This time when she got up, she got fully out of the booth before Burton caught up to her. “I thought I told you....”
“I signaled my guards to stay back. I can take care of myself without an entourage, believe it or not. Nothing would make me happier than to get you home safely.”
Harper smiled at him and willed herself to blush, but she wasn’t sure it actually worked.
“Follow me,” she said with a wink as she quickly dove between the other patrons of the bar, mostly local miners who had stopped by for a few drinks after work.
She took the employee exit that went back to the kitchen and around the office area, where some of the more shady dealings of the bar went down, until they reached the employee exit to the parking lot.
“You really took the long way.” Burton wrapped an arm protectively around her shoulders.
Harper immediately started to tense but forced herself to loosen up a little bit. “I found the long way is usually the best way to get things done.” She led him to the SUV she’d rented while she was down here. “I really do appreciate you taking care of me like this.” She opened up the passenger door for him.
“Like I said, for a face as pretty as yours, I’d do anything.”
Harper smiled right before she shut the door in his face. Once she was in the car, she did a quick scan of the parking lot around them.
“Don’t worry, I’ve been keeping an eye out. No sign of that man.”
“That’s such a relief.” Harper put the key in the ignition and turned the car on. Then, as quick as she could, she put the car in gear and slammed on the gas.
Burton reached up to grab the handle above his head. “Whoa. You’re really scared, aren’t you?”
As soon as Harper was on the road, she floored it. She kept her brights on to make sure no stray chickens wandered in front of her unexpectedly, but she wanted to put as much distance between her and that bar as possible. “Fear isn’t exactly the right word. Motivated. I’m motivated to get away from that bar.”
“What exactly did that man in there do to motivate you like this?”
“Funny enough, he’s not the one motivating me right now. You are.”
“Oh really?” he asked, the flattery evident in his voice. “What did I do to earn this distinction?”
“Well, rumor on the street is that you’re a very valuable man, Mr. Burton. The tough thing is that you travel with all these armed guards around you. Guards who are almost impossible to separate you from.”
Burton finally started to understand what was happening. “Now just wait a minute.”
“No, I think it’s time you wait a minute.” Lucas sat up from where he was crouched in the backseat.
Burton physically jumped, cramming himself as close to the dashboard as he could to get away, and pulled at the door handle, but the door was useless to him. Before he even had a chance to scream, Lucas reached forward and plunged the syringe into the man’s neck.
“Don’t worry, you’re not gonna die.” Harper took her foot off the gas just the tiniest bit. Now that Burton was about to go down and they’d put a few miles between them and his guards, the chances of this whole thing succeeding just went up by a lot.
“Don’t fight it,” said Lucas. “The hangover’s a lot worse if you fight it.”
“You’re gonna take a nice long nap, and when you wake up, you’ll be surrounded by people who are going to want to make a deal with you. And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll accept that deal. Got it?”
Burton was now fully slumped against the door. His eyes were open, but his arms were lying limp next to him and his eyelids appeared to be getting heavier by the second.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Burton. I know you’re really upset with me right now, but at the end of this, we’re all gonna have a lot more money in our bank accounts.” Then his entire body went limp, and Harper held her breath for a few seconds as though waiting for any sign that the drugs didn’t fully take yet.
“And... we’re off,” said Lucas. “How much farther is the airport?”
“Well, you should probably put in the GPS, but at this time of night with no traffic—maybe forty minutes. If we take the back roads, there will be a lot less chance of running into any locals.”
“And your contact knows to have a plane ready?”
“Yep. And then after that, we can hightail it to the closest South American beach we can find.”
“This really is easy money.”
“Easy money! Do you have any idea how many horny guys I had to chase off at that bar until Burton finally came in tonight?” She’d been scoping out the place for two weeks because it was the only information she had about the whereabouts of the infamous Mr. Burton. Word on the street was that he only showed up every few weeks with his handful of bodyguards to find some good liquor and a willing woman.
“Hey, this was your idea. I was ready to honeymoon in Hawaii for as long as we needed to.”
“And as soon as Burton is in the US, we can spend the rest of the year on our honeymoon.”
“Damn straight. I bought you a bikini today.”
Harper had to hold back a snort of laughter. “A bikini? You know I don’t have those big butts like all the local girls have, right?”
“I see this as a win-win. Either your ass looked amazing in the bikini I bought you, or it will be too big and just fall right off. Explain to me the problem.”
“I can think of ten problems right off the bat. One.”
Lucas’s hands reached out from the backseat to start rubbing her shoulders, and words escaped her. Even after all this time, he still managed to make her speechless. She really hoped that would never go away.
“You were about to tell me a list of problems?”
“All right. Problems. Problem one. You’re infuriating.”
“Solution one, I love you.” He leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to the back of her head.
“Problem two, you’re distracting.”
“Solution two, you love it when I distract you.” This time he leaned forward to kiss her. He went right to the sensitive skin of her throat, and she had to clench her teeth together.
Keep your eyes focused on the road. “Problem three, you’re insatiable.”
“Solution three, you’re just as insatiable as I am.” This time he didn’t just kiss her neck; he gave her a little nibble, his teeth inching her skin between pleasure and pain.
“That’s it. I’m not telling you any more problems.”
“What’s the problem? You forget them all?”
“Oh, I remember them. I just think for our safety, I should wait till we’re both in a locked bedroom to tell you. Preferably while I’m in the new bikini.”
Lucas chuckled. “You wouldn’t be in it for long.”
***THE END***
Lucky Stud
Coming January 2019!
He's going to wine and dine and seduce her until she is completely in love. And then he'll have her right where he needs her.
Leo West has sins in his past. Sins he never wants to see the light of day. When a shady criminal comes out of the woodwork and threatens Leo's entire way of life, Leo decides to hit the man where it hurts: his daughter.
All Leo has to do is seduce the sexy Stella Everett and then he'll have all the leverage he needs over his new enemy. There's only one rule in this game of leverage: Don't fall in love.
To be notified when LUCKY STUD is released, sign up for Mallory's Mailing list at: mallorycrowe.com/free/
Check out all of Mallory Crowe's Books!
Lucky Alphas Series
Lucky Liar
Lucky Girl
Lucky Stud Coming January 2019!
Billionaires In The City Series
Teaching The Boss
Teasing The Boss
Tempting The Boss
Devereaux Billionaires Series
Touching Jace
Trusting Michael
Testing Luke
&nb
sp; Taming Rourke
Fractured Farrells; A Damaged Billionaire Series
Ruthless
Reckless
Remorseless
Restless
Relentless
The Stolen Hearts Series
The Cocky Thief
The Beautiful Thief
The Dangerous Thief
The Reluctant Thief
The Vengeful Thief
The Cunning Thief
The Deadly Thief
The Arrogant Thief
Lucky Girl (Lucky Alphas Book 2) Page 15
