think I know where they are? I thought you believed me.”
“I believe you think you don’t know where they are.”
She shook her head, and her dark ponytail swayed from side to side. “This is getting too confusing for me, and it has nothing to do with the bump on my head. I told you. I have no idea what Abby could’ve done with those plans. I didn’t know of their existence forty-five minutes ago. Heck, I didn’t even know Abby well, and it turns out I knew even less about her than I thought I did.”
“You lived with her. You at least knew her habits, her hangouts, her moods.”
She turned her deep violet-blue eyes on him. “Is this how Zendaris would question me?”
Her barb pricked his conscience. “Trapped in an icy-cold car after just getting released from the hospital? Probably just his style.”
Probably much, much worse.
Punching a button, he unlocked the doors of the SUV and reached in the back for her bag. “Let’s get you warmed up inside. I’ll get you something hot to drink and another ibuprofen.”
“That sounds about right.”
This time she stayed in the car until he came around the passenger side and helped her from the vehicle. She clung to his arm when her boots hit the ground.
“Are you okay?”
“A little dizzy.”
“I can’t imagine why.” He’d clobbered her with so much information on the drive back to the ranch, he’d probably induced another concussion.
When they got inside the chilly house, he parked her on the love seat to the right of the fireplace and began stacking cords of wood on the grate. He lit some crumpled newspaper beneath the wood and straightened up, wiping his hands on the seat of his jeans.
“Coffee, tea or...hot chocolate?” The me hovered on the tip of his tongue, but he didn’t want to push things with her. When she’d discovered his lies, her eyes had flashed fire. She’d softened some when he had explained the situation to her, but her body language still screamed hands off when before her ready touch and luscious lips had invited him to explore further.
“Tea is fine.” She waved a hand toward the kitchen. “There’s a kettle on the stove, and I keep tea bags in the cupboard to the left of the stove.”
“I’ll find everything. Sit back and relax.”
“And start thinking about Abby and her habits?”
“Not right now. Give your brain a rest.” He didn’t want to elicit any comparisons with Zendaris from her again.
When the kettle whistled, he poured the bubbling water over the tea bag in Noelle’s cup, where it turned a light green. He sniffed it and wrinkled his nose—bland and tasteless. He didn’t see the point in drinking the stuff even if it was supposed to be good for you.
He returned to the living room, holding the steaming mug in front of him. “How long do you leave the tea bag in?”
“About five minutes. Can you please get me a saucer?”
He grabbed one from the cupboard and paused in the kitchen. “Do you want something to eat?”
She dunked the tea bag into the water several times. “No, thanks. The hospital fed me, and I finished off that scone you brought. Don’t you want some tea?”
“No.” He tapped the side of his head. “How’s the head feeling?”
“It throbs when the ibuprofen wears off, but other than that I’m okay.” She sipped the tea through the steam rising from the cup. “What if they had killed us last night? They wouldn’t be getting any answers.”
“They knew precisely where to run us off the road. It’s not like we were going to tumble off the mountain at that spot, and I was driving a big truck. They wanted to shake us up.”
“Do you still think they were planning to snatch me from the wreckage?”
J.D. dropped to the floor at her feet. “Not if I had anything to say about it.”
She hunched forward, elbows digging into her knees, black ponytail swinging over her shoulder. “Do they know who you are, J.D.? Do they know I’m being protected by a secret agent?”
“Zendaris is aware of our agency. We’ve foiled his schemes before—in a big way, one that he’ll never forget. He knows we stole the plans. Up until a few months ago, he thought we still had them.”
“But does he know what you look like? Does he realize you’re here in Buck Ridge?”
“I’m not sure.” The fire crackled and spit out a shower of sparks. J.D. hitched up to his knees and prodded the logs