Defending Harlow (Mountain Mercenaries #4)(35)

She nodded. “So jeans are okay? And sneakers? Should I bring a jacket?”

“Yes to all three. Maybe layers on top. It can be chilly in the morning, but it warms up fast once the sun rises.”

“Can’t you give me a clue? It doesn’t make sense that we’d go anywhere at that hour. Especially if we’re going to talk business or whatever.”

Black shook his head. “You’re just going to have to trust me.”

She let out a huge sigh, then shrugged. “Fine. But I hope it’s okay if I bring my jumbo travel cup of coffee with me.”

“Of course.”

“Lowell?”

“Yeah, Harl?”

She bit her lip, then asked, “Do you think everyone is safe?”

He knew exactly what she was talking about. “For now, yes. Until we know who torched the gas station and why, we won’t know what we’re up against. All we can do is keep an eye on the cameras, and if someone gets too close to the shelter, we’ll be there to check it out. Don’t worry about it.”

“I can’t help it. Those kids are precious. And their moms have already been through hell. Who’s doing this?”

“I don’t know,” Black admitted; then he took a risk by leaning into her and resting his forehead against hers. They stayed that way for a minute or two before he felt her hands hesitantly touch his sides. Then she moved her head so it rested on his shoulder and gave him her weight.

Knowing this moment was a turning point of some kind, Black didn’t say anything, simply wrapped his arms around her waist and returned her hug. He buried his nose into her hair, loving the scent of vanilla on her skin. When she finally pulled back, Black couldn’t help but notice how some strands of her hair stubbornly stuck to the stubble on his jaw. As if they were as reluctant to let go of him as he was of her.

He ran the back of his fingers down her cheek. “You okay?” he asked softly.

She nodded. “Yeah. I’m tired.”

It was the second time he’d heard those words come from a woman’s mouth tonight. “Then let’s get you home so you can get some shut-eye before our . . . outing tomorrow.”

Again, he’d almost screwed up and said date. Thank God he’d managed to choke the word down before it escaped.

Black opened her car door and waited until she was settled in the seat before closing it behind her. Looking around, he saw nothing out of the ordinary, but that didn’t mean he was satisfied. Something evil was lurking. He could feel it in the air. Whatever was going on wasn’t over. Meat and Rex needed to work faster to uncover whatever it was.

He didn’t know the women who lived at the shelter all that well, but he’d gotten to know the kids. They were more open than their mothers. Jasper was the hardest nut to crack. He had his shields up and wasn’t about to let them down for Black, or any male.

The girls—Lacie, Sammie, and Jody—were mostly happy children who, after a bit of shyness, had accepted him. Black knew it was mostly because Harlow had made it clear that he was her friend, but he’d take it.

Milo was torn between wanting to trust him and wanting to be like his idol, Jasper. Black had a feeling with a few more visits, the little boy would come around.

Yeah, the last thing he wanted was for any of the families in the shelter to be caught up in whatever was going on. If someone had a beef with one of the women, Rex should be able to ferret that out. If it was something more, they needed a clue, a scrap of information, something. As of now, they were shooting in the dark. And he hated that. They all hated that.

Harlow gave him a little wave as Black got into his vehicle. He quickly started it up and gave her a chin lift to let her know it was okay for her to pull out. Even though he kept his eyes peeled for anyone or anything out of place, Black saw nothing suspicious as they drove away toward Harlow’s apartment.





Chapter Eleven

Harlow took a sip of her coffee and stared out the windshield of Lowell’s Mazda. It was still dark outside, and she was too tired to think about where he was taking her.

She hadn’t slept well the night before. She kept having nightmares about the shelter blowing up and watching from the outside as everyone burned to death inside. So when her alarm went off at three thirty, she was tempted to roll over and ignore it, but had a feeling that Lowell would drag her out of bed if he had to. She could tell he was excited about wherever they were going.

Besides . . . she was curious.

And she was looking forward to whatever he had planned.

It had been a long time since anyone had surprised her with anything. Generally, she didn’t like surprises, but she had a feeling whatever Lowell had up his sleeve would be epic.

She’d told him she trusted him, and she hadn’t lied.

So here she was. Four in the morning, tired as hell, but game for whatever Lowell wanted to do.

Harlow hadn’t had much time to explore the area, so when she finally thought about paying attention to where they were going, she was already lost. The darkness didn’t help her orientation either.

“Can you tell me where we’re going yet?” It was the first thing she’d said other than a mumbled “Good morning” when he’d knocked on her door.

“You’ll see.”

Too tired to complain, Harlow put her drink in the cup holder and her head back on the seat and closed her eyes.