Guardian Ranger (Shadow Agents #2)(18)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Jasper stiffened a bit at her touch, but she just curled her arm around him more. Then she started pulling him away from that apartment that smelled of death and away from the agent with suspicious eyes.

They didn’t speak until they were inside Jasper’s truck. He turned on the engine, and his gaze flickered toward Gunner and Logan.

The agents who were staring right back at them.

“I know what you said,” she began quietly as her hands clenched in her lap. “But I can’t trust them.”

His gaze darted to her.

“Don’t you see what’s happening?” she demanded. “They think that my brother is a killer. They’re tracking him down because they want to take him down.”

“Veronica…”

“Are you working with them?” The question had to be asked. Gunner and Logan both knew Jasper. Jasper knew Cale. It would be foolish of her to ignore the coincidence. But…

I trust him.

Her heart seemed to stop as she waited for Jasper’s response.

“I’m working for you.” Anger roughened the words. “Until last night, I was taking a break, enjoying a little R and R in a spot on the map that I thought most folks didn’t even know about.”

A spot Cale must have told him about.

Jasper’s stare seemed to burn into her. “I’m not FBI.”

She could see the truth in his gaze.

“I swear, I’m not part of the bureau.”

Why would he lie?

“I am going to help you find Cale. The agents… I’m going to use every connection that I have to them and—”

“They’re hunting my brother.” Would he deny that?

A muscle jerked along his jaw. “They’re hunting a killer.”

Did he think Cale was that killer? Did it even matter to him?

She licked her lips. “You might know them, you might have worked with them before, but don’t trust them, either, okay?”

He put the truck into Drive and pulled away from the apartment. They passed two unmarked vans. Her body tensed at that sight. The agents were pulling in all kinds of resources on this case.

My brother didn’t kill Reed.

She had to find her brother before the agents did. Logan Quinn scared her, and she didn’t want that man hunting her brother.

Cale wasn’t the killer. She’d prove that fact and find her brother.

* * *

“YOUR BROTHER’S IN town.” Jasper made this announcement as soon as they pulled through the gates at her ranch after a silent ride back.

He parked the truck on the side of the graveled drive and turned to face her. The better to catch her reaction.

She thinks Logan and Gunner are after her brother. But she doesn’t suspect me. Why?

Why the hell does she trust me so much?

Part of him was humbled by that trust. No one had ever had such blind faith in him before. But another part, a darker part, was angry.

He was going to betray that trust. Break it. Break her.

That’s not what I want.

She jerked free of the seat belt. “Don’t you start this. Don’t tell me that Cale is a killer!”

That hadn’t been what he intended to say, but yes, all signs sure pointed to the fact that Cale was very much a killer.

Veronica pushed open the door and hopped out of the truck.

Where was she going?

He killed the engine and followed her. “Veronica!”

It looked as if she was planning on leaving his butt and walking the rest of the way back to the ranch.

At his call, she didn’t stop walking. He ran to her, caught her arm and forced her around to face him. He was leaning over her, their faces close. Her cheeks were angry, flushed.

Damn if he didn’t want to kiss her.

She’d kissed him before. Didn’t that mean it was his turn? Turn or not…

He took her mouth.

She didn’t fight, didn’t gasp, didn’t try to pull away.

Veronica stood on her toes, shocking the hell out of him, and she kissed him back. Kissed him back with passion and fury and lust.

Enough lust to make a man ache.

His hands eased down her body, curled around the flare of her hips, and he lifted her up against his aroused flesh. She turned him on more than any other woman ever had. With just a kiss. He wanted her.

Naked.

Eager.

And whispering his name as pleasure flashed in her eyes.

Her tongue slid over his lip in a move so sweet and sexy that she had him growling. The woman was getting beneath his skin. Making him want, when he should be focusing on the job.

He never lost focus. He got the job done, no matter what. He always finished the mission.

He licked her lip. Thrust his tongue into her mouth.

Her taste drove him insane, made him crave more of her. So much more. His blood seemed to burn in his veins as arousal hardened his body.

Time to get a few things straight. He lifted his mouth from hers, but didn’t let her go. He was enjoying having his hands on her far too much for that. “I’m not taking your money.”

She blinked. There was desire in her eyes. The desire deepened the blue color. Made her even sexier. “But we had a deal.”

The deal was getting real complicated, fast. The deal was also based on a lie.

Lying to her was becoming harder each moment.

“Things have changed.” He wasn’t the coldhearted bastard so many people seemed to think.

Since when did it matter what anyone thought?

Not anyone. Her. “People are dying in this town, left and right.”

Her arms were on his shoulders. When he’d kissed her, Veronica’s nails had bit into his skin.

He’d liked that. When they had sex, and they were going to get naked together, he wanted her wild.

Business. Focus on business.

But now her hands were trying to ease away from him. She was easing away. “Are you scared?” She seemed shocked by the idea. “I mean, I understand, I’m scared, too. I don’t want to die—”

“Not happening.” The words ripped from him automatically. Hell, no, she wasn’t dying. Not on his watch.

Her gaze held his. “It’s okay if you want to leave.” Her hands dropped. “You have to look after yourself. When w-we made the deal, you didn’t know you were signing on to something that would involve three murders and a kidnapping in less than twenty-four hours—”

He kissed her. He didn’t want her backing away from him, and he sure didn’t want her trying to build a wall between them. So Jasper poured his hunger and need into the kiss. Let her know that this wasn’t some hired gun’s deal. This was a man, wanting a woman. Wanting her.