Chapter Sixty-Three
Nathan
I woke up with Bree still in my arms and thought it really was a dream. Then she shifted, her naked skin brushing against mine. The seismic quake of lust was enough to tell me it was all real. I edged out of the bed though every fiber of my body wanted to be close to Bree again.
I had to think.
Now that she was back, there were too many complications to straighten out. When I had returned from the bar last night, everything had been simple. I was going to sacrifice myself for a chance to see inside the cartel. If I lived long enough to find out where the children were kept, I would bust them out myself.
I couldn’t do anything like that with Bree around. She was a liability simply because I would throw the whole operation to shield her from any danger.
All I wanted to do was curl my body around hers and feel that delicate skin against me again. Memories from last night pulsed through my head. It was almost impossible to fight off the images of Bree lowering that glorious naked body onto my lap.
I started to pace then realized I didn’t want to wake her.
Bree pushed her hair out of her face and gave me a sleepy frown. “What’s on your mind?”
“Coffee,” I lied.
She sat up and shook her head. “No. You’re thinking that you wish I wasn’t here because you don’t want to have to protect me. When are you going to get it through your thick skull that I can help you? I’m not just some object you have to juggle.”
I held up both hands. “Whoa. I’ve always heard about people waking up on the wrong side of the bed, I’ve just never seen it firsthand.”
Bree moved to spring out of bed and then realized she was naked. She snatched up the sheet and wrapped it around her. “You’re the one who woke me up with your pacing. You can just sit right back down and forget about it. No matter what, I’m going with you.”
I shook my head. Only Bree could make a motel sheet look like a flowing gown. She was beautiful, the fury in her face lighting her up like a firecracker.
She misread my head shaking and stomped across the bed to shake a finger at me. I caught it and tumbled her into my arms where I silenced her next lecture with a long, deep kiss.
When we came up for air, Bree was smiling but she still said, “I don’t want to hear anything except how the plan involves me now.”
I groaned and let her toes down to the ground. Bree swished away from me and reached for her old clothes.
“First thing you’re going to need is new clothes,” I said.
Bree tugged on her old outfit. “So, where do we go shopping around here?”
I rubbed my head. “I don’t know. I got mine in the lost and found. Can’t we think about coffee first?”
She tossed my clothes across the motel room. “Hey, you just gave me a great idea. See? I’m already proving that I’m an asset.”
“So, what’s this great idea?” I mumbled as I got dressed.
Bree grinned. “We’ll head down to the motel lobby, grab me some clothes from the lost and found. Then we’ll get some coffee from the front desk and voila! We’ll be ready to talk through the real plan.”
I agreed only because she was unstoppable. Bree was almost at the top of the stairs before I was able to shove my feet into my shoes and catch up with her.
“You distract the clerk, I’ll grab the clothes,” I said.
Bree frowned. “Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”
“I softened him up yesterday. He’s sick of me. Besides, you make it look so easy,” I said.
Bree pulled a face at my obvious flattery but headed straight for the clerk when we went inside. “Please tell me this isn’t decaf,” she said to him with a pretty smile.
The clerk blinked at her in surprise and then started to tell her about the coffee he’d just started to buy. When Bree leaned on the counter and ran her hands through her hair, the clerk warmed up to his story and didn’t even notice I had come in behind her.
It was easy to slip around the corner to the utility closet and pop open the cheap lock. The lost and found was a jumble of strange abandoned items, but behind it was a rack of the nicer clothes. I flipped through them and picked out something that was sure to make Bree mad.
Maybe if she was too embarrassed to come out of the motel room, I could lock her in safe and sound.
Bree had sweet-talked the motel clerk out of two real coffee mugs and cookies from the vending machine by the time I made it back to the lobby. When she saw me, she blew the young man a kiss. I held the door open for her as she carried the steaming mugs of fresh coffee.
“What on earth is that?” she muttered under her breath when she saw the outfit I grabbed.
In the motel room, I dumped all my findings on the bed. Bree abandoned her hot coffee to sort through it.
I laughed when she held up the lace teddy. “Hey, if you don’t wear it today then maybe tonight?”
Bree tossed it at my head. “Ew. For future reference, when you get a girl lingerie, make sure it isn’t used.”
“Still, I found some good stuff, right?”
Bree was not impressed, though when she uncovered the curling iron I found, her face brightened. “Good! Now I won’t have to dye my hair to make it look totally different.”
I shook my head and pulled the leftover hair dye I had used from the garbage can. “There’s still some in here. Don’t you think it would be safer if you changed your hair color?”
“To the same red as yours?” Bree asked. “Not unless you want me to go undercover as your sister.”
I tossed away the used hair dye and followed Bree to the bathroom. She warmed up the curling iron while she changed her skin tone with an extra layer of makeup. Her eyes appeared a different shape after she colored curving black lines along her eyelids. Her lips were fuller, the shape softer than her normal expressive cupid bow.
I hooked a finger through her belt loop and pulled her away from the bathroom sink. “Let me just taste test that,” I murmured.
Bree swatted away my eager kisses. “Don’t smudge my lipstick. I haven’t blotted yet and you’ll make a mess.”
I groaned and had to content myself with watching her transform into a flouncy and bright Southern lady. Bree’s hair was at least two inches taller with springy curls in a riot around her vivid makeup. The jeans I had found fit her too tight, while the lacy blouse kept slipping off one shoulder and exposing the baby blue padded bra.
“Now can I try out those lips?” I grabbed her with both hands. “Thank god we aren’t posing as brother and sister because I’m not sure I can keep my hands off you.”
“Ah, darling, you’re just saying that,” Bree said.
Her words had a hard twang, and I cringed at the awful accent. “No. Absolutely not. You cannot do an accent unless you can make it subtle.”
“What? I’m not believable, y’all?” Bree asked.
I clapped one hand over her red lips. “Not even marginally. Maybe it’ll be better if you’re seen and not heard.”
Bree slapped my hand away. “Pig.”
I grinned. “See? That’s a character you can pull off. Just pretend you’re pissed at me for ruining your day and bringing you to a dive bar. The other customers will be so distracted with fantasies of cheering you up that we won’t have any problems.”
Bree laughed. “That seems like a good plan. Now tell me the rest. What’s our backstory? Why are we in Mexico?”
I stopped Bree’s ruby red lips with a kiss. When she finally softened against my body, I told her, “Don’t worry. They won’t recognize you or worry about who you are.”
“But they might recognize you.” The real danger of our situation dawned on Bree’s face.
That’s when I sat her down and told her exactly what we had to do.