, just a sense of desperation and the stifling pressure of lost dreams. There was a reason the lavish casinos didn’t allow Monaco residents inside to gamble.
He didn’t gamble for money. Hell, Rand didn’t gamble at all. He’d bet everything on love once and lost his ass. Lesson learned. Case closed. He didn’t need her, he needed her skills. If she really had them.
He wasn’t into woo-woo. He’d tried to keep an open mind when Stark talked about the strange new sixth sense he’d developed the year before. While traveling in Venezuela, Zak and his brother, Gideon, had been kidnapped by terrorists. The details were grim. Rand could only imagine the burden Zak carried over his brother’s death. When Zak sold ZAG Search on his return and started Lodestone, he’d tried to persuade Rand to join forces, thinking their two companies complemented each other. Security and tracking.
Probably would too. However, Rand had declined the partnership offer. He savored his independence. As a stuntman, then stunt coordinator he’d known to check every trick himself, seven ways from Sunday, no matter who told him it was safe. He was used to relying solely on himself, and he’d been slow to hire people for his company as it grew; it
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