Page 44

Along with other information.
She’d been thinking, and she was positive he—and his team—had been sent in to deal with the illegal arms trade. It was why he pretended to be a gunrunner. The man with the long hair who gave Case the NVD monocular must be a teammate working undercover for Vargas.
Case stopped, and Nyx held her breath. She didn’t release a shaky sigh until he resumed walking.
The more she got to know him, the more she liked him. He was protective, and when he promised to take care of her, she believed him. It was in the deliberate way he led them through the rainforest, in the way he continually glanced back to check on her.
Relying on someone else… Nyx didn’t like it. She took care of herself. She took care of others. That was the way it always was. Until now. Until Case.
It was the smart thing to do. She knew it. He was Army Special Forces, and she’d be stupid not to lean on his expertise. She didn’t need to like it. She only needed to do what he told her to do when he told her to do it. The same way she’d listen to her dad. The same way she’d listen to Dylan.
But she wanted Case to think she was capable, and not a liability or a burden.
He slowed, stopped, and Nyx held her breath again. This time, they didn’t immediately resume moving. She waited, then whispered, “Case?”
His voice was low, but not as soft as she’d heard it in the past. “It’s okay. We’re near the road. I don’t want to pop out of the rainforest and discover someone waiting for us.”
How likely was that? Especially given that he’d kept them away from the area where she’d parked her Jeep. But she didn’t share her thoughts. He was in charge. He was being careful. Low probability didn’t mean zero chance.
They crept forward, stopping short of the road, and waited some more. Case was listening, his gaze moving as he took in their surroundings, and she stayed quiet, not wanting to distract him.
Once he was convinced there was no danger, he looked back at her, gave her that familiar incline of his head, and took off. She hustled after him.
Despite her belief there was no risk, despite Case being confident it was clear and they could move, her heart pounded hard enough to deafen her. Being out in the open, without cover, terrified her.
Re-entering the rainforest on the other side was a relief. Only then did her pulse slow.
Here, the fear was different. It was dark—so dark—and since Case was wearing the NVD, she had to trust him absolutely. She trusted almost no one that much. The longer they walked, the more she realized that she did have that level of faith in him, and it had nothing to do with him being in Special Forces or that he was her brother’s best friend.
It had to do with Case.
He didn’t give her any reason to doubt him.
This was dangerous. She was already physically attracted to him. Trusting him could lead to a whole lot of trouble. Nyx was determined to finish her PhD before she got seriously involved with anyone. Case could make that difficult.
He was attracted right back. That wasn’t ego, it was fact.
It left her on the horns of a dilemma. The smart thing to do about this affinity developing between them was to run, to put as much distance between them as possible, and avoid him going forward. And she couldn’t do that.
Her life depended on sticking with him. On letting him deal with men and a situation beyond her abilities.
It really wasn’t much of a decision to make. She wasn’t willing to risk her life just because the heat between her and Case was getting stronger with every passing second. Nyx would have to call upon all her self-restraint. She could do it.
She’d done it before.
Lost in thought, she nearly walked into Case’s back before she realized he’d stopped. Through the trees, she saw lights and realized they’d reached the inn.
They stood there for a while. She was pretty sure she knew why but asked anyway. “We’re waiting for the bar to close and everyone to leave?”
He nodded and pushed the NVD off his face.
She shifted her hold on the pistol to ease the muscles in her hand. Case saw that. He reached out. “You can give it to me now,” he said, voice a whisper of sound.
Nyx wanted to keep it. Just in case. What if she needed to protect herself and he wasn’t around to do it? She passed it to him, anyway.
“You didn’t tuck the pistol into a pocket.”
“That’s dangerous.” Nyx moved so she could look at his face. His expression gave nothing away. “You were testing me.”