Under the Moon by Natalie J. Damschroder Read Free Book Online Page A

the crowd wasn’t too bad. Nick stood watch while Quinn used their e-tickets to check them in at the self-service kiosk, and he maintained his vigilance through security and down the concourse.
    “Nick, please,” Quinn protested after he made yet another three-hundred-and-sixty-degree spin. “I feel like we’re on a stealth attack for the U.S. military.”
    He glared at her but settled down. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
    “I know. But I have to go.” She slowed as they approached their gate, noting the line of people stretching away from the boarding pass scanner and spilling out onto the main concourse. The gate attendant announced boarding for their flight, all rows, and they joined the line, slowly moving forward.
    Quinn handed over her boarding pass, waited for the attendant to run it through the scanner, and continued down the Jetway. She was on the plane before she realized Nick wasn’t right behind her. The attendant glared when she tried to go back, so she found her seat, stowed her carry-on bag, and settled in, feeling the seconds tick by into minutes before he appeared at the front of the plane.
    “Problem?” she asked when Nick appeared, scowling, three disgruntled-looking passengers following him down the aisle.
    “Damned pass wouldn’t scan.” He zipped his duffel, tossed a book onto his seat next to Quinn, and straightened. “I’m gonna do a quick walk-through. Stay here.”
    “Will do.”
    She picked up his book, surprised to see an old Dean Koontz horror novel. Nick wasn’t the reading-for-pleasure type. She tried to think of what he usually did during downtime, but there hadn’t been much. When he was with her he was always on alert, always engaged either with her or the people around them. The realization that after so many years there might still be things she didn’t know about Nick Jarrett was unnerving.
    As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she rejected it. Reading preferences aside, he was no stranger to her. She knew well his need to be in control, his surface amusement at everyone and everything around him, his snap judgments about people. She understood his compassion, the legacy he followed. He did the job he did because of a deep nobility, something he’d deny but that had been the foundation of the wall they’d set between them. A wall introduced by his words but bricked by her own distance.
    A few moments later, he dropped into his seat and held out his hand for the book. “Full flight.”
    “Anything suspicious?”
    “Nope. Ninety percent business people, ten percent frazzled families.”
    “Exactly what I would pretend to be, were I after me.” She handed him the book. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you read.”
    “You’re gonna sleep most of the flight. I need something to do.” He tucked the book into the pocket in front of him, then tilted toward her to dig underneath him for his seat belt. His scent rushed through her, spiking her in place with his hard chest and broad shoulders only inches away. The burn faded slowly after he sank into his seat.
    “So.” He turned his attention back to her. “Who are we seeing in Boston?”
    Quinn had spent the day shopping, packing, and leaving instructions for her staff. “I thought Sam would have told you.”
    Nick snorted. “Sam doesn’t tell me squat. What?” He shrugged at her disbelief. “I’m competition. Guys don’t help the competition.”
    “You’re not,” Quinn said without thinking. Nick’s mouth quirked in his familiar half smile, but before he could say anything more on the topic, she changed it. “I need to see Alana in person. Something’s up, and she won’t tell me online or over the phone.”
    “Aren’t you going to see her next week for the meeting?”
    “We can’t wait until next week.” She didn’t tell him about her growing uneasiness. He’d think it was fear of the leech, and it wasn’t, really. The leech was frightening on the level of hurricanes and car