Rosie Smith had gotten herself into a hell of a situation, but hearing exactly what she’d done made a little ball of respect grow in my gut. It took a lot of nerve to do a thing like that. Her ex-husband was the kind of guy the agency looked into a lot, a prime target for them to catch. She must have a lot of fight inside her to make that kind of stand, to turn her back on her home and everything she loved.

“We’ll go first thing in the morning,” I said, peering out the window at the storm that had picked up again. No sign of any pickup trucks crowding into the hotel parking lot down below or speeding down the road. Rosie was safe here, or as safe as she could be for now.

“The morning?” her voice hitched up. “Not now?”

“It’s two in the morning, and your ex-husband is out there in this storm looking for you,” I said with a nod. “I’m sure he’ll have someone watching your mother’s place to see if you go back tonight, don’t you think?”

“Shit.” She squeezed her fists around the comforter on the large bed. They’d given me a room with a king-sized bed, even though I’d asked for two twins. I’d have to let Rosie take the bed while I tried to get some sleep on the floor. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d had to catch some z’s on an uncomfortable surface. “My poor mom is probably worried sick. She didn’t ask for this.”

“Why don’t you call her and tell her you’re okay,” I said gently, pointing at the phone cradled on the bedside table. “You can tell her you’e alright, and we’ll get some rest, at least for a few hours. Then, we’ll go get Owen as soon as we wake up.”

She nodded, her eyes trailing down to the phone. “What if Scooter still has someone watching the house tomorrow?”

“It’ll be broad daylight.” I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the wall. “They’ll give up after a few hours of this, don’t you think?”

“Give up on hunting me down?” Rosie shrugged and frowned down at the floor. “To be honest, I think Scooter would do whatever it took to silence me.”

Her words sent shivers along my skin. This was her ex-husband she was talking about, a man who should have felt protective over her, not someone who wanted to put her in harm’s way. I fisted my hands by my sides and fought with the anger in my gut. I hated men like him. Guys who preyed on the innocent just because they could.

“Well, I won’t let that happen.”

* * *

While Rosie called her mother, I stepped out onto the balcony to give her a little privacy, though I left the sliding glass door cracked just enough for me to hear her voice. The rain had died down a little, though the wind still howled across the deserted streets. Down the road, I saw a Cracker Barrel and a Shoney’s restaurant, their signs lit up even though everything in this town was closed for the night.

I dug my burner phone out of my pocket and tapped in a number I hadn’t dialled in months. As it rang, I kept my ears tuned into Rosie’s quiet voice as she spoke to her mother. She sounded calm, hushed, level-headed. That was a good sign.

“Rockford speaking,” a gruff voice filtered through the burner phone.

“Rockford, this is Bulldog,” I said, using my former code name.

A moment passed in silence. I could hear the shuffle of papers, a door closing, Rockford’s mind whirring as he realized it was me. “Bulldog? What the hell are you doing calling me? You got burned. I should hang up this phone right here and now, and you know it. Actually, scratch that. I should try to trace this call and tell them exactly where the fuck you are. You’re a wanted man. You know that, right?”

“This isn’t about me, Rockford,” I said quickly, crossing my fingers that my old pal would come through for me just this once. We hadn’t spoken since I got my burn notice a year ago, and I knew he must feel betrayed by my sudden disappearance off the grid. But I couldn’t have told him my plans. If I had, the agency would have pried it right out of him. “I’m with a girl right now who is in serious trouble, and I need to find her handler.”

“Her handler?” Rockford lowered his voice, his interest clearly piqued. “She in witness security or something?”

“That’s right,” I said, glancing through the clear glass door to see Rosie hunched over on the bed and still speaking to her mother on the hotel room’s phone. “She’s in a bad sitch, Rockford. Her ex-husband is trying to have her assaulted or even killed, and her handler doesn’t seem to give a damn where she is.”

Rockford sighed heavily into the phone. “Dammit, Bulldog.”

I couldn’t help but smile at that. Rockford had a weakness for damsels in distress. He wasn’t the kind of agent to leave an innocent in danger, even if that meant disobeying orders. I’d been the same. It had been how I’d gotten fucking burned in the first place.

Rockford was right though. He shouldn’t be talking to me, least of all about this. I’d been cast out by the agency, and they’d taken everything from me in order to hunt me down. They’d left me with no money I could access, no contacts who were willing to help, no identity of my own. To them, I was a dead man walking.

“Her name is Rosie Smith.” I rattled off my burner phone number and thanked him before hanging up. He’d call me back as soon as he had some information about her case. My plan was to get her son and take her straight to her handler where he could put them right back under witness security. I just had to hope I could do it without getting caught myself.

Rosie glanced up when I shut the sliding door behind me. Her eyes were clearer, her face finally full of some color. “Everything okay with your mother?”

She nodded. “She said she’s fine, but there’s a guy in a truck out front watching the house.”

“As expected.” I moved toward the bed but stopped short, my hands twitching at my sides. It didn’t feel right sitting on the bed next to her, not after everything she’d been through tonight. She didn’t need a man crowding her space, someone taking advantage of her in this vulnerable state. But damn, she looked so good with her flushed cheeks and her wild hair. Her lips were red and pursed, and the short shorts I’d bought her from the store put the smooth skin of her thighs on display.

I glanced away.

“So, we’ll sleep here for a couple of hours?” Rosie’s voice hitched up at the end as she patted the bedspread, and when I moved my eyes back toward her face, her neck and cheeks had flushed with a darker shade of pink.

My whole body felt drawn toward her, but I forced my feet to stay rooted to my spot in the middle of the room. Bad idea, I told myself. Do not get involved with this girl.

I cleared my throat and stepped back. “You can have the bed. I’ll take the floor.”

“The floor?” Her eyes widened. “Don’t be ridiculous. This is a huge bed. We can both fit just fine.”

“I think that’s hardly appropriate,” I said, even though I hated myself a little bit for saying the words. Who the hell was I to care about appropriateness? It had never stopped me from sleeping with a girl in the past. But her big green eyes and her cherry red lips made me want to be a good man just this once. And a good man wouldn’t come on to her right now.

“Please,” she said, her tone turning soft and sweet. “I could use a warm body beside me tonight.”

Shit. My willpower crumbled at her words. My shoes came off, but not my shirt or my pants. Keeping my clothes on would ensure I didn’t let myself get carried away. Slowly, I slid under the soft sheets, my heartbeat loud in my ears and my cock throbbing with a need I could barely stand. I forced myself not to look at her, instead turning to face the bland hotel wall. But I could smell her sweet skin and feel the warmth radiating off her body. She let out a soft sigh, and her breath caressed the back of my neck. I went rock hard.

Dammit. This was going to be one long-ass night.