Take (Fury Brothers #4)

I’d just kissed Reath Fury.

I’d just kissed my brother’s best friend.

I pressed my palms to my burning cheeks. Panicked, I wheeled around and hurried through the crowd.

Jack would kill me.

God. This was why I never went out.

I made a beeline for the front door.

3

REATH

Igripped the steering wheel of my Lotus Eletre and overtook the turning car ahead of me as I headed for Tulane University.

The sun was a little too bright. I’d had one too many whiskeys at the end of the party last night. Beau had conned me into it, and the man could drink us all under the table.

Mostly I’d had one too many because I’d been pissed my mystery woman in red had slipped away.

I didn’t even know her name.

That kiss.

Beau had seen it. He’d given me a hard time. I wasn’t a man to kiss a woman in full view of others. I liked my privacy, valued it intensely.

I tapped my fingers on the wheel. I could pull the CCTV from Wildfire. I’d installed the security system, so it would be easy enough. Then I could run her through facial recognition.

I snorted. That sounded a lot like stalking.

Focusing, I pushed the woman in red—with her sweet, full lips—out of my head. It helped that I had an annoying task to deal with—tracking down the elusive Francesca Parker.

I wanted to make sure that she was all right, and settled. I’d do my job, and Jack would be reassured that his sister was fine.

I pulled into the university, the electric engine soundless, and parked. It didn’t take me long to find the microbiology building. There was a bored-looking woman sitting at a desk in the lobby.

“I’m looking for Francesca Parker.”

The woman tapped on the computer. “Lab Four. Upstairs.” She pointed at a sign-in sheet. “I need you to sign in.”

“Thanks.” I scrawled my name on the page.

Security was lax. I figured there was potentially nasty stuff in these labs, so it really should be tighter.

I headed into the elevator and pressed the number two. The elevator was slow, and when the doors opened, I looked down a long, white hall. I paused at the first lab, peering through the glass window. It looked like a standard lab to me—equipment, workbenches, test tubes. There was a card reader to swipe to open the door, so that was something.

I kept walking and saw the sign for Lab Four. The door was propped open.

Inside, the long benches were filled with a jumble of lots of gear and boxes.

“Hello?” I called out.

“Hi.” A woman backed out of a side room, maneuvering the large box she was carrying. She wore a lab coat and had dark hair that didn’t quite reach her shoulders.

She set the box down and I got a glimpse of a curvy body. Then she straightened and turned to face me.

What the hell? It was like a punch to the gut.