Galvanized by what the sight of his bare, smoothly muscled physique did to her, she jerked when she heard the shower turn on. Then he poked his head out. “Do you want to go first?”
“Um . . .” She closed her eyes. “No. You go ahead.” She spent the next few moments listening to the water, picturing him long and lean and nude, soaping himself up—
Oh boy. She busied herself pulling the first-aid kit from her pack. She’d have to help him get his wound freshly bandaged—
“Your turn.” He stood propping up the doorway, wearing only a towel wrapped around his hips. Hard, lean, chiseled strength, damp and smelling like hotel soap.
For a moment, she just stared at him, and then embarrassed at that, went to move past him, but he reached out and stopped her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ears.
Her entire body reacted.
“Jade? You okay?”
“Yep.” With a glance back at the single bed, knowing they were both going to be crawling into it, together, she swallowed hard. “I’m okay.” She shut the bathroom door.
Ten minutes later she opened it, wrapped in the three remaining towels. Her own personal armor.
His lips curved at the sight of her, but then he frowned and moved toward her. He wore no shoes, no socks, no shirt . . . only a pair of khaki cargo pants, which were unfastened, and she couldn’t take her eyes off him. And because she couldn’t, she saw the pain and exhaustion in his eyes. “You’re hurting,” she accused.
“A little.”
Her heart broke. Meeting him halfway, she put her hands on his chest, bending in to kiss him just above his wound. “I’m so sorry.”
“Jade.” His voice was low, rough, as his hand came up and stroked her hair. “You’re killing me.”
“Me?”
“I made you come here. I made you leave your safe life to do this.”
“No. Mario did that. And you’re going to put him in jail for it.”
“Yeah.” With what looked like a bitter grimace, he turned away.
She eyed his long, sleek back, saw the new and terrible tension, and went still. “Right?”
He sank to the bed, combed his wet hair with the fingers of his good hand, his expression tight with misery.
“Will?” She moved closer, until her knees bumped the mattress. “That’s why we’re here. To put Mario in jail.”
He nodded.
Not relieved, she grabbed a new wrap from the first-aid kit on the bed, but he pulled her down beside him. Then slowly shook his head. “But you should know, I wish I were here for something else entirely.”
She stared into his eyes, her heart racing. “And what would that be?”
“I wish I could just kill him.”
Chapter 10
Jade stared at Will, the wrap forgotten in her hand. “What?”
“You heard me.”
“But . . . killing Mario, in cold blood . . . that’s murder.” At the affirmation swimming in his eyes, she swallowed, hard. “You’re a DEA agent. Our government agencies don’t just kill. They put the bad guys in prison.”
He laughed harshly and scrubbed his good hand over his face. “Yeah. Look, it’s just what’s in my gut. I won’t. I can’t, not without risking everything, my job, who I am . . . I’m just telling you what I wish I could do.”