Traitorous Attraction. C.J. Miller
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time to change now. You’ll have to change in the taxi,” Connor said, lifting his hand to hail a cab. When one stopped, he practically lifted Kate inside. He climbed in after her and barked the name of the closest city to the airport in perfect Portuguese with a hint of a Tumaran accent. The driver didn’t turn around to look at them, just jammed the gas and pulled away from the airport.
“Are we being followed?” Kate asked, turning to look out the back window and searching for any cars that were too close. In the distance, she could see el presidente’s palace set high on a hill overlooking the city. The white and gold of the building reflected the sun in a blinding glare.
“I’m not sure yet,” Connor said in Portuguese. He withdrew a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt from his backpack. “Take off your clothes and put this on.”
That earned a glance in the rearview mirror from the driver.
“Now? In a cab?” Kate asked. The road was congested with cars and trucks filled with people in plain view. Connor expected her to strip?
“Yes. Now.”
Kate watched to see if he would break into a grin. Was he joking around with her? If he was, she didn’t find him funny.
She had been careful about what she wore and, although Sphere had tracking devices as thin as thread that could be sewn into clothing, she gave it a low probability that she was being tracked. She’d buy other clothes when she could find a shop. Couldn’t it wait?
“I don’t want to be followed again,” Connor said.
“That wasn’t my fault,” Kate said. “We used your arrangements to get here. If you’re giving out blame, take some for yourself.”
Connor tossed the clothes at her. “Change. This isn’t a negotiation. I don’t see anyone on our tail and I’d like to keep it that way.”
She didn’t like being ordered around. But if he was right about Sphere tracking her, she couldn’t behave foolishly. Were they far behind them? The large white T-shirt and sturdy jeans didn’t leave her many options for modesty. She draped the white shirt over her lap and struggled out of her own.
Connor turned away. At least he was giving her what privacy was available in the backseat of a cab. His shoulders shook, making an effort to hide that he was laughing. Though he couldn’t see her, she glared at him. “What is so funny about this?”
“You. You’re what’s funny. I don’t appreciate the company, but I do appreciate the humor you bring to the situation.”
“I’m glad you’re entertained,” she muttered. Kate fought to pull the white shirt over her head without flashing Connor and the cabdriver. “I am trying not to get arrested for exposing myself.”
“Relax. You’re fine. Based on what we have planned, you should get used to me seeing you naked.”
Both her and the driver’s reactions were the same. Wide eyes, open mouths followed by an attempt to hide their shock. “Why do you do that?” she asked, getting the shirt on and pulling it as low as possible over her legs. At least Connor was tall and his shirt covered her to midthigh.
“Do what?” he asked.
“You say really rude, off-the-wall things. It’s like you’re trying to make me nervous or get a reaction out of me.”
“I’m not trying to do anything. This is who I am.” He turned and looked at her point-blank.
Was he waiting for her to remove her pants? She felt the challenge in his stare. If she was venturing out into the jungle with him, he would see her change clothes, assuming she managed to acquire more. Was this another test? To see if she had the nerve? She unfastened her pants and slid them down her legs. Heat flamed up her cheeks. She would prove she was capable of doing whatever came at her on this mission.
“All your clothes, Kate.”
Meaning her underwear, as well. Her mother had raised her to be a lady and that included wearing the appropriate undergarments. Even her sister, Elise, the A-list movie star, was known around Hollywood for her modesty and relatively conservative dress.
Kate strove for indifference. Her attempt was hindered by the look in Connor’s eyes. It wasn’t indifference written on his face. It was interest. His gaze trekked down her legs to her toes and back up again. By that time, she had removed her underwear and was pulling on his jeans. Kate pinched the waist. How would she get them to stay on? “Happy now?”
“Immensely. You have nice legs and it’s less likely we’ll be followed.”
His compliment both pleased and annoyed her. Most of the time, she downplayed her looks in an attempt to force the people around her to notice she was smart. Men found her attractive, but she wanted to be known as the smart girl, the resourceful one...not the hot one. Kate didn’t use her looks to get what she wanted. At least, not often and never when she was working. “I stay in shape.” She worked out at the gym before work two or three times a week and had for years.
“I can see that.”
His clothes smelled of him. Being in the small taxi, it was impossible to escape him or to ignore her attraction to him. He was Aiden’s brother, he was emotionally unavailable and he was dangerous. Though he didn’t make her feel threatened, he was a trained assassin. Such rationalizations didn’t destroy her attraction to him. Perhaps stress was making her crazy. “How do you suggest I keep the pants up?” Especially because she wasn’t wearing anything beneath them, she hated how they gapped.
Connor reached into his bag and withdrew a long piece of rope and pulled his knife from his pocket. He leaned across the seat and wrapped the rope around her waist. His hands slid around her back, guiding the rope through the belt loops. Where his hands brushed her bare skin, heat flared across her body. He cut the rope and then knotted it. The result was a belt she could tighten and loosen.
“Thank you,” she said and adjusted the rope.
“You’re welcome.”
Just when she thought she could use his rude behavior to demolish the crush she had on him, he did something kind. He was looking out for her. She didn’t appreciate how he spoke to her at times, but he was doing what he knew to keep her safe, and that counted for something.
Kate rolled the legs of the pants and sleeves of the shirt. At Connor’s pointed look, she removed her bra from under the shirt and pulled it out through the shirt’s sleeve. Being naked beneath ill-fitting clothes was not a feeling she enjoyed. She was far, far outside her comfort zone.
“What about my shoes?” she asked, meaning the question to be sarcastic and then regretting it because Connor might tell her to get rid of them, too.
“Keep them. It will be too hard to find replacements and you can’t run if you can hardly walk.”
She looked ridiculous in the oversize clothes, but it would have to do until she could get her hands on other clothes. When their car drew to a stop at a traffic light, Connor jumped out, jogged to a nearby trash can and shoved in her outfit. Getting back into the cab, he didn’t apologize. “If they’re tracking you by your clothes, best if they don’t know where we’re going.”
Her superiors at Sphere knew she believed Aiden was alive. She hadn’t shared the specifics her contact had told her, not wanting to endanger Marcus or his job. Sphere hadn’t pressed her for information. Now she wondered if they’d already known Aiden was being held by the Armed Revolutionaries. They’d gone to the effort to stop her and yet they hadn’t used those same resources to rescue Aiden. Curious. “They may know where we’re going. They could have the same intel,” she said.
Connor stabbed a hand through his hair. “Then we’ve got to get to Aiden first.”
“You know what the worst part about this is? To put this effort into tracking me when they could have put that same effort into finding Aiden.”
Connor snorted. “Whatever