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“A tracker.”
The flash of fear in her eyes ignited a slow burn of anger through his veins.
Someone had made her afraid. It infuriated him that after eight years—after everything he’d accomplished—her fear was a gut punch to his self-control.
Focus on your job.
“We need to get back inside. Now.” He wrapped his fingers around her elbow. “I’ll arrange a safe house for us to stay in.”
“A safe house?” She tugged her arm free. “You can’t protect me in my home?” Denial was written in her mutinous gaze and the decisive shake of her head.
“This tracker changes everything, Nathalie. I need to follow protocol and get countersurveillance on site to see if we can identify who’s tracking you. Once we know it’s clear, I’ll get you to a prearranged safe house set up by Dìleas.”
“I don’t care about your protocol. I’m not going to live in some strange house and be smothered by bodyguards.” Her finger toyed with the hoop in her ear, anxiety and a dogged determination warring for supremacy in her wide, brown eyes. “I’m putting in long hours trying to get my software design ready to present to the DoD next week, and I just want to go home at night to my own bed and familiar surroundings.”
His molars ground together.Be professional.“Are you stating you won’t go along with the recommendation of your lead protection agent?”
“You said you were doing an assessment and would provide recommendations at the end of the week.” Her hand dropped from her ear to rest on her hip as her chin lifted. “I’ll take the idea of a safe house under advisement when you submit your report and hand me off to your employee.”
Stubborn woman.
He’d forgotten about that annoying trait of hers. “I’ll add your inability to follow directions from your security detail to my report as well.”
He pointed to the Suburban at the end of the row and injected steel into his tone. “Sit in my vehicle, driver’s seat, doors locked, engine running.” Unlocking his mobile, he pulled up Lachlan’s contact before thrusting it toward her. “If I identify a threat and signal you, take off driving, then dial this number, and follow my boss’s directions explicitly. Don’t go home.”
Her eyes flew wide as she accepted the device. “What are you going to do?”
“Finish clearing your vehicle.”
Ryder escorted her to the Suburban. With the tight skirt she had on, getting onto the running board of the full-size SUV would be a challenge. He offered her his hand.
After a moment’s hesitation, she slid her palm over his. The warmth of her skin sent an unexpected jolt of awareness through him.
The second her backside touched the driver’s seat, she let go as if he’d spilled piping hot tea and scalded her.
Ryder tossed the Suburban’s fob over her lap onto the center console, her distaste for his touch doing nothing to help his mood. “Lock the doors, turn on the ignition, and pay attention to me and your surroundings.” He shut the driver’s door with more force than was required.
Breathe, mate.
She was just another client.
He eased into her tiny Miata, pushing the seat back to accommodate his longer length, and started the engine. He let it run for a minute, then put the car into reverse and backed out of the space, executing a sharp half-turn and accelerating in a burst of speed.
Her tires screeched as he hit the brakes and wheeled the car in a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn. He drove back toward the Suburban, gliding to a smooth stop. Exiting the Miata, he surveyed the area. Finding nothing that put his senses on alert, he left the engine running and motioned for her to unlock the SUV’s driver side door.
“What the heck was that all about?” This time, she ignored his helping hand and slid down under his arm to scurry to her car.
Her familiar, earthy, floral scent with a hint of lavender teased his nose and his memories. She smelled the same, yet different, as if age had altered her body chemistry enough to add an element of complexity to it, like barrel aged wine.
He tried not to breathe her in. “Did you meet Lachlan Mackay, the president of Dìleas?”
“No. Lucas spoke with him, and his assistant, Penny, called me to set up today’s meeting.”
“Someone tried to kill him with a car bomb two years ago. Here, in Northern Virginia.”
Nathalie blinked rapidly, her face losing its golden hue and turning ashy. She dropped onto the Miata driver’s seat with a thud.
Ryder dropped to a crouch, reaching out to steady her. “Nathalie?” Maybe that was information he should have kept to himself.