“Our rooms are on the other side of the hotel,” he explained. “This way, we can go directly into our rooms without running into anyone else.”
“Oh ….”
“You’re not the only who wants to get out.”
“Which one are you more tired of? The car or me?”
“Both.” His hands tightened on the steering wheel, sensing the hurt he had just delivered. The stark truth was he could have driven into oblivion and not given a fuck. What he needed was to get away from Ginny.
Each day he spent with her, Reaper could feel himself slacking the rein he kept on his emotions. She was a paradox—the more time spent with her, he discovered new aspects of her personality. Ginny was charming without being cloying. Her reactions were upfront—you could tell if she liked or disliked something or someone without her pretending the opposite. She was fucking funny and playful, getting excited about the simplest things that he had long ago lost his enchantment for. She acted as if her heart was broken just because she wasn’t able to buy taffy.
The most confounding part of her personality was her ability to relate to others, regardless of their way of life. Ginny treated Kaden Cross the same as she treated Kimmy and the other employees at the club. Initially, he thought that she gave remembrances of herself for that exact purpose, but there hadn’t been anything personal in the gifts she had given. Her main objective was to help, and in return, she received the joy of giving.
Discovering that part of her personality got to him, bringing out sexual instincts suppressed so long, and wanting to uncover the rest of her secrets. Each hour spent in the car brought the buried instincts out more until he hadn’t been able to hold back when she asked which one he was more tired of.
“Leave you suitcase in the car. After I check out your room, I’ll come back and bring it to you.”
Ginny cast him a worried glance. “We’re still being precautious? You think who’s been stalking me will be here?”
“I’d rather be safe than find out the hard way.”
“Me, too.”
“Wait here a second.” Reaper got out the car, checking several vehicles in the parking lot. Seeing no one around, he went to her door. Opening it, he looked inside, then closed and locked the doors.
Taking her arm, he started walking quickly toward the side of the hotel. As they drew closer, his hand tightened on her arm, bringing Ginny to a stop.
Ginny looked up at him in confusion. “What’s wrong?”
“Someone is hiding behind the stairwell.” If he hadn’t been on alert, Reaper would have missed the shadow standing behind the open stairs that led to the second floor. His finger went to the car fob in his hand, preparing to unlock the car and press the emergency button. “When I say go, run to the car and call Knox.”
“But ….”
He didn’t have time to argue with her before the shadow stepped out, coming into the light just as he was about to press down on the button.
“Silas!”
Ginny’s excited shout had his finger stilling.
“I was wondering when you were going to show.”
Reaper kept Ginny by his side when she started to excitedly run toward her brother. “Stay here.”
“He’s my brother …,” Ginny appealed. Then, at his stern look, she nodded her understanding.
As Ginny’s brother stepped out into the light, Reaper felt his blood go cold in recognition. Silas was the stranger whose off-handed remarks had put him in the direction of the isolated homes outside of town being used as stash houses for drugs. It was also how he had found out Memphis was using, setting off a chain reaction that stole nearly ten years of his life.
“That’s not much of a welcome, Ginny,” her brother reprimanded her.
Despondently, Ginny quit trying to get away from Reaper. “I can’t get closer. We both may have been exposed.”
“I’m also trying to protect you,” Reaper told her. “Just because the CDC doesn’t believe there haven’t been any cases in the US, doesn’t mean there haven’t been. Silas could be a carrier, with no signs or symptoms yet.” The turmoil of Ginny’s unexpected visitor had him coming off harsh, as memories of the easygoing man he used to be tried to invade the disconsolate one he had become.
“Silas wouldn’t be here if there was a chance he was contagious,” Ginny assured him.
Reaper didn’t allow his hold to slacken at her assurance. Ginny was letting her emotions rule her, not caution. He wanted to shake some sense into her. She was the type of person who led with her heart and worried about consequences later. It was a deadly combination, and until Viper found someone else to watch her, he was the only one who was standing between her and tragedy. He didn’t believe the virus was in Kentucky so far, but neither was he sure that her family could be trusted with Ginny’s safety. He’d rather come across as being paranoid about the outbreak than make her angry that he didn’t trust her brother.