Superb And Sexy

Chapter 12

Maddie stared up at the one man she’d thought she’d never get to see again. How had he gotten his car started so quickly without keys? He was only thirty minutes behind her-

“Hot-wired it,” he said. “In case you’re wondering.”

Damn, he was good, but that didn’t explain how he knew she’d be here.

Shutting the door behind him to give them privacy, privacy she most definitely did not want, he leaned back against it, arms still crossed.

Casual pose.

Not a casual man.

“Dani ratted me out,” she guessed.

He merely arched a brow, clearly inviting her to give this more thought.

“She called Shayne,” she decided. “Shayne called you, then stalled me. Damn almost-married people, they’re all too loyal and trusting.”

“Speaking as a relatively new husband myself,” he said with a boatload of dry sarcasm, “all the trust in the room really boggles. Where’s your gun?”

She blinked. “My what?”

“I saw the bullets in your underwear drawer, Maddie. Where’s the gun to go with them?”

“You went through my panties?”

“The gun, Maddie.”

She shrugged, then winced at the movement in her shoulder, and he went utterly still, reminding her that he was a helluva lot easier to handle when he thought she was hurting. Whether that was lingering guilt because she’d been shot here at Sky High or just simply the weight of his penis bogging him down, she had no idea, but she was going to shamelessly use it to her advantage.

She had no choice.

“You didn’t take your painkillers,” he said tightly. “Since you left before I brought them to you.”

“I’m weaning myself off them.”

“Noah said that Bailey said that your doctor said you still need them.”

“Noah and Bailey need to worry about themselves. Everyone needs to worry about themselves.”

“Shit.” Looking stymied by her very existence, he let out a long, careful breath.

Not the only one frustrated here, she understood the sentiment perfectly.

With another long exhale, he paced the length of the suite as she’d done only a moment before, then moved toward the bed where she sat, his body and all the muscles in it-of which there were tantalizingly many-moving like poetry in motion. “You’re in no shape to be flying anywhere.”

“I’m fine.” But she lay back and closed her eyes. Playing it up, even just a little, wasn’t all that hard, she discovered, since she was weak with fear for her sister. “Where’s my pilot?”

“You’re looking at him.”

Her eyes flew open. He could fly like nobody’s business; she’d seen him in action hundreds of times. He flew with concentrated proficiency, his eyes sharp, his body deceptively relaxed. But it couldn’t be him, not for this trip. “I didn’t hire you.”

“No, I hired you.”

“I’m not talking about my job, Brody, and you know it. Today, I’m a paying customer. And I paid for Jason.”

“If you’re flying anywhere today, I’m taking you.”

“Bad idea.”

“I’m your husband, remember?”

She winced. “Would you stop flinging that word around like it’s real?”

“Sure. Soon as you stop walking away from anyone and everyone who cares about you. What happened to the kick-ass Maddie Stone? Because the one I knew would never run away like a little girl.”

“I’m not running. And for the record, it’s Leena who pretended to be married to you.”

“Ah. And where is Leena?”

“She’s…” She debated for a beat, then gave in. Sort of. “She’s in bigger trouble than I thought.”

“Shock.”

“I’m going to go help her.”

“Again with the I.”

Frustration had her tossing up her hands. “Brody, don’t you get it? It’s not that I don’t want you to understand what’s going on here, or that I wouldn’t rather have you with me, but that I can’t ask it of you.”

That took him back. “Why not?”

“Why not?” She sputtered for a moment, trying to figure out a good reason why not. She ended up trying something new-the whole, unadulterated truth. He deserved it. “Because I’m afraid for you. Okay? I can’t do what I have to do while I’m worried about you.”

His eyes softened, but his tough guy stance did not. “I’m a big boy, Mad. I can take care of myself.”

Actually, she’d noticed that. In fact, with his walking-talking attitude and all that sinew-wrapped maleness oozing from his every pore, he could more than handle himself.

“You’re going to Stone Cay?”

“Yes.”

“To talk to the asshole on the phone.”

“Hopefully not, no. To stop my sister from talking to the asshole.”

“Okay.” He straightened. “I’m doing this,” he said when she opened her mouth. “You can kick my ass for it later. That’s the deal. Take it or leave it.”

She stared up into his determined face. He had badass attitude written all over him. He wouldn’t back down. He never backed down. And suddenly, she didn’t want him to. “Take it,” she whispered.

Staying right where he was, he met her gaze evenly. Fiercely. “So we’re a unit on this. On Sister Rescue 101. Right?”

“A unit,” she agreed. For now.

“Until it’s done.”

She sighed. “Brody-”

“Until it’s done.”

He wouldn’t budge. And no matter that she wanted to do this alone, she couldn’t. “Okay, yes. Until it’s done.” Great. Yet another plan. How the hell did this keep happening to her?

With a short nod, Brody turned and left the suite without another word, and she let out a slow breath.

What had she just done?

Brody made a stop in Miami for fuel and Customs, then landed in Nassau at ten that night, just ahead of a mother of a storm that he was grateful to have missed.

Nassau, the bustling hub of the Bahamas since the shipwrecking days of Blackbeard, wasn’t really visible in the dark, but he’d been here before. The city always reminded him of any small Massachusetts town set down amongst palms and pines and iridescent sands.

Normally, calm waters and cooling trade winds were the trademark here, but not tonight. Tonight, the winds drove the treetops nearly to the ground, and though he couldn’t see the water, he could hear it, whipped into a frenzy. The air was heavy, beyond muggy, and so hot that his skin steamed.

Or that might have been lingering temper.

He’d nearly missed her. If he’d sat around with his thumb up his ass at the cabin for another ten minutes or if Shayne hadn’t stalled her…

Luckily, that hadn’t happened, and here he was. Letting out a breath, he grabbed Maddie’s overnight bag and his own duffel bag, and stood on the tarmac as the storm hit hard. When a bolt of lightning slashed down, followed immediately by a deafening crack of thunder, the lineman who was attempting to tie down the Lear shook his head. “Got in just in time, mate.”

True. Brody had flown in worse, but not much. The clouds completely zapped out the stars and moon, and in air as thick as a down blanket, the rain came. Drenched within seconds, he looked up as Maddie came off the Lear. She’d changed into skinny jeans, boots, and a long jacket belted at her trim waist, the hood up over her head blocking her expressions from him.

She hadn’t told him jackshit. Big surprise. He might have won round one, but she wasn’t conceding the match. She’d have been just as happy to be alone on this little adventure, and given what a pain in his ass she’d been, he’d have liked nothing more than to let her be.

Except for one thing. Several, actually.

He could feel her nerves just beneath her cool surface, not to mention her fear.

And then there was the fact that he couldn’t stand the thought of walking away from her, danger or not.

As a result, he was sticking to her like super glue.

Holding the handrail for support, she came down the stairs in rain coming down in sheets. A gust of wind blew the hood from her face, revealing how pale and wan she was, and looking just vulnerable enough to sucker punch him with her eyes alone.

It was stupid, asinine even, but suddenly, he wanted to hug her, baby her, which would have been as smart to his physical well-being as babying a spitting cobra. Wrapping his fingers around her arm, he guided her quickly down the last step.

“Thank you.” She surprised him by not pulling away. Her hair blew in his face, her scent coming to him on the wind as the rain pounded both them and the tarmac, sounding like a pack of angry bees. She slid her hood back over her head as together, they ran across the tarmac.

Just inside the small metal hangar that served as the private sector of the airport, they shook off some of the rain and looked around. There was a single wood desk, behind which sat a mountain of a man smoking a cigar and eating a sub sandwich at the same time, all while gabbing on a telephone about some “fucking Cessna.” Above them, the rain pounded the metal building, making it shudder and moan.

When the man hung up the phone, Maddie walked up to him. “Have you seen me already tonight?” she asked.

The guy blinked. “Huh?”

“Have you seen anyone who looks just like me come through here tonight?”

The guy took her in from top to bottom. “Lady, I’ve never seen anyone like you before. You’re hot.”

“Okay, thanks for that,” Brody said dryly, pulling Maddie away from the desk.

There were several couches for waiting purposes, and beyond that, a vending machine stocked the usual heart attack-inducing items. Brody headed directly for it, taking Maddie with him. “Name your poison.”

She curled her upper lip. “From there? No, thanks.”

He pulled some change from his pocket. “You’re a food snob.”

“Yes.” She eyed him as he bought himself three milk chocolate bars. “Seriously, where do you put all that crap?”

He patted his stomach, and she let out a low, disagreeing snort.

“And what does that mean?” he asked, wondering if he’d just been insulted.

“Like you don’t know that in spite of your hideous junk food habit, you have the best abs on this side of the equator.”

Un, no, he hadn’t known that, but that she thought so made him grin like an idiot. “What about the other side of the equator?”

“Shut up, Brody. You inherited good genes, and you know it.”

He didn’t know how to tell her that the only thing he’d inherited was his mean gene. Oh, and his pickpocket abilities, which he’d honed as a youth. Yeah, that had come in handy. Thanks, dear Dad.

“Someday, you’ll be old with a big belly,” she said. “One that flops over your belt.”

“Flops over my belt?” Now there was a disturbing image.

“I’m just saying, you’d better watch the chocolate. It’s going to sneak up on you.”

“Maybe I burn it off trying to help people.”

“People who didn’t want your help,” she reminded him. Turning away, she walked toward the front desk, but Brody hooked her good arm and brought her back around.

“What?”

“Where to?” he asked.

Her eyes flickered, and she pulled her hood back up, hiding from him, goddamnit. “Getting a cab.”

“To…?” he inquired.

“About that. I’ve been thinking.”

“Shit.” He bent down a little to see beneath the hood and looked her right in the eyes. “Save your time. You said we’re a unit, and we’re a damn unit.”

“Until this is over.”

“Damn A straight. So give me some more details.”

“Okay.” She shook her head as if she couldn’t believe she was doing this. “I told you, I need to stop my sister from doing something stupid.”

“Like making that 9:00 meeting on Stone Cay.”

“Right. But I didn’t tell you that it might get ugly.”

“I’ve seen ugly before.” At the doubt on her face, he arched a brow. “We’re a unit, remember?”

“Only until we’re back in the real world.” She pointed a finger to the middle of his chest. “You remember that.”

“Finally. We’re on the same page.”

“Why is this so important to you anyway?”

Hell of a question, one he didn’t have a real answer for, at least none that he liked. “Because it’s important to you. Now let’s go.”

“Brody-”

“Don’t argue with your husband, woman.”

“Oh, my God, stop saying that!”

He rented a car and got them on the road in the blackest, stormiest night he’d seen in a good, long while. Through the headlights and straining windshield wipers, they could see nothing but the slicked road lined with palms still nearly bent in half in the wind. “Anytime now, you’re going to be happy I’m here.”

She snorted.

He downshifted the piece of shit car and managed to keep them on the crazy road. “I’m serious.”

“Okay, I’ll let you know when I’m happy to have you here.”

“You do that,” he said grimly and outsteered a fucking golf cart on the road in front of them.

“Renting a car was a completely unnecessary expense.”

“Yes, well, it’s my expense, not yours.” He tried to turn up the speed of the windshield wipers, but apparently, the highest speed was a snail’s pace.

“Since when do you throw your money around? Usually, you’re so tight you squeak when you walk.”

He slid her a glance. “Hey.”

“Admit it. You only rented the car because you can’t stand taking a cab. You like the control.”

“I do not.”

“Then why wouldn’t you let me make the arrangements? It’s what I do for a living.”

“I realize that. I sign your paychecks, remember?”

“I could have gotten you a cheaper car.”

“No one could have gotten me a cheaper car. I needed more leg room.”

“I meant a better car.”

Okay, that may be. “The only other car was smaller. I needed more leg room.”

“You need head room,” she said. “How you ever get through a damn door with that big, fat head is beyond me.”

“You’re sweet.”

She nearly choked on that. “Sweet?”

“Yeah. You only insult those you care about. Face it…” He shot her a look, waggling his brow. “You like me.”

She stared at him. “You’re crazy. And you still paid too much. Admit it-you like your control.”

“Okay, I like my control. Now admit you like me.”

“I like your damn fat head.”

He snickered in triumph and kept driving. “You going to tell me where to any time soon? Or should I guess?”

“The docks. We need to stop Leena from taking a charter boat to Stone Cay.”

Looking out into the nasty night, he laughed. “No one’s going to charter a boat in this storm.”

“Hopefully not. But I just want to make sure she doesn’t try to go tonight.”

No one would be going anywhere tonight. Not in this mess. But arguing with her was like beating his head against a brick wall. The brick wall of Maddie’s stubbornness. So he drove her to the docks where she was told by two different charter guys exactly what Brody had already said.

No boat out tonight.

Brody drove them back toward town.

“A hotel,” she said, resigned. Frustrated. “Five star. Two rooms.”

Yeah, he read that two rooms part loud and clear.

He pulled into a decent-looking inn because it was the first one they came to and paid for two rooms. Then he walked Maddie to hers, not missing the way she was rubbing her shoulder. “Sorry it’s not a five-star hotel,” he said.

“You are not sorry.”

No, he wasn’t.

The inn was decorated in shabby chic beach and was clean, his only requirement. “It’s right on the beach.”

“I’m not here for fun in the sun.”

Which was a shame because under different circumstances-say, better weather and a better attitude on her part-he’d have enjoyed seeing her in an itsy bitsy bikini.

He opened the door to her room, eyes narrowing in on the shoulder she was still clearly favoring. The woman was hurting, and stubborn as a mule.

“My room key, please?” Holding out her hand, she waggled her fingers impatiently.

“Do you need ice?”

“I don’t need anything.”

Uh-huh. “Maddie-”

“My room key.”

She accompanied this with another demanding wriggle of her fingers.

“Not yet.” She wasn’t getting rid of him that easily. “I’ll be right back.”

Her expression went wary. “Where-”

He shut the door on her, which gave him more satisfaction than it should have, then went to get her some ice, fairly confident that she wouldn’t pull another Houdini on him since they were now a unit.

Even if only temporarily.