Tempe sighed. “Is that the only laser that will work?”
“Yes. Well, there’s one other, but I think the Pentagon has it. They work by combining light with sound or something.” She shrugged. “I don’t really understand the specifics, but I know it’s special, and that’s good enough for me.”
Tempe snatched the keys from her hand. “What’s on the chip? What am I dealing with?”
Mira stared at her car keys, her finger’s twitching. “I don’t know.”
Tempe moved in closer, eyes narrowed. “Tell me, and maybe I won’t turn you in to the government when this is over.”
Mira bit her lip. “Tim was the head of an oversight committee for military research development. They created a new missile. It isn’t just a bunker buster. It can destroy entire cities from a continent away. The stone carried the schematics.”
…
“Can I get a lift? My car’s still at the airport,” Bravo asked as he followed Holly down the hallway away from Tempe’s office and toward the bay of elevators. Kane was still with the V.P., and she’d been speculating on the reason he’d been asked to stay. Did Tempe know that Holly and Kane had slept together? If so, did she even care?
Company policy didn’t allow two agents to have a relationship, but from what she’d seen and heard, it wasn’t enforced unless it interfered with field work.
It had to be something else. She hoped it was a plan to retrieve the necklace. But why exclude herself and Bravo?
Jerks.
“So, can I?” Bravo asked again when she didn’t respond.
“Sure,” she replied, but if he thought he was getting her into his bed, he was mistaken. It was a drop-off at the curb and nothing else.
They left the building in silence, and he followed her to her sea-foam green Miata at the far end of the lot and slid into the passenger seat.
Holly gunned the engine as she merged into traffic. It was early, but in Los Angeles, traffic was already grid-locked. As much as she loved L.A., sitting on the 405 at nine in the morning, choking on the exhaust in the air, and wedged between a Hummer and semi made her wish she lived in a small town.
Someplace where it didn’t take twenty minutes to get to the grocery store.
“You want to talk about it?” Bravo asked as they inched their way along the highway.
“About what?”
“Whatever it is that has a stick up your ass,” Bravo said.
She cast him a sharp glance. “Excuse me?”
He chuckled. “There’s the girl I remember.”
She refocused on the road. “I’m doing you a favor. Could you not act like an ass?”
He chuckled. “I like you better when you’re pissed. Or happy. Or horny. Anything but this pensive thing you’ve been doing since we stepped onto the plane.” He patted her knee. “If this is what you being in love is like, I think you need to walk away.”
She almost hit the brakes. “What the hell are you talking about?”
He shook his head. “You. Kane. Puppy eyes at each other when you’re not arguing. Frankly, it’s nauseating. And exhausting.”
“You’re out of your mind,” she snapped and turned on the radio, cranking it up to drown him out.
She wasn’t in love. She’d only been on those few missions with Kane. Most lasted only hours and ended with them yelling at each other. This weekend was by far the longest time they’d spent in each other’s company, but three days was not enough to fall in love. Lust? Sure. But love took time. Getting to know each other. Wanting to make the other person happy.
A whole myriad of emotions and experiences that she didn’t associate with Kane.
What she felt for him was nothing but desire combined with the occasional urge to kick his ass.
That wasn’t love.
Who the hell did Bravo think he was? One didn’t accuse someone of being in love without evidence. She flipped off the radio. “What makes you say that?”
Bravo shut his eyes and leaned back into the seat. “I know it when I see it.”
“You?” She tried not to laugh at the idea that the biggest player at HRS considered himself an expert on love.
He cracked open one eye. “I’m wrong?”
“I think you’re trying to get me into your bed,” Holly replied. “Been there. Done that.”
He shook his head. “I’m not, and for the record, if I wanted you in my bed, you’d be there. Willing and waiting.”
“Like hell,” Holly said, changing lanes and regretting that she agreed to give him a ride home. She should have made him take a company car.
“Sure you would,” Bravo replied. “I remember you enjoying yourself last time.”
She blushed at the memory, but kept her anger closer. “Tell yourself whatever you want, but I’ll never be in your bed again.”
“Why not?”
Because she loved Kane.
No.
She didn’t love him. It was something Bravo stuck in her head to mess with her. Nothing more.
“Because I’m tired, and I want to go home,” she replied, the lie sounding lame even to herself.
Bravo chuckled and shut his eyes again. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”
“Shut up.” Jerk. He’d done that on purpose.
She took the next exit and dodged cars as she drove over the speed limit in her hurry to be rid of him. In five minutes, he’d be out of her life, and she could forget this weekend happened. Let Kane and Tempe sort out what to do. She wanted to go to bed, yank the covers over her head, and sleep.
“Can I give you some advice?” Bravo asked as she turned on to the road that led to his condo.
“Can I stop you?” she asked, knowing that when people asked if they could give advice it was code for “I’m going to give you advice whether you like it or not.”
“No,” he said with a chuckle. Twisting in the seat, he took her hand from the wheel and held it. “I think he feels the same. So, if you love him, don’t ignore it. Don’t walk away. We only get so many chances at love, and when they’re gone, that’s it. Don’t blow it because you’re scared.”
He sounded sincere and something else. Broken. Guilty. She looked at him again. The way he held her hand. There wasn’t anything sexual about his touch. Just concern.
“I’m not scared,” she lied. Maybe she was missing out, but she wasn’t ready for love. And she sure as hell wasn’t ready for loving someone like Kane. He was intense. Serious. Everything she wasn’t.
She stopped at the curb and popped the trunk. Bravo placed her hand back on the wheel. “You’re a good agent. A great thief. But there’s more to life than the job.”
A funny statement coming from a man who was never home. “You’re one to talk,” she said. “That’s all you do. You’re always working. Traveling.”
“I know.” He opened the door and hesitated. “But ask yourself why.”
…
He’s running away from his past. That’s what Bravo was telling her. That he used the job to keep his brain occupied.
She wouldn’t become him, she told herself. She wasn’t Bravo. She wasn’t going to use the job to run away. Besides, if she wanted to do that, she could always go back to the circus. She smiled to herself at the idea. Most people ran away to the circus. She’d run away from it.
She did always like to be different.
“I wasn’t sure you’d come home.”
Holly jumped. Kane stood at the top of the stairs. She’d been so preoccupied she hadn’t seen him waiting. Now, her heart beat hard. She wanted to hate him. Needed the anger and the animosity if she wanted to stay out of his arms and his bed.
He leaned against the wall, wearing jeans and a plain dark blue T-shirt. His hair still damp and his expression both unsure and expectant—a mix of emotions that reflected her own.
I will not let him get to me. She hardened her heart. “What do you mean?” she asked, digging out her keys from her pocket as she slid past him.
“You.
Bravo.” The words hung in the air.
How could he think so little of her? That she’d jump from man to man without hesitation? “Do you think I’m that easy to get into bed?”
She opened the door. The apartment was empty. Her roommate Eva had to be out with Quinn, her boyfriend. Ever since she’d returned from her last business trip, she’d been practically living with the man.
“I don’t think any such thing,” Kane said, as he followed her inside and shut the door behind him.
Holly whirled to face him. “What are you doing? I didn’t ask you in.”
He nodded. “I know, but we need to talk.”
The talk. She knew it.
“If it’s about the mission, let’s hear it.” she said as she went into the kitchen, opened the fridge, pulled out a bottle of pinot noir, and poured herself a glass.
Kane raised a brow. She knew it was early but didn’t care. She’d been awake all night, and as far as she was concerned, she’d earned it and a few glasses more.
She didn’t offer one to Kane—intruders who were about to deliver “the talk” didn’t get wine.
He took a seat on the couch. “Okay, we can discuss the mission. What do you want to know?”
“Oh,” she said, surprised at her disappointment. Then again, it solidified her argument that Bravo was wrong—he didn’t have feelings for her beyond respect as a colleague and perhaps a bit of lust. The disappointment inside grew deeper. Stronger. “What’s the scoop? Are we going after the chip?”
“I am.”
She wasn’t? Great. Today was one big frustration after another. She sucked down half the glass.
“But Tempe did say I could pick my team,” he said, looking much too satisfied with himself.
For a beat, she stared at him. “What. An. Ass,” she said once she was able to talk.
He laughed. “You seem to think I’m a predictable stick in the mud, so I thought I’d mix it up.”
She took a seat on the puffy chair across from him and set the glass down on the coffee table between them. “You think you’re so smart.”
“No. I don’t,” he replied, his arms crossed.
He’s always been a pain and occasionally a jerk, but he’d never been deliberately cruel. “Then why torture me?”
He leaned across the table, so close that his mouth was inches from hers.
She held her breath.
“I’m not trying to torture you,” he whispered.
“Then what?” she whispered back, not daring to raise her voice. Not sure what to do. Or what she wanted. Except that it involved the man staring at her from across the table.
She leaned across the table, meeting him halfway. He brushed his lips against hers, and she shut her eyes. Sinking into the sensation, she breathed him in as Bravo’s words came back to her. We only get so many chances at love, and when they’re gone, that’s it. Don’t blow it because you’re scared.
She was well and truly terrified.
“What do you want?” she asked, the words soft against his mouth.
He kissed the tip of her nose in reply.
The air between them shifted as he rose. She opened her eyes, and he stood in front of her, right hand outstretched. Offering.
She placed her hand in his and let him help her to her feet. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she rose onto the tip of her toes and kissed him before she could stop herself. Her tongue slid past his lips to taste him. Take him in. Make him hers.
Kane groaned against her mouth and lifted her up and against him. Her ribs protested but didn’t make her flinch.
He was already hard as she wrapped her legs around his waist, and her body responded, making her catch her breath.
Maybe it was love. Maybe it was lust. Perhaps both.
Whatever she felt, she wanted more of it. “Down the hall. First room on the left,” she said.
He walked them down the hall as she bit his ear. One hand holding her, he opened the door to her bedroom. Once inside, he kicked it shut and tossed her onto the bed.
She winced as she bounced on the mattress.
“Shit. Sorry.”
She laughed, patting the space next to her. “I was raised in the circus. Trust me, I’ve had worse. A lot worse. But if you want to show me how sorry you are…”
He dove toward her, and she rolled out of the way, laughing. “You’ll have to do better than that.”
He straddled her—she noticed he was careful to keep his weight off of her—pressing her wrists into the pillow. “Like this?” he asked, biting her neck before blowing a raspberry on her bare skin, tickling her.
She half-laughed, half-shrieked, and tried to get away.
Kane was having none of it. He blew another raspberry on her neck, making her scream. Pulling up her shirt, he unhooked her bra then took a nipple into his mouth. Then the other. Alternating until she squirmed beneath him, eager to be naked and in his arms.
“Say Uncle,” he laughed, sitting up and cupping her face with a free hand.
She reached up and mirrored him, his skin rough with stubble beneath her palm. Life was a hell of a lot easier when she loathed him.
“Say it,” he said, staring down at her, his eyes eager. Begging. Wanting her so much that she knew she could ask for anything and everything, and he would give it to her.
There was only one thing she wanted.
She kissed his palm. “Uncle.” She bit him. Hard.
Chapter Fifteen
Kane clenched his teeth as Holly sunk her incisors into the padded flesh below his thumb. It wasn’t painful but served as a sharp reminder of who he was dealing with.
Holly Milano.
A woman that did what she wanted, whether it was in bed or on a mission. Both infuriating and intriguing, he was starting to wonder how he had ever lived without her.
But was forever an option? The strengths that drew him were also her greatest weaknesses. He’d learned that the hard way with Danielle.
Plus, Holly made it clear she didn’t want a relationship. She wanted her freedom. She wanted no strings attached.
Asking for more than she was willing to give would only get him hurt.
So, he wouldn’t ask, he vowed, as he kissed her inner wrist. He’d take whatever she was willing to give, whether it was her body, her humor, her mind, or even her heart.
Not that he had illusions on the latter. He hesitated, knowing he was a fool.
She kissed his palm where she had bit it only seconds earlier then licked the tip of his index finger before she slipped it into her mouth and sucked on it. He groaned at the obvious innuendo. “If you don’t stop that, this is going to be over much too soon.”
She laughed and released him. “We wouldn’t want that.”
This time it was Holly who straddled him, her long blond hair pulled to one side and over her shoulder. The ends tickled him as she leaned over to scrape a hard nipple against his mouth. He flicked his tongue out once. Twice. Three times. Each time her breath caught in her throat making him smile.
He wasn’t going to walk away from her. It wasn’t the sex. It was the way she smiled. Her laugh. How she defied him. Argued. How much she cared.
Still leaning over him, Holly pushed his shirt up and kissed her way down his body. When she reached his jeans, there was no hesitation. She wasn’t a shy, inexperienced girl playing a game or acting as if this were her first time.
She was confident and playful, and it was one more thing to love.
“Take your clothes off,” he said after she’d stripped him bare.
She stood and started to pull her shirt over her head.
“Stop.”
She hesitated, staring at his wide blue eyes. “Is there a problem?”
Time was the problem. There was never enough. “Slow,” he whispered. “Take your time. I want to enjoy this.”
She blew him a kiss then turned her back to him. Her arms crossed, she gripped the hem of her shirt. Slowly, she inched the material up her back, expos
ing her skin an inch at a time. Glancing at him over her shoulder, she flashed him a wicked grin, yanked the material over her head, and tossed it to the floor.
Still facing the wall, she unbuttoned her jeans but didn’t pull them down. Instead, she leaned over, her bottom so close he could touch her if he reached out…
Holly slapped his hand. “No. Just watch.”
It was difficult, but he pulled his hand back to his side. He’d asked for slow, and it seemed she wasn’t going to let him change his mind.
Worth it.
Her hips swayed from side to side, making the occasional figure eight, as she teased him with her body.
Finally, she inched her jeans over her curves, taunting him with a peek of her panties. Pulling her jeans back up. Then inching them down again.
“You’re killing me,” Kane said, falling back with a groan. He was starting to regret his request that she go slow.
She laughed, and when he looked again, her jeans were in a puddle at her feet, and she wore nothing but a black bra and white panties with black polka dots.
Both sexy and sweet, she stood at the end of the bed, running her hands down her sides, over her hips and between her legs. No shame. No coyness. Just a woman confident in her body and what she wanted.
It took all of Kane’s willpower to not cross the space between them and pull her onto the bed.
She reached up to unhook her bra. It fell to the floor to join the rest of her clothes.
There wasn’t much left other than her panties, and he counted himself lucky that Holly didn’t believe in layering. He wanted her to turn around but knew if he asked, she’d only tell him no.
She hooked her thumb under the waistband of her panties and pulled them down an inch. She stopped.
“Brat,” he said.
She gave a wiggle of her hips to show she didn’t care what he thought. She pulled the panties down another inch then did the same with the other side.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” she asked.
“For you? Always.”
She let her panties fall to her feet, and with a flourish, she picked them up and tossed them at his head. He batted them away. “Like I said, brat,” he teased.
She responded by crawling toward him from the foot of the bed. Lithe as a cat, she stalked him. Made him wait. Dared him to touch her.
Undercover With the Enemy Page 17