Dangerous Surrender (10 page)

“The one waiting outside the PD?”

“Yeah. Escobar is his boss. I guess he could have been working for just Neal, but I don’t know. Escobar is kinda scary. I don’t see any of his guys doing something without him knowing.” Which she knew made her sound like a little kid, but she didn’t care. Benjamin Escobar had an edge to him.

Hurley snorted softly. “Well, scary or not, Escobar vouched for you. Went on record with the guys at Oceanside and said there was no way you killed Mr. Powers.”

She straightened in her seat, surprise jolting through her. “He did?”

“Yep. I don’t know for sure but it sounds like he’s got a good relationship with the department there and he made sure the detectives on the case knew his thoughts about you.”

“Oh.” She bit her bottom lip, digesting the newest piece of information.

“I’ve already passed on the info about Simpson though so hopefully by the time you get back to Oceanside they’ll know more about why he was at the station. If it had anything to do with you, they’ll find out. Powers was an influential, powerful man. They’re working around the clock to close the case.”

“Good.” That didn’t mean she believed Escobar wasn’t involved. But why would he have vouched for her to the police when he barely knew her? They’d worked at the same company for a while but he was not a warm, friendly type. That being an understatement.

She felt as if her brain was about to go into overload and she just hoped she could count on the man as an ally.

* * *

Roman didn’t stray too far down the hall as he answered his phone. If it was anyone else, he’d have ignored the call, but when Wyatt Christiansen called, he answered.

“Hey, boss,” he said quietly.

“Roman. What’s going on with Taylor Arenas? Has she been arrested?” That was something he liked about the man. He always got right to the point.

“How do you even know about that?” And how did Wyatt know Taylor? His billionaire boss was happily married but that strange sense of possessiveness swept through Roman again nonetheless.

He snorted softly. “Vadim.”

Roman wondered why Vadim had mentioned it to Wyatt at all. “She’s fine and no, she’s not being arrested. I’m taking her back to Oceanside in the next hour or so.” Because no matter what she said, he wasn’t letting her out of his sight. Ever since they’d left his house earlier, she’d been quiet, withdrawn. He’d thought maybe she regretted the kiss they’d shared but after what she’d said in Hurley’s office about him wanting to be rid of her, he realized she’d heard what he said to his brother. Roman wanted to kick his own ass for saying that lie out loud. As soon as they were alone, he was going to explain to her why he’d said it.

“How are you getting there?”

Roman paused. He respected his boss, but his personal business was just that. Personal. And he was off for the next few days so it wasn’t like this would interfere with his work schedule. Unless he was missing something here, Wyatt should have no reason to be asking about Taylor. “Respectfully, why do you want to know about Taylor?”

Wyatt let out a short sigh. “I’ve been trying to hire her away from Powers Group for years. Vadim’s assured me she’s innocent and I…I respected Hugh Powers. I just want to make sure Taylor’s all right.”

“More like you want to get a head start on the headhunting,” he said dryly. The words were out before he could censor himself. He liked and respected his boss a lot, but he was always very aware of their professional relationship. Unlike Jay, Wyatt’s right-hand man, Roman didn’t have that type of relaxed relationship with the billionaire where he always said what was on his mind.

To his surprise, Wyatt let out a sharp laugh. “You’re not totally wrong. She’d be a big asset to me if I could hire her, but Vadim asked me to help out.”

And Vadim never asked for anything.
Wyatt didn’t say it, but Roman knew it was true and part of the man’s reasoning. Vadim was a fucking genius and someone Wyatt would never want to lose. “Fair enough. I’m driving her back. Shouldn’t take us more than five or six hours. And I’m taking her directly to the police station.”

“You can take the private jet. I’ll have Ellie set it up.”

“I thought Ellie was off.” Ellie was Wyatt’s assistant but Roman was sure she’d taken off work with her new husband, Jay. He had friends in town who hadn’t been able to make it to their wedding and Jay had wanted to show off his new wife. He hadn’t said the words but Roman knew Jay well.

“Damn it, I forgot. I’ll have her temp do it or I’ll just do it myself,” he grumbled and Roman figured he was counting down the seconds until the efficient blonde returned to work. “Just show up at the hangar when you can, I’ll make sure you’ve got a ride.” He disconnected before Roman could respond.

Not exactly surprising. When Wyatt was done talking, he was done talking and nothing else needed to be said.

The jet ride was a nice surprise, faster, and a whole lot more secure than him driving Taylor. He didn’t think she’d have an issue flying considering she’d mentioned taking her company’s jet, but he had a feeling she’d have an issue with him going. Not that it mattered, it was happening. Because he was making sure she made it to California safely and he wasn’t trusting her safety to anyone but himself.

Taylor was more than just an obligation. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t known her long, he found that he wanted to know every little thing about this woman. And he wasn’t letting her out of his sight.

Chapter 8

Taylor gratefully took the bottle of water the flight attendant gave her and tried not to wonder what Roman was doing at the front of the plane. The tall, slender woman was beautiful and looked runway ready even in her blue and white uniform. Her inky-black hair was pulled up into a complicated-looking chignon and her lips were a ruby red that made the woman look like freaking Snow White.

Meanwhile Taylor was wearing borrowed clothes that didn’t fit right, had no makeup on and was wearing her zombie heels. Okay, her heels were actually awesome and the only thing that made her feel better. But she felt like crap otherwise and the dull throbbing in her side wasn’t helping any. And she really didn’t like the flirty looks the flight attendant had been giving Roman when they’d first boarded. Even if she couldn’t blame the woman.

It wasn’t like Taylor had a claim on him and he didn’t even want to be with her so whatever. His brother had taken them to the airport so she’d mainly talked to him, basically ignoring Roman. She’d felt as if he wanted to talk more to her, but she just couldn’t deal with how he made her feel all manic. Shutting her eyes, she leaned back against the plush, leather seat and tried to relax even though it was impossible when she knew what was waiting for her at the end of the flight.

“What you heard me tell my brother was bullshit.” Roman’s voice startled her.

She hadn’t even heard him approach. Opening her eyes, she turned in her seat to find herself staring into his mismatched eyes and fought that increasingly familiar sensation of being swallowed up by the man just by looking at him. “Excuse me?” As soon as they’d boarded he’d headed up to the cockpit and she hadn’t seen him even during takeoff. It was clear he knew the pilot and co-pilot, probably from previous travel with his boss. A shockingly jealous part of her had wondered if he’d been on more than friendly terms previously with the flight attendant. Ugh, she didn’t like feeling like this.

He sat directly next to her in one of the big, comfortable, leather seats instead of across the aisle from her, his nearness putting her on edge. That familiar masculine, woodsy scent wrapped around her as he leaned closer, his body heat scorching. “I don’t want to get rid of you.”

She wasn’t going to pretend she hadn’t heard him at his place, because his words had hurt. “Then why’d you say it? Are you embarrassed by me?” That insecure part of her she thought she’d left behind in high school flared to the surface. The girl who’d never quite fit in—and still felt awkward in a lot of social situations—and wondered why a man like Roman had even kissed her.

He blinked as if she’d truly surprised him, something she figured didn’t happen too often. “Embarrassed? Why would I be embarrassed by you?”

His surprise soothed her ego, but she still wanted an answer to her first question. She shrugged. “Why’d you say it?”

He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I don’t know.”

“That’s helpful,” she muttered, annoyance ratcheting up more than hurt.

Gritting his teeth, he met her gaze. “That kiss took me off guard and… I don’t fucking know. You make me feel crazy and I didn’t want to deal with questions from my brother when I had no idea how to answer him.”

Okay now she was confused. “I make you feel crazy?”

“Yeah.” His voice dropped an octave and he leaned in a fraction before he stopped himself and pulled back. Not enough to put actual distance between them, his masculine scent teasing her senses as it wrapped around her. “I’m near you and I want to kiss you. I think about you, and I get fucking hard,” he growled.

Her lips parted in surprise and just like that, his gaze dropped to her mouth and he let out a soft groan she might not have heard if they weren’t sitting so close.

“Are you hard right now?” she whispered, unable to take her gaze from his face.

“As stone.” His words were a guttural confession.

Just like that her nipples hardened and heat flooded between her legs. His words were like a full-body caress for how they affected her.

Unable to stop herself, her gaze dipped down but he had his laptop case placed over his lap. When she looked back at him, his gaze seemed to darken as he watched her intently, waiting for a response.

She leaned a fraction closer, as if drawn by the magnetic pull between them. “My nipples are hard too,” she whispered, the bold admission unlike her. Everything going on in her life might be insane, but the attraction she felt for Roman probably took the cake. There was no explaining it.

“I’m not looking for a relationship,” he quietly blurted.

Okay, that doused some of her desire, but…her gaze fell to his mouth again and her nipples tightened even harder against her bra cups. “Good. Neither am I.” Which was mostly true. She didn’t have time for a relationship, especially now, but that didn’t mean she didn’t want Roman. Maybe some good sex would be enough to get him out of her system. Though part of her was really disappointed by the no relationship statement even if she wasn’t looking.

The flight attendant chose that moment to interrupt them, asking Roman if he needed anything else. He answered no without looking at her, which made Taylor smile. Once they were alone again, she leaned back against her seat and tried not to fantasize about going to bed with him. She felt guilty for her thoughts with everything else going in.

It was definitely time for a subject change. “How do you like working for Wyatt Christiansen?”

Roman paused for a long moment, as if he didn’t like the shift in topic, but then he sighed and seemed to relax, the tension in his shoulders loosening as he leaned back against his seat. He was still turned in her direction. “He’s a good boss. Benefits are good too. He takes care of his people.”

“That’s a very succinct answer.”

His lips twitched as if he wanted to smile—she wondered what it would take for him to full-on smile at her. “There’s not much else to say. The guy’s a hard ass when he needs to be, but he’s fair. I like working for him and I like the people I work with. Did he offer you a job again?”

Her eyebrows raised at his question. “You know he’s offered before?”

“He mentioned it when he called earlier.”

“He could have contacted me for all I know but I still don’t have my phone.” Or her laptop, her tablet, e-reader or half a dozen other electronic devices she was used to carrying with her at all times. Being so disconnected was jarring.

At the same time, it was also oddly nice not to have to deal with anyone who’d known Hugh, whether they thought she was guilty or not. The thought of talking to people she worked with about Hugh made her want to tailspin into a breakdown.

“I don’t think he’d make an offer just yet.” Roman’s voice was dry.

Taylor snorted. “Yeah, but this jet is a nice touch. If it wasn’t for Hugh I probably would have considered Mr. Christiansen’s offer—well, offers.” But she hadn’t even thought about it, nice as it was to be headhunted. Now she had no clue what she planned to do once the dust settled. One of the main reasons she’d stayed with Powers Group was because of Hugh and because she loved her job. Now the thought of going back to work for the company was depressing.

Roman seemed to sense her mood change because he reached out and squeezed her hand. “We’ll be there soon, rest if you want,” he murmured.

She wished he wasn’t being so sweet and caring. Okay, that wasn’t true. She was incredibly appreciative of his support. It just made it harder because she knew this wasn’t going to last. Throat tight with a cacophony of emotions brought on by thoughts of her dead friend, she nodded and closed her eyes. The seat was like a big cloud so it wasn’t hard to relax. She couldn’t help but notice that Roman never let her hand go.

And she wasn’t inclined to pull it back from him. He made her feel safe, grounded and…not so alone.

* * *

“You ready?” Roman asked quietly as he and Taylor waited to disembark. As soon as they’d landed he’d received a call from Wyatt—who’d clearly taken a personal interest in this situation—letting him know that the detective assigned to the case, two uniformed officers and three men from Powers Group security were waiting for them. No one wanted to take any chances that Taylor didn’t make it to the police station.