by KB Winters
“Oh. Fuck. Peaches. Fuck.”
I closed my eyes with a smile, finally free of his intense gaze, and let the pleasure wash over me. It was too much.
Hell, it wasn’t enough.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Gunnar
“How did you find me?”
We’d finally come back to earth and settled into the bed wrapped tightly around each other. Our pulses had settled, our breathing had returned to normal, at least normal enough to talk. My shoulders sank in relief at her question because even though I had a passing thought about telling her how I felt about her, it scared the fuck out of me.
“Cross and Max showed up to help and then Holden came through with a helicopter that took us to Lubbock.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Really? A helicopter?”
“Yes, really. We figured out we probably missed you by a couple hours.” Driving up and down the interstate in a rented SUV and checking motels for her unforgettable appearance for hours hadn’t accomplished shit except making us all sore and pissed off.
“Who’s at the ranch? Who’s with Maisie?” Her big, brown eyes filled with concern, pleading for an answer.
“Martha and the rest of the guys, including Max, but I left Wheeler in charge of safety.”
“Good choice.” She spoke in short sentences, her voice firm and resolute but distracted.
“You’re still pissed,” I said.
Leave it to Peaches to be mad that a man had to come save her.
“That you’re here with me instead of on the ranch with Maisie? Damn right I am.” She sat up and the blanket fell off, showing off pale brown tits, rock hard nipples. “I appreciate your concern Gunnar; it means a lot to me actually. But you shouldn’t be here.”
“Well I’m here now, and I plan to help, so fucking deal with it!”
Peaches had a knack for pushing buttons until a person exploded. I stormed off the bed as gracefully as possible while naked and slammed the bathroom door behind me. Splashing cold water on my face, I knew I had to calm down. Peaches wasn’t a woman who responded well to aggression or demands. A stubborn woman who thought playing the martyr was the right thing to do, but that was only because she didn’t know the truth. There was no such thing as martyrs, just pawns, sacrificing their lives for bullshit government stuff.
When I opened the bathroom door I half expected to find the room empty, like she was never there at all.
“You can’t handle this on your own, Peaches. No matter how tough or smart you are, this isn’t a one man job.” These guys probably had a big fat bankroll and wouldn’t stop until the job was done.
But she hadn’t take off, a good sign. She sighed and rolled her eyes, but not even she could hide the fear and the worry darkening them.
“Don’t you think I know that, Gunnar? I don’t know enough people in this whole damn world to help me defeat them. Even if I did, this isn’t their fight. It’s not even mine, but I’m in it. Alone.”
“That’s bullshit. You have me. And Vivi.”
“Don’t be stupid. She’s pregnant, and I wouldn’t bring this anywhere near her.”
I sat down on the bed and reached out to her, ignoring the brief flinch before she relaxed.
“They’re not gonna stop, Gunny. Until I’m dead or until my scent grows cold. I need to leave the country for that to happen.”
Something like fear clenched in my chest and right in the center of my gut, churning a thick acid that made it difficult to swallow. “You can’t leave.”
“I have to. I’m the last one left, the last loose string.”
Fuck. I hated hearing her talk like that, with such finality. “You’re giving up?”
“I’m not giving up. I’m being smart.” She leaned over and ran a hand down my chest as she pressed a kiss to my jaw. “Thanks for wanting to help, but you need to get back to Maisie. Now.”
“Not without you. Why are you in such a hurry to get rid of me? Do you know something?”
A moment of fire flashed in her eyes, but she banked it quickly. Too quickly.
“See, why would you want to risk your life for someone you can’t trust? Because that’s what you’d be risking Gunnar, your life. Maisie’s chance at normal.”
Peaches pulled back, sadness only making her eyes more enchanting, and slid from the bed. She dressed carefully, pulling one item from her bag and slipping it on before pulling out another until she stood in leg sculpting jeans and a Ramones t-shirt.
“I do trust you.”
She flashed a sad smile. “Don’t start lying to me now, Gunnar. Honesty was one of your best qualities.”
“You didn’t have to buy Maisie all those things, you know.”
She shrugged like it was no big deal, but to my sister it had meant the world.
“She deserved them.”
I couldn’t help but smile at that because I agreed, and I wanted her to have everything she wanted in this world. “She would have remembered you anyway.”
I was glad she didn’t try to deny it. “For a time,” she shot back easily and it told me a lot about her that I hadn’t realized. A lot that made me regret that I hadn’t made more of an effort to get to know her while she was around.
“The toys will get her play dates, and she’ll do the rest to make plenty of friends. To have a good life.”
“Why do you care?”
She shrugged and turned away. “Soft spot for kids, I guess.”
That was bullshit but Peaches was stubborn as hell and she wouldn’t give up something so personal so easily.
“Christ, Peaches, don’t be stupid. I can help you. Me and the guys can help you.”
“You’re letting the fact that you’re a man fool you into thinking you have a choice here.”
She turned to face me, her expression doing a good impression of a stone. “Go home, Gunnar.”
Of course, my phone chose that moment to ring. It wasn’t a call, but a message from Holden. “Shit. Looks like company is headed our way. Grab your shit.”
Without another word, she turned, stepped into her sneakers, and picked up three bags.
“Let’s go.”
Peaches turned to the door and flashed me a look before looking at her hands. Her full hands.
“Right.” I opened the door and she hurried out, making a straight line for a rusted out pickup. “What happened to your car?”
“Traded it,” she said and tossed her bags in the back seat before sliding behind the wheel. “Later.”
I was halfway to the car where Holden and Cross waited when I stopped and headed towards Peaches. “Stubborn bitch,” I grumbled when I slid into the passenger seat.
“Buckle up. Or you can go ride with your friends,” she growled. She’d put a baseball cap on so curls stuck out all around, but even with that mass of curls, I couldn’t miss the sarcastic arch of her eyebrow. “Okay then,” she sighed and slammed the gas, burning rubber as she cut a hard right out of the parking lot.
Thank fuck for quiet country roads.
Chapter Thirty
Peaches
After driving all night with Gunnar distracting me in the passenger seat beside me, I made a decision. It was time to fight back. I pulled over into the parking lot of a truck stop and hunched over my laptop to do what I did best. Letting my fingers do all the work.
Why in the hell should I wait until I was dead to sink CAD and every motherfucker involved? No one had stepped up to help me—to save me—dammit, and I was the one doing the business of keeping this country safe. My lips curled in amusement at that, because it was a lie we all told ourselves so we could get the job done. No matter how dirty the job was.
But that thought, the layer of grime and filth that working as a government contractor produced, reminded me of something else. The envelope I’d grabbed from 1st Constitution. A quick look at Gunnar’s sleeping form confirmed he was still blissfully unaware, and I turned to my backpack and the hidden zipper where the envelope had been since I left t
he east coast. It was a plain manila envelope filled with other envelopes that had been sent to me over the past few months with explicit instructions not to open them unless I was asked to do so.
Well, fuck that.
None of them were still alive to give me that request. I unraveled the string closure and dumped the contents out over my keyboard. I watched as each envelope, a different color, weight and grade of paper, fell into my lap. The first envelope was green and contained a one-inch flash drive from Oz. He was a sound specialist so I wasn’t all that surprised that the drive contained an audio file, but the photos from Cass were a real fucking shock. They were dark and grainy, obviously pulled from video footage but the images were of the man dressed in head to toe black leaving a Paris apartment I’d never forget.
“Shit.” The word fell from my lips on a shattered sigh as I tore into the final, pink stone envelope that contained nothing more than a single piece of paper. A fucking email. From Bob Slauson to someone, G. Stranson. I didn’t recognize the name, but the email made it clear that he’d been the unknown member of the Paris team. Armed with new information, I cracked my knuckles and stretched my neck muscles, and started digging.
Sometime later Gunnar woke up and scared the shit out of me. “What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” I ignored the flutter in my belly at him calling me pretty and arched my brow instead.
Gunnar nodded, his expression serious enough to chase away all traces of humor or lightness.
“Fighting back,” I told him because that much was true.
Hope shimmered in his deep blue eyes, making a small part of me wish that hope was for us. “Does that mean you’re coming back to Hardtail with me? Because you could’ve said that before Cross and Holden took the helicopter back to Opey.” He gave me an exasperated look and I rolled my eyes.
“No. It means that I don’t have to wait until I’m dead to fuck them right back. To take everything away from them, whoever they are.”
I had a few ideas, not about G. Stranson but about the string pullers, because I wouldn’t give those fuckers the satisfaction of calling them puppeteers. I braced myself for anger or just a barrage of reasons why I should go back to the ranch and let him keep me safe. As if he could.
He stared at me for a long time but this time the look wasn’t disdainful or filled with lust. It was unreadable which was pretty fucking unsettling.
“I’m driving the next shift.”
“That’s not necessary. I’m well rested enough to drive the whole day, but first I need food.” A thirty minute nap had given me enough energy to keep going, some greasy food and coffee would get me the rest of the way.
“I’m not arguing with you about this, girl. You drove all day yesterday and who knows how long the days before.”
I smacked his hand resting on my thigh. “I know how long, because I’m a grown ass woman capable of making my own damn decisions.”
“Except it’s not just about you, I’m here too.”
I hated when people tried to use logic and reason against me. That was my move.
“Yeah well, no one asked you to come along.”
“Some things don’t require askin’.” I tried my best to ignore the shiver his words produced or the way my belly tightened at the deep timbre of his voice, but something about his tone had me feeling hot and horny. Exactly the opposite of what I needed at that moment.
“You’ve been up all night driving and then all morning messing around on the computer. You need to sleep. Even Superwoman needs her rest.”
He flashed a wink that made me groan. “Don’t try to be cute with me. It doesn’t suit you.”
“I don’t have to try. I’m naturally cute.”
I rolled my eyes, wondering what in the hell had happened to produce this playful, flirtatious version of the grumpy bastard I knew.
“I’m driving,” he said, and I knew that was final.
“If it means that much to you.” I handed him the keys before yanking them back.
“You get them after I get food.”
I shut my laptop and shoved it back inside its box, locking it before I jumped from the truck, ignoring once again the way my body responded to his deep masculine laugh.
“Gotta love a woman with an appetite.”
I kept moving in the direction of the diner separated from the gas station by a partition that could barely be called a wall. Once inside, I took a booth near the back but with an excellent view of the truck. I needed a thick juicy burger so I didn’t bother with a menu.
“What’s the hurry?”
“My growling stomach, that’s what.” I gave Gunnar a look that dared him to say anything more and he held up his hands defensively. “Any other questions?”
“Yeah,” he said, his tone challenging. Luckily the middle-aged waitress chose that moment to come take our orders.
“I need a minute.” He told her.
I flashed a smile at him and then turned to the waitress. “I’ll have a bacon cheeseburger, medium. Onion rings, a salad and the tallest ice water you’ve got please.”
“All that?” Gunnar whistled and the waitress smacked her lips together in disappointment.
“Silly, man. I’ll be back when you’re ready.”
“Wait, I’ll have what she’s having. Minus the salad and the water. I’ll have a milkshake and a soda. Oh, and curly fries.”
He flashed his most heart-stopping smile at the waitress who rolled her eyes and walked away, but I noticed her smile was a little brighter and her cheeks were even pinker than the blush already there.
“Guess I’m not the only hungry one,” I joked, hoping he might forget our previous conversation.
“So, what’s your plan?”
“I’m just trying to make things right. A lot of people got killed over what I thought was a mistake, but I’m starting to think maybe it wasn’t.” I wanted to share more with him, to tell him about everything I’d found but I couldn’t. “That’s all.”
“Bullshit.”
“That’s the truth, Gunnar. You just can’t see it because you can’t believe I’d ever tell you the truth.”
His shoulders sank. “You’re never gonna let that go are you?”
I shrugged and took a long gulp of my ice water as soon as the waitress set it down. “The good news is that I probably will.”
His expression hardened. “You’re a pain in my ass but somehow I still want you around.”
That warm fuzzy feeling worked its way into my blood and made me squirm.
“Gee, thanks. I think.” I rolled my eyes and tried like hell to hold back another smile, but dammit the man brought it out of me.
“But I’d settle for you believing me since, you know, I’ve never given you a reason not to trust me.”
“You’re right.”
“But?” There was a ‘but’ in there if I ever heard one and I rolled my hands to move him along.
“But you have trouble written all over you.”
One big hand motioned toward me in a general move, and one side of his mouth kicked up into a sexy grin.
“Those curves and that wild hair, those plump red lips. Plus you’re some secret government’s government hacker. Like I said, trouble.”
“And you don’t like trouble?”
He made me sound sexy and badass, which felt amazing, but sounded bad. Terrible.
“I’ve been known to tangle with trouble a time or two, but with Maisie, I need to be better. To choose better.”
“It’s a good thing I didn’t ask you to choose.”
“No,” he sighed. “You didn’t. But it turns out you didn’t have to.”
He didn’t look all that happy about it, which didn’t feel all that great.
Thankfully the food arrived before he could say more because I just couldn’t hear anymore. I dug in, devouring the burger and onion rings in an embarrassingly short amount of time.
“Damn t
hat was good,” I said when I finished.
Gunnar looked up with a smile that was…damn. It was the kind of smile that made a girl want to lick his lips.
“Sounded like it was.”
“I’ll wait for you in the truck.” I stood and tried to pass him but Gunnar reached out and wrapped a hand around my waist.
“You’re touching me.”
The fucker swiped his thumb across the strip of exposed skin at my waistband with a slow, sexy smile.
“I know. I can feel how soft you are.”
“This isn’t gonna work, Gunnar.”
“What isn’t?”
“This whole seduction thing you’re working at to get your way. It’s not gonna work.”
“It already is.” He pulled back with another panty melting grin. “But I’m not trying to seduce you, just trying to get you to sit down until I finish my food.”
“I can’t help it if you eat like an old lady at tea time. But fine. I’ll sit and help you finish those fries.”
I flashed a grin at him that felt a little too real for a chick on the run.
Chapter Thirty-One
Gunnar
“Are you sure you don’t want us to stick around a few days, make sure it’s safe for you to sleep at night?” Cross and Max snickered, bumping shoulders like little girls.
“No, I’m good.” Just to be careful, I looked at Peaches sitting legs crossed, on the glider on the front porch. She glared at me, still pissed that I’d detoured to Hardtail Ranch when she fell asleep.
“Don’t blame me you fell into a food coma,” I’d told her.
She flipped me off, sending Max and Cross into another fit of laughter. “If you’re sure, man.”
I wasn’t, but Peaches would see that I was only doing what was best. For everyone. “Thanks for dropping everything to come down here. It was good to see you fuckers again.”
