by Lea Hart
“No way are we putting you out there. The team will come up with something that lets this guy self-destruct without you anywhere near him,” Hunter said.
Quinn knocked his knuckles on the table. “Sounds good. Claire, do your thing, keep me in the loop, and let’s see what we get by Monday. After we have some intel on how the guy is going to react, we can adjust and come up with a solid plan.”
“Perfect,” Claire said. She leaned in front of Brady and high-fived Erin. “Let’s nail this sucker.”
“Yeah,” Erin responded.
When Claire sat back and watched the men exchange glances, she knew they were not too sure, but it didn’t much matter to her. As long as she could track Alvin’s every movement, they had a shot at ending this for Erin. Which she really wanted to do, because having a constant threat was no way to live. If she could help end this, then she would be happy to do whatever it took.
***
Claire sat across from Brady on the patio of the Saint Street Inn and felt like laughing. He was struggling with his choice for dinner and she figured it was because the menu didn’t have more than one or two things he recognized. The place was cool and had a hipster vibe that she guessed wasn’t Brady’s thing. “Did you find something that looks good?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m going to try the steak and frites. Can’t go wrong there. What about you?”
“I’m going to have the roasted chicken.”
“Looks like neither one of us wanted to be daring with our choices.”
“I thought about the roasted pumpkin curry, but decided it might be a bit much.”
“I have no idea what that is,” Brady commented. “All my years out of state didn’t make me much of an adventurous eater, no matter how hard I tried.”
“How many years were you in Virginia?”
“I went up right after I graduated from college, so six years. I lived in a little apartment not far from Quantico and enjoyed the hell out of my time up North.”
“We lived about an hour apart for several years. Wouldn’t it have been funny if we met up there?”
“What?”
“I went to work for the CIA after I graduated from college. In 2011, I went up to Langley and took all the tests and then joined the company.”
“I had no idea,” Brady responded incredulously.
“It was really exciting when I started and then it became all-consuming and depressing. I lasted about four years before I discovered it wasn’t someplace that I wanted to dedicate my life to.”
“Damn, woman, we are some kind of super-operator, super-spy couple.”
Throwing her head back, she let out a laugh. “We are not even close to that. We are Southerners who happened to spend time working for the government.”
“I take it you didn’t really enjoy the spook business.”
“I was never a spook. I worked in a dark office surrounded by computers, figuring out ways to gather and hack information that would serve some mission I never completely understood. I was a low-level grunt and I never really got a sense of the big picture, so I never knew if what I was doing was making a difference.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that about Langley. I had about the opposite experience. I was on the front lines for most of my career. If I wasn’t fast-roping out of a helicopter, then I was doing a HALO jump out of a plane. Every time I put my life on the line, I knew what it was for.”
“I never put my life on the line, and all my hours spent inside the building never gave me much of a feeling of satisfaction. If I had spent my career there, I might’ve eventually found out what I was working toward.”
“Two very different approaches with two very different environments,” Brady responded. “Still, it’s cool that you worked there.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Shrugging, she looked across the patio. The waitress approached and they ordered their meals and drinks. After the woman left, she saw that Brady was studying her. “What?”
“Nothing,” he replied as he picked up her hand and held it. “It’s just that I’m glad we met here and not up in Virginia.”
“Why?”
“Because I wasn’t ready to be in a relationship when I was up there and I am now. If I’d met you too soon, I might’ve blown it.” Looking around the small restaurant, he grinned. “But here we are, back home, and I’m more than ready to make sure you fall for me.”
A nice, soft, swoshy feeling filled her chest as she stared into his eyes. “My goodness, Brady.”
“Don’t fight it, Claire. Just accept it and enjoy the ride.”
Their drinks were delivered, and she lifted hers and waited. “Here’s to coming home and finding someone unexpected.”
He clinked their glasses together and winked. “I’ll drink to that.”
As she took a sip of her drink, she thought about the possibilities and wondered if any of them were going to come true. It sure would be nice to think she had a chance at something with Brady that could last.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Friday, July 28th
Caging Claire against the wall, Brady lowered his head and kissed her resolutely. His lips slid over hers and his tongue took things deeper, which made the kiss hotter and probably not appropriate for the company gym.
But he was a man who was on the losing side of civility and he was one step away from embarrassing them both. With a Herculean effort, he ended the kiss and buried his face in the side of her neck with low, growling groan. “Morning,” he rasped out.
“Morning,” she responded choppily. “You have to tell me what did it for you ’cause I want to make sure and do it again.”
“Guess it’s the T-shirt.” He watched Claire’s eyes lower to her well-washed T-shirt and let out a laugh. “Or maybe it’s the tempting woman wearing it. I’m hungry for you, Claire, and most of my waking thoughts are centered around getting you hungry too.” He ran his hand up the side of her leg and then lifted it over his hip. Pressing his groin against her heat, he felt a shiver pass over her body and a small moan escape her lips.
Ahhh, music to his ears. Looking down into her wide hazel eyes, he saw hunger and desire. He skimmed the pads of his thumbs along her soft cheeks and watched her lashes flutter closed. “One more kiss,” he whispered. His lips covered hers and she immediately responded to his firm pressure with a ragged moan. She welcomed the sweep of his tongue inside her mouth and shuddered as he stroked and teased, getting her to play along.
He was lost in the taste and feel of Claire and didn’t register anything until he heard the sharp sound of wolf whistles. Releasing her mouth slowly, he rested his head against hers. “Assholes,” he muttered.
Claire dropped her leg and then started laughing. “Busted.”
“Guess the online dating thing isn’t happening anymore,” Miles commented as he climbed on the treadmill.
“Yeah,” Kane chimed in as he stretched against the far wall. “Guess Claire’s made her choice and it’s our man Brady who’s been declared the winner.”
“They make it sound like The Bachelorette,” Claire said against his chest.
Brady raised his hand over his shoulder and flipped Kane off. Taking a deep breath, he wrapped his arm around Claire’s shoulder and pulled her in front of him as they turned around. He had a situation in his gym shorts that none of his friends needed to see. Having Claire as a shield for the next couple of minutes was going to save him a lot of grief. “Don’t move,” he said quietly against her ear.
“Did I do that to you?”
“Thought the answer would be obvious since I was grinding against you a minute ago.”
“My goodness, Brady, what’s going to happen when we’re in private and don’t have any time constraints and…”
“I say we find out tonight how compatible we really are and answer that question.”
She lifted her hand, covered his arm, and pushed her hips back. “Well, I was going to do laundry, but what you’re offering has a lot more appeal. A lot more.”
“Thank fuck,” he muttered as he rested his chin on top of her head. “Now, quit moving because you are not helping matters.”
“Got it.”
“You two almost done over there?” Kane called out. “I got a couple of questions for Claire.”
“We good?” Claire asked over her shoulder.
“Yep.”
After sliding out of his hold, Claire walked across the gym and jumped on the tread climber. “Kane, you can come by my office later. Right now, I’m working out and not available.”
“You were available to make out with Brady. Why can’t you give me the download on the background check I submitted yesterday?”
“Kissing and working are two very different things.” She pushed her earbuds into her ears and started the machine.
“Leave her be,” Brady called across the gym.
The knowing smirk he got from both men didn’t irritate him in the least. In fact, he was pretty sure nothing would today. He had a damn date with Claire tonight and if he wasn’t mistaken, he might have a chance at a few things he’d been fantasizing about.
***
Claire swam in circles around Brady under the moonlight, and he wondered if she was ready to take their relationship to the next level. The heat in her eyes this morning sure made him think that they were good to go, but the shyness and reluctance she’d displayed since she arrived earlier made him wonder if she was having second thoughts.
When she made a close pass, he caught her hands, hauled her against his body, and held her tightly. She pushed her wet hair off her face, tilted her head, and he took the opportunity to kiss her squarely. She didn’t resist and pressed her mouth against his, so he relaxed. A girl didn’t kiss you like that if she wasn’t interested, and when her legs twined around his waist, he knew for sure.
Their bodies were lined up perfectly, which wasn’t something that happened unless she was in his arms. “Darlin’, we don’t have to do a thing but smooch if you’re having second thoughts.”
Her wet lashes brushed against her cheek as she blinked several times. Bingo, he thought. She wasn’t a hundred percent on board and the last thing he wanted was for her to feel pressured. “In fact, we can watch a movie if you want.”
Her gaze flew up, and the uncertainty he saw almost broke his heart. The shy woman in front of him was almost unrecognizable compared to the woman who had been giving him a hard time for the last couple of months and matched him toe-to-toe on almost anything.
“No,” she said firmly.
“What exactly are you saying no to?” he asked as he ran his finger over her soft, wet skin.
“I want to have sex, but I’m nervous because I don’t have a lot of experience.” She covered her face with her hand and then looked away.
He gently turned her face back and raised an eyebrow. “I feel like there’s more to the story. After all, we’ve got the right parts, and putting them together isn’t all that complicated. So, whatever has you spooked is a lot more than inserting tab A into slot B.”
She shivered, and he decided this was a discussion that didn’t need to happen in the water. He held her tightly as he walked across the pool and ascended the steps. He grabbed two large towels and then sat down on the double chaise lounge. He carefully wrapped a towel around her shoulders and then slid back into the chair. Leaning back, he pulled her close and had her surrounded. There wasn’t a part of her that wasn’t covered by a part of him.
He’d turned off the patio lights when they came out, so all that illuminated the area was the full moon. The sound of the June bugs and crickets filled the air, and he decided he was going to keep his mouth shut and let her be the one to speak.
When her hand covered his heart and her body relaxed against his, he decided he could wait for a hundred years if that’s what she needed.
“I’ve only slept with two people and it wasn’t great with either one.”
“Okay.”
“I’m sure that you have a ton of experience and probably have super-ninja sex skills, and I’m worried that you’re going to be really disappointed when you…as you say, insert tab A into slot B.”
“Darlin’, I’m pretty satisfied with having your almost naked body draped over mine, so I know anything past that is going to be freaking amazing.”
Claire pulled away from his arms and sat up. “That is such a lie.”
He took her hand, moved it to his swim trunks, and let it rest against his crotch. When she bit her bottom lip, he knew they were going to be just fine. “I got ten inches of hard steel telling you that I’m not a liar.”
“I didn’t even know they came in that size.”
He let out a bark of laughter. “I’m over six feet. I don’t have any small parts.” He fixed the towel that was draped over her shoulders and let his finger run over her arm. “Why do you think that you need a lot of experience for it to be good between us?”
“Because knowing what you’re doing always makes things better.”
Her hand moved slowly over the bulge in his shorts and she seemed fascinated to see it twitch under her attention. Following her example, he ran his hand up her leg and watched a trail of goose bumps appear.
“Why did you do the online dating thing?” It had never made sense to him. Her personality didn’t seem suited for it, and if she really didn’t have any experience, then meeting men online seemed to be about the worst option.
“Because I’m socially awkward. My parents died the summer before I started high school, which was awful. I was mourning while going through one of the most difficult developmental periods of an adolescent’s life. I was the sad girl who couldn’t get into the rhythm of my peers. All their laughing and stupid jokes and silly worries made no sense to me. So, I retreated and probably made it worse for myself.”
“I want to go back in time and take that girl’s hand and hold it until she feels okay in her heart, in her skin, and in the world,” Brady said with ferocity.
“That girl found a place where she felt comfortable.”
“Yeah?”
“I hung out with my grandmother and her friends and felt safe and comfortable. I was a teenager whose best friends were seventy years old.”
“That’s why you like flowered dresses so much.”
She shrugged. “Probably. Things got better junior year because Andi moved to town and we became best friends. I had worked through a lot of grief and was starting to feel like I could become a regular high school student.”
“But?”
“My grandmother got sick the summer before my senior year. We found out she had stage four cancer and probably didn’t have much time.”
“God, Claire. You didn’t catch a break.”
“To make a sad story short, she made it through June and passed away two weeks after I graduated from high school. If it wasn’t for Andi and her family, I don’t know how I would’ve made it. Her mama, to this day, is one of my favorite people.”
Not able to take the distance between them, he picked her up and pulled her into his arms. Maybe she didn’t need it, but he sure did. A lot of things made sense about this woman, and his respect, admiration, and all-out crush just rocketed into the stratosphere.
“The good news is that keeping Gran alive and social services out of our lives allowed me to develop my hacking skills. I was always really good with writing programs and coding, and when push came to shove and I needed to get my Gran taken care of, I became great.”
“So, how did you get yourself off to college and not fall apart?”
“My gran would have haunted me from the grave if I didn’t make a good go of it. There was no way I could let her down, so I got up every morning and put one foot in front of the other and finished my degree in three years. What I didn’t do was have a social life. I was the sad girl again and had no idea how to become a happy co-ed. I didn’t do hookups or meet-ups and I never swiped right. I had missed developing a whole set of social skills, and by college, I was
too far behind the curve to make a real go of trying to meet people and date.”
“The whole online thing makes a lot more sense now.”
“I liked the safety of the questionnaires and the algorithms and the anonymity. No one could reject me to my face, so it felt okay.”
“You have no idea how beautiful, amazing, and desirable you are. If you did, you would know that you could have any man you wanted.”
Snorting, she covered her face. “Yeah, that’s not true.”
He almost argued with her but thankfully stopped himself. Why should he convince her she could have her pick? Truth was, she couldn’t because he’d gotten here first and she was his. It just so happened he was the lucky son of a bitch who found her, so he was going to keep her. “Your lack of experience is kind of sexy, Claire. What happens between us is what we make it. Totally unique, completely our own. I don’t have any experience with you, so I have no idea what you like and how you like it. As far as I can tell, the privilege of being intimate with someone isn’t something that can be judged. It’s not like there’s a panel of Olympic judges sitting on the sidelines and giving us scores. The only thing that matters is that we’re open and honest with each other.”
“Guess that’s true. I just got up in my head and started worrying. Turns out, I really like you, and I want you to feel the same way about me. And if I’m no good in bed, that might be difficult.”
The arrow that had been threatening to pierce his heart finally did. Claire’s words broke him open and allowed the love that had been floating around to finally find a home and fill his being. It was the sappiest, most emotional thing that he’d ever experienced, and he didn’t expect to ever recover. Leaning forward, he framed her face and tried to get himself under control. “Not anything you ever have to worry about, Claire. You pretty much own me and there is nothing that you could do that’s ever going to change that.”
“Well, that’s good news.” She laid both of her hands over his, leaned up, and pressed a small kiss to his lips. When she pulled back and looked into his face, she grinned. “I didn’t mean to let all that loss define me, and truth is, it doesn’t anymore. I fell down and lost my spark for a while, but when I figured how to get back up, I rose as the whole damn fire.”
