The Girl Next Door (Shadow Agents 6)

His words made her stiffen. They were too similar to the killer’s. “You’re exactly what—who—I thought you were,” she fired back fiercely. “You’ve had my back. You’ve risked your life. You—”

He kissed her.

You’re one hell of a kisser. Because she’d thought he would be, from the first glimpse that she’d had of him. She’d almost dropped her chocolate chip cookies because she’d taken one look and gotten lost in his blue gaze.

His lips were firm and warm, and the things that man could do with his tongue...

Cooper eased away from her. “I’d risk my life for you in an instant. Know that. I’ll protect you with every bit of power I have.”

She believed him.

“Sometimes, I think all our pasts can do is hurt us.” His words were a rumble. His right hand curled under her jaw. “It’s the future that I like to think about. What can be.”

But a past couldn’t be forgotten, or completely buried, no matter how much you might wish it to be so.

Why wasn’t Cooper telling her about himself?

She felt as if she’d just laid her soul bare for him.

Goose bumps rose on her skin. She backed away from him, hunching her shoulders a bit. When lightning flashed again, Gabrielle didn’t flinch, and she was rather proud of that fact.

But she was also curious. About Cooper. Always—him. “What scares you?” Gabrielle whispered.

He didn’t move. No, he did. A small movement. He tensed. “What makes you think anything does?”

Her lips lifted in a wan smile. “Everyone fears something. Even you, tough guy.” Even the man who jumped into fires.

His eyes were on her, burning bright. “Maybe you scare me.”

His response surprised her. “Why?”

A phone rang then, vibrating from its position on the couch. Cooper’s lips thinned, but then he said, “Because I don’t want you hurt.”

Her lips parted in surprise, but he had already reached for the phone. He answered it, even as his eyes stayed on her. “Marshall.” His eyelids flickered a bit. “Yes, she’s here.”

The call was about her?

He turned away from Gabrielle, showing her his broad back. “We’re not coming out in the storm. Why? Because she doesn’t like damn storms, that’s why.”

Her breath caught in her throat.

“When it’s over, that’s when we can talk,” Cooper growled.

Another phone rang then—her phone. She instantly recognized the familiar beat of music that alerted her to the caller’s identity. Gabrielle hurried across the room, vaguely aware that Cooper had ended his call and followed her.

Her fingers trembled a bit as she picked up her phone. She took the call saying, “Penelope, look, this isn’t a good time for me—”

“Something is happening here,” Penelope whispered.

“What?”

“After you left a man and a woman in suits—you know, the boring, government-type suits—came in to the Inquisitor. They went into Hugh’s office. They closed the door, and now Hugh is about to leave town for a trip down to the Cayman Islands.”

What? Hugh was heading off to the islands? That made zero sense to her.

“Get in here!” Penelope ordered.

Then the woman hung up on her.