When He's Bad (Walker Security Adrian’s Trilogy #2) - Lisa Renee Jones Page 0,7
towel. “And I only told them about it yesterday.”
“Deleon found the cabin,” I argue, closing the space he’s put between us and squatting down beside the mattress.
“No one but me knew about this cave until yesterday,” he says, “when I told my Walker team. “
“You said no one knew about the cabin.”
“No one that I thought could, or would, hurt us,” he says. “That was a misstep. I fucked up.”
“How do we know Walker didn’t turn on you?”
“They didn’t.” He digs in a box and sets socks, a T-shirt, and sweats on the mattress, obviously done with the idea of Walker turning on him. “Those are for you,” he says. “I have safety pins for the sweats.” He reaches in another box and sets a small box, that I assume holds the pins, on top of the stack of clothes.
I ignore the clothes, not ready to allow him to change the subject. “Someone told Deleon, Adrian.”
“It wasn’t Walker. You’re shivering. Get out of those wet clothes.”
Somehow, I never thought being ordered out of my wet clothes by this particular man would ever feel cold and commanding, more than hot and commanding, but it does. He’s using it to shut down my questions.
“I better keep on my pants, though, in case we have to leave suddenly. I mean, Savage could be here any minute, right?”
“Don’t count on it,” he says. “The storm and the darkness mean we’re all safer waiting for morning. “
“Can you call him?”
“I dumped my phone at the cabin,” he says. “I can’t risk that somehow being how Deleon found us.”
“I thought your phone was safe?”
“We have to be paranoid right now.” He motions to a sheet hung up like a shower curtain, though I’m not sure, considering we’re in a cave. “There’s a portable toilet back there.”
I glance at the sheet in surprise and then back at him. “You really thought of everything.”
“Right before I went undercover with the Devils, I knew how dangerous the mission would be. I prepared for a moment like this one and hoped it wouldn’t come.”
And I can’t help but wonder what role his brother Alex played in this, but I give up on seeking answers. He’s not ready to talk. I can see that. I want him to know I get it, I understand, even if it’s killing me. “Adrian—”
He stands and strips his wet T-shirt over his head, his hard, tattooed body now on full display, my words lost, my mouth dry.
“You wanted to say something?” he asks, but his tone is as cold as him commanding me to undress. I have the impression he’s just used that tone and his state of undress to distract me, even manipulate where my head is right now. Despite truly understanding why he might do so, why he’s so worried about the question I might ask, I don’t like this. I don’t like how he’s making me feel.
Suddenly needing the same space his words and actions declare he needs, I scoop up the clothes. “I’ll use the bathroom and change,” I murmur, rotating as I stand. In a couple of steps, I’m behind the curtain and I’m not sure if that is good or bad. I’ve basically just told him that I won’t undress in front of him.
I don’t know what is happening between us right now.
Chapter Seven
PRI
Standing behind the sheet, I draw a deep breath and bring the makeshift bathroom into view. There’s a portable toilet, a trashcan, and even a mock sink made from a bowl with soap and bottled water. A small box of supplies sits beside it and includes toothpaste and brushes. The man has covered it all, I decide, and I wonder what it was like to be undercover, in a situation so dangerous you needed a hideout in a cave. There are layers of torment to this man hidden beneath all of his jokes. This cave proves it.
I quickly dry off and change, after which I feel a ton better just wearing dry, albeit excessively large, clothes. As for my discarded, soaked items, my bra included, I hang them on the clothes rack—yes, there is a portable folding clothes rack. This place is like a well-stocked apartment.
Ready to rejoin Adrian, I’m nervous when I’ve never been nervous with him, thus my deep, calming breath, before I step into the main cavern. I find Adrian fully dressed in fresh, dry clothes, sitting on the mattress, his back against the cavern wall, his long legs stretched in