Guardian Ranger (Shadow Agents #2)(23)

Her gaze held his. “It’s okay if you want to leave.” Her hands dropped. “You have to look after yourself. When w-we made the deal, you didn’t know you were signing on to something that would involve three murders and a kidnapping in less than twenty-four hours—”

He kissed her. He didn’t want her backing away from him, and he sure didn’t want her trying to build a wall between them. So Jasper poured his hunger and need into the kiss. Let her know that this wasn’t some hired gun’s deal. This was a man, wanting a woman. Wanting her.

His right hand rose from the curve of her hip. Rose to cup her jaw. When his mouth finally pulled from hers—she’d been as eager to keep that kiss going as he had been—Jasper tilted her chin up to make sure she kept her focus on him.

And not on trying to flee.

“The deal isn’t gonna work,” he told her, “because right now my priority isn’t on finding your brother.”

“But—”

“It’s on keeping you safe.”

A faint line appeared between her eyes.

“I’ll be doing that job, no pay, got it? I’ll keep looking for your brother because I’m not leaving you on your own. It’s too dangerous. You need help, and I’m right here to help you.” And to do anything else to her that she’d let him do.

His fingers caressed her skin. Then he let her go.

With a shake of her head, Veronica said, “Why would a guy like you protect me for free?”

He stiffened at that. “A guy like me?” Weren’t they past this by now?

“I—I’m sorry, I didn’t—”

His jaw locking, he gritted, “I’m more than just the soldier you met years ago.”

“I know that.” Soft, then, as if confessing, “I’ve seen that truth in your eyes.”

He wondered just what else he might have revealed to her. Curious, he asked her, “What do you see in my eyes now?”

She licked her lips. “You want me.” Veronica seemed surprised by that. Why?

The woman was sexy as hell. Even wearing jeans instead of that come-get-me short skirt she’d worn at the bar—a skirt that had sure fueled some fantasies for him.

As for wanting her...

“Damn straight,” Jasper told her, his voice deepening. He could have been more blunt. But he held back what he wanted to do with her. The woman looked nervous enough as it was.

“So you...aren’t going to accept my money?”

He nodded.

“But you aren’t leaving.”

Another nod.

The furrow was still between her brows as she asked, “Y-you’re going to be some kind of—of what? Bodyguard?”

“If that’s how you want to think of me.”

She looked so lost and confused that he wanted to kiss her again.

“Why?” Veronica gave a little shake of her head. “Because you think that by playing hero, you’ll get me into bed?”

Playing hero? He hadn’t realized he was playing at anything. “No, ma’am,” he finally drawled, “that wasn’t what I was thinking.” He raised a brow. “If I get you in bed with me, it’s because you want to be there, no other reason.”

Her breath rushed out.

“As for finding your brother, I’ll still help you do that, but I never should have agreed to take your money.” And here was another confession, one that was eating at him. “Especially since I owe Cale.” Owing Cale made the whole mess even more tangled.

“Why do you owe him?”

“He saved my life.” It was hard to repay a debt like that. Especially when you were the guy in charge of bringing down the man who’d hauled your butt out of a South American jungle as bullets flew around you. “One of our early missions...didn’t go so well.” Because he’d been taken in by an innocent face. A woman who’d begged for help.

He’d wanted to help her.

Too late, he’d realized she was the bait to draw in his team so that the rebels in the area could attack. The first bullet had almost taken his heart. It had taken him out, because he’d fallen to the ground as blood pumped from him.

Cale had grabbed him. Fired his gun again and again. Gotten them both to safety.

As payment, here I am, hunting you, and planning to take your sister to bed.

Cale backed away from her. “I’m sorry.”

She blinked.

He did have some shred of conscience left. He’d thought he’d lost that years ago, but here it was, rearing its head. Maybe he could even do the right thing. Maybe. Jasper forced himself to say, “I shouldn’t have kissed you, shouldn’t have touched you.” His voice sounded wooden now because the memory of blood and thick vegetation and a friend’s strong arm around his shoulders was too vivid in his mind. He did owe Cale, and even though he was going to bring the other man in, he couldn’t betray him this way, too.

No matter how much I want her. Images of Veronica had been haunting him. He wanted her so much his whole body ached, and the thought of having her naked...

Yes.

But he could still hear the sound of those bullets flying in the jungle.

Stay in control. Wasn’t he already betraying her enough? The white-hot lust he felt, that stark awareness between them, could just wind up hurting them both. Cale didn’t want to hurt Veronica.