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dumped everything from his pack onto the ugly flowered bedspread and sifted through
the contents. No phone.
He sat back for a moment and closed his eyes, trying to visualize where he last
saw it, used it. Maybe it had fallen in the truck somewhere except that he hadn t taken
it out of his backpack since stuffing it there that morning after talking to Maddy.
Evan did a visual scan around the room, knowing it was fruitless as they d only
just arrived, when his gaze caught on something shiny sitting on the table.
Lucas s cell phone.
Lucas said he was going outside to make a phone call but didn t take his phone.
Evan frowned.
He stood up and walked over to the window, grabbed an edge of the dirty curtain,
and pulled it back just enough to peek out. He could see the passenger side of the
vehicle from this angle. The interior light was on, and Lucas s blond locks flashed under
the light. Then he straightened up and stepped back, out of the pool of light. The
interior light snapped off as Lucas shut the door. He walked around to the passenger
side, and the light snapped back on when he opened the door and leaned inside. It
looked like he was fishing around in the glove box for something. Having found
whatever it was he was looking for, Lucas shoved it into his back pocket or the
waistband of his jeans. Evan couldn t be sure which from this angle, but he did catch a
metallic flash.
Lucas leaned back in, disappearing below the line of the dashboard, and then
stood up and shut the door. He turned back toward the motel and their room, and Evan
dropped the curtain, quickly returning to sit on his bed. What was Lucas doing out
there? And why had he gone to make a phone call without his phone?
Maybe the battery was dead.
Evan looked back at the phone on the table. He was just about to get up and check
when he heard the click of the key card unlocking the door. He returned his focus to
digging through his belongings for his own phone.
Riding with Heaven 51
 Lose something? Lucas asked, eyeing the spilled guts of Evan s backpack as the
door closed behind him. Two cans of soda stacked together were gripped in one hand
as he reached around with the other to flip the locks.
 Can t find my phone.
 Oh, Lucas said, his voice apologetic and expression sheepish.  I have it.
He reached into his back jeans pocket and retrieved the phone, then tossed it
across the room to Evan.  Sorry. I found it on the floor of the truck.
Evan caught the phone awkwardly, barely avoiding dropping it on the floor. The
device felt warm in his hand, from Lucas s body heat. He quietly said,  Thank you.
Lucas nodded.
Evan cleared his throat, took a breath, and silently prayed his voice sounded
conversational when he said,  I, ah& noticed you didn t take your phone.
Lucas stared at him blankly for a second.  Yeah, he said, then turned to place the
two cans of soda on the table and pick up his phone.  The battery s dead. I used the pay
phone by the front office.
 Yeah, that s what I figured. It made sense that Lucas would have used a pay
phone for a private call instead of the one in their room, but curiosity still tugged at
Evan.
Lucas turned back after a short stretch of silence.  They didn t have organic water
in the vending machine, he teased.  So I grabbed you a soda.
 Ha-ha, Evan intoned but couldn t help smiling.
Lucas gave him a playful wink and then opened his duffel bag and pulled out
what appeared to be a large, rectangular black toiletries bag. Only it was a hard case.
 I m just going to hop in the shower.
He leveled Evan a long stare, the light in his hazel eyes changing from greens to
golden browns, and Evan felt the temperature rise a few degrees under that gaze. Or at
least it was his own body heat that rose. Lucas stepped forward, placing himself
52 L. C. Chase
between Evan s knees where he sat on the edge of the bed, then reached out and ran his
fingers through Evan s hair and around to the back of his head. The caress so gentle, so
caring, that something inside Evan melted a little and spread out in his chest. Big,
strong man with a soft touch. Lucas leaned down and kissed him. His lips silky soft and
warm on Evan s. Then he stepped back and with nothing more than a sly, promise-
filled smile, strode into the bathroom and shut the door.
 Damn, Evan whispered. He undid a couple more of his shirt buttons and pulled
his shirt away from his body, using it as a fan to let a little moving air cool his skin.
Evan looked down at his phone, staring blankly for a moment until he could focus
again on something other than the gorgeous Lucas Briscoe and his toe-curling kisses
and sexy voice. Barely two bars on the display and a missed call from Maddy. He sifted
through the contents of his spilled bag again, this time looking for the charger, but it
wasn t where he thought he d put it either. He was positive he d packed it. He always
did.
He reached over to his larger travel suitcase and rifled through it. No charger.
And then an unwelcome thought danced through his mind unbidden. If Lucas
had his phone, could he have taken the charger too? He chewed at his bottom lip. No.
What reason would Lucas have to do that? It had to be just another strange coincidence.
And Lucas didn t take his phone either, just found it on the floor of the Tahoe. Then why
wouldn t Evan have heard it ring when Maddy called?
He looked again. What in the hell? It was set to vibrate, which he rarely set it to.
Damn Maddy and those fucking news reports for putting doubt in his mind, and
damn all these coincidences making him question Lucas.
Evan eyed Lucas s bag on the bed with the matching ugly bedspread. There was
no reason at all Evan could think of that Lucas would do something like that. Unless
Lucas really wasn t who he said he was. Evan still hadn t received a straight answer.
The Tahoe had Colorado plates, though Lucas said he lived in Charleston. He d said it
was a rental when Evan asked. Something to do with making a delivery in Denver for
Riding with Heaven 53
his job, though he still hadn t clarified what that was. Eradication business. What exactly
was that? Evan carded through his memory. He didn t recall any rental stickers on the
mobster-black vehicle. Usually at least one or two were visible somewhere on a rental,
and he made a mental note to look for one more closely in the morning.
And for his charger.
Why was he suddenly doubting Lucas? The man had been nothing but kind to
him. Evasive and a touch mercurial, yes, but that didn t make him a person up to no
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