He knocked on her door with his foot, the idea of seeing her again shooting fire through his veins. He stood there a minute and kicked at the door again. No answer. He cursed, knowing he’d been right about her leaving him behind, and she’d still outsmarted him. She was gone, probably while he’d been sitting at his computer.
Luke set the coffee by her door so he didn’t spill it all over himself and headed back to his room. He dialed the front desk and sure enough, she’d checked out. Well, she wasn’t going anywhere without him. He’d already pulled strings and made sure they were on the same flight going home, seated next to each other.
***
Forty-five minutes later, Luke was inside the airport, past security, and searching for Julie. He spotted her at counter of one of the gates, the dark blue jeans she wore accenting her curves, her long blond hair loose around her slender shoulders, and the short-sleeved red silk blouse showing off her pearly white skin. She was gorgeous. She also seemed to be flustered, as was the customer service rep, and since he was pretty sure he was the cause, he hurried toward them.
“I don’t understand how you put all those other people on a flight out but you say my name isn’t on that ledger. I recognize most of them from my flight.” Julie was asking the lady as Luke appeared beside her, and settled his hand on Julie’s back. Her head swung around in surprise. “Luke?”
He grinned at her. “Not expecting me, I guess?” She looked guilty. Luke looked at the service rep, whom he’d met several times. “Sue, how are you?”
The twenty-something woman smiled and flipped her dark hair over her shoulders. “Hey Luke, I’m good,” she said with a flirty little grin.
“I’m glad to hear it,” he said with a smile. “I believe you should have a reservation for myself and Ms. Harrison on the next flight, under a special security clearance.”
“What?” Julie asked, turning to him. “What reservation?”
“I would have told you if I had the chance,” he said. “I pulled some strings to get us on the first flight out.”
“No,” Julie insisted. “They just called those names and I wasn’t one of them.”
“Actually,” Sue said. “You are on the first flight out. It’s a reserved flight for priority travelers. I missed the reservation because of the way it was flagged by Luke’s name.”
Luke arched a brow at Julie. “Now would be the time to have your seat moved away from mine if you want to.”
Her expression softened. “I don’t want that.”
“You sure about that?”
Pink flooded her cheeks. “Yes. I’m sure.”
“Here you go,” Sue said. “Two tickets. You’re all set.”
Luke held Julie’s stare a moment and then accepted the tickets. “Thanks, Sue.”
“We should begin boarding in about fifteen minutes,” she informed them.
“Excellent,” he said, and he and Julie stepped away from the counter, where he teasingly asked, “How about some coffee? I’m guessing you haven’t had your standard two cups of coffee this morning, since you took off from your room so early.”
“Luke, I-”
“Don’t know what to do about me,” he finished for her. “Ditto me about you, but I’m betting we don’t have a chance of figuring it out without some caffeine.”
She sighed. “I’ll buy. It’s the least I can do considering you got us on this flight and I, well, you know.”
“I know,” he said, not about to let her off the hook for running off and leaving him at the hotel. “And since I brought you coffee when I showed up at your door this morning, I’ll let you provide this round.”
“You brought me coffee?”
“That’s right.”
She glanced at a clock. “You showed up early.”
“You left earlier.”
“You knew what I was going to do.”
“Just not how early.” He lowered his voice. “I know you better than you think.”
Surprise flashed on her face before she quickly joked, “Then you know I’m dangerous without coffee.” She started walking.
Luke smiled and followed. She was still running, but he had a good feeling he was catching up.
A few minutes later, they sat down in the waiting area, cups in hand. She sipped her white mocha. “I still don’t know how you drink your coffee straight-up black.”
“It’s the only way I got it the past few years,” he said.
“I remember you saying that,” she commented, settling fully into her seat and crossing her legs. “You’re a civilian now though. We need to convert you to a real coffee drinker.”
“What can I say?” He leaned back to bring his gaze level with hers. “I know what I like.” And he liked her.
Awareness thickened between them. “I remember that about you, too,” she said softly.
“What else do you remember?”
She traced her lips with her tongue, pulling his gaze down to their glistening wetness. Hunger rose inside him, the need to kiss her, to taste her. To know her as he once had.
Her lashes fluttered, long and dark against her pale cheeks, before she surprised him by confessing, “I remember a lot of things.”
“Good,” he said. “Then we can compare memories.”
Her eyes opened and she met his gaze. The warmth and desire he saw there punched him in the gut. The sexual tension between them was going to kill him. He ached for her, burned for her.
Her cell phone rang. Neither of them moved. It rang again. She swallowed hard. “I should get that. My assistant and I were playing phone tag this morning.”
He grabbed her purse and handed it to her. She retrieved her phone. “It’s her.” She hit the answer button and he watched shock roll over her face. “Dead?” She sat straight up. “How? When?””
“Who?” Luke asked, having a bad feeling he knew the answer.
Julie cast him a worried look and she covered the phone. “Elizabeth Moore. They say she committed suicide and....I just can’t believe it. Luke, she’s...dead.”
Luke inhaled a sharp breath. Just what had Julie been dragged into?
“Consciously or not, greed and power are deadly partners.”
Chapter Five
Luke texted Blake while Julie finished her call to her assistant, telling him of Elizabeth Moore’s death. Blake’s reply was typical Blake. “Holy shit, man, you know how to find trouble. How’d you stay alive in the jungles without me?”
Normally, he’d have replied with some brotherly love like ATF does research while SEALs get their man, but now wasn’t one of those moments. Instead, he said, “Worried about Julie’s involvement.” And Blake had replied, “Enough said. I’m on it now. And no, before you say it, I won’t tell the bride and groom.”
Julie ended her call and immediately hit a button before he could stop her. ”I have to reach the judge,” she said. “The funeral is tomorrow. That’s fast. Can a funeral even happen that fast?”
“Apparently they can,” he said, assuming they were cremating the body, too. “Let me guess. She overdosed?”
“Yes. How’d you know?”
“Still on that lucky streak.”
“Voice mail,” she said, and quickly left an urgent message before saying, “Luke, she wasn’t suicidal. If anything she was fighting to survive.” The boarding announcement for their flight sounded and Julie grimaced. “I really wanted to talk to the judge before the flight.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t,” Luke said. “You’re upset and you need to handle him cautiously. You need to distance yourself from this for all kinds of reasons, namely your safety.”
“I should have done more,” she fretted. “I should have–”