Page 14 of Unbound
Chapter Four
When I dragged the desk away from the door again and stepped into the hall, I found Jasper leaning against the wall, waiting.
“Hi.” I was nervous, which was stupid because after everything we’d done together, there shouldn’t have been anything left to feel nervous about.
This, though… This felt different. Almost like a date.
“Turn around for me.” He watched intently as I did a little spin, feeling foolish. I didn’t really have anything fancy with me, since I spent most of my time in dirty cargo pants, so I’d had to make do. I’d chosen a pair of black shorts that showed off the muscles I’d earned from working outside, and the heeled sandals again, since they were the dressiest shoes I had with me.
With these I wore a sky-blue T-shirt. It was simple in cut, but the material was silky, and it could pass for dressy. It was snug, and between it and the brief shorts, I felt as though I could probably handle whatever Jasper had in store.
“Very nice.” Pushing himself off the wall, he hooked his fingers in my belt loops and tugged me closer. I gasped when he grabbed my thigh, bearing its weight as he pulled me open.
“I like these.” With his other hand, he tugged at the hem of the shorts, then without warning, slid his fingers underneath. I sucked in a breath when he found nothing but skin—I’d listened.
“Good girl.” He slid his fingers through my folds, instantly making me wet. My head fell back when he pushed one inside of me, brushing over my clit—I’d shaved, and the newly bare skin made every brush of his fingers feel more intense than ever.
Just when I was about to rock into his palm and demand that he make me come right there in the hall, he pulled his finger from my tight heat. With a hint of that sexy smile that I loved, he urged me down the hall with a nod of his head. “Ladies first.”
My pulse throbbed in my wrists, beneath my jaw, between my legs as I made my way to the lobby, Jasper a looming presence at my back. My awareness was so centered on him that I was self-conscious, certain that everyone around me knew that I was sleeping with my bodyguard.
Nobody said a word. With my gaze on the ground, I didn’t see if any of my team members were around, but if they were, they were probably thrilled that I was leaving the premises. They’d be off “Keep Cari Safe” duty.
I stopped short when I got outside. Parked illegally, right in front of the motel, was a huge black Humvee. The thing was massive, just like the person I assumed was its owner—I was going to need a ladder to climb in.
“Job perk?” Arching an eyebrow, I looked over my shoulder at Jasper. Sometime on the walk between my room and here, he’d pulled a pair of dark sunglasses over his eyes, but I was betting that they held amusement.
“I freelance.” Opening the passenger-side door, he didn’t ask if I needed help, just scooped me up and dropped me in. I batted away his hands when he reached for the seat belt—I was more than capable of doing that myself. “But I do have a reputation to uphold.”
“You forget I know you now, or so you claim.” I threw my hands up as he rounded the vehicle and swung himself up into the driver’s seat. “You might have the cool car, but you’ve probably got that big, blue phone booth thingie in the trunk.”
“Big, blue phone booth thingy?” He actually winced. “It’s called a TARDIS. Haven’t you ever seen Doctor Who? Any of them?”
“Nope.” I grinned.
That earned me a head shake, but I was smiling as he pulled out of the small, pitted parking lot.
“Where are we going?” As he navigated through Meadow Ridge, I entertained myself by watching people’s reactions when they looked over and saw the monstrosity of a vehicle. There was usually an expression of shock, followed by the vehicle, biker, or pedestrian just getting the hell out of the way.
“Atlanta.” He took the ramp for the highway, reaching over to pull my sun visor down before the beam of light from the new direction could hurt my eyes.
I waited; he stayed silent. Apparently, that was the only clue I was getting. Pulling a lip gloss from my purse, I applied it slowly, then tucked it away again, which killed approximately two minutes.
“How long of a drive is it to the city?” I drummed my fingers on the dashboard, earning me a pointed glance.
“An hour, depending on traffic.” In stark contrast to my excess of energy, he seemed completely relaxed. “Usually this time of day is fine, but once in a while there’s a big snarl in traffic.”
“How do you know that?” Leaning back in my seat, I slid off one of my sandals.
“I’m from Atlanta.”
“What?” I curled my newly bare foot up beneath me on the leather seat. “No. You don’t have any accent at all.”
“Y’all listen up now,” he drawled, and I barked out a startled laugh. “I’m fixin’ to make sure you forget all your troubles tonight, you hear?”
“No way.” Leaning over, I pulled his sunglasses right off his face, wanting to see his expression. “How did you do that?”
“An accent like that sticks out. It’s memorable.” He fixed his stare on the road. “In my line of work, it’s better to be forgettable.”
