He turned on the radio.

She turned off the radio. By lifting her leg and slamming the bottom of her shoe into the knob.

Yeah, that did nice things for his viewing pleasure. She wiggled, trying to get the dress to cover a little more skin. Didn’t work.

“Want to try again?” He needed confirmation she was an eliminator, and if so, who hired her and how it related to Trey’s disappearance. “I’ll start. You’re the most confusing woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.” There were a few other adjectives he could use—compelling, beautiful, impressive—but he needed to keep those to himself.

Her head rotated against the backrest in slow motion until her blue eyes rolled at him. “I’d be happy to be a part of this conversation if you’d be so kind as to take the duct tape off my wrists. It hurts like hell.”

“You know what hell feels like?” he joked.

She sighed disapprovingly. “I think I’m in it right now.”

He laughed. “So belligerent.”

“You’ve fucking kidnapped me. I think I’m entitled.”

“This isn’t a kidnapping.” Now it was his turn to roll his eyes. “More like I persuaded you without risk of bodily harm. Your hands are a deadly weapon.”

“Trust me. It’s not just my hands.” She shifted in her seat, sat up taller.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to do, sweetheart. You ready to talk?”

“I think I am. I need to make a correction. You’re an asshole I’m going to kill.” She tilted her head and gave a tight, closed-mouth smile like she was quite happy with herself and positive she’d succeed with her mission.

Hugh couldn’t have been happier. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”

“I beg your pardon?” Irritation sounded in her voice. Lines creased her forehead, her eyebrows furrowed.

But something about her told him no matter how much she feigned anger, even hate toward him, she didn’t mean it. Her eyes gave way to conflict. Behind the unwavering steel blue was a sparkle every time she looked at him. Not with a passing glance, but when she really looked at him. She searched beyond his exterior, tried to find his soul and see what she could figure out. He thought if she studied him long enough, he’d give up every deep, dark detail of his life.

“Let’s talk about how you’re going to kill me.” His words came out with genuine interest. “And then you can fill me in on the why and who hired you.”

She regarded him with those stunning eyes for a few seconds before conceding, “What tipped you off?”

“Wow. No denial. You continue to surprise me.” He watched her gulp, sensed her unease and unhappiness with herself, and for the first time in his life, he wanted to surrender to a woman.

“I’ve surprised myself tonight.” Her gaze moved to the dashboard, her body sagged. The tension in her body dwindled at the same time any hint of anger in his disappeared.

“Dane told me there was a hit. He said P.I.E. was handling it.” He turned left, leaving most of the cars, lights and buildings behind. Houses, some set far back, others on the edge of the road, lined the well-traveled residential street winding up the hillside.

“He told you tonight?”

“Yeah. When we were trying to figure out what the hell was going on, he threw that nice piece of information at me. I don’t suppose you’d elaborate?”

She worried her bottom lip. “How did he find out?”

He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. What matters is hearing you say the words.” He needed to be one hundred percent sure.

“What else did Dane say?”

“He said blue really isn’t your color and you should think about wearing more green. I told him I liked the blue.”

“Shut up. This isn’t a joke.” Annoyance spiked in her voice.

“Are you an eliminator?” He’d been trying to keep one eye on the road and one on her, but since starting up the canyon, he needed to spend less time on her. It wasn’t working. He pulled over to the side of road.

He let the car idle and turned toward her. A streetlight overhead cast enough glow for him to see every slight line in her face, count all six freckles dotting her nose.

Uncomfortable didn’t begin to describe how she looked. He tried to ignore the vibes coming off her, but in the small confines of the car, he was acutely aware of her scent, her breathing pattern, the number of times she blinked. Her cheeks were flushed with anger, her legs bounced up and down with nervous energy.

His sentient side wanted complete access, but he allowed himself only another peek. A glimpse into her emotions to satisfy his curiosity. She stared at him with the kind of intensity reserved for friends. And when he found her confused, but not the least bit afraid, his chest ached with relief. Fear would have been his undoing.

“Yes, I’m an eliminator,” she finally said. Her eyes darted out the windshield before settling back on his. “And I honestly didn’t know who you were until you told me your name. Imagine my surprise.”

“You were really on a blind date?”

“Yes.” She paused to take a deep breath. Her shoulders relaxed and she lifted a leg to tuck it in the crux of the other. “It’s one I’ll always remember.”

This could play out two ways. She’d either find some way to painfully eliminate him because he’d been cocky enough to call her on her occupation. Or she’d forget the whole thing and send someone to take her place now that she’d been compromised.

“Who hired you to kill me?” He stared at her, taken with the conflict in her eyes, the deliberate beats of her heart.

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Can’t or won’t?” The rough edge of his voice wasn’t intentional.

“I’m not—”

“Look. It’s just you and me here. No one else. You know I’m not a bad guy so—”

She choked. “I do not know you’re not a bad guy. I’ve just met you. And buddy, the way I’m feeling right now is leaning heavily toward bad guy. If you want to earn some brownie points, I suggest you get this annoying tape off me.”

He leaned forward and unbuckled her seatbelt to make her a little more comfortable. “Can’t do that.”

“You don’t trust me?” Hurt passed over her face. Was she upset he didn’t? Come on. What did she expect?

“Give me a reason to, and I’ll think about it.” The truth was he did trust her. He’d never admit that out loud, but her actions tonight spoke volumes. And despite the whole elimination thing, he didn’t fear for his life. Not deep down in his gut. That labeled him either the biggest fool on the planet or the biggest romantic. Fuck.

“I’d say saving your life is a good reason.”

Something shimmered in her eyes that he was convinced she wasn’t aware of. Otherwise she would have shifted her attention elsewhere. It was a hint of gladness, the look of relief that people wear when they’re happy about someone’s tempting fate and beating it.

“Yeah. About that. Wouldn’t it have been easier for you to let me die?” He reached out and moved a strand of hair from her face. It was becoming a habit, his wanting to touch her. “You could have gotten the job done without lifting a finger.”

She watched him pull his hand back as if she wanted him to touch her again. Things were not so cut and dry between them. The lines were blurring. The circumstances under which they’d met confused their situation. He’d liked her right off the bat. Really liked her. And he was positive she’d liked him in return. Hell, he’d felt pheromones she wouldn’t want a stranger knowing about coming off her in waves when they’d arm-wrestled.

“Yes. It would have been easy for me to let you die. But I didn’t want you to die.” She looked down at his mouth. “I told you, I need your help.”

“To find someone.”

“Yes.” Her voice was soft, tired, full of surrender.

“That’s on the up and up?”

“Yes.” She leaned forward and pulled her shoulder blades to stretch. When she settled against the car seat, she let her head fall back so her chin jutted out.