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The lines across Beaumont’s forehead and at the corners of his eyes and lips appeared more pronounced. The man was scared.
“I’ll help any way I can,” Beaumont said, “as long as I get some protection.”
Remy held up his cell phone. “This is the driver of the vehicle that almost ran over Ms. French. Do you recognize him?”
Beaumont’s brow furrowed as he studied the man’s face. “Last name’s Mercer. Jeffries introduced him to me several months ago when we were in Europe. He’s former military and takes on security work. I think his first name is Wayne or Wade.”
“Was he Sarley’s shooter?” Remy asked.
“That I can’t tell you.” Beaumont tipped his head toward the phones. “Jeffries’s message said that he’d handle Sarley, not how.”
“You can stay. Beau and Anton will provide your protection and ours,” Remy said.
Jacques stepped closer to Beaumont, his eyes narrowed. “If you try to hurt Ms. French, her brother or any member of my team, you’ll wish you’d gone to that meeting with Jeffries. Understand?”
Beaumont nodded. “I never hurt anyone. I don’t plan on starting now.”
“You might not have personally hurt anyone with your own hands, but your actions have enabled others to cause harm,” Danny said. “You’re not free of guilt.” She walked past him, grabbed her gym bag and one of the key cards from the table in the middle of the room.
Jacques collected his bag and followed her out of the suite and down the hallway. It took two tries to figure out which room the key would open.
Jacques went in first. Moments later, he called out, “All clear.”
Danny entered, threw her bag on the dresser and flopped on the bed. “You can have the first shower.”
“I don’t mind waiting,” he said.
“I can’t move,” she said. “I insist.”
He frowned. “Hurting anywhere?”
“Nothing I can’t live with. I just want to lie here until I feel like getting up.” She turned her head toward him. “Thanks for doctoring my boo-boos. Is that one of the requirements of the job?”
“Absolutely.” He shrugged out of his jacket and hung it in the closet. “It’s in the first line of the job description. Must doctor boo-boos.” He grinned, grabbed clothing from his go-bag and stepped into the bathroom. “I’m leaving the door open to listen for intruders,” he called out, hoping she’d want to continue what they’d started in the suite’s bathroom before Beaumont had arrived.
He stripped out of his shirt, shucked his trousers and boxer briefs and turned on the water.
His gaze slipped to the crack in the door, where light from the nightstand cast a shadowy wedge.
But there was no Danny.
He’d been hard and turned on before they’d been interrupted.
Danny had seemed more than willing and ready to explore her own sexuality after rejecting any male attention for the past four years.
Now that they had their own room, separate from the others, she didn’t appear at all interested in picking up where they’d left off.
Jacques sighed and stepped beneath the cool spray. He raised his face to the shower head and let the water rain down on him, cooling his heated skin, quenching his raging desire for a woman who’d suffered so much.
Smooth, soft hands reached around his waist and pulled his backside into the warm, curvy body behind him.
His heart leaped, and his groin tightened. “I thought you were going to lie down until you felt like getting up.”
“I felt like getting up,” she said, her lips pressed against his back. Then she leaned back, her hips pressing into his buttocks. “Your shoulders are bruised.” One hand left his waist and slid over his shoulder. “Does it hurt much?”
“Nothing I can’t live with,” he said, echoing her words. “It was worth getting you out of the way of the oncoming car. How about you? You had some scrapes and bruises.”
Her palms swept over the bruise and then returned to encircle his waist. Her naked body pressed against his back. “I can still feel how warm your skin is against my hands. Do the scrapes scratch you? If so, I can stop.” She lifted her hands off his abdomen.
