The Flyboy's Temptation. Kimberly Meter Van
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Название: The Flyboy's Temptation
Автор: Kimberly Meter Van
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Современные любовные романы
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J.T. shrugged, then settled in the seat, stretching his legs out as far as he could, which wasn’t too far in the cramped cabin. “We have time to kill. Tell me why people are shooting at you.”
“I already told you that it was better if you didn’t know too many details.”
“I don’t usually tempt fate by asking what else could happen, but, really, we’re staring down the business end of some really craptastic circumstances already, so what’s the harm in telling me what you’re running from?”
“I’m not running from anything,” she said, frowning. “I told you, I work for a pharmaceutical company.”
“Last time I checked, pharmaceutical companies didn’t offer hazard pay because their researchers were going to have to dodge bullets. What’s the real story?”
The real story? She was carrying, quite possibly, the most dangerous virus known to man in a special case in her pack and if she didn’t reach the South American facility...well, a pandemic of the most devastating proportions could be the result.
Or if the virus fell into the wrong hands...
Hope shuddered to think.
And yes, the people who shouldn’t have a biological weapon of this magnitude were the ones shooting at her.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she said, her eyes welling with tears she hadn’t allowed herself to shed until this moment. Tessara Pharm had their hands in so many pies, but this project had eclipsed everything else.
Her boss, Tanya Fields, was dead, and even though the police had deemed it a robbery gone wrong, the fact that Hope’s house had been trashed the same night had sent her running.
Well, that and the fact that Tanya had suspected that someone within Tessara had sold proprietary secrets about the virus, which was why Tanya had entrusted Hope to destroy it.
“Hey, where’d you go?” J.T. asked.
Hope shook her head, not about to share. “I said I don’t want to talk about it. I’d appreciate if you respected my privacy.”
She didn’t blame him for his questions, but she couldn’t stomach the idea of another person dying because of this virus. Especially when, if things had been different... No, she wasn’t going to go there. Dating had never been easy for her. She sucked at small talk because she saw little point and first dates were almost entirely comprised of the useless chitchat that she abhorred.
“I’m sorry,” she apologized, attempting to be less prickly. “I don’t mean to be rude. I’d just prefer—”
“That I keep my nose out of your business,” he concluded, and she nodded. “Well, ordinarily, that’s a rule I live by, but then, this is not your ordinary circumstance. If I’m being chased and shot at...I’d like to know what I might be eating a bullet for.”
The thing was, Hope had this insane desire to actually tell J.T. everything, to just lay it all on the line and let him know exactly what they were up against, but that wasn’t fair to him. The fact was, this was her burden. She’d helped create the virus; it was up to her to destroy it.
She sighed and said as she turned away to watch the rain through the murky window, “Just get me to South America and you never have to see me again.”
THE RAIN FELL most of the afternoon, which afforded them the opportunity to catch some z’s without fear of snakes or big cats dropping by for a snack, but J.T. knew they couldn’t hole up in the plane forever.
He was already twitchy about being spotted by the guerrillas who hid out in these dense jungles, and it was better to be on the move than hanging around like a sitting duck.
While Hope slept, he climbed up into the cockpit and tried the radio, but it was deader than dead. All of the electronics were fried, which wasn’t a huge surprise, but he wasn’t above praying for a miracle.
Hope stirred, but didn’t awaken, her glasses slipping down her nose a bit. Her red hair had escaped the elastic she’d managed to tie the massive red cloud with and she looked like a hot mess with her torn and tattered blouse and skirt.
And why did he find that incredibly arousing?
Of all the damn wrong times to get some wood going, this was it.
But his cock didn’t care about circumstance—it just wanted what it wanted.
His stomach growled, protesting at the half protein bar that’d long since left his gut, and he wondered what the hell he was going to do to get them out of there alive.
His Air Force training kicked in and he grabbed his map and compass. Granted, he’d never been this far south before—his Mexico trips had been liquor-soaked and of the party-resort type—but he knew enough about the terrain to know that if they were close enough to Guatemala, they could possibly find a small plane and hump it to Brazil within five hours.
The challenge would be making it out of the jungle first.
The second challenge would be finding a trustworthy local to procure a plane.
And the third challenge would be getting back in the air before the mystery shooters who had brought them down in the first place tried to finish the job.
What the hell was she packing that people were willing to kill to have?
He eyed the pack at her feet and gauged how deeply she was sleeping.
Maybe he’d just take a peek. Seemed fair to know what he was risking his life for, right?
Invasion of privacy, Teagan would warn, but J.T. pushed away his brother’s voice. Some things were worth the risk.
But as he started to reach for the pack, her eyelids fluttered open and he casually shifted in his seat as if he’d been seeking a more comfortable position, and she was none the wiser.
“How long was I out?” she asked, rubbing at her eyes and yawning. Distress colored her voice as she looked out the window. “It’s still raining? How long is it supposed to rain?”
“It’s the rain forest, babe. It could rain for days.”
“We have to get out of here,” she protested, twisting in her seat to stretch her back. “Maybe we should just strike out and take our chances.”
“Take our chances with the rain and everything else that’s out there? No, thanks. We have to wait out the storm. Besides, it’ll be night soon and you don’t want to be traipsing around the jungle in the dark.”
She seemed to realize the wisdom of his advice, but as she worried her lip, her gaze darting, he realized she might have a different sort of problem.
“You СКАЧАТЬ