to her, took her hand in his. She was ice cold. He wanted to pull her against him and warm her up. Instead he put her hand in between both of his and rubbed her skin. “This guy has had way too many chances at you. I’m not going to let him get another.”
She met his gaze. “For two weeks. But when two weeks is over, I return with a target on my back unless the police have figured out who it is. Let’s be realistic here. This isn’t NCIS where the crime is solved in an hour. We both know the chances of the police finding anything in two weeks, much less the man responsible.”
Hell, she hadn’t said a damn thing he hadn’t already thought himself. “How about we take each day at a time. It’s possible the police will find something when they go through your car.”
Julie’s smile nearly stopped his breath. “I’ll have to remember you’re an optimist.”
“I’m hurt,” he said, holding onto a straight face. “I’m sunshine and light. I thought for sure you saw that about me.”
Now she laughed. “Right. Sunshine and light. Let me write that down. Hey, maybe if I’m lucky you’ll sing ‘The sun’ll come out tomorrow...’”
Her grin broke down every wall he kept trying to erect. He leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. “C’mon. Let’s get you packed. Vegas is waiting.”
* * *
Dressed in soft gray sweats, Julie settled in the comfortable backseat of Troy’s black BMW 750 Li—under protest. Just because she had eighteen stitches in her thigh didn’t mean she couldn’t sit in the front seat like an adult. Apparently Troy thought otherwise. As she settled against her pillow—Troy had brought along a few creature comforts including her pillow and favorite blanket, and yes, it softened the blow of this trip to see him bend over backward to make her comfortable—she decided to treat this trip as a twofold vacation. One, she could dig into the stack of scripts that had piled up on her desk, and two, she could use the time to research her roles for the two movies she had lined up back-to-back. She had just enough time to shoot Ari’s movie before starting the as-yet untitled indie film that had caught her attention.
She constantly observed people and this trip would give her an opportunity to watch real people along the way. Hollywood was good for watching the people who wanted to stand out, people who made themselves something they weren’t, in the name of fame. But Julie wanted to be around real people. The ones who cared about the important things in life like family and friends. She pulled the blanket up under her chin. His black leather backseat wasn’t so bad after all, but she didn’t plan on confessing that.
For the first time in hours, she sighed and let her muscles relax. What a day. She was wiped out. She could pull out her reading light and work on some research with one of the psychology books she’d brought along, but moving seemed counterproductive to the exhaustion creeping into her bones. The warm bath she’d taken had been shallow and had lasted just long enough to get the smell of smoke out of her hair without getting her stitches wet.
The car hummed smoothly beneath her and her lids got heavy as she gazed at the dark stubble on Troy’s jaw. It had been a long day for him too. A surreal lifetime had passed in the twenty-four hours since they’d fallen into her bed. No wonder she was tired. She’d hardly slept at all last night. Mmm, last night...kissing him...touching him...
* * *
“Julie.” Troy’s low voice woke her and she blinked open heavy eyes. “We’re here,” he said. He’d opened the door at her feet and leaned in. “I’m going in to register. I didn’t want you to wake up and get scared.”
She sat up. “We can’t be here already?” She looked around at the flashing lights that definitely screamed Las Vegas.
Troy lifted a dark eyebrow. “You passed out before we got to the freeway in L.A.” He shrugged. “And I made good time.”
Julie squinted her eyes and looked at her watch. “Three and half hours? Are you kidding me? I’ve never made it to Vegas in that time.”
“I’ve got a talent.” He grinned and her pulse quickened like it did every time he smiled at her that way. She wouldn’t have minded if he