Gabe (In the Company of Snipers, #8)(86)
He snagged matching baseball caps, making sure the brim shadowed his eyes. Hers went on next, but his damned heart stalled looking down into her sweet face. He returned her glasses to their proper place on her nose and adjusted the band on her cap so it fit tighter.
Standing there all compliant like she was didn’t help, but when she rested her fingertips on the front of his shirt, she might as well have attached jumper cables. Defiance didn’t glint once in those violet pools of his new companion agent. But something else sure did—something more deadly. Trust.
“You surprised me when you pulled your weapon on Becker.”
Her eyelashes fluttered. “I wanted to help you.”
“But you don’t know how to shoot.”
“I know, but I held it right, didn’t I? Besides, he didn’t know I was a beginner. I could tell. For a whole minute there I think I had him worried.”
“Did you flip the safety lever up before you aimed? You know, so the weapon would actually fire a live round if you needed to?” he asked, knowing damned well she hadn’t.
Those pretty eyes widened. “Umm, no. I pointed it like you did with yours. Was that wrong?”
“So you were basically helping me by standing there and looking deadly and dangerous.” He couldn’t help the smile tugging at his mouth. She didn’t have a clue about gun safety, but she did have guts. At least the thing was safe while she held it.
“Umm, I guess. I don’t know anything about them, remember?”
“Girl, you and I need to spend some serious time at the range.” Some serious time in bed with me wouldn’t be so bad, either.
He took a step back from the kiosk, but she stopped him with a hand at his wrist. “Wait. You thought I looked good?”
He looked down at her slender fingers barely wrapped around his wrist. The heat of a man who’d gone without female companionship for months roared to life at her touch, scorching his common sense. Gabe grabbed two bottled waters and slapped three twenties on the counter before they stepped out of line and headed to safety.
“Yes,” he answered truthfully. “You looked damned good, but let’s get out of here.”
Glancing over his shoulder, he headed for a cab before his cock took control of his brain. The zipper on his jeans was already tight and uncomfortable.
“Where’d you get the money to buy these?” she asked once they were in the backseat of the cab, with her tucked under his arm. “I thought you threw everything in the river?”
“Just tossed my wallet and my new business cards. They had my new address. Didn’t want the FBI to know where Zack went. But yeah, I always keep a couple get-out-of-jail-free bills tucked away,” he murmured, his lips in her hair.
The feel of her slender body sparked a fire in his blood. She smelled of flowers and the sun. His hands wandered inside the open zipper of her hoody along the curves of her ribcage until his fingers touched the side of her breast. He caught himself from wandering further. He hadn’t anticipated how good it would feel holding her, or knowing how inexperienced she was. Shelby needed more than target practice, and he wanted to be the man she practiced on.
The first. The last. The only.
The cabbie’s brown eyes beamed through the rearview mirror, winking at him like guys do. Well, let him look. The old fart. Gabe couldn’t care less. He’d found something rare in his life, and in the last place he’d expected to find it. Better yet, she seemed to feel the same way.
Shelby snuggled into his side, sparking impossible feelings he’d long since ignored. “Are we going to your place?” she asked, her hand on his chest.
“No. My office. Mark needs to know about Becker.”
She stiffened. “But I should be with Kelsey. Let’s go to your place. Now.”
“Mark first. Then Kelsey. Maybe.”
“No, Gabe. You don’t understand.” She twisted to face him. “She’s my patient. Not Zack’s.”
“Why can’t it wait?” Something else was going on. “Zack’s real good with Kelsey. He can cook, and you know he’ll keep her safe. Trust me.”
“But...” Shelby held her breath for a long couple of seconds. “I have to control everything for Kelsey right now. She... needs me.”
“That’s kinda impossible, isn’t it? The whole ‘control everything’ routine?” I should know.
“No. She’s my patient, not Zack’s. I have to be there for her.”
“Okay.” Gabe conceded the argument. He didn’t want to spoil his pleasant feeling. “Whatever you say. We’ll catch up with Zack and Kelsey right after we talk with Mark. Deal?”
“No, Gabe. Now. I have to go now.” She leaned out of his arms, her eyes filled with tears. “It’s just that... it’s just that... Oh, God. I haven’t even told my mother this.” Tightening her arms around herself, she drew in a deep breath, letting it release slowly, her gaze fixed on the traffic moving by them in a blur. “I almost killed one of my patients, Gabe. It was an accident, but I gave him the wrong medicine.”
Gabe blew out a big sigh as the puzzle that was Shelby fell into place. This explained why she fought so hard to be in charge. He knew the feeling, but trying to do the impossible was no way to live. “That’s why you have panic attacks.”