“Yeah, Doll, a date.”
“Um. Brooks, have you forgotten where we are?”
I kind of had, though I wasn’t about to admit it to her. I was a highly-trained special operator. I was well-versed in: regroup, improvise, and adapt. Surely I could come up with something.
“I haven’t forgotten.”
“Then why the hell would you ask me on a date? We’re kinda in the middle of something.”
“If by something, you mean the getting-to-know-you phase, I agree.”
“Brooks—”
“Tomorrow night.”
“Tomorrow night we’re scheduled to recon Al Issa’s compound,” she reminded me.
“I know.”
“If you know, then why would you ask me on a date tomorrow night?”
“Who says some good ole fashioned reconnaissance can’t be a date?”
Her eyes flashed, then narrowed. I tried to hold back my humor as her mouth opened and shut a few times before she finally said, “Gee, don’t you know how to impress a woman.”
“Tell me you don’t enjoy scouting secured locations under the threat of physical harm.”
Her lips tipped up and she shook her head. “Boy, you’re a real smooth Casanova, aren’t you? Promise a girl a little action and she’s putty in your hands.”
“I’ll even let you take point and give you the brand-new pair of NVGs.”
“Wow. How can I possibly say no to that?”
“You can’t.” I lowered my face and nuzzled her neck. Fuck, she smelled good. I’d already been fighting a hard-on as we’d exchanged banter, but as I inhaled her fresh scent, I lost the battle. I pushed our pelvises together and muttered, “And for the record, the action I’m promising won’t leave you putty in my hands. It will leave you boneless and exhausted.” Her body trembled and I smiled against her neck. “So it’s a date?”
“Yeah.”
One word laced with so much desire. I groaned into the soft skin under her ear. With a soft touch of my lips, I pulled back and took in her flushed cheeks and glazed eyes. Thank fuck, I wasn’t the only one affected.
Chapter 29
I was getting ready to jump from the moving SUV. Thad and Max had been droning on about football for the last two hours. Two. We still had four more hours to go.
Update, the topic had changed to basketball. No less boring and I was still considering throwing myself out of the vehicle. The only good news was, we only had an hour left of the drive. Other than stopping on the side of the road to pee, yes, the side of the road, there were no restrooms in the middle of the desert, we hadn’t stopped. I could’ve gone my whole life without having to drop trou next to a car full of hot men. They, however, had no issue when nature called. They did their business with a smile.
There was one more good part about the drive. Brooks had put his arm around me and tucked me close. I’d dozed off a few times using him as a very hard, very muscular pillow. The ride gave me a lot of time to think. About Brooks, about my life, about where I was going when this mission was over.
There was no way I would be continuing my employment with The Company. I wasn’t sure where I was supposed to send that particular resignation letter, but it would be short, very short, two words actually: Fuck Off. Unprofessional, yes. Juvenile and beneath me, yes. I’d considered a more professionally penned notice of my departure, but I figured a death threat was the best I could do and it would be no less-welcomed.
I’d also had time to finally start to process the hurricane that was Brooks Miller. I’d come to a few frightening conclusions: I liked him and I had feelings for him that went beyond sexy fun times. How in the world that had happened I had no idea. It was insanity, but I couldn’t deny that when I felt his eyes land on me, my skin heated. His touch overwhelmed me. When he spoke, I felt his words deep in my soul, they soothed my tattered heart. Even though I’d come to the uncomfortable realization I was falling in love with a man, who may or may not want me for more than a roll in the hay, I still had no clue how I was supposed to proceed.
We were in the middle of an op, I was going to be jobless and homeless. The last thing I should’ve been worried about was the way Brooks made me tingle. I shouldn’t have been behaving like a giddy schoolgirl with her first crush. And he shouldn’t have been flirting and asking me out on dates. I wasn’t about to condemn him for the sex we’d had, even though that shouldn’t have happened, either. I liked that part, and hoped before everything was over, I could convince him it needed to happen more. There were a lot of shouldn’t haves swirling around in my head.
I cut my eyes to the handsome man sitting next to me and wondered what was stopping me. He wasn’t James. Far from it. Even when James was trying to get me to go out with him, he never made me feel the way Brooks did. They were night and day. My ex was a sweet talker, always trying to bullshit. Brooks was straight with his words and honest with his reactions. He’d never massaged the truth so I would like his answer. I pushed all the red flags that were waving in front of me to the side and decided to throw caution to the wind. I had to see where things would lead with Books. If I didn’t let down the walls I’d built to protect myself, I’d regret it.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“Yeah. Just thinkin’”
“Come to any conclusions?”
“A few.”
“Any of those conclusions gonna piss me off?” he asked then leaned in close. “Your death stare doesn’t work on me, Doll.”
Smug bastard.
“I know it doesn’t. You have yet to vanish in a puff of smoke.”
His face lit with humor. His hazel eyes danced with mirth. And finally his head tipped to the side and his laughter filled the SUV. Damn, he was hot. Looked even better when he was smiling.
“You’re funny.”
“I wasn’t trying to be.”
He was back to invading my space and whispered, “I don’t know about the smoke part, but when we’re together, you set me on fire.”
The eye roll was instinctive and immediate. “You should stop talking.”
“Why? You like my mouth.” His words were spoken against my skin and when his tongue came out and touched my skin I was reminded how right he was. I did like his mouth.
“You like my fingers, too.”
Okay. He had me there.
“But I think there are other parts on me you like more.”
What could I say? He was right.
“I think you may need a reminder.”
I didn’t argue when he told me I needed the reminder even though he was wrong. I didn’t need one, but I wasn’t so stupid I’d turn down the offer. The times we’d been together were forever woven into my memories. Even if he walked away tomorrow, I’d never forget. Not a single second of it. Not his mouth, not his fingers, not other parts of him. But what I would remember the most was, how he’d given me back something huge. A piece of myself I’d forgotten I possessed—courage. He’d reminded me I was strong and brave. I was smart and good at my job. He’d made me feel sexy, he didn’t care about my scars, he embraced them. I was grateful for that, too. But nothing could trump him giving me back my self-worth.
With a masculine chuckle, he righted himself but kept his arm around me. I tried my best to curb the lust he’d built and went back to thinking about our day.
After one last briefing with Zane where he’d confirmed we were mission go, we headed to the meeting location Matek Nazari had been sent to. The smug bastard had been sitting in the outside dining area of one of his favorite restaurants. Kyle had taken the shot. I’d also learned that he was the best of the bunch with a long gun. Though all the guys had bickered, he was only better by less than a fourth of an inch. Which in some cases was the difference between a hit or a miss. Kyle hadn’t missed, it was clean and precise, and Matek Nazari was dead.
I should’ve felt some relief that the man was no longer alive and able to send hitmen after me, but I wasn’t. While extinguishing the scumbags of the
planet was a necessary evil, I’d never rejoiced in it. Though, once Al Issa was in the ground, I may feel differently. I wanted him dead for personal reasons. They were biblical actually; an eye for an eye. No, he hadn’t physically killed me, but a part of me had died while his men carved me up.
Kyle’s voice giving Declan directions to the house we’d be staying in pulled me from my thoughts of death and retribution.
“Are you fuckin’ sure about this?” Thad asked from the third row of seats where he and Max were sitting behind me.
“You handling nav, or am I? That’s right, I am. I got the GPS out, asshole.” Kyle’s outburst was dripping with sarcasm.
Good to know. Everyone was as cranky as I was from the world’s most boring road trip across the barren, sandy, desert. There weren’t even trees to look at. Nothing.
We passed a sign warning us there were only five kilometers until the Kuwaiti border crossing and Kyle spoke again, “Slow down, the dirt road is coming up in five hundred feet. Turn right.”
Declan found the road and slowed even more now that we were back onto a gravel road. Maybe I should back up to the part of the day where travel routes were discussed, and clarify. There was indeed a faster route from Al Qatif to the Raqa’i Port. One that was full of paved interstates and places to stop and eat. However, the team, much to my chagrin, chose the scenic desert route minus the scenery. This was bumpy. It also added two hours to the already five-hour drive. Seven hours sitting in a car had made me crabby, too.
I don’t think I’d ever been so happy to see a single level, tan colored, L-shaped… hut? Maybe it could be called that. I wasn’t sure what defined a structure as a hut versus a house, but looking at the building, I was leaning toward hut. Nothing about it screamed safe, however my ass was so numb and I had to pee again so I wasn’t going to suggest we call Zane Lewis and tell him the accommodations he’d provided sucked.
“We’re here,” Kyle unnecessarily announced.
Brooks shook his head and smiled. “Ready?”
“God, yes.”
If he didn’t hurry up and move out of my way, I was going to climb over him to exit.
“Eager, huh?” His eyebrows wiggled, and as childish as his statement was, I couldn’t help laughing.
Maybe I was delirious from the mind-numbing ride. Maybe I was eager to sample some more of his hot body and talented tongue. I wasn’t sure what I blamed my next move on, but I leaned toward him as he was exiting the car and kissed him square on the mouth in front of everyone.
Nothing like jumping in with both feet and a blindfold on. I prayed I knew what I was doing.
Chapter 30
Holy fuck. I was stunned motionless. The shock of her kiss hadn’t worn off when Thad’s meaty paw slapped my shoulder.
“Move it. I want out of this tin can. And next time, you two lovebirds get the back so I don’t have to watch you make out.”
“No one was making out,” Tatiana protested. “And next time, I’ll remember my noise cancelling headset. My ears are bleeding after seven hours of the two of you arguing about deflated footballs and the Lakers’ draft pick for the year.”
“Wagner is our ticket to a winning season,” Thad argued.
“I don’t know who that is, and I don’t care.”
“You four gonna sit in the car all night, or get out?” Declan asked.
I was definitely getting out and so was Tatiana. There’d be payback for the kiss she’d planted on me. The good kind of retribution that would have her panting and begging. I hoped the walls in this piece of shit house were thick because there was no way I was taking it easy on her. Not when I was feeling ten feet tall and like a caveman.
I gripped Tatiana’s hand and helped her out of the back seat. Once she was settled on her feet, I went to the back of the SUV to grab our bags. Kyle was already standing watch, Declan was sweeping the perimeter, both had their weapons out, ready for anything. Which reminded me, I gave a sharp whistle and Tatiana turned to look at me. I patted my hip, reminding her she needed her gun at the ready as well. Her Sig cleared her holster and she followed Declan. I knew she was rolling those pretty eyes of hers and if she were closer, she would’ve given me shit. Yeah, she was feisty, I was damn lucky.
Less than an hour later, we were settled in the house, the perimeter was trip wired, and Declan’s crazy ass had set some IEDs around the points of entry. Garrett had called to inform us that he and Tex were able to move all of Matek’s money. His sons would be left penniless. They’d never touch the blood money their father had acquired. Instead, the two computer-hacker-geniuses divided up the funds and anonymously donated hundreds of millions of dollars to relief organizations around the world. There was a girls’ school in Africa that would have funding for years. A Midwestern state in the US that had counties so poor they were closing schools, were now flush with cash. A town in the state of Michigan that had water issues for years would no longer need to worry about bottled water. The money had gone all over, good people would benefit from his ill-gotten gains. That was the good news.
The bad news was, we were in a holding pattern. Tex had new drone footage of Al Issa’s compound and more men had arrived. We were already out-numbered, but it was manageable. With the addition of ten more men, it was questionable. Thankfully, Zane didn’t do questionable, so we were going to sit on our thumbs for a few days and see what the prince did.
The extra days and nights I would get with Tatiana were welcomed, but the longer we were in the area, the better the chance someone would see us and tip off Al Issa. Or think it would be a good idea to try their luck at killing a few Americans.
Thad and Tatiana were sitting on the smaller of the two couches, heads together as they looked at her laptop balanced on her knees. My gaze moved lower and something that felt a lot like jealousy started churning in my gut at the sight of their thighs touching. He was casually chomping on a protein bar and she was pointing to something on the screen.
“You look like you’re ready to rip someone’s head off, buddy,” Kyle said and followed my stare.
Thad turned in our direction and shoved the last of his bar into his mouth. He chewed, swallowed, then smirked. Then he moved. Not to get up and stop touching my woman, no not Thad. The fucker stretched his arm closest to Tatiana above his head and in a move every teenage boy in the world had tried, he lowered his arm down behind her and turned closer.
The jealousy roiling around was now threatening to bubble over.
“Great. You woke the sleeping bear,” Kyle joked.
“It’s not my fault I’m a big man,” Thad returned, humor lacing his tone.
“Seriously?” Tatiana finally glanced up from her computer and looked at me.
Thad and Kyle both chuckled, obviously finding humor in my discomfort. If I wasn’t the one pissed, I would’ve been able to see why they’d think it was funny. But I was pissed, so I didn’t see anything funny about the game Thad was playing.
“You mind?” I asked Thad.
“Not at all,” he said, but made no effort to move.
Irrational annoyance and possessiveness washed over me. I went to take a step toward the couch when Kyle grabbed my arm. “He’s fuckin’ with you.”
I knew he was. That was where my annoyance stemmed from. Tatiana wasn’t a game and I wasn’t joking. She was mine and no one, not even Thad, was going to touch her.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, caveman. We’re looking at maps, not watching porn,” Tatiana told me.
“What’d we miss? Who’s watching porn?” Max asked as he walked into the room with Declan.
“Not watching porn,” Tatiana corrected.
“Damn. That’s too bad.”
Declan remained quiet while he took in the scene, then muttered, “Totally understand Zane now. I owe him an apology and a box of donuts.”
“Don’t lump us in with the Red Team. Just because lover boy over there has his panties in a bunch doesn’t mean the rest of us are stupid. Zane had to deal with L
inc, Jaxon, Leo, and Colin. We are practically monks compared to them.” Kyle laughed.
“And don’t forget Jasmin. That woman is harder to handle than any man on that team,” Max added.
“We’re a quiet drive in the park compared to them,” Thad told Dec. “Brooks is just jealous his woman would rather sit next to me than—”
“I’m not jealous,” I denied.
“Dude…” Kyle trailed off as if all he needed was one word to call me on my bullshit.
“Has anyone gone over the last SITREP Garrett sent over?” Declan thankfully inquired, moving the conversation back to work and away from my newfound jealousy.
“Yeah. We’re looking at it now,” Thad answered.
“I was thinking,” Tatiana started. “We need to watch the black market and bidding. The new additions could be there for transport of goods. If an auction just ended, the buyer could’ve sent in a convoy to pick up their product. It’s not like Al Issa calls UPS for a pick-up to ship and the buyer would never show personally.”
“You could be right,” Declan conceded.
“Also, if a pick-up was scheduled, Al Issa would have extra guards on the compound. I looked at the historical imagery, it seems when Al Issa visits the compound there are only four outside guards. Tex’s intel showed ten perimeter, three in the courtyard, and five on the roof. That’s overkill. His compound is literally in the middle of the desert. One rooftop spotter would suffice.”
“But if he had millions of dollars of goods to be transferred, he’d up his security,” I added, agreeing with her assessment.
“Exactly. He’s a pompous prick. He believes he’s untouchable. He doesn’t even have personal protection for any of his wives.”
Tatiana had abandoned her laptop and was pointing to a topographical map that was spread out on a coffee table in front of her. She scooted to the edge of the couch so she could mark points of interest. As much of an ass as it made me, I was happy she was no longer touching Thad.
Brooks (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Gold Team Book 1) Page 17