Hurt didn’t begin to explain the pain circling inside her. For the first time since she’d been recruited by P.I.E. she wanted to disappear and never eliminate another Veiler as long as she lived.

Equally painful was the squeeze on her heart. She’d told herself not to fall for Hugh. She’d planned to keep the walls she’d built up firmly in place. But somewhere between meeting him in a bar and standing beside him now, she’d forgotten that. Her resolve had slowly chipped away and it pissed her off.

The people she loved left her by dying. It was as simple as that.

“I’m not hurt,” she bit back, knowing he didn’t deserve her nasty tone of voice.

He backed off by a few steps. She heard his cell phone ring, heard him answer it. She stared at the grass, thinking it a much better choice than returning upright to look at him. Looking at him caused her sensibilities to go haywire.

“Thanks, Trey. That information is very helpful. Do me a favor? Keep this between us.”

Only because he had new information, she stood. And looked at his shoes.

“Keep a low profile and tell everyone to be cautious.”

When she heard him take a deep breath, she dragged her attention upward. “Information on the Wolf Seekers?” she asked, trying her damnedest for a neutral tone.

“No. Dobson.” He swept another glance around, searching, she knew, for any sign of trouble. He might be able to pick up on every detail going on with her body, but she could tell when he was on edge. His chin lifted ever so slightly, his nostrils flared.

“What is it?” The sooner she found the SOB, the sooner this whole thing could be over. She’d sell her soul this instant to be finished with everything wolf-related.

Hugh kept his distance and started toward the motorcycle. “Trey remembered a reference to a hotel in San Diego.”

“That’s great. Let’s go.” She fell in step beside him. The nerves tangling in her stomach calmed. She worked to slow her hurried breaths. Mind over matter.

“I’ll fly us there. It’ll be much quicker than driving.” He tossed her her helmet.

She didn’t like his take-charge attitude, but the idea of flying with him and getting closer to Dobson eased her irritation. “Sounds good.”

“Before we go,” he said, rounding the bike, “can I ask you a question?”

Questions. She was tired of questions. Tired of asking them mostly, but tired of answering them too. She wanted to shut down her brain.

“Sure. Go ahead.” She wondered if he heard the reluctance in her voice and hoped he didn’t take it personally.

“Were you going to accept the date with Trey?”

There couldn’t have been a more indicative question to his feelings. A fricking flutter blossomed in her chest. As good as she was at turning off her emotions, her body had a mind of its own. It took major muscle control not to break out in a gigantic smile.

“Why, Hugh, are you jealous?” Making light of it would hopefully mask the question’s influence.

“No. Just don’t like leaving questions unanswered.” He put his helmet on, and looked away like her answer didn’t matter.

He was full of shit. “You don’t have to worry. I’m not looking for a relationship.”

“A date isn’t a relationship.”

She put her helmet on and took her time answering, just to mess with him. “That’s true. In that case, I guess I will—”

“Don’t,” he commanded, darting a quick look at her.

Tess waited for him to elaborate but he didn’t. He got on the bike, started it up and scooted forward. She guessed the conversation was over.

“Did Trey say anything about me when he called?” She flung her leg over the bike and sidled right up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He felt better than her favorite cashmere sweater. Too bad they weren’t biking to San Diego.

He growled, giving her a great deal of inner satisfaction. “No. But I don’t think we should trust anybody but each other right now. Deal?”

Striking another deal seemed like an idiotic thing to do, given she couldn’t trust herself around him. He made everything all right and all wrong at the same time. But he was a better man than any human she’d ever met. And she did trust him. And he was helping her find Dobson when he could have easily walked away after getting Trey back. And geez, she could come up with a dozen more “ands” before ending with he was a man of his word.

Tess understood that. “Deal.”

She prayed it was their last one.

“You own your own company?” Tess asked, noticing the Langston Aviation sign as they headed into a private hangar at the Van Nuys Airport. They’d arrived in the nick of time. Sheets of rain poured outside.

“Yes.”

Three helicopters were lined up side-by-side, each gleaming bright as new. Tess had flown in copters dozens of times and these were top of the line. But it was the shiny metal sitting just beyond that really caught her eye. Without asking for permission, she made a beeline to get a closer look.

She half skipped, half walked, as she called over her shoulder. “What’s this?” It looked like a toy plane with three feet, one long wing across its top and a propeller.

“That’s a Flight Design CT.”

She suspected Hugh wasn’t bothered at all by her detour because he sounded like a guy who’d just been asked to show off his prized baseball card collection. He stood beside her and ran a hand along the stripes of the small airplane. She did the same, the tips of her fingers lingering on the smooth surface. Flying gave the biggest rush, triggered the best endorphins.

“So this is what a light sport aircraft looks like.”

“This baby’s the best LSA out there,” he said, giving a solid slap to the plane.

“I bet it flies like a dream.” With her nose pressed against the glass, she hoped she didn’t look too in awe. “How far can you go on a tank?”

He moved behind her, and with arms on either side of her body, pressed his hands against the window. His chest grazed her back ever so slightly as he leaned closer to talk into her ear. “San Francisco and back. You want to go for a ride?”

Yes she wanted to go for a ride. But not in the CT. She closed her eyes, relaxed into him. With his warm breath in her ear and his body cradling her backside, she lost herself to the moment. He felt so good, so right, it took all her willpower not to melt in a puddle right there.

“I bet the scenery is amazing with the bubble-shaped cockpit.” She’d talk about visibility to get her mind off him and his abs, his chest, his tattoo.

He continued to talk into her ear, his chin almost on her shoulder. “It’s unbelievable. To see a hundred miles of mountains and valleys or ocean gives you a sense of solitude and freedom that’s unmatched by anything you can do on the ground. I’ve flown over snow capped mountains and the Pacific Ocean in the same day. It’s an incredible rush seeing things from a perspective that isn’t familiar.”

She heard most of what he said, but really his sexy voice, combined with his pure maleness, reminded her of what had almost happened between them earlier, and his words were sort of lost on her.

“How fast does it go?” she asked, ducking out from under him and strolling around the front of the CT in order to put much needed space between them.

Hugh followed at a safe distance. “With the right tailwind, I’ve exceeded one-fifty, but usually I cruise at around one-ten.”

“Sweet.”

“Sweet?” He repeated, sounding like he was trying to refrain from laughing.

“You got a problem with sweet?”

“No problem,” he shot back, the chortle gone from his tone. “Come on. Follow me.”

He took her to a reception area decorated with couches, a coffee table and a tall green plant in the corner. One wall, she couldn’t help but notice, held a collection of sketches similar to the ones in his house. Her heart pounded and she took a deep breath to slow it down. They captured the human condition better than anything she’d looked at before. The other wall was covered with photographs of aircraft and amazing aerial views of Mother Nature.