out.”
She shivered harder and clung to him, burrowing closer.
“I-I need a hot shower and a shot of w-whiskey.”
“I have a shower and a bottle of Macallan. You like Macallan?”
She snorted. “Sure. I have expensive bottles of Scotch lying around all the time.”
“Come on, Chandler. Let’s move.”
A chain-link fence lay ahead of them, separating the warehouse from the street. Liam was pondering how best to climb it, when a low growl echoed behind them.
Bloody hell. He stiffened and scanned the darkness.
“Oh, shit,” Aspen muttered. A black dog appeared. A rottweiler.
It was inside the fence with them.
And it had very sharp teeth.
It growled again, its gaze locked on them.
Liam and Aspen backed up.
“Nice doggy,” Aspen said. “Move slowly.”
Liam tried to stay calm.
“Liam? You okay?”
“I don’t like dogs.”
“I’m not fond of them myself.”
“Especially not slavering Rottweilers, keen to maul us, and tear our hearts out.”
She stared at him. “Jeez, did you have a bad experience as a kid?”
“As a matter of fact, yes. With my mother’s poodle.”
He heard a snicker.
“They have fangs too,” he told her.
“Right.” She sounded like she was barely suppressing a laugh.
The rottweiler snarled.
Shit. Liam’s back hit the fence.
“On three, we’ll spin and climb,” she said.
The dog snarled again.
“Okay, screw the countdown,” she said. “Go!”
They spun and jumped. The dog leaped and Liam heard it hit the fence. He climbed fast. He and Aspen worked their way to the top. Trying to figure out how to get over the top, while handcuffed, was tricky.
“Careful,” she warned.
Liam got his leg over, and started down the other side. The metal cuff dug into his wrist. Aspen was right at the top, maneuvering.
Then Liam’s foot slipped. Shit.
He fell, his fingers losing their grip on the chain link. Cursing, he turned.
He heard Aspen cry out as his weight pulled her off the fence.
His back hit the ground on the other side of the fence with a thump.
And Aspen landed on top of him.
He found himself with a very nice pair of breasts pressed to his face.
“Oh. God.” She tried to push herself up, then slipped on top of him again. “I’m so sorry.”
A laugh welled in his chest.
She cursed and slid to the side.
“I’m fine,” he said. “Take your time.”
“Are you laughing, Kensington?”
A small chuckle escaped him. “No.”
“Liam!”
“I can think of worse things than your lovely breasts in my face.”
She tried to push up again, and Liam sat up, helping her.
She stared at him, then started laughing too.
Behind the fence, the rottweiler barked at them.
“Oh, God.” Still laughing, she leaned forward and kissed Liam.
Mmm. Laughing and kissing wasn’t a combination he’d tried before.
He drank her in. He liked it, liked her. Too much.
“We’d better find a way out of here,” she said.
They helped each other up, and got to the street. The dog continued to bark, and he hoped it didn’t alert their kidnappers.
“What if our captors are out there, looking for us?” she asked. “What if we flag down the wrong person?”
“Let’s put some distance between us and them.”
They stuck to the shadows. They were in an industrial area and there was no one around.
As they crossed the street, he saw some homeless people sitting in the darkness, watching them carefully.
“We’re in New York City, there should be someone around with a freaking phone,” she said.
They turned down another street.
If they could get to a phone, he could call for help.
A moment later, he heard the drone of an engine.
A motorcycle came into view. The guy wasn’t going very fast and didn’t look like he was actively looking for anyone. Liam decided to take a risk. He stepped onto the road and waved with his uncuffed hand.
The motorcycle slowed to a stop and a young man pushed up the visor of his helmet.
“You guys okay?” He eyed their bare feet.
“Actually, we’re not,” Liam said.
The man looked at their handcuffed wrists, their disheveled, wet clothes, then looked up.
His eyes widened. “Holy shit, you’re… Are you really…?”
“I am,” Liam said. “I don’t have my wallet on me, but I really need your bike. I’ll give you double what it’s worth.”
Aspen made a choked sound.
“I’ll give you my phone number, and you can call me tomorrow, and I’ll pay you.” Liam smiled. “I’m good for it.”
The younger man stared at him, his mouth hanging open.
“Do we have a deal?” Liam asked.
“Hell, yeah.”
The man scrambled off his bike.
“What’s your name?”
“Harry.”
“I’ll give you my private number, Harry.” Liam rattled off the digits and Harry yanked a scrap of paper and pen from his pocket.
“No one will believe this,”