“Willow, this is Joe Feider.” The lighter-haired man gave her a friendly grin, though he didn’t stray from his position.
“And Scott Boeing,” Ben said as
Scott bounded down the wooden stairs, his grin a little more interested. “Nice,” Scott murmured, taking her gloved hand in his bare one.
Willow tensed at the blatant come-on, and felt Ben’s grip on her tighten. “Mine.”
Dumbfounded by the husky word, she blinked up at Ben, then dropped her jaw when Scott dropped her hand and asked, “How fast she go?”
For several thick seconds the only sound heard was the ticking of the snowmobile’s cooling engine before Ben relaxed and let out a soft chuckle. “She can hit sixty, depending on the snow condition, of course.” Ben stroked Willow’s back, a caress she felt all the way through her clothes. She would have arched into his touch but he was gone, having moved off several paces with Scott to admire the snowmobile.
Willow shook her head. Of course that was what Ben meant when he said “mine.” The machine, not the girl. Just because he’d kissed her didn’t mean he thought of her as his. People kissed all the time without making a big production out of it. So maybe she’d felt a bit greedy earlier, wanting Ben all to herself. She dismissed it as a natural reaction to the man’s sensual appeal. He was hot, sexy, funny, charming, and most definitely knew how to use his mouth to make a woman swoon with pleasure. She would have to be dead not to want more of his special attention, especially the lips and tongue part.
Thinking of where else she’d like to have his lips and tongue had her crossing one booted foot over the other.
“Scott’s a geek gearhead,” Joe informed her as he alighted the stairs, making her blink away the erotic thought. He lounged against the bottom rail, seemingly to keep his distance from Willow without looking like he was keeping a distance. “If it lights, rings, or moves, he’s all over it.”
“Uh, okay.” She paused, polite manners demanding she ask something of him. “And you?”
Joe laughed. “I make sure he stays out of trouble.”
Willow’s frown was back. “That happen often?”
Possibly clueing in on Willow’s unease, Joe’s tone turned serious. “Not while he’s working, and until you’re no longer in danger, consider us working, no matter what happens.”
Despite her new bodyguard’s words, Willow wasn’t comforted. At all. Her gaze went past Joe to the closed door, wondering again where Rome was and hoping the appearance of the newcomers didn’t mean the agent had to leave. She felt safe with Rome. Bored stupid, but safe.
Strangely enough, she also felt safe with Ben.
She peeked over at where Ben and Scott chatted amicably, feeling that warmth steel over her whenever she saw him. She might not feel bored with Ben but at times she could cop to feeling stupid. He was totally out of her league, and not only due to his hotness factor. Based on their kiss, Willow figured he had a lot of experience with women and pleasure of the not-so-innocent kind. Whereas she—well, not so much.
Mistaking her sigh and visual perusal as one of concern with Scott, Joe spoke again. “We aren’t new at this, Willow. We wouldn’t be here unless Rome was absolutely certain of our ability.”
Willow looked back at Joe. “It’s not that.”
Joe’s turn to frown. “Then what?”
What, indeed. Even if she’d known Joe her whole life Willow wouldn’t just blurt out that she’d been mooning over Ben. Not when the man in question stood mere feet from her. How humiliating would that be?
Her awkwardness only increased when she felt Ben come back to her side, his hand once more gliding along her back in long strokes. “I need to go. I’m hoping this won’t take long so I can come back, see how everyone is settling. If not, I’ll call you.”
Eyes half-closed, she leaned a fraction closer, his breath a hot whisper over the sensitive shell of her ear. “Okay.” Wait. What? She straightened. “Oh. Wait. No. I don’t have a phone.” Rome had insisted she abandon everything in her locker, informing her any item could carry a bug or tracker and had sent it all off, including the clothes she’d worn to Jade’s office, to his agency for testing.
“You do now.”
Willow looked up into Ben’s smiling face. “I do?”
“It’s inside,” Scott told her. “Best of the best, with GPS tracking and all the bells and whistles you could ever want.”
Huh. She could only surmise the phone was part of the protection detail—why, she didn’t know, especially since she was never alone. Nonetheless, the thought of having a cell phone again would be a comfort. When had she started thinking of a cell phone as a security blanket?