Forsaken by Sarah Ballance Page B

logic behind that decision. He’d have probably chosen something for her that wouldn’t leave him with a cumbersome bulge in his jeans, but after the hours they’d spent in bed, he doubted any such garment existed.
    Next to him, in the middle of the bench seat, Riley gathered her wind-whipped hair and held it with one hand. The other made tracks across his inner thigh. He shifted, managing to land in a position more uncomfortable than the last.
    She offered a demure smile, but he’d known her far too long to buy into the innocent act. She knew exactly what she was doing to him, and it was a matter of injustice he couldn’t return the favor—that, and a bullet wound. He was pushing seventy miles an hour in the old truck…a sense of civic duty dictated he not attempt that speed with a wounded limb at the helm just so he could maul her with the other.
    The sign for their exit loomed. “We’re almost to Maverick’s place,” he said. “Hopefully he’ll have something for us on how this all went down.”
    It was half truth, half excuse. They could have gone straight to Tehcotah to pay Colt a visit—a much shorter trip that would have ended hours ago—but Gage needed to take a breather on familiar territory. More important, he needed Maverick to weigh in on a situation in which Gage found himself far too emotionally entangled to fully trust his own judgment.
    He’d save Riley from this, even if it meant letting her go.
    “You okay?” he asked, noting her expressionless stare.
    Riley frowned. “I almost forgot about everything. I feel awful saying that—about Billy, and Dawson—but after last night…”
    “I know.” Did he ever. He’d lost his only brother—a sick twist of fate, considering what he’d done to Riley—and he still sat there battling an erection.
    “Do you think they’ve found them yet?” she asked, her voice quiet.
    She never knew his brother, so all of that wistfulness had to be about Dawson.
    I’m on birth control .
    Damn. The wall of jealousy he kept slamming into was no less substantial given the fact that the man was dead.
    His jaw tight, he took the exit, checking his mirrors for other cars. They were alone. “Yeah, they found them.” He didn’t bother telling her she was probably on Barefoot’s most wanted list by now. Maverick would break that news soon enough.
    Maverick’s hideout, as Gage often called it, was just off the interstate, well-obscured in a stand of trees. It was disguised on the surface as an old hunting cabin. The basement, however, was another story—one few folks knew about. Full of computers and gadgetry, it served as headquarters for all kinds of ill-gotten information—information that gave him the ability to do his job.
    And Riley had just become Gage’s number one priority.
    He turned into the driveway and drove until the trees hid the road, then stopped to call in.
    Maverick’s voice hit the line before the first ring played out. “Dammit, Gage. Where the hell—”
    Gage stifled a laugh. He found far too much pleasure in rankling Maverick. “I’m coming in. Open up.” He disconnected and dropped the phone in the front pocket of his shirt before Maverick could reply. For Riley’s benefit, he added, “Maybe he won’t shoot.”
    “Good to know,” she said, edging away from him across the bench seat until the door stopped her progress. “But just in case, I’ll be over here.”
    “Likewise good to know,” he said in a wry tone. But feigning insult wasn’t easy to do with his heart flip-flopping at the sight of her sitting next to him. And unlike yesterday, she wasn’t trying to glare a hole through his skull.
    Progress was good.
    He parked the truck in a thick collaboration of trees so it wouldn’t be visible, not that it much mattered. Maverick’s cabin looked as if it would fall with the next stiff breeze, and the truck fit right in. The sagging roofline of the cabin had worked itself into a bit of a drooping grin over the years,