Texas Temptation

by Kathryn Brocato

  “Sorry,” she gasped out. “Itty-bitty panic attack. I’m over it.”

  “Breathe. In and out slowly. I’m shaking in my boots, too, Lexie.”

  She leaned her back against the cool stone and made herself release Mac’s hand. She then took a breath of fresh, clean air and tried to hide the shakiness in her voice. “Now what?”

  “I’m going to drop down to the roof. You will kneel on the ledge and, using the window to balance, turn so your legs hang over the edge. Let go of the ledge, and I’ll catch you.”

  “Are you crazy? I can’t—”

  “Lexie, look behind you.”

  She turned her head slowly toward the open window. Flames appeared under the door and the small office was completely filled with smoke. One word escaped her lips. “Trapped.”

  “Once we get down onto the roof, there’s a fire escape ladder to the street.” He reached for her hand. “Gabriel needs you. We can do this together.”

  Finding her voice, she whispered, “Not fair using Gabriel.” She bit down on her lower lip and dredged up an ounce of courage. “Mac, do what you have to do.”

  With the grace of a trained athlete, he lowered himself over the side until only the tips of his fingers were on the ledge. An instant later, he dropped, landing on his feet.

  “Tag, you’re it, Lexie. Just drop and I’ll catch you. Trust me.”

  Lexie’s heart pounded like she had just run the 100-yard dash. After a quick glance into the office, she knelt, and holding onto the window, rolled onto her stomach.

  “That’s it. Now just ease your legs over the ledge.”

  The instant her feet hit empty space, panic ripped through her and she swung a leg back onto the ledge as her fingers dug into the window frame. God, she couldn’t do this. It was freaking crazy.

  “You have to let go of the window frame. I’m right under you.”

  “This isn’t the time to be nice to me, Mac.”

  “Okay, then how’s this? I’m loving the view of the sexiest red panties I have ever seen that barely cover an ass that will live in my dreams for years to―”

  Lexie dropped. Before she could get out the ear-piercing, girly scream that roared in her head, she landed in Mac’s arms. The impact crushed the air from her lungs.

  “You’re okay,” he whispered. “I’ve got you.”

  Wrapping her arms around his neck, she allowed his strength and his herbal all-male scent to soothe her. He eased her legs back on solid ground, but she didn’t let go. She couldn’t remember a time in her life when she felt so safe, protected.

  She raised her chin and met his amused stare. Of all stupid days to wear a skirt to work. As soon as she got out of this mess, it was going to Goodwill.

  Heat spread up her neck and her chest tightened. “This one time, I’m going to let that go.”

  “Let what go, Lexie?” Mac’s hand moved slowly down her back to her waist and pressed her tightly against him.

  His touch sent a flash of need that had been dormant for too long into her gut. Lexie swallowed but couldn’t look him in the face. “That wasn’t my best moment on that ledge. You shouldn’t have looked.”

  “You told me not to be nice. I was saving your life.”

  She couldn’t help herself. She let out a laugh and lightly struck his chest with her fist. He caught her hand and pressed it against his heart.

  His expression softened for an instant before he broke their connection and shot a glance at the ladder in the far corner of the roof. “We still have to get off this roof. Are you up to it?”

  She stepped away from him, missing his warmth immediately, and took control of her emotions. “If I can blindly drop off a building, then I guess I’m up for a rickety ladder.”

  Mac held his weapon in his right hand and reached for her hand with his left. He headed toward the far corner of the roof. “Stay close.”

  At the ledge, Mac took several moments to study the street below. Concern and something close to fear edged into his features.

  Lexie could hear the sirens, but the back of the building was deserted. “Where are the emergency personnel? Why isn’t anyone here to help us?”

  “They probably believe we’re still in the building.”

  She couldn’t take her eyes off the long, narrow ladder attached to the brick. Even in the semi-darkness she could see the rusted joints. “Is the ladder safe?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then what’s wrong?”

  Instead of answering her, he climbed onto the ladder. “We’ll go as slowly as you need.”

  She lifted her leg and took the first rung, then eased over the ledge the same way Mac did. This time if she fell, she would take him with her.

  “Damn, Lexie, those red—”

  “Stop checking me out, Mac McNeil or I’ll tell Díaz he hired a pervert as an agent.”

  “Make sure you get my title right.”

  “What?”

  “When you report me, my title is Special Agent-in-Charge Lucas McNeil.”

  “That’s …”

  Lexie’s foot hit pavement. She let go of the ladder and spun around. Mac stood inches from her with a silly grin on his face. She let out a heavy breath, rose on her toes, and kissed him on his cheek. “Thanks for distracting me. Now what? Where are we?”

  “Behind headquarters.” He took her elbow and moved into the shadows of the building. “We have to get you somewhere safe.”

  “Where is Gabriel?”

  “Jason has him.”

  “I want to see him, Mac.”

  His expression tensed, and he rolled his shoulder muscles. “Think through that request, Lexie. You know Gabriel is in good hands. You, one the other hand, have a crazy bastard trying to—”

  “Kill me? Yeah, I kind of figured that out. I thought Ryan was one of you, an agent. He said he was there to take me home.”

  Mac stopped short and studied her, his expression hard. “Wait, you know this guy?”

  “Well, kind of.”

  Mac cupped her elbows and brought her close to him. “How, Lexie?”

  “I dated him.”

  “You what?”

  “One date. Actually I wouldn’t even call it a date. We just met for coffee.”

  “Where?”

  Lexie shoved at Mac’s chest, but he didn’t nudge. “At Marcus and Cole’s café.”

  “When did you meet him?”

  The angry, frustrating Mac McNeil was back in full form. It took everything in her not to slug him hard in the nose. “Last night, and if you don’t let go of me, I’m going to stomp on your foot so hard, you’ll be limping into next week.”

  Mac released her and widened the space between them. His eyes tightened and he clamped his jaw. The expression spoke volumes. He was pissed at her, again. Well, damn it, she didn’t invite that Ryan bastard into her life, and she’d gotten rid of him as fast as she could.

  “Who is he, Lexie?”

  “I don’t know. He introduced himself as Ryan. I didn’t even catch his last name.”

  “What did you catch?”

  “At the café, I got a bad feeling about the guy. Couldn’t wait to end the date.”

  “And?”

  “Tonight, he asked me if I told Díaz about him. At the time I thought he was concerned for his security clearance. He didn’t want his name connected to a woman who was being questioned for domestic terrorism.”

  “What are you not telling me?”

  “I can’t prove it, but he’s your man, the guy who launched the drone.”

  Chapter Eight

  Hell, he never pegged Lexie Trevena for a fool. Of all the men she could have picked to start dating again, she chose a fucking terrorist. Mac shoved down his anger and took Lexie’s hand as they raced toward the lot across the alley. He had no idea if the bastard was still near, hoping to get another chance at grabbing her. Since most of the parking lot was poorly lit, staying in the shadows wasn’t a problem. He spotted his brother’s old sedan in the bac
k left corner and removed the extra set of keys from under the carriage of the rear bumper. Unlocking the passenger door, he murmured under his breath, “Great filter for men you got there, Lexie.”

  “Damn it, Mac, he wasn’t my choice. I didn’t pick him.”

  “Why in the hell does he want you dead so badly he risked breaking into the FBI?”

  “I can’t explain any of this.”

  Mac relaxed his cramped fisted hand. “Get in.”

  Her eyes roamed over the vehicle. “I figured you would have something a little newer.”

  “It’s Jason’s old car. We keep it handy for when we don’t want to be noticed.”

  He shut the passenger door and stalked around the sedan. His body was on alert, every nerve firing at once.

  Lexie Trevena had done it again. The thought of her with that bastard, even just having a cup of coffee, made him want to lock her away in a guarded safe house for the next fifty years. How could one woman be so damn impulsive? He swung open the door and dropped into the driver seat. He glanced at Lexie from the corner of his eye. She sat straight, her hands folded in her lap.

  “I have every right to be furious at you, too, Mac.” Lexie’s voice shook, but her body remained completely still.

  “I’m not angry at you.”

  “I would like to sock you in your obnoxious nose.” She twisted in her seat until she faced him. “Where were you today? How could you leave me alone like that to face Díaz and his questions? I thought we … that we were at least kind of …”

  “Kind of what, Lexie? Friends? I’ve tried to be your friend, and all I have ever received from my efforts was a door in my face.”

  “So what was today? Your revenge?”

  “I don’t do revenge. I had orders to bring you in for questioning. I was doing my job.”

  “I hate your job. I hate the FBI, and I hate that damn building. After everything we have been through, you should have been there.”

  The words stung; the shaky, breathless tone in her voice hurt more. She would never know how in the instant Díaz broke her, Mac questioned his future as an agent.

  He placed the keys in the ignition. “You didn’t want me in there, Lexie. You think you hate me because of Rico. If I were in that room, if it were me throwing those questions at you, it would have placed a wall between us that we would never break through. I know you don’t trust me, but you are going to have to start working with me if you want to see Gabriel turn three.”

  “Answer one question, Mac.”

  “What?”

  “Do you think I did this horrible thing?”

  “Not for one damn second. However, you’re connected to this somehow. When did you suspect that Ryan was responsible for the drone attack?”

  “You mean before he tried to blow us to smithereens?”

  “As I approached you in the back hallway, you were in strike mode.”

  “The closer to the stairwell we got, the more pressure he had on my elbow. It just freaked me out. Then I saw Ryan place that device on the wall, and every instinct in me shrieked not to go with him. I pulled back, but I couldn’t pull away from him. I told him I had nothing to do with the drone attack. His eyes changed to the cold gleam of a madman right in front of me and he said, I know. There wasn’t any doubt in his expression, he was responsible and wanted me to know it.”

  Mac yanked the gear in reverse and backed out of the spot. Once out of the lot, he turned onto an access road and took the entrance to the interstate. This time of night, few cars crowded the lanes. Needing a way to release the tension, he pressed his foot down on the accelerator, kicking the vehicle past the seventy-five mph mark. “That bastard never should have gotten that close to you. That’s on me.”

  “You saved my life tonight, twice. I think we are even for now.”

  They weren’t even. The promise he’d made to Rico was shot to hell and back. If Mac lifted the fabric of her blouse sleeve, he would find bruises where Ryan’s fingers dug into her skin. If he were a minute later, he would have lost her, and that was unthinkable.

  What bugged the hell out of him was if Ryan wanted her dead, why didn’t he just kill her when he had the chance? He could have snapped her neck, ignited the bomb, and escaped.

  It was Mac’s duty to keep Lexie and Gabriel safe. He had tried so many times over the last two years to be part of her life. When Lexie shut him out, he kept his promise from the shadows. It wasn’t stalking―or, at least, that’s what he told himself.

  “Mac, where are we going?”

  The question dragged him out of his head. “We’re going to let Ryan think he succeeded.”

  “You mean people will think I’m dead? You can’t do that. I’ve lived in Austin all my life. I have friends who care about me.”

  “And there is a very clever maniac out there who, for whatever reason, wants you dead. Until I discover how you are connected to Ryan and to the drone attack, you will stay dead.”

  “You don’t get to come into my life and control me, McNeil. You already killed my chances of ever being able to hold my head high at Roland again. But this … it’s just wrong, and it will kill Cole and Marcus.”

  “I know you’ve had a hard day—”

  “Don’t patronize me.”

  Mac tightened his grip on the steering wheel, and he choked down his anger before it boiled up all over Lexie. No one dared push his buttons, and from her expression, she hadn’t a clue what she was doing to him. “Have you given any thought that maybe one of your friends or a colleague at Roland help set you up?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Ryan didn’t do this on his own. This was a team effort, a very well-planned hit, from stealing the drones to the attack on Senator Ramirez. Whoever is behind this went to a lot of trouble to pin the whole damn thing on you.”

  “My friends wouldn’t—”

  “For once, will you just shut it and listen? You’re drowning in this mess. All I’m trying to do is pull you to safety, but you have to stop treating me like I’m the fucking enemy.”

  As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Lexie curled in on herself. He was such an ass. This was why she closed the door on him so often. After the day she’d had, the last thing she needed was a taste of his temper.

  He took the exit off the interstate toward Jason’s and Sarah’s home. After a few minutes, the quiet got to him. “I’m sorry, Lexie.” When she didn’t even acknowledge that he spoke, he tried again. “I’m trying to keep you alive. I can’t allow anything to happen to you.”

  A fist-sized knot took up residence in his neck. He massaged the muscle, hoping it would ease the tension. “Someone set you up, and it’s going to be hard proving you’re the victim. I promise you I’ll find out what’s going on and end it. If you want to continue working for Roland, I’ll make sure they know you are innocent. And if you want me completely out of your life, I’ll honor that.”

  He turned into a residential neighborhood. After weaving his way through a maze of streets, he turned into a cul-de-sac and hit the garage door opener for the home at the end of the circle. He then pulled into the garage and shut off the engine.

  “Marcus and Cole aren’t part of this.”

  “Don’t contact them, Lexie.”

  “Where is Gabriel?”

  “Inside with Jason and Sarah.”

  Without a glance in his direction, she opened the car door and rushed into the house. Mac didn’t try to stop her, nor did he follow her. The distance she was placing between them wasn’t a bad idea.

  The kitchen door opened into the garage, and his brother jogged down the steps. “You look like shit.” Jason eased in a little closer. “And you don’t smell much better.”

  “That’s what happens when you’re trapped in a burning building.” He glared at his brother. “Don’t you have a diaper to change or spit-up to clean?”

  “Lexie’s upset. What the hell did you say to her?”

  Mac let out a harsh laugh. “
Oh, let’s see. I told her all the people she trusts are in on this nightmare.”

  “Dumbshit. Why did you do that?”

  “She wanted me to just take her back to her life like nothing happened. I also told her to shut the hell up.” He eyed Jason. “I think that was the real kicker.”

  “She really gets under your skin, doesn’t she?”

  “Yeah, a little.”

  “Want some brotherly advice?”

  “You want my fist in your ugly face?”

  “You’re going to be confined in the same house for a few hours. Maybe you should take the time and figure out why she makes you so crazy.”

  “Maybe you should butt out of my life.”

  “Now what fun would that be? Lexie is my friend and I don’t believe for a minute she did any of this. Go easy on her, Mac, or I’m going to have to pound on you a little. And just for the record, Sarah wants your head on a stick.”

  “What the hell did I do to piss off Sarah?”

  “Jason, Mac, you better get in here.” Sarah stood in the doorway.

  Mac opened the door and got out. “What’s wrong? Is it Lexie, Gabriel?”

  “No. For the last several hours, I’ve been watching for any signal from the drone. It just went live, and this isn’t good.”

  “Where is it?” Jason moved through the doorway behind his wife.

  “The worst possible place.” Sarah pulled her laptop on the table around so he and Jason could see the screen. “It’s in Brownsville, a half mile from the bridge into Mexico.” She ran her hands rapidly over the keys. “I can’t shut it down.” An instant later, she blew out a shaky gust of air. “Shit. It’s launching.”

  A traffic camera view of the bridge between United States and Mexico spread across the screen.

  “Son of a bitch. Sarah, can’t you do anything?” Mac’s heart plummeted into his gut.

  “No, I’m shut out completely.”

  Mac watched the drone fly above the vehicles queued on the bridge, pause for a moment, then fire a missile through the customs and immigration building on the Mexican side of the bridge.

  Chapter Nine

  The softness of Gabriel’s warm body in Lexie’s arms and the smell of his bath soap worked like magic and eased the turbulent emotions churning through her. Using the palm of her hand, she wiped the tears from her face and laid her son back on his makeshift bed on the sofa.