Dying Commitment (Lucky Thirteen) Read Online Free PDF Page B

“Okay, I’ll let you have the window seat this time. I’ll be magnanimous.”
    The shock quickly vanished, replaced by cold fury. Her eyes narrowed, and for a moment, I wondered if her eyelashes were going to sprout icicles. She didn’t say a word while the service attendant checked us in and handed us the boarding passes back. Cadence reached for them, but I grabbed them first. “Oh, don’t worry about it, sweetheart. I’ll take care of these. And your bag.” I swiped her backpack before she could stop me.
    I grinned as the service attendant put her hand over her heart. “Isn’t he sweet? Reminds me of my first husband. He died some time ago. But he was the sweetest thing too.” The woman patted Cadence’s hand. “Hang on to this one, honey. He’s a keeper.”
    I tucked the boarding passes away in my jacket, and took her hand. She started to pull back, but I tightened my grip. I kept up my good guy act until we were out of earshot and line of sight of the check-in desk. She pulled back again, and this time I let her loose.
    “How did you find me?” she ground out.
    I ignored her question and replied, “Ditch me again, and I will tie your ass to a chair.”
    “I don’t want you here.”
    “Tough shit, you big baby.” She blinked at my words, but I was too annoyed to care. “I have orders to watch after you. Okay? What you don’t get is just because you had a bad experience doesn’t mean that partnerships suck.”
    “Don’t even. Don’t you even pretend to know what it’s like—”
    “Blah, blah, blah. I don’t give two fucks about your past, Cady. Okay? Get that through that thick skull of yours.” I’d stunned her into silence, but I wasn’t done. “You are not the first person to be almost killed. Ask Murphy. Ask Hardy. Every member of Lucky Thirteen has had to put their lives on the line. You’re not a special case.”
    “I’m not sleeping with them,” came the quiet answer. Then I understood. It wasn’t that she was afraid of someone being on the trip with her. It was because it was me. She didn’t want me there because it split her focus. At least that I could understand, even if I thought it was stupid. We worked well together. We proved that on the Paris mission when we recovered the contents of Addison’s vault in her apartment last year.
    I stopped, and lifted her chin so she met my eyes. I saw sadness in them, mixed with the anger she buried so deep inside her. “Would it be easier for you if I got someone else to be with you?”
    She shook her head. “There’s no time. The plane leaves in forty-five minutes. Plus, no one else can keep up with me.”
    “Then what can I do?”
    “Be a friend.” The answer was surprising. She’d never even considered calling me a friend before.
    “I’m always your friend, Cady.”
    “But anything more than that will cause problems.”
    Quickly, I understood what she was really saying.
    “No sex? Strictly not what we are doing?”
    She nodded, confirming what I’d already figured out. Sex complicated things, and we were good at complications. She was putting distance between us, distance that we hadn’t ever had before. It sucked, but if that was the way she wanted it… then I could do that for her, if only so I could stay by her side and make sure she was safe.
    “If that’s what you want.”
    “It is. We had a good run, Bambi, but it’s time. Neither of us can afford a relationship.”
    Bambi, again. One day, I’d get her to say my name. For real. But in that moment, it wasn’t the right time to argue the point. Instead, I released her hand and nodded. “Okay. We go back to strictly business.”
    “Thank you,” she whispered. She squared off her shoulders, rolling her neck and held out her hand. “My boarding pass please?”
    “No ditching. That’s part of this arrangement. Because I’m damn good at hunting you down, and if I think you’re being unnecessarily reckless, I will tie your ass to a chair.”
    She