The Enforcer - Kelli Callahan Page 0,28

though he’s in jail?” she asks.

“I’ve been to jail lots of times,” I confess. “I always had people on the inside and the outside who would help me, and I didn’t have near the reach of your ex-husband.”

She nods staring back out to the sidewalk.

“Yes, that’s what I was afraid of. What if he’ll never let me go?” she asks, her voice sounding thick.

I wonder if she’s going to cry.

“Well, he’ll just have to,” I growl, “men don’t get to decide when women can or can not leave them. That’s not how the world works.” I lift a hand to placing it gently on her back, hoping to give her some form of comfort.

“I won’t let them hurt you,” I whisper. Feeling a surprising amount of emotion, building up within me as those sad eyes stare up into mine.

Her lower lip trembles as a single tear trickles down her lovely cheek. Lifting my hand I gently caressing it away. She closes her eyes, pressing her face into the palm of my hand. My stomach tightens as she lets out a shaky breath. She slides, a small hand up my forearm to my wrist, pressing my hand more firmly against her. She looks up at me, and I feel my heart beat faster in my chest. Soft hands reach up around my neck, and I find my arms sliding around her waist as I pull her body close to mine. I pull her up onto her toes and sink into her.

I slide one hand up her back and lace my fingers through her soft hair and grip it, just hard enough to control her. Using the hold I have on her hair, I tilt her head to the side a bit so I can deepen the kiss. I break away as she gasps in my ear and kiss my way down her neck, tasting the sweet flavor of her skin.

I need to stop this. We can’t go any further. She’s vulnerable right now, and I might be a hard man, but I would never take advantage of a woman. I take one more sip from her lips and pull back. “We should go to bed. I have to get up early.”

She lets go of my neck and steps back, her cheeks flushed. “Oh. Okay, I guess I will go to my room now.” She looks down at the ground as she walks away before pausing at the door. “Goodnight Jake,” she whispers, and quickly steps through and shuts the adjoining door.

“Goodnight Diana,” I reply into the empty room.

Chapter Ten

Jake

It’s six am, and I am sitting in the Greensboro Walmart parking lot, drumming my fingers impatiently on the dashboard. Noah should be here soon. I could call, but I’m afraid his cell can be traced. It’s so hard to know how to proceed right now. Everything is so complicated, and we keep adding more complications.

Well, there was a kiss last night.

Leaning back in the chair, I close my eyes and try not to think about Diana’s lips on mine. I spent the better part of the night trying to push away those thoughts, but now they got me, calling me closer to her. It took everything I had to slowly pull away and not take her to bed with me... for so many reasons. On the one hand, she’s recently divorced― just coming out of a bad marriage. I don’t know if she’s ready for anything physical or emotional. Then there’s the fact that we’re hiding from a killer, and emotions just complicate things further. Fuck, nothing complicates anything more than sex. I like to keep things casual, but I know Diana is not the kind of person that I could ever be casual with. Therein lies the issue. If I were to become involved with her, would I feel like it would have to become a relationship? I don’t do relationships.

Rapid tapping on my window jolts me from thoughts of her. Turning to my side, I smile at Noah. He has his ball cap low over his brow and his hands stuffed in his pockets. I unlock the door, and he nods and walks around to the passenger side.

“Hey, Jake,” he says, climbing in, slamming the door, and locking it again.

“Hey, how are you?” I ask.

“I’m doing better, just glad you’re okay,” he says while shaking off the rain from his hat. “God it’s cold already. North Dakota, huh?”

“Yeah, I hightailed it here.”

“You left her alone?”

“Well, I didn’t feel like I