Guardian Ranger (Shadow Agents #2)(42)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Her gaze snapped up to Wyatt.

“Cale hasn’t been cleared on anything yet,” Logan said, eyes and voice both hard. “We’re gonna find Jimmy. We’ll bring him in, and then we’ll see just what the hell is happening in this town.”

For such a sleepy town, Whiskey Ridge sure had a lot of deaths.

Jasper’s fingers curled around Veronica’s wrist. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

“I’m sure Sydney has some clothes she can borrow,” Logan murmured. “You taking her to the motel?”

Jasper nodded. He tugged on Veronica’s wrist. She didn’t move. She was remembering that car, coming at her. At the time, she’d been so scared, but now… “Wyatt, didn’t Jimmy buy an old car a few years back? One that he wanted to restore?”

“That black ’67?” Wyatt gave a nod. “Yeah, he’s been keeping it in his garage, but I think it’s almost…”

He trailed off as he saw the tension on Jasper’s face.

She thought about Jimmy’s old car. About the long, heavy lines of the ride he’d loved so much. Then she said, sadly, “I’m pretty sure that’s the car that ran me off the road.”

Logan swore. Then he rushed to follow Sydney. “Syd, I need that GPS now.”

Because it looked as though they’d found the man who’d just tried to kill her, and it was one of the men who’d promised to protect and serve everyone in Whiskey Ridge.

* * *

VERONICA CAME OUT of the shower, dressed in a white terry cloth robe. Her hair trailed over her shoulders, and her skin was flushed.

She still looked too fragile. But he’d realized that the delicate appearance was only skin deep for Veronica.

The woman had a core of steel.

“When were you gonna tell me that you lifted that flash drive?” he asked her.

She paused at the threshold of the bathroom. Steam drifted around her. They were in his motel room. He had the door bolted, and he figured it was time they cleared the air between them.

Provided, of course, that he could keep his hands off her.

“I was going to get around to that,” she murmured, “but there was the little matter of you getting shot, me finding out you were an EOD agent and, then, well, you arresting my brother.”

“Yeah, the little matter of all that.” He stalked toward her.

She tensed. “I thought I had the room to myself. You were supposed to wait outside while I showered.”

“I’m not going anyplace. You were almost killed tonight.” The memory had his heart racing. “Do you know what that did to me?”

She looked confused. As if she couldn’t figure out why her death would matter to him.

He put his hands on her, right near her shoulders. She smelled fresh and clean and just looking at her made him ache. So the whole no-touching-her bit had lasted for all of five seconds. The woman made him weak.

“You were worried,” she said, giving a little nod. “You’re an agent, so your job is—”

“Forget the job.” Anger thickened his voice. “This isn’t about a job any longer. It’s about you.”

She blinked. “What?”

“I’m not on the EOD’s side, okay? I’m not using you. I’m not trying to get information on your brother. I’m here, right now, because there is no other place on this whole earth that I’d rather be. I want to be with you.”

“Jasper.” Her gaze searched his.

What was she looking for? What emotion? What truth? Whatever it was, he sure as hell hoped that she found it.

“The case is between us, I get that. You think your brother’s innocent? You think he’s being set up by that deputy?”

“Yes.” She breathed the words. “I do.”

Such incredible faith. He wanted her to have that kind of faith in him.

“Then consider me on your side from here on out.” The choice really was that simple to him. He couldn’t keep ripping her apart by going after her brother. He’d resign from the EOD. He’d be with her.

If she wanted him.

“Wh-what are you saying?”

He had to kiss her. That little stutter got to him every single time. His lips brushed hers, gentle, because he was determined to be, for now. “I’m saying that I have your back, always.” Another kiss against her lips. “I’m saying that you can trust me to be there for you.”

Her lips parted in surprise.

Another kiss. This time, his tongue dipped inside her mouth and tasted that sweetness.

“If your brother is being set up, we’ll find the evidence that links Jimmy to the kills. We’ll clear Cale.”

And if he isn’t innocent…if Jimmy and Cale are somehow working together…

He’d still be there for Veronica. From now on, he planned to be the man she needed him to be.

“Why?” she asked him softly. “Why are you changing your mind? Is it because of—”

“It’s because of you.” Simple. “I won’t lose you.” Not when she was everything that he’d ever been looking for his whole life.

Once, he’d told Logan that if a woman ever looked at him the way Logan’s fiancée, Juliana, looked at that guy…well, Jasper had said that he’d hold as tight to that woman as he could. Jasper hadn’t known a lot of love in his life, but he’d seen it in Juliana’s gaze when she looked at Logan.

And, too late, he realized that he’d seen the same look in Veronica’s eyes. Hope, trust, love—all of that had been in her eyes.

I want that look again. He’d work for it, do anything necessary, in order for her to look at him that way again.

“You wanted me once,” he whispered against her mouth. “I can make you want me again.”

Her hands rose, slowly, and settled lightly on either side of his jaw. Her stare was guarded now, but he could be patient. He could prove his worth to her.

“Jasper…”

He turned his head and pressed a kiss to her palm. “I can’t lose you.” How had she come to mean so much to him, so quickly? The image of her on that rain-soaked road would haunt him until he died.

“I’m not going anyplace,” Veronica told him. She stepped closer to him, erasing the last bit of distance that separated them. “I want to be with you.”

His control began to fracture. He kissed her again. Harder. Her hands dropped to his chest, smoothed over his skin. His fingers went to the belt of her robe, pulled the tie loose and slid inside to find smooth, naked skin.