Melinda Di Lorenzo - Worth The Risk

“Hmm. Let me see. No to the second part. And maybe to the first part.”

“Sam!”

He liked the way his name sounded on her lips. Even when she said it in such an exasperated way.

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“Are you going to help me?”

“I will. If you agree to stop stomping on my feet and running away.”

“You’re chasing me!”

“I’m just trying get some information on Tamara’s whereabouts.”

“Why?”

“I don’t suppose if I tell you it’s confidential you’ll accept that as an answer?”

“My day looks like this so far. A mild wine hangover. A weird—bordering on scary—call from my sister, who hasn’t talked to me in months. You, on my doorstep. And now a crazy man chasing me down with a car.”

“You spoke to Tamara? Today?”

“Yes. Briefly. But that’s not my point,” Meredith replied.

She’s alive.

The confirmation filled Sam with relief. He itched to know more about the conversation, but he doubted Meredith would tell him a damn thing. Not until they established some trust. Which wasn’t going to be easy. He still had to try.

“Look,” he said. “Would you be willing to give me the benefit of the doubt? At least until I get you unstuck?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Fine. Just...pull me back in. Please?”

For a second, he considered leaving her there, just to prove a point. Then he reminded himself that he needed her help, if he wanted to solve his case. If Meredith had a good side, he should be making more of an effort to get on it. Or at least try to get off the bad one.

“Only because you asked so nicely,” he said. “Put your hands out.”

With an exaggerated eye roll, Meredith stretched her arms in the vehicle. Sam took a deep breath and prepared himself for the electricity he knew would be coming, then clamped his fingers down on her forearms. Want hit him hard. He couldn’t shove it aside, so he tried to harness the energy instead, to channel it to help pull her into the vehicle. In typical fashion, he overdid it. He yanked too hard and Meredith came flying into the Bronco, knocking him to his back and landing on top of him.

He expected her to leap off. Instead, she wriggled a little, then stayed where she was, her green-eyed gaze fixed on his face. Her lithe form remained pressed against him, her breasts rubbing against his chest, her hands positioned above his shoulders, holding her face above his. He could feel every one of her inhales and exhales. Her lips were so close that if he moved, even a little, they’d land on his mouth. And if he’d had any doubt about his attraction to her, it slipped away right that second. Meredith’s body was a perfect fit for his.

“You all right?” he asked, desire making his voice husky.

“I’m okay.” She paused. “Sam?”

Yeah, he definitely liked it when she said his name. It sent all the blood in his body straight to his groin.

“Sam?” she said again.

He swallowed. “Yes, Meredith?”

“I think my jeans are stuck to your belt.”

“Oh.”

At the one-word reply, she lifted a perfect eyebrow. “Do you think you could, um, unstick it? Or does that fall outside the realm of your expertise?”

“Let me see what I can do.”

He slid a hand between them, stifling a groan as the backs of his fingers brushed the skin of her stomach. She wiggled a little more, like she was trying to give him some space to work.

“Not helping,” he said.

“Sorry.”

She moved again anyway.

“Seriously. Could you hold still?” Sam asked.

“I’m trying.”

His teeth gritted together again, though this time for a different reason entirely. He dug his hand down, desperate to find his belt buckle before he went crazy. Finally, his fingers closed on the warm metal. Sure enough, the button from Meredith’s jeans was lodged under the frame. With a firm tug, Sam set it free, then dragged his hand out regretfully.

“You’re all set,” he told Meredith.

She righted herself. “Thank you.”

“So that’s what it takes to earn your gratitude? Third time’s the charm?”

“Third time?”

“First, I saved you from becoming a pancake. Then, I saved you from our friend in the sedan. And now, I saved you from yourself.”

“Ha. I think you only get a half a point for the second one since I had to navigate you into the correct alley.”

“No, I definitely think you owe me three.”

Meredith answered him, but Sam barely heard a word. Because a necklace slipped out from under her T-shirt and caught his eye, and suddenly, he was pretty damn sure that the redheaded thug was tracking her.

Chapter 4

Before Meredith could comment, Sam reached over, closed his hand around the pendant charm hanging from her neck and pulled it close to his face. And since she was attached to the necklace, Meredith had little choice but to follow. Which drew her near enough to Sam that she could smell his clean scent once again.

After a second, Meredith cleared her throat. “You a big fan of gaudy jewelry?”

“Not particularly. Where’d you get this piece?”

“Why?”

He sighed. “Can you answer any question without a long, drawn-out explanation?”

Meredith resisted an urge to stick out her tongue. “Depends on who’s asking. Can I have my necklace back?”

“Nope. I just hope you didn’t have that anywhere near your shower.”

For the second time that day, a blush crept up Meredith’s cheeks. “What?”

“Bedroom?”

The color in her cheeks deepened. “It was still in the box it came in. Until yesterday, anyway. Why does it matter?”

Sam’s brows went up. “Still in the box? Did you buy it for yourself?”

“No. It was a gift.”

“From?”

Meredith bit back another of her own questions. “Tamara. But you’re not telling me—”

“She gave you a gift?” he interrupted. “Recently?”

“Two days ago. Like I said, we hadn’t spoken in months and then this box turned up...” She trailed off with a shrug.

“You haven’t spoken in months, but she sent you a necklace out of the blue and you didn’t think to question it?”

“She’s my sister and it was my birthday, okay? And...”

“And what?”

She shook her head. She had to admit, she’d been a little surprised to receive the necklace. It wasn’t her style. And more importantly, it wasn’t Tamara’s style. Meredith had considered calling her sister when the necklace arrived but never got around to it. Now she really wished she had.

“Meredith?” Sam persisted.

“Nothing. Has anyone ever told you, you sound like a cop?”

“A few people,” he replied drily.

She frowned. “Speaking of cops...”

“No.”

“No what?”

“We can’t wait for them or assume they’ll get to us before the guy in the sedan does.”

“Does that mean you’re going to tell me why you’re following me around and asking me questions about Tamara?”

He smiled grimly, and with a quick yank that burned Meredith’s skin a little, Sam tore the pendant clean off.

“Hey! You can’t do that!”

But any further protest died in Meredith’s throat as the blue-eyed man set the necklace on his knee and pulled a Swiss Army knife from his boot, then used it to dig in behind the large, black stone that formed the charm’s focal point. One sharp push and the stone flew off. And underneath it sat a microcamera.

“What the hell!” Meredith exclaimed.

“What the hell, indeed,” he murmured, then met her eyes. “I think we can agree that Tamara didn’t send you this.”

Meredith swallowed. “Yes.”

“Does your sister have any enemies?”

“Enemies? Lots of people don’t like her program, but enemies?” She shook her head. “What’s going on, Sam?”