MY SEX CLENCHED, MY HEAD spun, and my heart jumped on a damn trampoline.

He liked the kiss. He liked the kiss.

Oh my fucking God.

Breathe, Summer. Breathe and get a grip.

Not that it mattered, because not only did he say it wasn’t happening again, I’d made the self-preservation decision to never go there again. I shouldn’t even want to. Getting tangled up with Mr. Bodyguard would only lead to me getting my ego or, worse, my heart stepped on. I didn’t need to screw myself over before I’d even had a chance to get home from rehab.

No man was worth that.

But damn, that kiss.

There was no denying it, Shade kissed like a man who knew exactly what to do with a woman. No guy should be that obscenely sexy. And arrogant. And protective. And oh my God, the scent of his skin—Jesus, Summer, pull it together.

Not looking at him, because I couldn’t simultaneously see his full lips and dark eyes and form reasonable words, I made one last ditch attempt at preserving my dignity. “Well, like we said, it’s not happening again.” Keeping my gaze trained straight ahead, I stared at the rain coming down that looked like it was starting to freeze.

“We?” Shade smirked, and his cell rang.

Both hands on the wheel, he answered on speaker. “Shade.”

“I tried to reason with Cara again.” Andre’s voice filled the cabin. “No go. I don’t know if she’s refusing to come in because she knows Vincenzo’s tapping her phone or if she’s really that stupid to turn down the offer. Either way, Feds aren’t going after her. They said she can come to them, so I’m sending Ronan up solo for retrieval. She can say no to the Feds in person.”

“Bad idea to send him alone.”

“He’s the only one not on assignment at the moment, and he knows what he’s walking into. You know his capabilities as well as I do. But he won’t get to Cara before she catches your six, and it looks like Vincenzo’s sent more backup your way. So, you’ve got two choices.”

Shade glanced at the side mirror. “Whatever it is, I’ll take the lesser shit one.”

“Candle can be on the road in thirty,” André replied. “He’s only an hour forty-five behind you.”

“Are you fucking shitting me?” Shade practically barked. “Since when is he L&A? Or even stable. That fuck has a screw loose. He’ll shoot me in the back before he’d take out any tangos.”

“He owes you a favor, and he was a Ranger. A good one,” André added calmly. “He’s geared out and ready to roll.”

“No,” Shade clipped. “Second option?”

André paused. “Harm.”

“Jesus fucking Christ.” Shade shook his head. “You’ve lost your goddamn mind.”

André ignored his insult. “He’s in the mountains up by Asheville. He could make it to your destination in three hours.”

“Could.” Shade snorted. “Have you talked to him? Does he fucking talk these days? Christ, when was the last time he was around a warm body that wasn’t animal?”

“He owes me,” André stated.

“No fucking way,” Shade countered. “I’m not a goddamn halfway house for lost causes. I’ll handle my side of the situation. Get Ronan up here and have him deal with Cara. Tell Roark to fly him.”

“Tried. Weather’s already set in. Roark couldn’t even get him to Jacksonville.”

Shade muttered a curse under his breath. “Give me a sitrep. What am I looking at, weather wise?”

“Nor’easter. Two to three days. Seventy mile per hour winds, heavy snowfall predicted.”

“Good,” Shade stated, surprising me. “There’s no way their vehicles will make it up the mountain, and Ronan can intercept.”

“That’s the plan, but I caught Cara on your six in one of the highway patrol traffic cams, only fifty miles behind you. Vincenzo’s men are behind her by an hour, and two more are on their way. You sure your end point is still secure?” André asked.

“I’m not sure of anything when it comes to the Vincenzos.” Glancing in his rearview mirror, Shade pulled his gun out of his holster. Holding the wheel with his knee despite the now freezing rain, he checked the magazine before slamming it back home. “I’m low on ammo until I get up the mountain. Tell Ronan to come stocked. Vincenzo’s men had semiautos. I’ll rendezvous with him if I need more firepower in case of an alt evac.” He shoved his gun back in his holster.

“Candle or Harm could get there quicker,” André argued. “Both could bring you ammo.”

“Not repeating myself.” A gust of wind blew against the SUV, making it swerve, but Shade quickly corrected. “Tell Ronan to hurry the fuck up. If Cara is on my tail and knows where I’m heading, I don’t know how long she’ll linger at the bottom of the mountain once the roads become impassable. There’s only one motel in that area, and she’s smart enough not to stop there and wait for Vincenzo’s men to find her. If she can’t get to me, I don’t know where she’ll head, and I don’t want her in the wind. I want this wrapped up as fast as possible.”

“Ten-four,” André agreed.

“One last thing. If you can get a hold of a woman’s winter coat, have Ronan bring it. Once he’s neutralized his end of the situation, we’ll all head back. Powering the burner down now. I’ll check in when we get there.”

“Copy that,” André replied.

Shade hung up and turned off his cell phone.

The freezing rain was hitting the SUV now in earnest, and anxiety feathered across my nerves. “Can the Escalade make it up whatever mountain we’re heading toward?”

“Yeah,” Shade answered absently, easing off the gas and getting out of the passing lane.

“You sure?” I didn’t know anything about nor’easters, but the weather had quickly deteriorated.

“You’ll be fine.” Turning the wipers on a faster setting, he didn’t glance at me.

“Thank you for asking about a winter coat.”

Glancing over his shoulder, he moved to the right lane. “You got any warmer clothes in your suitcases in the back?”

“Some.” It hadn’t been cold when I’d first arrived at rehab.

“Before the roads get any worse, climb in back and put something warmer on.”

Alarm spread. “We’re getting out of the car in this weather?”

“Not planning on it until we get to the cabin, but we need to be prepared.”

Oh, God. “Cabin?” That sounded remote. And shitty. And cold and desolate and like a really, really bad idea. “I’m thinking now is a good time to turn around.” This was insane.

“Babe, trust me when I tell you, driving right into the hands of Vincenzo’s men when I’m low on ammo isn’t a great idea.”

“So let’s go somewhere else. Anywhere else than a cabin up in the mountains.” I could be reasonable. “I’m flexible.” I had my credit card. “There’s a Ritz Carlton just north of Jacksonville on Amelia Island. We should go there. They won’t find us. We can check in under a different name.” I’d done that shit a hundred times before. “We let their hotel security know not to tell anyone we’re there. We tip well and no one will be the wiser. They’ll even have room service. And we won’t need winter coats.” And there wouldn’t be any snow.

Concentrating on the road, staring straight ahead, he didn’t say anything.

“Shade.”

“What?”

“Ritz Carlton. Amelia Island. No snow. Turn around.” Sounding like him, I barked out short orders in rapid succession. “Let that Ronan guy deal with your psycho ex and her husband’s men.”

“No.”

“Shade.”

He threw me a warning glare before looking forward again. “The plan is set. The road up the mountain is a controlled funnel. Capture will be easier, and our position at the top is defensible.”

Oh my God. “This is insane.”

“Insane would be hanging out at a five-star hotel with a dozen different points of egress that Vincenzo’s men could use to ambush us. They shot at us in broad daylight in front of a restaurant.” He glanced at me. “You think they wouldn’t shoot at you in a hotel?”

Oh, God.

I didn’t answer. There was no point.

He tipped his chin toward the back. “Go put on the warmest clothes you have.”

Anxiety pressing on my chest, I undid my seat belt and climbed in back.