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She turned her back on him and stalked across to the main counter where first aid kits were stacked behind the tills. Stretching on her tip-toes she grabbed the biggest one she could reach. The tremble in her fingers made it difficult to get the damn thing open. She blew out a breath. This was madness. A police car would swing past any minute and discover them. They’d throw them into jail and no one would believe a word she said afterward because she’d be nothing but a common criminal. She’d spend the rest of her life incarcerated and die a haggard crone…
Soft shuffling interrupted her litany of destruction. Griff was on the other side of the glass counter at the far end, closer to the till point. A red and blue flannel shirt covered his black T-shirt. If he hadn’t looked like a lumberjack before, now he looked like he’d been born one.
Hot damn. She allowed herself a second to appreciate the way the fabric strained across the expanse of his well-defined chest and an unexpected bolt of heat shot through her. Her fingers closed around a small tub of Advil. A look was all she would allow herself because he was making her commit a cr—
He’s counting out notes from his wallet.
He paused, checked one of the price tags he’d laid on the counter, and added a few more notes.
He’s paying.
Sensing her scrutiny, Griff turned his head. He arched an eyebrow and pocketed his wallet, then stuffed several additional items in a backpack.
Jo studied the Advil label like her life depended on it.
“That for me?’ A big paw took the bottle from her hand.
“Um…yes.” Grateful for the relative gloom of the building cloaking her embarrassment, Jo stared at the back of his hand. Anything was better than meeting his gaze. She’d misjudged this man. “You paid.” So much.
“Hmm.” His tone was non-committal as he popped the lid on the Advil with one thumb and shook two into his palm. “We should move.” He pocketed the bottle and, not waiting for her answer, headed for the door they’d come through.
He was only halfway across the shop floor when a beam of brilliant white light washed through the display windows.
Jo froze, her muscles turned to lead, as the light splashed over Griff and then her. For an instant, the beam highlighted her for all the world to see. Then the light was gone and Griff returned to her side.
He caught her wrist, his grip commanding. With a sharp tug, he pulled her against his body, his intoxicating scent filling her senses. He dipped his head low, his lips brushing the top of her ear, setting her skin on fire. “Let’s get you out of here.”
14
Griff ignored the unfamiliar jolt coursing through his body when he touched Jo. He hurried her to the rear of the store, his senses pinging on full alert. The drive past had probably been routine security. Probably. But he didn’t work with possibilities.
Only certainties.
He relocked the padlock securing the building and hustled Jo back to his car. He slammed her door closed, grateful for the momentary separation. What the hell was going on with him? Since when did a woman impact on him like this?
He jogged around the rear of the car, knowing the answer. Never.
He’d always held himself separate from the possibility of a relationship, not wanting to inflict his flawed DNA on any woman because he’d witnessed the damage from his own childhood and sworn never to repeat the wounds of the past. He’d always kept things mutually casual, and it had suited him just fine.
Until now. Until Joanna Smith.
He climbed back into the car, slotted his seatbelt in place. “Okay?”
She nodded in reply, her breathing fogging in the frosty night air. Emotion swirled in her gaze with an intensity that made the breath catch against the back of his throat. “I’m fine.”
She’d pulled his jacket up to the delicate line of her jaw. Moonlight highlighted the porcelain of her skin, the beat of her heart in a delicate blue vein at her temple. His fingers itched to touch her, to physically reassure himself she was unharmed.
He grunted. Evidently, the attack at his house had rattled his brain. He started the car and eased out of the empty lot. The violent throb in his shoulder had dulled to a grinding ache, but he was glad for the distraction from the woman sitting next to him. He took the quiet roads, wanting to remain off the beaten track and anywhere their pursuers might be out looking for them. Finally, in the secluded darkness of the car, the miles toward Skarsvag sliding past at a comforting rate, his heart slowed, the tension along his shoulders softening.
Jo dozed beside him, only waking after several hours, when a sudden hailstorm hammered against the windscreen. She stretched, blinking at the hail bouncing off the glass. “How long was I asleep?”
He shrugged. “Enough.”
“We both need to rest.”
“We will. Somewhere they won’t find us.” He mentally ran through their options. “We’ll pay cash at a small hotel.”
“Sure.” She sniffed loudly as the smattering of rain hitting the windshield crystalized into sleet. Her hands were contracted fists in her lap.
