Straight Flushed (Hot Pursuit #1)(44)

A hopeful glint shone in his eyes, and he lowered his arms. “I’ll agree to anything you say. I need help, and right now, you’re my only hope. I don’t know how deep—whatever this is—goes.”

“Then before we get into the details of what it is you need to do.” I crossed my arms and bit the inside of my cheek. “We need some ground rules.”

He nodded. “Lay it on me.”

“First, we can’t be romantically involved if I’m working for you. Romantic issues can distract and lead to vulnerability. If someone is trying to kill you, and subsequently me, you’ll want my full attention.” I said this as much for his benefit as well as mine. Gabe weighed heavily on my mind, but there was something magnetic about Stephen. I feared I could lose sight of the situation if I wasn’t cautious. He needed to hold up his end of the bargain for us to have any hope for success.

Stephen dipped his head slightly. “That’ll be tough, but I survived celibacy in high school, so I’m sure I can survive this.” He chuckled. “If you think it’s best then I agree.”

“Good,” I said with a firm tone. “And second, you have to trust me. If I tell you to do something you have to do it. I’ve trained a long time and if you question me, or if you don’t follow my instructions immediately, it could cost you your life.”

“Done.” He nodded.

“And, you sleep on the couch.”

“Oh, of course.” He smiled. “What else?”

I shrugged. “That’s it for now. Each situation takes a small amount of personalization and if something unique comes up then we can tweak our plan as we go.”

“Seems simple enough. Deal.” He sat on the couch and ran both of his hands through his sun-kissed hair, flexing his biceps. “I have one small request though.”

“What?”

“For now, I think we should keep everything between the two of us.”

My brow creased into frown. “Why? I don’t do secrets.”

“Normally, I would completely agree. But the people we’re dealing with are crazy. I’ve already endangered your life. Anyone you talk to about this could end up being in danger too. I don’t want anyone else getting hurt, or worse, because of me. I want to understand this a little more. I couldn’t live with myself if something bad happened to someone else.”

“But if someone is coming after me because of a connection to Avery, wouldn’t my partner be in an equal amount of danger? We worked together with Avery and were in the accident together. I feel like he should know. I don’t keep things from him.”

“He could be in some danger, but like you said, it looked like you were the intended target of whoever hurt your friend at your office, right? Maybe it was the connection to me that pushed them over the edge to come after you. They could have thought we had some kind of secret meeting on the beach. I don’t know.” He hung his head low and silence fell between us.

I sighed. “I don’t know, Stephen. This seems like a bit of a stretch. I don’t like it.”

“You’re familiar with the term extremists, right?”

“Yeah, of course.” I shrugged.

“They have that name for a reason. It’s only a precaution…just for a few days.”

If he was right, and the people who were after us were as radical as he thought, then I didn’t want to put Vance at any risk. I couldn’t imagine my life without him, and the thought of him getting hurt was something I didn’t want to think about. “Okay, we can keep things between us. For now.”

“Good.” He nodded. “I wish I knew where Avery was. If I could talk to him, I think we could figure this out.”

“He’s probably laying low since the accident. He was pretty shaken up.”

“But he has access to everything I need. I don’t know how I’ll be able to get through this without him. I’ve looked everywhere, but it’s like he’s vanished into thin air.”

“I’m sure he isn’t the only way for you to get to the bottom of this. Why don’t you see what you can learn without him? I mean, you seem pretty resourceful. You found me, right?” I grinned.

“Yeah.” His shoulders sagged. “I even tried to find him when I accessed your company’s computer system. There was zero trace of him—there was some sort of super protection in place. That was when I realized you were my only hope of tracking him down.” He sighed and smiled. “But, you’re right. I’m sure I’ll think of something.”

“I’m sure you will.” I uncrossed my arms, and we both grew quiet then my stomach growled. “Hey, are you hungry?”

“Starving,” he said in a low, naturally seductive voice.

“Well, I was on the way to the grocery store when you snuck up on me.” I shot him a heated stare hoping it would slow my heart.

“Sorry about that.” He smiled and twitched a brow.

I rolled my eyes and grinned. “So, I really don’t have any food. I need to run to the store and pick some stuff up.”

“You sure that’s safe?”

“Please, I’m not scared of the boogey man. I handled you all right, didn’t I?”

He laughed. “Point taken.”