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“Are you okay?” Brooke asked.
“I’m good,” Mace lied. Hearing Julie threaten Brooke made every one of his protective instincts come roaring to life. “What now?” he asked.
“Now, we find a place to lay low. I’m going to have to call my father and admit that I’m still on your case—something he won’t take lightly. I need to warn him that Julie might show up at the office or try to track him down to find me. I’m going to take her threats very seriously,” Brooke said.
“As you should,” Mace said. “Do you have a place to lay low?” he asked.
“I do,” Brooke said. She pulled her cell phone out of her handbag and uploaded a map to her car’s computer system.
“That’s a two-hour drive,” he said.
“Do you have plans?” she asked. “I’m pretty sure that you shouldn’t be out in broad daylight while the cops are looking for you. How about you let me handle things for now, and then, we can talk about your ideas for what we should do next.” Strong women were never really his type, but something about Brooke being bossy turned him on.
“I’ll let you call the shots—for now,” Mace said, smiling over at her as she pulled away from the curb and into traffic. Mace knew that it wasn’t going to be easy to blend in and not stick out, but he needed to try. His life and now, Brook’s life depended on it.
They got to the safehouse in two hours and Brooke looked about ready to drop. He had offered to drive a few times, but she turned him down repeatedly. “Let’s get in and settle before we talk about our next move.”
“You need sleep, Brooke,” Mace insisted. “You look about ready to drop.”
“Thanks for that, Mace,” Brooke grumbled. “A woman loves to hear that she looks tired.”
“It’s been a long day, Brooke,” Mace said. “We both need some sleep.” She nodded and got out of the car. Mace did the same, quickly following her to the porch. The place was quaint and off the beaten path. He could always see himself living in a little cabin just like this one, but he never wanted to settle down and become domesticated enough to buy a house.
“Is this your place?” he asked.
“Yes,” Brooke said. “I purchased it a few years back to take some time and figure out if I wanted to go to work for my father’s firm or not. No one knows about this place—not even my dad.”
“So, we’ll be safe here then,” Mace said.
“Yep.” Brooke pulled a key out of her handbag and quickly unlocked the front door, holding it open for him. “Sorry, the place smells a bit musty. It’s been closed up for a while now. I don’t get a lot of time off to get up here often.”
“This place is great,” Mace said, looking around. Brooke tossed her keys onto the table by the door and stretched. He couldn’t help but take in every inch of her. And when she caught him checking her out, giving him her shy smile, he nearly swallowed his damn tongue.
“Come on,” she ordered, “I’ll show you around and then, I think that a nap sounds like an excellent idea.”
“You know, you still haven’t called your father to give him a heads up about Julie and the threats she made against you,” Mace reminded.
“I texted the head of our security team,” she said, “he’ll watch for anyone suspicious who comes to the building. While Julie was standing in the parking lot, talking to you on the phone, I was able to get a couple of good pictures of her. I sent them over too. I really don’t see what telling my father about all of this will do to help.” Mace could tell that she was avoiding having to tell her dad that she was working with him. He couldn’t blame her father—no guy wants their princess to be with a big, bad biker, but that wasn’t the case here. Brooke wasn’t his—yet.
He decided not to press her about her father, instead following her from room to room as she told him what each one was. She walked into the master bedroom and looked at the bed as if she was longing for it and he almost laughed. “I’m pretty sure that I can figure the rest out on my own,” he assured. “Why don’t you go get some shut-eye?”
“I am suddenly tired. I guess all that driving really wore me out. Are you sure that you’ll be able to manage on your own?” she asked.
“I think that I can take care of myself,” Mace assured. He raised his right hand and smiled at her, “Scout’s honor,” he said.
Brooke giggled, “I’m betting that you were never a Boy Scout, Mace,” she challenged.
“Actually, I was,” he admitted. He never really talked about his childhood to anyone—especially not the guys at his club. Them hearing that he was a squeaky clean, do-gooder, might mess with his tough guy image. “I grew up in a small town, not too far from where home is now. My grandmother had me in little league, Boy Scouts, and even a church youth group.” Brook’s gasp filled the room, and he couldn’t help his chuckle. “Don’t act so surprised,” he said. “I’m not that bad, am I?”
Brooke took a step closer, and he could feel his heart start to race. Every time she was close to him, he felt as though his body might catch on fire.
“You’re just different now,” Brooke breathed, inching closer to him.
“Different good or different bad?” Mace asked.
Brooke shrugged, “Different good,” she whispered. God, she was so close to him all he would have to do was lean in just a bit and he would finally be able to taste her cherry lips. He was betting that she’d taste like cherries too.
“Brooke,” he breathed. She was breathing as heavily as he was, and Mace couldn’t get out the rest of what he wanted to say to her. He wanted to ask if she’d be okay with him kissing her, but none of that mattered right now. The way that she looked at him was all he needed—she wanted him just as badly as he wanted her.
