my feet a second later. Abe gripped my arm, turned behind him, then back at me.
“You won’t like this,” he said.
“What?” I gasped, bent over at the waist.
I was deposited on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “We’re close to the street, and I think this might be the fastest way,” he said apologetically.
I looked out, saw my linebacker muscling towards us with pure fury radiating from his brick-like shoulders.
“Run,” I said, too scared to think of my pride and the fact that I was having to be carried like the fainting maiden I wasn’t. But Abe was strong, his body moving through the woods and toward the street like a track and field star. We lost the guards, reached the road, and my arm was already waving in the air to hail a cab before my boots hit the concrete.
“You’re the only man I’ve ever let carry me,” I said, grinning when a black cab squealed up to us.
Abe passed a hand through his hair and opened the cab door like a gentleman. “Your chariot.”
With a smirk, I jumped inside and pulled him in after me. “Langham Hotel, please,” I said to the driver.
“And I feel it important to note I feel grateful you allowed that to happen,” Abe said. “I promise it was more out of concern for you breaking your ankle than a belief that you can’t handle your own. We only have to ask Goon #2 how his face and groin are doing.”
I huffed out a short laugh, let my head fall back against the car seat. Gazed at Abe, who bore a similarly surprised expression. “So I think our cover’s been blown, what do you think?”
He rubbed his mouth. “Yes, I believe you may be right.” Reaching forward, he plucked a small twig from my hair, a leaf from behind my ear. I tugged at the knot around his tie, centering it.
Beneath the adrenaline and the sharp bite of fear, my body remembered what we’d been doing right before this evening had taken a more dangerous turn. I had not an ounce of shame about what I’d been prepared to do to Abe in that bar—couldn’t find an iota of regret for wanting to fuck him on the couch. It would have been all too easy to free his hard cock, shove my underwear to the side, and ride him until pleasure overtook us both.
In the cab, he cupped my face with both hands again, long fingers sliding against my scalp. I leaned my cheek against his palm for one final second. Being touched by this man just felt so good. I was literally helpless to resist him. And I wasn’t a woman who was generally helpless.
He leaned in, wrapped his arms around me, and kissed my forehead for a perfect few seconds. “I was terrified you had been hurt, Sloane,” he whispered. “I’m not used to the way it affects me.”
I basked in this display of raw, human tenderness. My body seemed to crave this even more than our passionate make-out back at the bar. Words froze in my throat, refusing to be spoken aloud. I did wrap my arms around his neck and held on tight, giving Abe Royal a long hug. After a full minute, I pressed my lips to his cheek, once, twice, three times. His fingers flexed along my spine, keeping me close.
This chemical attraction between us had almost cost us catching Eudora in the act of meeting Peter Markham. And it had definitely contributed to every single misstep right after, including being surprised by the guards. Our devastation was leading to dangerous distraction. So with monumental effort, and labored movements, I eventually untangled myself and reached into my purse, revealing the real reason why I’d tossed my drink in Eudora’s face.
“Sticky fingers strike again,” I said, holding out the piece of paper in the gold wash of streetlights filtering in through the windows.
“What is that?” Abe asked.
“It’s whatever note Eudora placed in her pocket from Peter,” I said. “We may have gotten a bit too distracted—”
His mouth twitched.
“—but this might be a helpful piece of the puzzle.”
He took it, then proceeded to stare at me like I was a miracle. “How?”
“I watched her place the note in her pocket. I splashed the vodka into her face and used the momentary confusion to snatch it right up.” I turned my index and middle finger into a pair of scissors, pinching them together. “It only took a second.”