Free Never Say Spy by Diane Henders

cover of GQ.  His nose had been broken at some point and re-healed with a bump in the bridge. When we’d sat in the coffee shop after my carjacking, I’d noticed the scar that sliced across his left eyebrow.  Combined with the broken nose, I was reasonably sure he’d played hockey, sometime before face guards became mandatory in the sport.
    His face and jaw were square, striking but not classically handsome.  That was fine with me.  I’d never been attracted to those well-groomed ‘metrosexual’ types.  But I was a sucker for broad shoulders and a fabulous chest.  There was no spare tire around that taut midsection, either.
    The floor indicator dinged, rousing me from my lustful reverie.  I stepped out without meeting Kane’s eyes and admired the rear view while I followed him along the hallway.  When he stopped at the room and slid the card key into the slot, my overtired brain made a detailed suggestion that I firmly ignored.
    He opened the door and stepped into the room, towing me behind him.  “Stay here,” he said, placing me just inside the door while he matter-of-factly checked the bathroom and then the rest of the room.  He crossed to the window and looked outside before closing the drapes.
    “All right,” he said.  “You should be fine.  Relax as much as you can and get some sleep.  Nobody knows you’re here.  Don’t leave the room.  Don’t even open the door until I come to get you at,” he checked his watch.  “Ten o’clock.”  The words came out on a poorly concealed sigh.
    “What about breakfast?” I asked with alarm.  “I can’t function without breakfast.”
    He looked perplexed.  “You just ate an enormous platter of eggs and french fries.”
    “But five hours is a long time, and then we’ve got a two-hour drive,” I replied in my most reasonable tones.
    “You’re right,” he said with a hint of a smile.  “We’ll grab something on the way out of town.”
    “Okay, thanks.  See you in the morning.”
    He turned to leave, but hesitated at the door.  “Thanks for cutting Hellhound some slack earlier.  He’s the best friend you could ever ask for, but he can be...” he paused, obviously searching for the right word.
    “Rude, crude, lewd, vulgar, obscene, and generally offensive,” I supplied.  “I like him.  He reminds me of Uncle Roger.”
    Kane grinned.  “Thanks.  Lock the door behind me.  I’ll take the stairs so it looks like I’m still here.”
    He went out, pulling the door closed behind him.  I threw the deadbolt and the privacy lock, and listened until the sound of the stair door told me he was gone.

Chapter 10               
     
    I was rank with sweat and shivering again in my damp clothes.  All my muscles ached even more fiercely than before, and my bruised butt throbbed in time with the gash on my leg.  The frightening sight that confronted me in the bathroom mirror convinced me I had to have a shower, no matter how tired I was.
    I stripped off my clothes and crept into a hot shower, soaking under the spray until I was warmed through.  Dressed again in my last clean clothes, I called the front desk to request a wakeup call before falling into the bed to alternate between restless sleep and panicked jerks into wakefulness.
    The ring of the phone convulsed every muscle, making me yelp.  Completely disoriented, I floundered across the bed in a blind search for the source of the noise.  A cheery wakeup message answered my slurred ‘hello’.
    The bedside clock read 9:45, and I blearily registered the presence of daylight behind the heavy drapes as I flopped back onto the bed and lay waiting for my heart to regain its normal rhythm.
    I dragged myself out of bed and into the bathroom, where I used the facilities and brushed my teeth and my still-damp hair.  Sleeping on it wet had emphasized its curls, and I tugged uselessly on the piece in the front that persisted in sticking straight out.  Finally I doused it with