In Rides Trouble (Black Knights Inc. #2)(30)

Scorching heat burned across her face like she’d stepped too close to an open fire.

“I…I…” She shook her head, unable to give voice to her feelings for Frank. Respect, longing, lust, frustration…she experienced all of that and so, so much more. Love? Yes, she certainly felt that, too.

Angel’s mouth twisted. “He’s involved with someone else.”

“I know he is,” she gulped, the tears that’d steadily been climbing up the back of her throat now threatened behind her eyes.

“You’ll get hurt.”

Yeah, she knew that, too.

He sighed heavily and shook his head before moving to slide the socks he’d brought onto Frank’s big, square feet. “You should go and take a nap. Your brother has arranged a transport for us at oh-nine-hundred.”

“Angel—”

“Just be careful,” he interrupted her.

Careful. Not a word she usually put into practice, but this time, she figured she’d be smart to heed his advice.

“I will,” she promised, fighting the hot tears pooling in her eyes as she turned away and made herself walk, not run like her legs were begging her to do, out of sick bay.

Exactly which portion of your anatomy were you just thinking with, Becky?

If she’d been a dude, she figured the answer would be her dick. But since she was woman? What was the equivalent body part?

She very much feared it might be her stupid, reckless, hopeful heart…

***

Port of Haifa, Israel

Eighteen hours later…

“What is that smell?” Eve asked Becky irritably as they waited for the transport vehicle that would take them on their next leg of the journey. “I think I can taste it.”

It took every ounce of willpower she possessed not to reach up and pinch her nose closed or risk enjoying the spaghetti dinner she’d eaten aboard the Patton for the second time.

All she wanted at this point was to curl up in the first-class cabin of a big Boeing 747 with a cold mimosa in one hand and a sleep mask in the other. Unfortunately, given how the last several hours had gone, she figured that was pretty much out of the question.

She’d only gotten a few hours of sleep in the “rack” she’d been assigned aboard the Patton before she’d been none too gently shaken awake by Billy and gruffly told they were heading out.

“Heading out” turned out to be a six-hour helicopter ride from the deck of the destroyer to a tiny, desolate, dusty landing strip out in the middle of nowhere, Egypt, where they boarded what could barely be called a plane for a hellacious flight to some farmer’s seaside field in Israel. From there, they’d hopped on a speedboat and roared through the choppy Mediterranean for what seemed like hours.

Their journey finally landed them here, at the huge docks that ran the length of the colorful Port of Haifa. And even though darkness had descended a few hours previous, the docks still bustled with noise and activity.

“That smell,” Becky answered, reaching into the pocket of her borrowed warm-ups to pull out two Dum Dums, “is fuel mixed with dead fish combined with a little excrement and tinged with God only knows what else.”

She handed Eve one of the lollipops, and Eve gratefully popped it into her mouth. Squeezing her eyes closed, she tried to concentrate on the burst of sugary sweetness. It helped. But only marginally. Probably because her sense of smell was still reeling from shock.

Deciding the only way to avoid the rancid air would be to stop breathing entirely, she reluctantly opened her eyes, only to find the huge man once more eyeing her friend like a hawk eyes a field mouse. Even injured, with a bandage on his forehead and his arm in a sling, he was still the most dangerous-looking individual she’d ever laid eyes on.

Geez Louise.

“Uh, that man is staring at you again,” she whispered, shivering at the hardness of the guy’s face and the fierce heat reflected in his eyes.

“I know,” Becky said, refusing to look, using her tongue to shift her sucker to her opposite cheek. It clacked loudly against her teeth, a strange sort of expletive. “I’m trying to ignore him.”

“I can’t tell if he wants to kiss you or kill you.”

“He’s already done the first, so I’m thinking it’s the second he’s after now.”

“What?” When Becky pinched her arm in warning, she lowered her voice. “He kissed you?” she whispered incredulously, snatching the sucker out of her mouth so she could gape with appropriate horror at her friend.

Which was a big mistake, because then she really could taste the fetid air.

She shoved the lollipop back in her mouth and tried to breathe shallowly.

“More like I kissed him…or maybe I allowed him to kiss me when I shouldn’t have, or…hell, I don’t know.” Becky bit down on her lollipop, the crunch so loud Eve wondered if her friend had lost a tooth. Apparently not, because Becky started chewing angrily, taking out whatever frustration she was suffering on the poor piece of candy. “I’ll tell you all about it when we get home,” she promised.

Eve watched as Becky finally snatched a glance over at the big man and saw the moment their eyes met and clashed. She fancied even she could feel the shocking jolt of electricity in the visual exchange.

“Cheese and rice, Becky.” The tiny hairs on her arms stood up as in warning of a potential lightning strike.