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.It was as simple as that, just as black and white.The lips that hadbeen so warm yesterday when he had put his mouth-He cleared the memoryfrom his head, knowing he couldn't afford to think about that.Couldn'tafford to think about her in that way.It had been a mistake to allowhimself to touch her, as big a mistake as playing Good Samaritan butHawk had believed he'd never see her again.The stolen kiss had seemeda harmless, pleasant diversion for a man who hadn't had any lately.And it had been pleasant, he acknowledged.Too pleasant, and maybe notso harmless, because it might already have affected his judgment.Hawkcouldn't afford that.He didn't have time for diversions ordistractions.So he had told himself that the kiss hadn't had anythingto do with bringing her with him.That his decision had nothing to dowith the sexuality that had flared, so strong and unexpected, betweenthem.His reasons had been strictly self-interest.Self- preservation.Justcovering my ass, he reiterated, arguing against his inherent honesty.Nothing else.If there was the remotest possibility he could use her toclear himself with the agency, then he couldn't let some nutcases takeher out.Nutcases.The word rang sourly through his guilt, a strange choice forsomeone like him.Ninety-five percent of the population of this countrywould probably think that term applied pretty well to Hawk himself.The good citizens of this country didn't want to acknowledge thatoccasionally their government needed to eliminate someone whosepotential for human destruction, or whose developing taste for it,negated his right to coexist on the planet among sane people.Theywouldn't want to admit that such eliminations had been carried out inthe past or to think about the possibility that, human nature being whatit was, there might be a need for something like that to be done againin the future.That wouldn't be up to Hawk, of course.Deciding when such a scenariohad occurred was the job of men like Griff Cabot.Had been Griffs job.Hawk amended.Past tense."Apparently it isn't easy for you to accept thanks for what you do,"Tyler said, interrupting that introspection.He realized he hadn't answered her.She had taken his prolonged silencefor modesty, and her voice was touched with amusement."Sorry if I embarrassed you," she continued, "but.without you, Iwould have been in a whole lot of trouble back there."Hawk fought the urge to look at her again, keeping his eyes on the road,as if its few curves and rises demanded his full attention.She wasstill in a lot of trouble.They both were.More trouble than she couldprobably imagine.ABC Amber Text Converter Trial version, http://www.processtext.com/abctxt.htmlHowever, if being with him gave her comfort, some sense of safety, thenhe wasn't about to destroy that pleasant little fantasy.She was betteroff with him.Because he was better off with her alive, so he'd tryvery hard to keep her that way.That's all it was, he told himself.Just a matter of practicality.Just good old cold-blooded pragmatism.Even if Tyler Stewart had lookedlike somebody's grandmother, he'd have taken her with him.Of course, he admitted, if she'd looked like somebody's grandmother,they wouldn't be here.She wouldn't have been able to get away withwearing his clothes yesterday.Somehow, the remembrance of the way hisjeans had looked, worn denim stretched over her slim derriere and downthat incredible length of leg, sneaked back into his head.Sneaked inright past the need to think about where they were going to hole up."We're still in a lot of trouble," he warned.That was the truth, and it was only fair she understand it.They mightget into another situation where she needed to do exactly what she wastold and do it quickly.She needed to understand that he was in charge.And he supposed she needed to keep believing his primary objective inall this was to keep her safe until she could make an identification ofthe assassins.Ace in the hole, he thought.That's all she was.No more GoodSamaritan.That was a lesson he had learned, and Hawk never allowedhimself to forget any of the lessons life taught him."So where are we going?" she asked again."Somewhere nice and quiet where I can think," Hawk said."Not back to New York?""Not yet," he said, trying to think of a reason she'd buy."I need to be sure it's safe to bring you in.And since there areforeign nationals involved, we may need to wait a couple of days to seewhat shakes out.We'll hole up somewhere."Hawk needed to know whether his picture was being splashed across thefront pages.It wouldn't be the photo from his security file.Theywouldn't use that one, of course.If any pictures had been released,they would have been the grainy shots from the hotel security camerasJordan had told him about.And if those pictures were in the papers, then Hawk would know that themanhunt was on.And he understood too well what kind of hunt it wouldbe [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]