Shadow Hawk. Jill Shalvis

      “Shut up, Hawk.”

      “You don’t glare at Logan,” he said thoughtfully. “Or Watkins. Or anyone. Just me.”

      Well, that was just true enough to have her drawing in her own sharp breath as he staggered to his feet. “You don’t like me much,” he told her, rolling his shoulder as if it hurt.

      “That’s not true. I like you plenty when you’re not talking.”

      He sighed. “Now, see, I think I’d like you plenty if you were naked.”

      “You’re such an asshole.”

      “Asshole Hawk. Yeah, that fits—”

      The next explosion was small but way too close and very hot. Instinctively, she pushed him back, knocking them both down. Then she was enveloped in Hawk’s strong arms and rolled, tucked into him while embers rained down.

      When it was over, she realized that the muscles in his arms were quaking. He was a dead weight on top of her. “Hawk?”

      A litany of swear words escaped him, blowing her hair back. He lifted his head, his eyes not even close to warm and soft, but hard as aged whiskey. “Don’t ever do that again.”

      “What? Save your sorry ass?”

      “Exactly. Save your own first, you hear me?”

      “Then get moving!”

      “Yeah.” With a groan, he got to his feet and reached out a hand to help her. A considerate bad guy.

      Where was Gaines…?

      Having been in a bad situation before, the worst, Abby had a gut-wrenching need for everyone to be okay and accounted for, even knowing that someone on her team had caused all this. “Do you think Gaines—”

      “Oh, that’s right. You still need to rescue your Sugar Daddy.”

      No one at ATF knew that she’d dated him twice, she’d made sure of that. Their relationship mostly consisted of her miraculous rescue, and then a vague, uncomfortable friendship that she’d had difficulty maintaining because of her new “issues.”

      “Where is he, Hawk?” When he didn’t answer, she shook her head and turned toward the direction of the barn.

      “No, wait. Don’t.” Hawk grabbed her arm, his eyes dark with concern. For her. And though it shouldn’t have, it touched her as he spoke. “Don’t even think about going back—”

      “I have to.”

      “Goddamnit, Ab—”

      Yanking free, she was halfway to the barn when her cell vibrated. Pulling it out of her pocket, she flipped it open and saw “unknown” ID. “Hello?”

      “It’s me.”

      Elliot’s unmistakable voice brought a wave of relief. “Where are you—”

      “Listen to me. We’ve been betrayed. By Hawk.”

      She processed the words, but, damn, it was hard to swallow, despite what she’d seen with her own eyes. “Elliot, are you sure, because—”

      “Have I ever been wrong?”

      Okay, no. No, he hadn’t. And she knew exactly what she owed him, but— “Whose phone are you calling me on, because it’s not yours—”

      “Trust me, Abby.”

      She wanted to. She knew he wanted her to. But just because she hadn’t ever allowed Hawk’s charm to melt away her panties didn’t mean she didn’t know that he was an incredibly good ATF agent, one who believed in what he did and believed in putting away the bad guys. There had to be an explanation for all of this. “Tell me where you are—”

      Another explosion interrupted her, picking her up like a rag doll, tossing her once again on her ass in the dirt. Damn. Crawling back through the trees to where she’d left Hawk, she realized three extremely unsettling facts at once.

      Gaines had disconnected.

      Hawk was gone.

      And she was all alone.

      This night just kept getting better and better.