Worth The Risk. Melinda Di Lorenzo

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СКАЧАТЬ “And nothing’s going to happen to me while I’m doing that. It’s my job.”

      “If you really believed that, you wouldn’t be asking me to stay here.” Meredith shook her head. “And this might be just a job to you, Sam, but to me, it’s my sister’s life.”

      “I didn’t say this was just a job,” he amended. “I said it is my job.”

      “I don’t see the difference.”

      He finally let her wrist go.

      “I get paid, but I’m not in it for the money. My goal is always the same—to help people. Because I know how it feels to—” He cut himself off abruptly, cleared his throat, then started again. “I’ve seen how my clients feel when someone they love can’t be located, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. I only take on missing-persons cases, nothing else. My closure rate has been one hundred percent since I started doing this. So the difference is, Meredith, it’s never just a job for me.”

      At the end of his short but impassioned speech, Meredith stared at him. What had he been about to say before he stopped himself? And why did she get the feeling that, whatever it was he did before he became a PI, his success rate wasn’t a hundred percent and that made him unhappy?

      So many more questions. And no time to ask them.

      “If all of that’s true,” she said, “then you know I can’t just sit around waiting.”

      “Let’s say I agreed to let you come with me. What if something did happen? How much worse would it be if you were there? How much worse would it be if I couldn’t protect you?”

      “How can you protect me at all if I’m here and you’re somewhere else?”

      He said her name in a frustrated growl. “Meredith...”

      “Just because you don’t want me to be right doesn’t mean I’m not.”

      Sam lifted a hand to his hair, which he tugged, then released. “The car.”

      “What?”

      “You’re going to wait inside of it. You’re going to hold my phone with Worm’s number set to go. If a single thing goes wrong, you call him. You don’t follow me, you don’t call the cops. Just Worm.”

      And Meredith nodded her head quickly, afraid if she spoke, he’d change his mind.

      * * *

      Sam kept his mouth shut and his eyes on the road as he maneuvered the borrowed hatchback—another of Worm’s vehicles, but a far less obtrusive one than his truck—through the streets. He hated that Meredith had talked him in to letting her come along. He hated that it still seemed better than the alternative of leaving her behind. She was right, though. He couldn’t keep her safe if she wasn’t in sight.

      Is that the real reason you want her here? asked an irritating voice in his head. Or is it something more?

      Her safety was definitely a factor, no question. The problem was what was making that safety so important to Sam.

      He cast a quick look at Meredith. She’d closed her eyes, her long lashes dipping down to caress her skin. Sam was ridiculously envious of that motion. When was the last time he’d felt an attraction like this one? Had he ever? The jolt each time they touched was definitely unique. Even now, his fingers itched to reach across and trace the ridge of her cheekbone to her delicate jaw. He longed to feel her lips again.

      That kiss.

      He’d told her he wouldn’t apologize for it, and he wouldn’t. It might’ve been a mistake, but that didn’t mean he was sorry. If anything, he was glad. Life was fragile; sometimes moments had to be seized in case they never came again.

      No one knew that better than Sam. His heart squeezed. He’d almost told Meredith how well he knew it. That was far more significant than any kind of physical attraction.

      He tightened his hands on the steering wheel. Sam didn’t talk about his past. He didn’t discuss the reasons he’d left the police force or the motivation for his devotion to his business. With Meredith, he’d almost slipped up. Another thing he never did.

      What was it about her that made him so careless? What made him want to dredge up things better left buried, lay them bare and share them with her?

      He shook his head mentally. She didn’t need to know. It would only scare her, make her doubt his abilities.

      “Sam?” Her voice cut through his brooding.

      “Yes?”

      “I can practically hear you thinking.”

      “What, are you psychic now?” His tone was far lighter than his mood.

      “Hardly. I think every person in a five-mile radius can feel the gloomy musings rolling off you.”

      In spite of himself, he smiled. “Gloomy musings. That’s a new one.”

      “Thanks. I was rather proud of it, too.”

      She paused, and Sam swore that now he could hear her thinking.

      “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked.

      The question was hesitant, but somehow open. Like her offer to listen was a genuine one, and once again, Sam felt the maddening urge to answer her candidly. He actually had to force himself to do the opposite.

      “Talk about what?” he replied flatly, his eyes staring straight ahead. “My gloomy musings? I think I’ll keep those to myself, thanks.”

      Meredith’s hand landed overtop of his. The immediate, magnetic desire hit him. But this time, there was something else lying just underneath it. The satisfying feeling of receiving comfort after needing it.

      “My sister might be the official counselor, but I’m not a bad listener, either,” Meredith said, her voice as soft and tempting as her touch.

      Sam made the final turn onto his street, pulled over and put the car into Park before turning to answer her. “The quicker I go in and grab my notes, the quicker I get back, and the quicker Worm can help us figure out where Tamara is.”

      “Is it cliché to tell you to be careful?”

      “Only if you don’t mean it.”

      There was no hesitation. “I definitely mean it.”

      “Good.” He pointed to a well-worn building on the other side of the street. “See those apartments?”

      “Yes.”

      “I live on the sixth floor in the corner unit.”

      “You’re parking this far away? How am I even supposed to know you’ve made it inside?”

      “Because when I get to my living room, I’m going to turn on a light, flick open the curtain and wave from that window just above the big evergreen.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone and punched in Worm’s number, then СКАЧАТЬ