I followed her to the dinette and she patted the seat beside her, fingers already flying across the keyboard quick enough to leave a dust trail. “I know you’re eager to see what brought me to your door.”
She wasn’t wrong about that, so I sat next to her and tried like hell to ignore the scent of vanilla that swamped me as soon as I got close to her. Vanilla and something else, earthy and musky and sexy as fuck. I slid away to put some space between us. “Let’s see what you got.”
She rolled her eyes, which looked like melted silver up close against the backdrop of her electric blue hair and pulled up two images. “That,” she pointed, and I leaned in to see two photos both of a vaguely familiar looking white dude with a young chick who wasn’t nearly as polished or vanilla enough to be his wife.
It didn’t appear all that nefarious to me and I leaned back with a sigh. “That’s it? A rich white guy cheating on his wife isn’t exactly a big scandal worthy of all this cloak and dagger stuff. Is it?” Then another thought occurred to me, what if Vivi was crazy?
She sighed. “I should have known,” she grumbled and shut the laptop harder than she needed to. “Men. Don’t worry about it, Jag. I have a few things I need to take care of here, but I’ll be gone in an hour or so.”
“Goddamnit woman, you are as infuriating as fuck!” I smacked my hands on the table hard enough to jumble all the contents on top. “Stop being so fucking sensitive and don’t run away from me again.”
She slid her hips into mine until I stood to let her escape and she began to pace in the small camper. “Of course you don’t see anything wrong about a grown man fucking a child. A child, Jag! She’s a teenager, not just your run of the mill side piece!” The look she levelled me with made me feel about two feet tall.
Shit. “How in the hell was I supposed to know that?”
“Maybe don’t be so quick to brush me off?” She held up her hands to stop me. “If you don’t believe me or think I’m some paranoid nutjob, say so and I’ll go. No harm, no foul and no complaints.” Vivi stared at me with fire burning in her eyes, ready to bolt if I said the wrong thing. “Well?”
“I’m not saying I don’t believe you, Vivi. Shit, you barely tell me anything and I’m just trying to figure this out.”
She scoffed and shook her head, blue waves brushing her shoulders. “Figure this out Jag, she’s seventeen today and they’ve been together for more than two years. Does that sink in? Or about the fact that the older guy in the photo is a politician. A governor to be exact.”
I let out a shocked whistle because that piece of information was unexpected. “How exactly did you come across this information, Vivi? Are you doing black hat shit?”
“No. It was a legitimate job that I can’t tell you about and even if it had been black hat shit, I found the information, and someone is after me. So, can I trust you?”
I opened my mouth to tell her that she could trust me. I was a trustworthy sort of guy, ask anyone. But something stopped me. Vivi could trust me but only if she believed it. “Not if you think trust means following you blindly.”
“If I needed a minion I could’ve stayed back east. I need someone with skills. I need to find out who is after me and how they found out about me.” She told me about the break-in at her place that had prompted her to leave town and seek me out, so no matter what, Vivi believed someone was after her.
“Okay fine, you have my help. But I have a question. Why in hell would the government help him out if he’s a child molester?” She didn’t say it, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out that her skills were perfect for multiple clandestine government agencies.
“I didn’t say the whole government did this, but clearly he has a source or two. Or he knows someone who does.”
“And you really think they’d kill over this?”
She scoffed and looked at me like I was poor dumb kid. “Let’s see, the millions to be made as a crooked politician might be worth killing for. And how about a life in prison for sex with a child? Or maybe, and here’s the kicker, maybe the idea of losing out on the Presidency. People have killed for less. A lot fucking less, Jag.”
Her pointed words served as a reminder of what was going down with the Reckless Bastards when she rolled into town. “Point taken. Unless you’re going to use this as an excuse to run away again?” She’d threatened to leave at least half a dozen times since she came to town and I didn’t think she was playing games.
“That’s because I’m the only person I can rely on, but I do need your help. But don’t say you want to help just to keep me here, Jag. I’m not that girl and I don’t need your protection.”
“You wouldn’t take it even if you did need it.” My lips curved into a smile because damn, Vivi was feisty as hell and it turned me on. “Right?”
Vivi fisted her hands at her hips, drawing my eyes to the beaded nipples peeking through the plain white tee she wore. I couldn’t tell if she wore a bra or not, but her nipples were so hard I didn’t give a damn. “I’m stubborn Jag, not stupid.”
“Good to know. I’ll remind you of that if I need to.” I stood and got in her face, for no other reason th
an I could. She pushed at my chest when I got too close and I took a step back and I realized something. Vivi wasn’t as immune to me as she pretended to be. Her pupils dilated and the pulse at the base of her neck fluttered wildly like a hummingbird’s wings under her pale, silky flesh. I stepped in again and she pushed me back, but this time I didn’t budge. One hand went to the back of her neck, massaging it at first until my fingers tangled in her hair, grabbing her to angle her head just so.
“Jag,” she whispered a second before my mouth crashed down on hers in a frenzied kiss that felt like it had been twenty years in the making. My tongue swept against hers softly but the minx nipped my bottom lip, changing what would have been a sensual kiss into something hotter and darker. Something explosive.
Vivi’s hand slid under my shirt, hands splayed wide as they traveled up my abdomen to my chest, taking the shirt as she rounded my shoulders.
“I guess we’re taking this off,” I whispered.
She nodded and leaned in, her tongue leaving a trail of heat up the center of my body. My cock sprang to life and she felt it, letting out a low moan as her tongue traveled to my nipple.
“Damn you are beautiful.” She said the words more to herself than to me, but they slithered through my veins and lit a fire.