I'm Yours (5 page)

Ian continued to block the view until Kara
was right behind him. He turned and pushed Liam back allowing Kara
to pass through the doorway into the garage. Then Ian turned to
walk behind Kara and block Liam from the view of her backside.

“The blue car,” Ian said as she turned to him
questioning which way to go.

Ian followed her to the passenger door then
opened it, letting her to slide into her seat. He shut the door not
allowing her to say goodbye to Liam who was smiling at Ian from the
bottom of the stairs leading back into the house. He walked toward
Liam as he rounded the back of the Camaro they were borrowing.
Meryl came down the stairs and hugged Ian.

“You might want to tell her she’s yours in
English.” She whispered in his ear. “She doesn’t seem to think you
want her.”

The woman must be crazy. He’d been going mad
with want since he laid eyes on her three years ago. How could she
think he didn’t want her? Well, even if she was that dense there
would be no question now. If she thought he didn’t want her after
he’d slammed her up against a wall and pressed himself against her,
well then she wasn’t quite as brilliant as he’d given her credit
for.

“She thinks I don’t want her? Did you tell
her?”

“Not exactly, I couldn’t tell if you said it
to her or wanted her to say it to you.”

Both, but he’d be lucky if she’d accept it
from him and he wasn’t sure he’d ever get her to say it. Well, not
when she knew what she was saying. How could she possibly think he
didn’t want her? She’d turned him down. Ian nodded his thanks to
his cousins as he walked around to the driver’s side and got in.
Kara was already buckled up. Once again confined to close quarters
with her, Ian could detect her scent. He had the gun in a leg
holster he’d borrowed from Liam because it seemed to make Kara
nervous. Also, having a gun bouncing around in his lap wasn’t good
for his health. Liam Looked out the window of the garage door and
signaled Ian the coast was clear before he pressed the button to
open the door.

“Is there anything you need? We need to make
one stop to get a prepaid phone, but other than that, we should
really get on the road.”

As he backed out of the garage, he saw Kara
look down at her outfit. He knew she wanted to get better fitting
clothes, and they could probably spare a few extra minutes to do
that, but then she shook her head and looked out the window. He
wasn’t going to force her to cover herself up. After all, he’d
wanted to see her body for what felt like forever.

Ian put on a baseball cap and sunglasses as
he drove down the street. He kept his eye out for anyone following
him so he could make sure they were safe before he made any kind of
stop. He made a few turns just to be sure before stopping at a
small convenience store. Ian got out and walked around to open
Kara’s door.

“I can wait in the car,” she offered.

“I think we should stick together. If we need
to go out a different exit, we need to be together.”

She nodded and stood from the car. He almost
backed up a step or moved forward a step, he wasn’t sure. All he
knew was that in the natural light of day, her T-shirt was so tight
over her tits it was almost see through. He could not only see the
lace of her bra now, but also the outline of her soft nipples. Ian
suddenly felt sick at the thought of anyone but him seeing her in
that T-shirt and those tight pants. He was dying to see what the
rear view looked like in sunlight, but he took her hand and stayed
in front of her to shield her from anyone’s view.

“Just one quick stop, then we’ll be out of
here,” he reminded her.

It had been a while since Kara had seen Ian
in jeans and a T-shirt since she tried not to socialize with him
too much outside of the office. Now as she walked behind him,
watching his swagger, she couldn’t decide if she liked him better
in jeans or in the sweats. She didn’t know what that kiss had been
about, but she knew she wanted it to happen again. Ian pulled her
into the store and quickly bought three prepaid phones with a ton
of prepaid cards to load minutes on the phones as well. He paid
cash and they were back in the car and pulling out of the parking
lot in less than 5 minutes.

“I thought we were going north,” Kara said as
he headed south.

“I wanted to be followed north. Hopefully
they’re not smart enough to figure out I was leading them away from
where I wanted to go.”

It was smart, Kara thought as she watched out
the window. She’d been so wrapped up in being followed that she had
forgotten she was supposed to be working. It was only Thursday and
Nancy was expecting her back soon.

“How long do you think we’ll be gone Ian?
Nancy’s expecting me back at the office.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to call the
office. We could be compromising one of these prepaid cell phones
and we only have one extra. You’ll just have to let Nancy think
you’re irresponsible for a day or two.”

Kara knew he was partially teasing, but she
had a really hard time with anyone, especially someone she worked
with, thinking she shirked her responsibilities. She’d like to
think she wasn’t really a people pleaser, but she was in some
respects. Nancy reported to Kara and she didn’t want Nancy to think
it was OK to just leave and not let anyone know when you’d be back
in the office. Kara didn’t want to expect anything from someone
else which she wasn’t willing to do herself. If they stopped again,
maybe she’d buy a prepaid phone just to let Nancy know they were
alright. If she was going to have to throw it away, she’d call her
parents and her sister too. She wanted everyone to know she was
alright.

“Where are we going?”

“I’m not sure where Ronan is, he didn’t want
to talk on a phone that might be traceable. When we get a little
further south, we’ll give him a call with one of these prepaid
phones.”

Now that they were on their way and seemed to
be getting along, Ian almost didn’t want to meet up with Ronan. He
could get used to having Kara to himself. Well, he did have Kara to
himself on weekdays and he liked it. For the most part they got
along at work so maybe they could take this time to try to get
along outside of work. He had an idea they could get along better
outside work than any other place if she would just loosen up and
give him a break.

“Are you hungry? You didn’t eat when you made
me breakfast and we’re getting close to dinner time.” Ian tried to
keep his eyes on her face otherwise they might get in an
accident.

“I thought we couldn’t stop.”

“Well, now that we’re outside Chicago, there
isn’t much traffic at all. I know we’re not being followed, so we
can stop if you’re hungry.”

“I’m getting a little hungry. I had lunch
with the people from the Langford group, but that was a few hours
ago.”

“I’m really sorry about that Kara.”

“Yeah, well, I forgive you. I was ready to
pound you but you have a good excuse.”

“Pound me?” He smiled.

“Yeah, I was really worried you were sick,
but then when I called and a woman answered your phone I
thought…”

“That I’d blow off our biggest potential
client to hook up with some chick?”

She shrugged. Oh that is just bullshit! He
thought. It wasn’t like she carried all the weight. OK so maybe he
could pick up some slack and sure he came in late once in a while
or even left early, but he got the work done. He was about to tell
her to loosen up, when he realized she’d close right off again. So
she thought he’d ditch their meeting for some random one-night
stand? She knew he didn’t have a steady girlfriend he brought that
up often enough.

He was beginning to think that was the
problem; exactly how he brought it up. And he realized he’d been
shooting himself in the foot. He talked about dating in general so
she’d know he was open to dating, not seeing anyone steady. Knowing
Kara, he should have known she’d see his openness as lack of
discretion. Damn it! Could he do nothing right with this woman?

When they’d worked at Bloomfield, he’d been
trying to get her attention any way he could. When she’d asked him
to leave and start up a firm with her, he had hoped they’d be more
than just business partners. Maybe it had taken this last year of
getting to know her enough to really get her attention. Maybe he’d
just have to show her how to loosen up. Maybe if she were leaving
early with him she wouldn’t make such a big deal about it. He liked
that idea.

“Why are we waiting to call Ronan?” She
asked.

“Well if you want to load the minutes on one
of the cell phones, I’ll go ahead and call him.”

“Sure.”

He knew she was trying to change the subject
and avoid a fight, so he let her. He didn’t want to fight either,
not when she was just starting to soften toward him. He knew Kara.
He’d seen her at her best and at her worst and still he wanted her.
He wanted her so much, no one else seemed to grab his attention.
Hell, he had to push himself to date, which was crazy since enjoyed
women’s company. It had been easier when they were just co-workers
to ignore his attraction to her. He’d labeled her in his mind as a
sort of ice queen.

Yet when she’d ask him to jump ship with her,
he hadn’t given it a second thought. Getting to really know her
this last year had been hell because she was smart, funny,
beautiful, sexy, confident, and hot. Yet she remained closed off to
him. This right here was his chance, so he had to be careful not to
let his temper blow it. He was going to have to change gears to
move forward with her.

Kara pulled everything out of the bag from
the convenience store and set about reading all the instructions.
Ian knew if he were doing it, he’d just figure it out on his own
and it would be faster. He also knew better than to say that to
Kara. She played by the rules and followed directions. They weren’t
in a rush so Ian continued on the route to Indiana. After a few
more minutes, Kara began typing codes into the phone.

“OK, this one is good to go. Do you want to
call Ronan while I load the other two?”

Ian nodded and took the phone. He quickly
dialed Ronan’s number and put the phone on speaker because the
cheap prepaid phone didn’t have Bluetooth.

“Hello?”

“Ronan, you’re on speaker. We lost the tail
and got a new ride. Where are we headed?”

“Where are you now?”

“Almost to Gary, Indiana”

“OK. Stop in Gary for the night. I have to
get things rolling.”

“How soon will this be over, Rone?”

“I need time.”

“Ní maith liom Kara i mbaol,” Ian growled. He
didn’t like that she was in this dangerous situation. He especially
didn’t like that Ronan was better trained to keep her safe.

Kara looked up as she heard her name. What
was Ian saying about her? She was frustrated about being left out
of these conversations. She really did need a translator, but Ian
had been right when he’d said she wouldn’t be able to spell out
anything he was saying.

“It’s not like I wanted you mixed up in this
either bro.”

“It’s too late for that just clear it all up,
before anyone gets hurt. There are innocent people involved
now.”

“An bhfuil tú grá di ansin?”

Ian’s anger reared its ugly head. He barely
bit back his terse response because Kara was listening. Why did
Ronan make the jump that Ian loved Kara? He cared about her, yes.
He wanted into her panties for damn sure. He wanted to date her and
try to have a relationship with her and see where it led.

“Tá sé níos mó ná mar a shíl mé. Ná scare an
cailín. Féidir liom a bheith i mbaol. Ná teacht chugam fós,” Ronan
said quietly.

Ian felt sick. Ronan wanted them to delay
because he wasn’t safe? So, nowhere was truly safe if Ronan was in
a lot of danger. It didn’t matter who was better suited to protect
Kara, Ian would be the one doing it. Ronan had said not to scare
her, so Ian would try his best not to. He’d never scare Kara on
purpose.

“Are you in contact with your superiors,” Ian
wanted to know.

“Yes, just move slowly and be cautious. Be
sure to take care of that sexy redhead.”

“Be careful Ronan,” Kara said.

“Are you worried about me then,
beautiful?”

Kara rolled her eyes but didn’t answer out
loud.

“Looks like you got your answer Ronan. We’ll
stop in Gary for the night. How often will you keep in touch?”

“Don’t start mothering me. You sound like
Ma.”

Now Ian rolled his eyes. He knew perfectly
well if the roles were reversed Ronan would expect him to check in
regularly. He also knew they needed to set expectations so if Ronan
didn’t call they would know they needed to move.

“How often Ronan? Do you have back up? Family
backup close by?”

“Quinn.”

“OK then, every four hours?”

“Yes ma.” Ronan teased.

“t suas!”

“Ha! You told him to shut up,” Kara
laughed.

“You’re teaching her Ian? You’ll be sorry.
Mark my words.”

“Four hour intervals Ronan, so we know you’re
safe and we’re not compromised.”

“Aye. A bheith sábháilte”

“You too, be careful.” With that Ronan hung
up.

Ian handed the phone back to Kara after he’d
hung up with Ronan. They were only about 20 minutes away from Gary,
so they could find a safe motel and grab some dinner. They’d need
to find a place that took cash and without knowing how long they
were going to be, he couldn’t afford two rooms.

“Kara?”

“Yeah”

“We need to find a motel that takes cash. We
can’t use any credit cards. They may have been looking for Ronan,
but they now have my address and license plate. They’ll be able to
connect you to me. You can’t use any credit cards either.”

“I only have maybe $100 in cash Ian.”