When she came back around, she was grinning and chewing a fingernail. “Jay Mayard’s sexy ass is still back there, but the rest of him is incognito.”
Just thinking about her noticing his ass made his dick jerk against his zipper. “This disguise hasn’t failed me yet.”
“Then you haven’t tried to pick up women wearing that wig.”
A laugh erupted from deep inside him. Dear God, it was so easy to want her. The way her cheeks glowed. The challenge in her eyes. The catch in her breath when he returned her stare. All the countless fucking reasons he never stopped craving her after she was gone. He dipped his head and brushed his lips over hers. “I’ve only tried to pick up one woman.”
A wall of silence descended between them. He searched her eyes, unsure how to interpret her mute response. “Has it failed me?”
“Not yet.” The level of resistance in her voice only fortified his resolve to scale her walls. He suspected she wanted to fight it, but maybe she was as drawn to him as he was to her.
A fist rapped on the door. “Charlee?”
“You can come in, Nathan.” She didn’t unlock her eyes from his glasses.
Nope, he was certain she couldn’t ignore the pull. That’s right, baby. Don’t fight it.
Nathan strode in and dismissed the disguise with a brief smirk. “Tony and I worked out the drop-off and pick-up points and the best evacuation routes at the apartment. We’re ready when you are.”
The absence of bulges in Nathan’s nondescript pants and button-up shirt meant his weapons were hidden. That kind of unobtrusiveness combined with his constant awareness of Charlee and her surroundings made him an ideal bodyguard. No doubt he’d piss in a store trash bin before he’d leave her unattended.
However, it was the instinctual way he placed himself between her and everything else that made him the only man Jay wanted leading the team he would hire to protect her. “I want to offer you a job.”
Nathan glanced at her and back at him. There was no surprise in that gaze. “I have a job.”
“This one would be the same. Just better paid.”
Nathan’s current income from odd PI assignments couldn’t possibly be enough to fund his crusade in revenge.
The tic in Nathan’s cheek confirmed it.
A toe poked the back of Jay’s knee, her nudge teetering his balance. “I know what you’re up to, Jay Mayard. The three of us will discuss this later.”
Small, sexy, with her honeyed lips pouting, she refused to be managed. He tried not to think about the events that made her so defiant, but he respected the hell out of her for standing against him if he slipped in his efforts to not control her.
“Mr. Mayard.” Tony poked her head in. “I summoned the car. It’s waiting at the elevator in underground parking.”
A ripple of panic bit along his spine. Time to leave his safe environment. His disguise hid his face, so there wouldn’t be any grabbing and touching.
What if a gusty wind disheveled it and someone saw through? The mobs would rain down upon them and endanger her.
Would it be safer for her if he stayed behind? Too many things could happen to her. What if she didn’t return?
Nope, she wasn’t going anywhere without him. Still, the urge to sneak a couple snuffs off the inhaler in his pocket consumed him. Could he face the clutch of the crowds and the lurking unknowns without the numbing lift of coke?
Charlee clapped her hands and sashayed her heart-shaped ass to the door. “Let’s go get some ink.”
Yeah, he could do it…for her.
31
The SUV stopped at the entrance of Charlee’s building and sent Jay’s heart hammering into the red zone. He squeezed the warm anchor in his hand.
Charlee curled her fingers around his, returning the squeeze. “You okay?”
A woman on the sidewalk slowed her gait to look at their car. He stopped breathing. Could she see through the windows?
Moments later, she turned her head and strode into a boutique two doors down.
Gah. The windows were blacked-out, for fuck’s sake. He needed to calm down. “Everything will be fine.”
“Is that response for me or you?”
“For you.” His worries, his hopes, his fears were all for her. “Always, Charlee.”
She opened her mouth and he muffled it with a quick kiss, surprising a smile from her.
Nathan twisted in the front seat to face them. He glanced at Tony, who perched on Jay’s other side then rolled his gaze to Charlee. “Just like we discussed, okay?”
The protective team’s extensive security precautions would be implemented first. Nathan would sweep the flat for intruders, tampering, and bugs. Once he deemed it sterile, he would radio to Tony to escort Jay and Charlee to the residence.
Charlee tapped the heel of her Doc Martens on the floorboard. “We should go in together. We always go in together.” Her nerves pulsed through Jay, echoing his own.