“Okay, okay. I’ll explain everything, but…” She bit her lower lip and motioned a pressing gesture, urging him to calm down. “Don’t freak out.”
Oh yeah, he really wasn’t going to like this. He shoved aside the blankets covering him only to discover he was naked underneath, except for a crisp white ace bandage wrapped around his bad foot. Well, fuck it. He’d planned for Audrey to see him naked sooner or later after this mess was over, when involvement with her wouldn’t be considered unprofessional. Might as well be sooner, though this wasn’t exactly how he’d imagined it going down. There was supposed to be kissing involved. Some licking. And groping. Lots of groping on both their parts.
And now would be a good time to put a kibosh on that kind of thinking or he’d only add insult to injury with a raging boner.
Audrey’s eyes widened, but she didn’t look away as he half-expected. He stood and put weight on his bad foot. Pain blazed up his calf, but the foot held, and he refused the crutches Audrey scrambled to retrieve.
“Where are my clothes?”
She sighed and returned the crutches to their spot in the corner of the room. “After Dr. Manello cut them off, I figured they were unsalvageable. But there are jeans and a T-shirt in the dresser for you.”
Gabe stalked over to the bronze-finished wood dresser. Those cargo pants had been his favorite pair, well-traveled and comfortably worn, and some doctor… Cut. Them. Off.
The fucker.
Scowling, fuming, he found clothes in the top drawer and yanked on stiff, brand new jeans in too dark a wash for his taste, forgoing both underwear and the soft red T-shirt.
“Uh, Gabe, maybe you should shower before—”
He sent a snarling, lethal glare over his shoulder that had quelled many a budding SEAL. But not Audrey. Her chin just hitched up in challenge.
“Well, sorry, but you look and smell like a caveman.” Planting a fist on one jutted hip, she glared right back at him. “But that doesn’t mean you get to act like one, too.”
“Don’t care. Now explain.” He faced Audrey, crossed his arms over his bare chest, and waited. She mimicked his pose except she tapped her foot and sunlight glinted off the jewels decorating her sandals.
She met him stare-to-stare. “Not until you stop acting like an ass.”
For some reason, instead of getting pissed at her defiance, Gabe found himself fighting back a smile. The woman had a backbone of pure steel. He really did love that about her.
Whoa. He backpedaled his thoughts, erasing that particular L word and replacing it with another. Like. Lust. He hadn’t meant to think L-O-V-E.
“I thought you said I was acting like a caveman,” he said.
“You are. A caveman’s ass.”
He snorted and rubbed his palm over his jaw to hide the laugh. Shit, he did look like a caveman.
“All right.” Holding up his hands in supplication, he moved toward her and took a seat on the edge of the bed. Some victories just weren’t worth the battle. “You’re right. I was out of line.”
She nodded once. “Always knew you were a smart man.”
Gabe sighed. Fifty years down the road, he’ll probably still be hearing about this argument. And for some reason, that thought didn’t scare the holy hell out of him. In fact, he sort of looked forward to it. What kind of sick bastard was he?
“I was out of line,” he admitted again, figuring a second time couldn’t hurt. “But, Audrey, I do need you to tell me what happened, how we ended up here, and where here is.”
After a second, her posture relaxed and she rolled her lower lip through her teeth. “Promise not to freak out?”
“I’ll do my best.” He held up a hand when she opened her mouth in protest. “That’s all I can promise, Aud. I told you I don’t break promises, so I never make ones I’m not sure I can keep.”
But he had made one, hadn’t he? Back in that jungle hut, after she’d kissed him senseless, he had promised to protect her. Yet he wasn’t careful enough and now, despite their plush accommodations, she could be in more danger than ever. He had the sickening feeling he already knew where they were and who their generous host was, and ground his back teeth at the thought.
Striving for patience, he waited silently as she hesitated again. God, she was killing him.
“Audrey, talk to me.”
“We’re at Mena’s estate in Cartagena,” she blurted.
Gabe dropped his head forward and let out a long breath. Luis Mena, public enemy number one. Holy fuck. “How?”
“Those were his men that attacked the camp. But it’s not what you think,” Audrey rushed on. She knelt in front of him, bending to put her face in his line-of-sight. “Gabe, really. I talked to him over lunch and this isn’t a bad thing.”