“Kyle wants you downstairs.” Shane did his best to keep his voice even, professional, and not glance in Lacey’s direction. He was there for Isaac, plain and simple.

“Work beckons.” Isaac glanced at Lacey and smiled. “Stay sharp.”

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Shane remained rooted to the spot.

Isaac pushed up and moseyed past Shane, ramming his shoulder into Shane’s. He took a step back, but otherwise let it go. Starting something with Isaac was not the best way to handle things, even if Shane wanted to ring the guy’s bell.

Lacey watched without offering commentary.

Shane turned his head, listening to Isaac’s footsteps down the hall and stairs.

What the hell was he thinking?

“You should stay away from Isaac,” Shane said.

“What?” Lacey’s face scrunched up and she snorted. “You do realize we’re all trapped in this house together?”

“Just—stay away from him.”

“Why?”

Because I said so. Yeah, Shane bit his tongue on that one. It’s for your own good, was another answer he’d avoid. He wasn’t stupid.

A woman as strong-willed as Lacey would take statements like those as a challenge.

“You don’t want to get involved with a guy like Isaac, that’s all I’m saying.” Shane crossed his arms over his chest.

Lacey strolled toward him, a thoughtful look on her face and her gaze trained on him.

“Who says I’m getting involved with anyone?” she asked, her tone so soft and sweet.

“Isaac has a reputation, and given everything that’s happened, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”

“What kind of a reputation? What ideas am I getting?” She crossed her arms, mimicking his pose.

“Look, Isaac’s a good guy, but we all travel a lot. It’s not conducive to anything more than...”

“Than what?”

Shane swallowed. He wasn’t accustomed to the company of women. How did he say that Isaac was in and out of enough beds that he found reason to change his phone number every three months?

“Are you trying to say that Isaac wants to sleep with me? Is that it?” Lacey tilted her head to the side.

“I don’t know that.” But Shane could guess.

“I’m not big on relationships, either. Maybe I’m just fine with the way things are going.”

Shane bit his tongue and shoved a hand through his hair. He should have just kept his concern to himself. It was none of his damn business who she slept with or what Isaac did.

“Forget I said anything.” He held up his hands and took a step back.

“I talked to Aanya and her husband.” Lacey lifted her shoulders.

“Yeah?” Those words rooted him to the spot. “What’d they say?”

“About the same thing you did.” She turned her head, the breeze making the tendrils of hair dance around her face.

“You aren’t at fault.” He reached up and gripped the top of the door.

“Maybe. Maybe not.” She glanced back at him.

He sucked in a breath. Those green eyes of hers, it was like she stripped back a layer every time she saw him and looked deeper and deeper. It was an uncomfortable experience, and yet what did he really have to hide?

“I’ve never been the victim type, you know? It’s just...not me.”

“You survived, Lacey. That’s what’s important. Are you a victim? Yes. But that’s not who you are. That doesn’t define you.”

It was her turn to exhale, shoulders relaxing.

Had he said something good, by chance?

There was a first for everything.

“Is that how you think of yourself? As a survivor?” She leaned against the side of the door.

“I’m a soldier.”

“Is that it?”

“It’s what I chose to be.”

“Do I get to choose, too?”

“I don’t see why not?”

The corners of her lips curled up into a smile that could have parted the clouds if she turned it on the sky. He reached over and pinched a bit of a leaf that’d got caught in her hair. She held still, watching him gently extract the foreign particle.

Lacey was...good. It was in the way she brightened up a room, her very nature. He wanted to protect that, even from Isaac or himself.

He stroked his fingers once more through her soft hair.

They should get downstairs. Yesterday was enough to teach him that he had no business being alone around her. And yet, here they were again.

Her hip pressed against his.

When had he leaned so close?

He couldn’t fault Lacey for pulling him into her orbit, that was all his doing.

“I’m going to go downstairs now,” he said.

“Are you?”

“Yeah.”

“You sure about that?” Her gaze dipped to his lips.

“Yup.”

“Okay.”

She didn’t move, and neither did he.

Well, he hadn’t said when he was going downstairs, had he?

Kissing her was a bad idea. It was lust, life-affirming human contact, indulgent, and yet he wanted to touch that. Hold her for a moment. Feel what it might be like to live with abandon, free and wild.

He curled his hand into her hair, the strands wrapping around his fingers.

She tipped her chin, one corner of her mouth hitching up.

Lacey Miles would take what he offered and destroy him. No human could cage her. He was as wild as the wind, and he was crazy for doing this, but maybe that was what he needed.

Shane bent his head, her lips sliding against his.

One taste, one tiny taste, was all it took.

He let go of the doorway and wrapped his arm around her waist. She fisted his shirt and hooked her arm around his neck. Her tongue slid between his lips and he felt the sharp scrape of her nails on his skin.

Shane pressed her back to the wall, their bodies fitting together like puzzle pieces. She groaned into his mouth and he stroked into hers.

It was all too easy to imagine the kind of pleasure-induced sounds she’d make, how much fun it be to make a woman like her come unwound.

What little blood was left in his skull pulsed in his temples.

Her hand stroked down his chest and abs. He caught her by the wrist and stepped back.

Lacey’s lips were parted and glossy, her pupils dilated and ponytail messed up. If he asked her to go downstairs—to his room—he wasn’t sure she’d say no. His dick didn’t have an issue with that, but his conscience did. One ill-advised kiss could be excused, but not the rest.

“We should...prep for lunch.” His voice was rough, throat tight.

“I’m not really hungry,” she said.

“You should take care of yourself.” And get the hell away from him.

“You’re going to kiss me and that’s it?” Her gaze narrowed. He could deal with her anger a whole lot better than her desire.

“Yeah, I think so. It’s better this way, Lacey.”

“Who the hell do you think you are?”

“I’m no one.”

Shane turned and fled, not the least bit too proud to call it anything other than what it was. A retreat. Yeah, this was the best bad idea he’d had in a while, but losing himself in Lacey’s touch wasn’t the answer for either of them.

Saturday, Jamaica.

Lacey focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Rain runoff flowed down the hill, washing away more soil with it, and creating treacherous footing. Isaac was digging out the clogged culvert up the road, Kyle was trying to organize the trip home from the house, and the other two guys were trying to fix the sagging electric line behind the house before it broke, leaving Lacey and Shane to worry about the road.

“God damn it. Lacey. Come back here.” Those were the first words Shane had spoken to her since yesterday, and he didn’t sound happy about it.

She ignored his growled commands and pushed forward. Isaac choked back a laugh, but otherwise kept his focus on digging out the ditch.

Branches littered the road, making the path back to the main highway impossible to traverse. They’d have to clean it to get out of here, and if she had to move every one of them herself she’d do it. Another day—or night—trapped in this house with that man and she’d lose her mind.

It seemed like a silly thing to focus on. There were other things to be concerned about. But when she closed her eyes it was Shane’s face, the feel of his stubble, the firm set of his mouth against hers that plagued her.

She grabbed hold of the base of the branch and began hauling it downstream.

“I told you to come back.” Shane stomped through the water sending droplets flying.

“The road isn’t going to clear itself.” She turned, staring over her shoulder instead of looking at him.

Okay, so she had kissed him first. She owned that. But this bossy, He-Man act after pushing her away was making her rethink every nice thing she’d thought about him. Maybe under that stony exterior, he was really just an ass.

The branch stopped moving.

She didn’t.

Lacey’s hand slipped from around the debris and she stumbled a few steps, her borrowed boots a size too big for her to be sure of her footing.

“Shane!” She glared at the man holding the other end of the six-foot branch.

“We do this as a team.” He stared right back at her. “You do this by yourself, you’re going to get hurt. We already can’t get out of here to make it home, we definitely can’t make it out of here to get you to a hospital. Understand?”

“Then keep up.”

She grabbed the branch, and this time Shane hefted the other end.

It was easier with two people.

They walked the branch to the side of the road and laid it there.

“We don’t want to line the road or we might create a water hazard. Maybe do them in piles?” She turned to survey the road.

“You think that might happen?” Shane glanced at the branches.

“Well, look.” She gestured down the road. They couldn’t get a good look at the way back to the highway from the house, which meant they’d been blind to how much stuff was in the way. And this was only what they could see to that first hill.

“Fuck.”

“You stack all that downed wood and debris, and you’re going to create another problem. We need to stack them at an angle. Control the flow of water.”

“Good thinking. Come on.”

“Hey, Isaac, double check on that boat, will you?”

“I already talked to them twice today.” Isaac leaned on the shovel. He was almost knee deep in the ditch trying to dig out the culvert to allow water to flow under the road and not over it. “They won’t sail in this shit.”

Lacey wasn’t surprised. With the way the wind was still blowing and the amount of runoff still draining into the ocean, it was likely dangerous. She knew that the guys had hoped to bypass any sort of roadblock by using a boat for a quicker escape, but unless one of them had a blow up catamaran in their pack, the road was the only way they were getting out of here.

“Lacey. Hey, Lacey.” Shane grabbed her hand.

“Don’t.” She pulled out of his grasp.

“We do this as a team, okay?”

“Keep up, then.”

She turned and waded to the next branch.

Part of traveling the world on a shoestring budget meant she pitched in whenever and wherever she was needed. She’d cleared out rocks from a hill slide, helped out after hurricanes, tended animals that were lost, even served as a sort of nurse when she got stranded during a safari trip. She never wanted to be just a visitor. So, she often slept on floors and sofas of the people she met, living their lives with them, learning to care how they did. This? Clearing this road? It was just another thing she should help with.

Their host was too old to do it, and his family couldn’t come back until they were gone. Did Shane know that? Was he aware that their presence had displaced them? She’d spent time helping prepare meals with their host, listening to his stories. Had the others?

“Take this end.” Shane gestured to the lighter end of the branch.

She bit her tongue. There was a lot to do and sniping at each other wouldn’t make it better. Usually she’d go with the flow and find her spot in things, but this was Shane. He seemed to either rub her the right or wrong way, with no in between.

“Got it?” Shane bent, his eyes on her.

“Yes, sir. Got it, sir.”

Shane didn’t so much as blink.

“On three. Lift with your legs, not your back. One, two, three.”

Lacey grit her teeth and let Shane have his man-way about the situation. Maybe he’d been part of some sort of badass SEAL disaster clean up team, or volunteered hours to coordinate a storm clean up. All she knew was that if she didn’t find some way to work with him, she’d never get away from him.

They moved limb after limb in similar fashion, stacking them in twelve-foot intervals with the heavy ends toward the road, helping divert the flow of water. They’d cleared close to thirty yards of the road without exchanging more than a few words. It was kind of nice, once they got a rhythm.

“Lacey, hold up a minute, will you?” Shane stomped after her.

“What?”

“Stop, please?”

“What is it, Shane?” She turned, staring at his face. Was she being petulant? Yes, but damn him, it was his fault, too.

“We need to be ready to duck and cover if we see anyone. Just in case.”

“Who are we going to run into out here?” She gestured at the rural landscape.

“You never know, Lacey. I’m just trying to keep you safe.”

“Let’s focus on the road, please?”

“I’ve got to take a leak.” Shane glanced around.

“Well, I suggest downstream, somewhere over there.” She gestured at a tall stand of ferns. Her imagination did not need further assistance from real life to torment her at night. This odd obsession with Shane was out of character for her. Lacey was in love with adventure, life—not people.

Shane muttered something she chose not to hear. Lacey turned and trudged down the road, tossing smaller branches aside while eyeing one of their bigger issues. A tree had split in two at some point and lay most of the way across the road. She wasn’t sure they could move it by hand. It might require one of the trucks, which was always a risk because of mud and getting stuck.

She eyed the problem and considered their options.

Pulling it to the downstream side would result in problems. Maybe they could winch the one end and swing it around to the upstream side of the road. Not ideal, but it could be the easier solution.

Lacey circled to the left, planted one foot on the thick trunk and stepped up.

On the other side, in the lee of a large off shooting branch, crouched two slender teenage boys. Their wide eyes locked on her, as though she were some sort of tree sprite.

“Hello,” she said.

Were they looking for shelter? Lost?

Lacey jumped down. The two boys skittered back. They were taller, and maybe older, than she realized.

“Are you okay? Do you need something? I won’t hurt you.” She held up her hands.

“Come on.” The taller, older boy grabbed the other by the wrist. Together they sprinted down the road, their bare feet slapping on the pavement, their long legs eating up the distance.

She frowned at their quickly disappearing forms, her heart aching.

“Who the hell was that?” Shane vaulted over the trunk, eyes wide.

“Just some kids. They were so skinny.” She sighed and wished she had something to offer them in the moment.

“God damn it, Lacey. I told you to stay out of sight. Come on, we have to warn the others.”

“About some kids?” Marcos hadn’t brought anyone that wasn’t white or American into the Jamaican compound-house since she’d been there.

“Yes.” Shane leaned toward her. “Marcos isn’t going to let this go. His other victims? They kept quiet because they paid him off. These two? They aren’t. If Marcos doesn’t stop us, he risks getting into a lot of trouble and not getting paid. It’s highly motivating.”

“I think you’re overreacting.”

“Lacey...”

“If you’d just calm down? Those kids might live along this road.”

“All the more reason to leave. Come on.” He planted his hand in the small of her back and urged her back over the tree.

“I think you’re making a big deal about nothing. Jamaica isn’t a war zone.”

“No, but money talks, and a blonde woman is easy to spot. Move.”

“Anyone ever tell you you’re bossy?” She could use with a warm beverage and some cooler air. The humidity was drowning her. Besides, she could be in a different room than Shane for five minutes.

Isaac was nowhere to be seen on their trek back into the house, but the ditch was draining again.

They circled to the back of the house and washed off their shoes before entering the house.

Kyle stepped through the open door, almost as if he’d been waiting for them.

“How far did you get down the road?” he asked.

“To the big, downed tree. We’ve got a problem.” Shane’s voice went stony, cold.

“What?” Kyle glanced from Shane to her.

Why was it automatically her fault?

“Two kids spotted us. When Lacey spoke to them, they ran away.” Shane reported the incident as though he were relating the movement of enemy troupes. Not a chance encounter with two kids.

“Seriously, it wasn’t a big deal. I don’t understand why you’re making it out to be more than it was.” She pushed her hand back over her hair. “They probably live around here.”

“There aren’t any kids who live on this street.” Kyle’s gaze slid back to Shane. “How clear is the road? Could we make it out?”

“Maybe? That big tree needs to be moved still. We haven’t seen past the bend in the road yet.” Shane shrugged.

“We could winch the lighter end of the tree and swing it around, no real lifting done.” This, Lacey could at least help with.

“I’ll get everyone packed up.” Kyle pulled out his satellite phone. “You and Lacey will be our decoy truck. We can’t fly out until tomorrow—maybe—but I’d like to be closer to Montego Bay than we are. I’ve got us a place to stay if we can make it there tonight.”

“We’re gone.” Shane opened the door and grabbed her by the hand.

“Wait—are we really—Shane!” She was getting real tired of being pushed around and told what to do. She snatched her body camera off the table. Like hell she was going anywhere without that, now that she could record again.

He closed the door behind her, twirling the stolen truck keys on a finger.

“Are we seriously leaving right now because two kids saw us?” She followed in his wake.

“Yes,” Shane responded without hesitation.

“You have got to be kidding me,” she muttered.

At least she had nothing to pack.

Lacey climbed into the cab of the truck and flopped in the seat.

Great.

Just what she didn’t need.

Hours spent with just her—and Shane.

Maybe prolonged exposure to his crabby ass would cure this hankering she had to kiss him again.

“Can you handle a truck?” Shane asked.

He was kidding, wasn’t he?

She blinked at him.

He glanced at her.

No, he was not joking.

Lord.

“Yes, I can handle a truck.”

“Lacey, this is serious. These people have no reason to leave any of us, except Aanya and Dev, alive. They killed two of the crew who tried to stop the kidnapping, you think they’d just let us go? You need to wake up and realize—none of us are playing around.”

She swallowed.

That was news to her.

She’d just assumed...

“What do you need me to do?” she asked.

“I’ll attach the cable, you handle the truck.”

Maybe Shane and the others were overreacting, but if he was right about the dead crew, then maybe he’d be right about the risk, too. She didn’t want to find out.

Marcos snatched up his phone. Their local connections were beginning to report sightings of blonde women, most of who were lounging at some fancy resort and sipping a cocktail. Lacey Miles would be easy to pick out. Damn, but he shouldn’t have gone easy on her.

“Hello?” Marcos didn’t bother to look at the caller ID. He wouldn’t know the number anyway.

“Yeah, man. My boys, they spotted a blonde woman. You’re looking for one, yeah?”

“Tell me about her and where she was spotted.” Marcos turned toward the map. If it was near one of those damn resorts, he was hanging up.

“This was west of town, yeah? Blonde woman and a white man all in green, dark hair. Those the ones you’re after?”

“How far west of town? Where?”

The contact rattled off an intersection. It took Marcos a moment to find the smaller roads off shooting from the main highway.

“I’ll be damned,” he muttered.

“If our services—”

“You’ll get your money if it turns out to be them.” Marcos hung up and straightened. “Get in here.”

Two of his men scampered in.

“Lacey and one of those GI Joes were just spotted here.” Marcos jabbed his finger at the spot on the map. “Take some men and get out there. If we have any luck, they’re still there. Move!”

Marcos hadn’t yet spilled the beans about the tapes. If he did... Some of these guys weren’t terribly bright, and might jump ship to save themselves. If Marcos was going to get the tapes, the targets and still make his deadline for Tommy’s next payment, he’d need every man at his disposal.

It was a race against the clock now.