anything to do with a felony drug case, and you know it.”
He’d checked up on me? That thought shouldn’t be as pleasing as it was. “I’m second chair,” I countered quietly.
His chin lifted, his eyes darkening to a hue that would take me forever to name. “Second chair?” His eyes closed and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Jesus Christ. Claim a conflict of interest and get off the case.”
“Why?” I whispered. That’s why he’d wanted to see me the day before? To get me off the case? “Are you guilty?”
“You owe me,” he countered, his raw toughness such a contrast to the cheery wheat behind him that I wanted to take a picture.
Yet his words penetrated. My stomach rolled over and not in a good way this time. “Yeah. I do,” I said softly. “What do you want?” I asked out of more curiosity than anything else.
“You off the case. Nothing else.” He hooked his thumbs in his threadbare jeans. “Tell me yes.”
Now my chin lifted. “You’ve gotten pretty bossy, Aiden.”
His eyes glimmered for a moment. “Yeah. I don’t suppose you’ve gotten pretty obedient?”
I slowly shook my head.
“Didn’t think so.” He sighed, and a light of what might be admiration glimmered in his eyes. “You were a tough little thing, even way back when. For now, get off my case, and we’ll call it even. Deal?”
“Why?” I whispered.
His jaw clenched. “Because people are ending up dead, and I don’t want anything to happen to you.” For the first time, I caught a glimpse of the angry and vulnerable boy he’d been at sixteen. “You’re the only good thing I’ve ever done in my life. You have to stay safe.”
The sweetness behind the plea caught me hard and fast. “I can help you. Whatever you’ve done, I can help you find a way out.” It was my turn to save him. “Tell me everything, and I’ll go to bat for you.” Maybe he wasn’t really guilty. Maybe he was just an accomplice who could get immunity. Or at least a reduced sentence. “Please.”
He was around the car before I could blink, towering over me. “I don’t want your help. Got it?”
I looked up, way up into his face, reminded once again of his size. An energy cascaded from him, angry and tense. Oddly sexy. “No.” I’d do my job within the law, but if there was a way to help him, I’d find it. “Tell me your side of the story.”
“My side?” His left eyebrow rose. “There’s nothing I can say that makes my life all right for you to fix, so stop. You honestly have no idea what you’ve walked into.” His jaw clenched hard enough I could see it.
“Really?” I countered, poking him in the chest. “My boss was just shot right in front of me. I think I have a clue.”
“You don’t.” In a shift of muscle, he plucked me right off the ground to sit on the hood of my car.
The air sliced all funny in my chest, and I gaped at him. “What are you doing?”
He leaned in; his hands planted on either side of my hips. “Showing you that you’re totally out of your depth. You’re in the middle of nowhere with a guy out on felony bond after having left a club business where fifteen guys would provide an alibi if I needed one.” His head jerked slightly toward the car. “Do you even have a gun in there?”
“Always.” I probably should’ve been scared, because every word he’d said was true. But I wasn’t. Oh, my entire central nervous system misfired like a supernova, but none of that was fear. Maybe a dollop of caution with a whole boatload of curiosity. “You won’t hurt me.”
His nostrils flared and he straightened. “Damn it.” This close, his eyes were a myriad of different blue hues. “I won’t hurt you, but I can’t keep you from being hurt. What we do—this is too big to protect anyone as nosy as you are from. Just trust me.”
I couldn’t answer him, because I was going to try and save him if possible. First, I needed facts. “Tell me the whole story.”
“No.” He looked me over, head to toe, his gaze penetrating.
I tried not to squirm and looked back, knowing I was totally losing this staring contest.
Then he shocked me by running both hands through my hair and messing it up more. His touch was slightly rough with a whole lot of heat.