Kendra pulled out her phone and sighed at the brief text messages they’d exchanged last night. She wanted to think she was such a hot and desirable woman that a man like CJ had no choice but to keep after her, but the truth was, guys like him could get any woman they wanted. He didn’t need her.
She tried to focus on the positives. He’d contacted her about meeting at the course. Maybe that did mean something more than he needed her help for the job, or at least it meant he wasn’t furious with her.
That was a step in the right direction. At least that’s what she kept telling herself.
Kendra’s breath caught when she spotted CJ approaching in the distance. She enjoyed how his short-sleeve shirt showed off his thick arms. The rest of the world melted away. There was only the dreamboat.
She waved to him with a smile, hoping it didn’t seem forced. CJ’s pace was maddening, more meandering than walking. Did that mean he didn’t care? Her attempts to not read too much into his speed failed miserably.
“Hi,” she said as he completed his approach. “I’m glad you could make it.”
CJ shrugged. “It’ll be interesting to have you show me around. You’re going to be too busy tomorrow to do it.”
“I know you’re here to work a case, and I hope I can maybe be helpful with that. I’ll try and point out anything that seems out of order, but I haven’t seen anything like that yet.”
“Yeah, I’m here on a job,” CJ replied, his gaze pinning her. “But that’s not the only reason I’m here.”
Kendra swallowed, her toes curling. That wasn’t the look of a man who didn’t care about her. She still had a chance.
Dropping her soulmate theory on him might have scared him, so she decided to hold onto it for the moment. A half-dozen dates or so should be enough for her to admit it. At least she’d be getting a second chance, or maybe a third, but she needed to make sure they moved forward in a good way.
Kendra averted her eyes. “I-I’m sorry. I want to get that out there before we move on.”
“Sorry about what?” CJ looked confused. “I just got here.” He looked around, his brow furrowed.
“I’m sorry about last night.” Kendra licked her lips and looked around before lowering her voice. “That was a bitch move on my part. It’s my fault things got that far to begin with. I should have made it clear from the beginning that I didn’t want things to happen rather than revving you up and then slamming on the brakes. I enjoyed what we did, and I didn’t mean—”
“It’s no one’s fault,” CJ interrupted. “And you’ve got nothing to be sorry for. Or if we’re going to complain about a very, very enjoyable time together, it’s both our faults. And I don’t have a problem with you giving me something to work toward. We all need goals to motivate us.”
His follow-up grin sent a zing right to Kendra’s center. The man was making her come undone with a smile. She prayed he didn’t ask to take her right there. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to refuse.
“I’m not going to say I’m not sorry things didn’t go farther along, but it’s not like you owed me anything.” CJ moved closer until his breath warmed her face. “But that doesn’t mean I’ve given up on you, and once your race is over, I think we both want to see what it’s like when we go past the opening few… obstacles.”
“You’re right. You don’t have to give up.” Kendra swallowed. “You only need to be patient. There’s nothing like the reward that comes with the end of a race.”
CJ snaked an arm around her waist and pulled him flush against her. He dipped his head. She opened her mouth to greet his, eagerly accepting the invading tongue. Warmth spread through her as he crushed her against the wall of steel pretending to be his body. It wasn’t until someone loudly coughed next to them that she remembered where they were.
Her eyes snapped open. She didn’t even remember closing them.
Kendra pulled away, her entire body on fire. “I… uh….”
She winced, grateful Graham had decided they wouldn’t start filming until tomorrow. He would have loved to have teased her about the public display of affection.
CJ’s nostrils flared. He burned into her with those brown eyes, the desire obvious. A smile had been enough before, but now a mere look made her wet. She took a deep, shuddering breath.
“Let’s check out the course,” CJ said, his voice low. “We both might see something helpful.”
Kendra nodded quickly. “Y-yeah.” She gestured for him to follow. “Let’s do that.”
She cleared her throat as they approached one of the obstacles, an angled climbing wall. It was a rather conventional challenge and one that played to her strengths.
CJ was smiling, but there was a hint of suspicion in his eyes as he glanced around at the staffers and other athletes doing early recon. The kiss had almost made her forget he had a professional interest in the race, though she wasn’t sure if she could help him. If someone were dealing drugs or whatever else he was investigating, she wouldn’t know. All she could look for was anything that didn’t feel like it belonged at an OCR event.
“Lots of fit people here,” he said with a chuckle. “You’re not the only one doing early recon.”
“Not as many as I would have expected, but yes.” Kendra laughed. “Analyze, visualize, execute. That’s how things work in climbing and OCR stuff.” She shrugged. “I’m glad they’re letting us come and inspect everything. It helps.”
“Do they always do that?”
Kendra shook her head. “Everybody does it differently. Some races try to keep things as secret as they can right before. Others let you inspect. Some even run people through each obstacle while everyone is watching. It varies on the competition and who’s running it. A lot of people think all OCR events are like ASTC, but there are lots of different types. This kind is just most popular because of the show.”
Her explanation made her doubt anything sinister was going on. Criminals didn’t like lots of witnesses.
“Interesting.” CJ scratched his cheek. “I’ve never paid much attention to this kind of thing before.” He gestured to a large cylinder with handles connected to an angled cable at the top of the wall. “What’s the deal with that one?”
“It spins while it falls to the other side,” Kendra said, gesturing to the obstacle. “That kind of thing isn’t that hard in theory, but a lot of people don’t know how to deal with spinning stuff without getting dizzy. It takes a different kind of training.”
“And you?”
Kendra grinned. “I’ve trained for that kind of obstacle and balance obstacles. You need the full kit if you want to succeed.”
“That’s true,” said another woman from behind them.
Kendra and CJ turned around. A tall beautiful redheaded woman stood there smiling. Her identity wasn’t a mystery. She was one of the big stars of the OCR circuit and known for her appearances on American Samurai Training Challenge.
The redhead walked forward with a hungry smile, her gaze fixed on CJ. Though she was shorter than the giant man, she made Kendra look tiny in comparison. She offered her hand to CJ.
“Sarah Towers, you might have seen me on TV,” she said.
“CJ.” He rubbed his chin. “And nah. Can’t say I have.”
Irritation flashed across Sarah’s face. “Oh, this must be new for you.”
“You could say that.”
Kendra had the decency to look to the side before smirking. She couldn’t say Sarah wasn’t a good competitor, but being good at obstacle courses and being humble were two different things. Sarah even had a pose she called the “Tower of Preordained Victory” that accompanied her completion of stages in ASTC.
“Are you competing today?” Sarah asked CJ, ignoring Kendra.
He shook his head. “I’m just here as an interested fan.”
Sarah stared at CJ’s arms. “This is an easy course. It’s nothing like ASTC. I always say an OCR without a Katana Clash obstacle might as well be ignored.”
“I don’t
know what a Katana Clash obstacle is.” CJ shrugged.
Sarah sighed. “Do you mind if I touch your bicep? I bet you don’t mind. Guys like you put in a lot of work, and I really admire hard work.”
CJ put his arm around Kendra. “I think she might mind.”
Sarah wrinkled her nose and put on a fake smile. “Oh, so you’re together?” Her smile turned sickeningly sweet. “I’m surprised, Kendra. You hadn’t mentioned it on your channel.”
“This is kind of a new thing,” Kendra replied with a shrug.
Her heart thundered. She’d been concerned about CJ hating her, but now he was going out of his way to stake his claim. She wasn’t sure what their relationship was, but between the current situation and the kiss, at least she had him for now.
“Oh well.” Sarah waved. “Sorry to chat you up and run, but I’ve got important things to take care of.”
She didn’t wait for a response before wandering off, muttering under her breath. CJ stared after her, the corners of his mouth twitching into a smile.
“Should I not have done that?” CJ asked.
Kendra kissed him on the cheek. “That’s exactly what you should have done.”
“Good to know.” CJ motioned around the course. “We should check out the rest of the course before it gets too busy.”
“Right. Good call.”
Kendra wanted to pump her fist in the air and cheer. The race would be over that day, and then she could focus on CJ. Everything was going perfect. There couldn’t be anything left that could ruin her buzz.
Chapter Thirteen
CJ did his best to look for anything out of the ordinary while also not ignoring Kendra as she explained the intricacies and challenges involved with the different obstacles. He didn’t want her to think he wouldn’t listen to her, but as much as he wanted to stare at those luscious lips as they moved, he wasn’t there on a date or to impress a woman. A recon sweep required him to pay attention to everything and everyone around him. He might not know a lot about obstacle course racing, but he could potentially spot explosives or other military devices others might miss.
Still, being around Kendra didn’t help. Even though she wasn’t in her body-hugging athletic wear and her tracksuit concealed the perfectly sculpted form he’d began exploring the other night, his memories did the rest. He wanted to reach down and squeeze her tight ass before dragging her off into a dark shadow and having his way with her. Missing a bomb because he was too busy thinking about planting himself in a woman wouldn’t be something he could excuse away later.
“…and that’s the problem with balance obstacles,” Kendra said with a laugh. “It’s way too easy to take them lightly. So many good athletes go down on them even after a lot of practice. One split-second of lost concentration and poof! But at least they tend to be shorter than the other obstacles and don’t require the kind of conditioning say something like the Spiral of Doom does.”
CJ nodded quickly, almost having lost track of what she’d been saying in the haze of his lust. “I get it. They’re deceptively simple.”
“Exactly!” Kendra smiled brightly and looked rather pleased.
CJ almost snorted at his performance. It was all but perfect infiltration and spying. Julius would be so proud as long as he didn’t know about how obsessed CJ had become with a woman who should have been nothing but an informant. Their time together had stopped being about the mission from the moment CJ had decided kissing her was a good idea.
Going back to her room the night before might have been a mistake, but he didn’t care. Trying to convince himself to worry about it only confirmed his true error had been letting her brush him off.
He also didn’t care they hadn’t fully bonded. He craved more from her. He needed to be inside her before he lost it.
CJ respected Julius, who was there performing external recon on the site, but that didn’t mean the more experienced spy was always right. Ouroboros might be at the race, which meant there was a risk to Kendra. This mission had taken on much higher importance than before.
“You’re really into this,” Kendra said with a smile. “I’m surprised.”
“Really?” CJ replied. “I didn’t think I was being one way or another.”
“You’re just watching everything so intently. I was worried you’d be bored when I suggested this. I love the sport, but I get that not all sports are for all people.”
“I’m not bored at all. It’s all very interesting. I’m not going to pretend I’m a deep thinker, but I like learning new stuff.”
CJ narrowed his eyes. He spotted security guards coming in and out of a narrow non-descript building near the fence. It was a temporary structure that could easily be loaded onto a semi bed. He suspected it was a security station.
A guarded look played across Kendra’s face before she leaned closer to whisper, “Are you seeing something? Something related to your investigation? I almost forgot that’s the main reason you’re here.”
CJ stared at Kendra, shocked and wondering when she’d figured out the truth before remembering he’d claimed to be a PI investigating the race. That was the problem with lies, a man had to keep track of them and how they mixed with the truth. At least the Luna hybrids only had to conceal the location of their island at this point.
“Nothing like that.” He shook his head. “It’s all new to me. I was aware of all this stuff, but never watched any of the competitions. I get obstacle courses, but this is taking this all to the next level. It almost makes me want to compete.”
“You should try it sometime,” Kendra replied. “There are different styles of races and competition, so if you don’t like the feel of this one, it doesn’t mean OCR isn’t for you, and not everything is like ASTC, even if it’s influenced a lot of the smaller events because of how it’s been on TV for so long.”
Kendra’s smile faded. “Your investigation…” She looked away. “I know you can’t talk about it, but this isn’t anything that’s going to be dangerous, right?” She reached up and tucked a stray strand of her dark hair behind her ear. “I’ve not been thinking about it a lot, and you’re a PI and not a cop, so I want to believe everything is all right. I figure I’m okay unless this is like in the movies, and you’re on the trail of some super-corrupt big company that’ll stop at nothing.”
Damned if that idea wasn’t far off from the truth. Julius was right. Claiming to be a security contractor would have invited fewer questions, but CJ wished he didn’t have to come up with a story at all. He was sick of hiding who he was, but he didn’t want to be like the Luna hybrids and not live among humans.
Lying was annoying enough. Deceiving his potential Vestal was almost painful. He preferred straightforward missions where he was pointed at a target and given orders to take it out. He didn’t pity Maximus having to take on the mantle of leadership.
None of that helped CJ. Kendra might not be interrogating him, but she wanted answers. The worry in her eyes gnawed at him.
CJ sucked in a breath and decided to settle on a half-truth. Inventing new lies wasn’t necessary.
“I’ve got no evidence anyone’s planning anything violent here,” CJ replied. He avoided looking her in the eyes by focusing on the obstacle behind her, an elaborate challenge that combined hand-over-hand climbing with a pivoting wheel, a sort of hellish take on monkey bars. “But, yeah, like I said, I’m investigating the place.”
“But if you found something like that you’d tell the police?” Kendra asked. “Like if they were storing piles of dynamite to sell to terrorists?”
“Piles of dynamite?” CJ laughed. “That’s what you’re worried about?”
Kendra shrugged and looked away. “I don’t know everything evil money-hungry companies do. I’m not the PI. I’m just the pretty face.”
“You’re a lot more than that,” CJ replied in a low voice.
Kendra’s lips parted. She didn’t respond as she stared at him, a mix of surprise and confusion on her face. CJ hadn’t intended t
he slick line. He also didn’t regret it.
He nodded. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt. I’m not going to pretend the people I’m investigating aren’t garbage and terrible scum, but they’ve got their own reasons to want to keep a low profile, and hurting people at a major sporting event isn’t a good way to do that. And I can honestly say I haven’t heard anything about piles of dynamite.”
Kendra let out a sigh of relief. “Okay then. I’ll stop worrying. I trust you.”
It was CJ’s turn to stare, his heart pounding. She didn’t have a reason to trust him, not really, unless some deep part of her soul told her to trust him.
He yearned to tell her the truth. Yearned to hear her reaction.
Kendra took a deep breath before gesturing toward another obstacle, a multi-lane high-angle curving slide where the athlete needed to catch different bars and transfer lanes for the quickest completion. “We’re almost to the end,” she said quietly.
“Seen anything you’re worried about for the event?” CJ asked, hoping to steer the conversation away from any concerns over violence and their own burning but distracting mutual attraction.
Kendra shook her head. “Some of these are new, but there’s nothing I can’t handle. I’m glad I checked them out early. Sometimes the smallest thing can trip you up on an obstacle. People think it’s enough to see other people go, but you really need to sleep on this kind of thing. Subconscious image training.”
“Is a day going to be enough time to train?” CJ asked.
“It’s not about training.” Kendra shrugged. “Training helps, and conditioning is a must, but a big part of completion is strategy.” She flexed her arm. “I’ve got the strength, stamina, and speed to win, and now I need to problem-solve these obstacles to bring home that victory.”
They moved closer to the obstacle. CJ surveyed the area, trying his best to look casual. He sniffed a couple of times, seeking any unusual scents, but the wash of different odors, both from people and equipment, made it difficult to pick up anything in particular. The same could be said for conversations.
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