Heartbeats Amidst Chaos, Part 3

2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

R issa tapped the “reserve” icon and looked over at Elio, who was driving. His window was all the way down, his tanned arm propped along the frame. The warm wind whipped through his hair so that it stood straight up as they sped toward their lakeside retreat and undercover reconnaissance mission.

A bubble of excitement bobbed within her chest, although she almost wanted to laugh aloud at the sheer bravado of what they were doing. She felt. . . She didn’t know what she felt. The closest comparison she could come up with was the mixture of terror and delight that filled her as a child when she stood with her toes at the end of the high dive board at the public pool, hesitating just a moment longer than necessary before hurling herself into a spine-tingling freefall.

“All right,” she said. “Our cabin is reserved.”

Elio looked over at her and grinned, his white teeth flashing. Rissa grinned back; it seemed she couldn’t help it.

“Perfect,” he said. “Now, you should probably order us some clothes. Have ‘em delivered to that address.”

Rissa nodded, glancing down at her wrinkled blue dress. The garment that had felt super cute and edgy when she put it on the night before now looked very much like it had seen better days.

A run through the streets, hideout in an abandoned car, and sexy romp in an abandoned office building will do that to an outfit , she thought.

Elio probably would have preferred her to have just left the dress and gone along in her underwear. She recalled the way his admiring eyes tracked her across the hotel room as she stood from the bed to fetch her dress so they could head out.

She didn’t mind Elio looking at her—far from it, she found it quite enlivening.

Butterflies erupted in her stomach as she mentally ran through the crazy string of events that brought her to where she was now, cruising down the highway in the passenger seat of a car driven by a wanted man. She was on the run, unsure of what lay ahead or how badly she had fucked her entire future. Yet, all she seemed able to focus on was the fact that it was a beautiful day, they were headed to a lake, and she had never felt so alive.

She shifted her attention from her clothes to Elio, who still looked great in his chinos and a sleeveless white undershirt. Her eyes were inevitably drawn to the intricate half-sleeve tattoo on his right bicep, a striking filigree of leaves, flowers, and cacti with a hawk bursting upward in flight from the center of it all. Although he had been shirtless almost the entire first day she had known him, her attention had been entirely focused on his wounds—well, and occasionally his abs—and she had never before given the tattoo the scrutiny it deserved.

“Remember, the clothes you order have to fit the persona you’re donning,” Elio said.

Rissa arched her eyebrows at him. “Which is?”

He shrugged, glancing at her slyly before returning his gaze to the road. “A little flirty, maybe,” he said. “Cute, sexy, looking to have fun.”

Rissa dropped one eyebrow and narrowed her eyes. “Are you saying I’m not those things?”

“No!” He laughed as he caught sight of her expression. “I’m just saying that we’ve got to look like we’re on an engagement trip. They’ve got to be vacation duds.”

“I think I know what you’re saying,” Rissa said, scrolling through the phone. She tapped an image and held it over so he could look at it. “Something like this?”

Elio dropped his eyes briefly to the image and then did a doubletake, whistling softly under his breath as his eyes shot over to Rissa and then back to the photo.

“Yes, and double yes,” he said.

She giggled, tapping “add to cart.”

“You want me to pick out your stuff, too?” she asked, and Elio nodded easily.

“Sure.”

“All to go on the same credit card I used for the cabin reservation?” She held up the card he had so casually handed her as they’d gotten in the car, along with the phone she was now using. It was a burner phone, he explained, telling her to take the battery out of her old one and toss it.

“Yes. Put your stuff on there, too,” he replied.

“I can buy my own clothes,” Rissa said, pulling herself quickly back to reality. She had to keep herself from starting to feel like this was an actual romantic getaway. She had to stay alert to the fact that she wasn’t even sure she trusted the handsome, mysterious man in the driver’s seat.

Elio glanced at her again, his face sobering.

“Better not to use traceable cards or accounts right now,” he said. “Besides, it’s my fault you’re caught up in all this. Let me pay for them.”

Rissa considered for a moment, specifically the fact that she was using an untraceable card on a burner cellphone. What had her life become? More exciting than it’s ever been before—that’s for sure.

“You want to set a budget?” she asked.

Elio shook his head. “Go all out. I trust you.”

I wish I could say the same to you.

She scrolled through the phone, watching Elio from the corner of her eye as he skillfully changed lanes, his eyes flicking to the rearview mirror at regular intervals. He lifted his hand slightly from the window frame, letting it ride the warm air rushing along the side of the car.

“This money I’m spending,” she said cautiously after a moment. “It’s all gained legally, right?”

Somewhat to her surprise, Elio nodded immediately.

“All from the construction company I manage,” he said. “It’s technically a family business, but ever since I’ve taken over, absolutely everything about it has been aboveboard.”

“So, the untraceable debit card. . .”

One side of his mouth pulled up in a half smile. “If you grow up in the family I grew up in,” he said, “you learn to take precautions. Be ready for anything. . .”

“Put aside savings in an untraceable offshore account,” Rissa finished for him, and he chuckled.

“Something like that.”

“Awesome.”

She turned her head to gaze out the window at the nondescript highway scenery for a moment: Tall, dry-looking grass and midsummer wildflowers crowding back to bushy, juvenile trees. Her window was only partially opened, but her hair still whipped about her face.

She couldn’t remember the last time she had ridden with the windows open like this—maybe not since she was a child. It eased something inside her, an emotional muscle she hadn’t even realized she’d been keeping clenched like a fist almost her entire adult life. Or maybe it was the man in the driver’s seat that was having that effect on her.

Turning back to her phone, she began shopping in earnest.

“Okay, but clothes can’t be our only disguise, right?” she asked after a moment, glancing up again. “ Your face has been all over the news. People are going to recognize you.”

He glanced in the rearview mirror again, his hazel eyes momentarily alert. After a moment, he focused back on her and the road.

“Maybe,” he said. “But in my experience, people see what they want to see. No one expects a suspected terrorist to be enjoying a romantic getaway at a lakeside resort.”

“You have a kind of memorable face, though,” Rissa said, still cautious.

“Really?” Elio grinned, tilting his face toward her as if offering himself for her inspection. “In what way?”

“Don’t try to change the subject,” Rissa objected as breathless laughter escaped her.

Piercing hazel eyes, she cataloged internally. Movie star cheekbones, regal nose, jaw so chiseled it should have a danger sign on it.

“I’ll wear a hat,” Elio offered. “A big straw sunhat.”

Rissa giggled again. She had never giggled so much in her life, but the happy sound wouldn’t stop floating up from somewhere deep inside her. Never in her life had she felt quite how she did when sitting across from this charming suspected criminal, the wind tossing her hair, her dress hiked up around her hips as she put her knees up to lean the phone against them. She noticed Elio’s quick, appreciative sideways glance and felt her cheeks flush, but she didn’t change her position.

She tapped the phone screen again. “Biggest straw sunhat I can find—added to the cart,” she said smartly. “I hope you don’t mind a little sunflower ribbon.”

Elio puffed out his chest in mock arrogance. “I think I’m man enough to handle some ribbon,” he said.

Rissa rolled her eyes, but her smile wouldn’t be smothered.

“How long till we get there?” she asked, turning her attention to the front window. Part of her wanted this ride to last forever.

“Couple hours,” Elio said lazily. “Looks like it’s going to be this straight, flat road the entire time.” He glanced over at her, his eyebrow quirked. “If you have any ideas for helping keep me awake, I would be much obliged.”

Rissa’s heart began to thump erratically at the invitation in his expression. “I might have a few,” she said. “How focused of a driver are you?”

Elio was silent for a moment, assessing her sincerity with another quick, sidelong glance. “Very focused.”

Sitting up straight, Rissa left her dress where it was and leaned her left elbow onto the narrow console between them, reaching across with her right hand to brush her fingers lightly across the slight bulge between Elio’s legs. He jumped, his head tilting back as his breath caught. She then crept her fingers up over his abdomen and across his chest, feeling the muscles beneath his shirt. She felt one of his nipples beneath her fingers and flicked it.

“Ow!” Elio exclaimed.

“Still awake?” Rissa asked mischievously. She leaned forward and planted a kiss right over the hawk in his bicep tattoo, kissing her way upward toward Elio’s sinewy neck. Her hand splayed open across his chest as he leaned his head back against the seat, his eyes glued to the road.

“Tell me when it gets to be too much,” she paused to murmur. “I don’t want to die in a wreck or kill anyone else.”

“Me neither,” Elio replied. “I’ll let you know. Or pull over,” he added breathlessly. “We’re in no hurry.”

“Got it,” Rissa said, her hand sliding back down toward where his bulge had begun to grow. “I’ll take it slow.”