by Desiree Holt
Blaze drove to the second hangar and parked by the entrance. At the moment, they were the only ones there. He unlocked the door and ushered her inside. At one of the bays, he set out an array of handguns for her to choose from. She had to be careful because she had small hands and she needed a gun she could grip well, finally choosing the Glock Subcompact Slimline.
Peyton looked around. This hangar really was outfitted as a soundproofed gun range, with multiple shooting bays, motorized targets and a storage closet that held a large supply of bullets.
“Impressive,” she told him. “Very impressive.”
“We try to make sure we practice in here at least once a week,” Blaze told her as he took things from the supply area. “We have to always be at the top of our game. We also work out every day if we’re not involved with a client.”
She hadn’t practiced in quite a while, busy as she’d been meeting a deadline with her publisher, so she was a little rusty at first. And slower than usual, taking more time to sight the target. She waited for Blaze to make some kind of comment, but he was patient with her, showing her how to adjust her grip until it all felt comfortable again. She was acutely aware of him standing behind her, of the heat emanating from his body where it lightly touched hers. Of his hands molded around hers while she tested the guns. And his stance, back far enough to give her room but so there she was conscious of it every second. She had to force herself to stop thinking about his presence, if that was possible, and concentrate on the target.
He had stacked small boxes of bullets for her on the bay’s counter and she could actually feel him watching her each time she loaded the clip, then waiting patiently while she emptied it into the target. However, by the time they’d finished the session, she could tell he was surprised.
“You only missed one in the center circle.” His tone had a touch of amazement as he pushed the button so the target slid forward to where they stood.
Her shots were so clustered she had shredded the paper.
Peyton laughed. “I try to practice as much as I can. I mean, why have a gun if you can’t use it properly, right?”
“I agree. But I’m curious. What got you into firearms?”
“A book I was writing. My hero had to be an expert with a handgun. Since I’m a fanatic about my research, I bought a gun, with lots of advice, and took an intensive course so I could get my concealed carry license.” She grinned. “Now my heroines are sometimes well-trained and find themselves in situations where they need to be good.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Your bio says you write romance. I don’t exactly read it myself, but doesn’t it put a damper on things if the woman is carrying a gun?”
Peyton smiled in spite of herself. “Technically I write what’s called romantic suspense. My tag line is alpha heroes and strong women. For a macho guy like you, that means thrillers with a healthy dose of romance and very hot sex.”
As soon as she said the words, she snapped her mouth shut. Heat worked its way up her neck and into her cheeks and she busied herself taking the gun apart and checking everything.
Blaze laughed, the deep sound of it wrapping around her and easing some of her tension.
“Macho guys like me? Should I be flattered or insulted?”
“I’d think you’d be flattered.”
Oh, lord. She just kept opening her mouth wider to get her foot further inside it.
“Is that a fact. So you do research for your books. Does that include the hot sex part, too?”
Peyton tried to swallow, but her mouth was too dry. She kept her eyes focused on the gun and just shrugged her shoulders. “Not necessarily. I can read a lot about it. For research.”
“Yeah? What’s the fun in that?”
He touched her arm and she nearly dropped the Glock.
“Oh, sorry.” Great. Very professional.
He took the gun gently from her hands and set it on the counter of the bay, then turned her so she faced him. For a long moment, neither of them moved. His hands tightened on her and her pulse ratcheted up. She should take a step back. Now. Right now. But she couldn’t make herself do it.
Blaze opened his mouth, closed it, then cleared his throat.
“I have a confession to make, but first, here’s something for you to know about me. I was a SEAL for sixteen years. I received probably the most rigorous military training there is, calling for incredible discipline. The missions we conducted were tough and required every bit of skill and discipline we’d been taught. They were high voltage and often very secret. I never got involved with anyone because I didn’t want to distract myself, so all my so-called relationships were very casual.”
“That’s okay. You don’t need to say anything else. I understand. I hope you don’t think I was—”
“Stop.”
His gaze locked with hers and his hands were warm on her shoulders, his touch burning through her.
“I’m telling you this because it’s the first time in all these years that a woman has gotten under my defenses. And I mean, before I could blink. That’s not who I am. I shouldn’t even be saying this to you, it’s completely unprofessional and my partners will probably kill me. I was out of line with my comment, or at least the implication.”
“Wait. Please wait.” She held up her hand. For a moment she felt as if she couldn’t breathe. “What are you saying? You’re attracted to me? Is that what you’re telling me?”
She expected him to look away, but his gaze never wavered and something flared in his eyes. Peyton wondered if she was still back at the hospital, dozing in the chair, and this was some kind of dream.
“Yeah. That. You really should fire us. Or me. My partners can handle this.”
“Your partners.” She wet her suddenly dry lips. “Uh-huh. But you said that whoever makes the connection takes the lead on the case. That you would be the one I worked with. I hired you, specifically. Now you want to quit? Is… Is that what you want?”
“Hell, no. Peyton, you’ve got a dangerous situation here that we haven’t even begun to uncover, and I want to get answers for you. I want the truth as much as you do. Believe me. That’s why—”
He stopped and just stared at her.
“Why what, Blaze?” What on earth was going on here? Whatever it was, she didn’t want him to walk away from this.
“Oh, hell.”
He cupped her face in his large, warm hands, his eyes burning with heat, and so slowly she was afraid he’d change his mind. But then his mouth pressed against her, gently but firmly, and heat surged through her body. Her nipples turned to hardened peaks, her sex throbbed as if a bass drum was lodged there and a hunger she’d never experienced before surged through her.
When he nudged her lips apart with the tip of his tongue, she gladly opened her mouth for him and let that tongue sweep inside. Oh, god, he tasted so good, the heady flavor of a real male. It was an explosion of undefined emotion, like nothing she’d ever felt before.
The kiss went on and on, hot and erotic and sexy, until she had no breath left but still could not break away. Blaze’s arms banded around her, pressing her body to his. She could feel every ridge of muscle. Every dip and curve, from the solid flatness of his chest and belly to the thick hardness of his cock straining behind the denim of his jeans.
It could have been minutes, an hour, the next day before at last he lifted his head. She didn’t know which of them was breathing harder. There was a hunger in his eyes that eclipsed anything she might have expected to see. She wondered if hers reflected the same intensity. And even though the kiss was broken, Blaze still held her tight against his body, his big hands cupping the cheeks of her ass as he pressed against her.
“Jesus,” he said at last, his breath still unsteady.
Her smile was shaky. “I agree. What the hell was that?”
Blaze looked as shaken as she felt. “I think it was an earthquake at the top of the Richter scale. Listen, Peyton, I…”
He stopped as if he couldn’
t find the right words.
She knew exactly how he felt. “Um, well, I…”
He tilted up her chin with the tips of his fingers and studied her face.
“I don’t know if I should apologize or celebrate.” His laugh was rough and unsteady. “That kiss kicked my ass. Please tell me I wasn’t in it all by myself.”
“No. You weren’t. I thought you could tell.” She swallowed. “But how did we get here, Blaze? This isn’t like me at all. One minute I’m frantically trying to find out who put my sister in a coma and hiring people whose office is in a plane to do it. The next I’m getting kissed out of my mind, a kiss so hot I think the soles of my feet got singed. Do you know what’s going on here?”
“I do.” His lips tilted up in a tentative grin. “But you have to promise not to smack me if I tell you.”
Peyton let out a sigh. “How can I smack you when I was a willing participant?”
“The first thing I want to tell you is, everything else aside, my focus is on finding out who ran down your sister and brother-in-law and getting justice for you. For them.”
“Okay. And the second thing?”
“Whatever that was that just exploded between us? I can’t put it back in a bottle, Peyton. And I’m not sure I can keep my hands off you if we do this together. So again, if you want me to step back and let one of the others take lead, I’ll understand. I’m not in the habit of taking advantage of women at a bad place in their lives. That’s not who I am.”
“You don’t think I can tell that? I like to think I have good instincts about people. No, Blaze, I think I’m the one who should be embarrassed.” She studied his face, looking for some indication of his real thoughts. “This isn’t my usual style, either, but I don’t think I can turn it off. So unless you want to switch me to one of your partners, we’re doing this together.” She stopped and drew another breath. “All of it.”
Every muscle in his body seemed to relax and relief washed over his face.
“Thank fuck. Really. I thought I had really screwed things up here.” He brushed a light kiss over her lips. “How did I get so lucky? Smart, sexy and a crack shot. My partners would kill for this.”
Peyton grinned at him. “I’m kind of in a daze myself.”
“Meanwhile, let’s clean this stuff up and I’ll check in with the others. They all had their assignments for today.”
“What kind of assignments?”
“Research on all the players. We’ve all learned through trial and error how to dig deeper and scrounge up every bit of information. We don’t start the heavy lifting until we know everything there is to find out about the key players. Just like in the SEALs, research is an important part of every mission.”
Peyton cocked her head. “Really? Somehow I didn’t see you all hunched over computers. I had images of fierce warriors doing secret things no one else would handle.”
Blaze grinned. “Oh, we do that, too. More often than we’d thought we would. And speaking of being hunched over computers, I need to check in again and see where we’re at. Let’s sit down on that bench where the supplies are and I’ll give Viper a shout. We’ll both be on speaker so everyone’s on the call.”
When Viper answered, Blaze put the call on speaker so she could hear.
“Okay, guys, our client is right here with me so watch your language.”
Peyton paid careful attention as each of them spoke in turn. She could almost feel the testosterone flowing from the phone, if such a thing was possible. They had dug up more than she expected, but their information also reinforced her belief that she was up against some very powerful people.
Blaze listened without interrupting, paying attention until they were all finished.
“So you’re telling me that both traffic detectives are still tied up on an extended assignment? What the hell could that be? It’s traffic, right?”
“Nobody would give me specifics. Just said they’d been given a temporary assignment.” Eagle’s voice had an edge to it. “Could they be more obvious? They might as well have hung out a sign.”
“And their supervisor?”
“Said he can’t discuss it with people not related to the incident.”
“Incident.” Blaze snorted. “That’s an interesting word to use.”
“No kidding.” This was Rocket’s voice. “I’m following up on Peter Kendrick. On the surface, he looks so clean he squeaks, but I also learned he has a son. A lawyer, just like his dad, and on the list of firm attorneys. He could be just as clean, but maybe not. And as we all know, people will go to any lengths to protect their kids. I’m going to talk to some people and see what I come up with.”
“Good. I’m thinking one of us may need to visit the law firm. Can you put together a package with impressive creds and a good story as to why we’d want to hire them?”
“No sweat.” Rocket’s laugh boomed from the phone. “I’ll come up with something really good. Also, I was thinking one of us should connect with Tom Hernandez.”
Peyton glanced at Blaze. “He is a part of this team, also? Where does he fit in?”
“He’s a longtime friend of mine who put our corporation together and did all the legal work. As we went through the process he became a solid part of the team.”
“Good thought.”
“Do you want to keep that for yourself?”
Blaze shook his head. “No. He knows all of us now and I have other priorities at the moment.”
Peyton looked down at her hands, avoiding Blaze’s penetrating gaze.
“Give him a call,” Blaze continued. “He’s plugged into the legal scene in town pretty deep. Viper’s doing a deep dive into the firm and seeing what he can find online, but it would help to have Dan’s opinion. And maybe he has some bits and pieces he can share.”
“Got it. Thanks. Here’s Eagle.”
“Hey, Eagle,” Blaze acknowledged. “Viper’s good enough with research and he has a nose for it, but you’re the electronics expert in the group. Can you tap into the CCTV cameras? And is there a way you can find tapes that are three weeks old, or do you have to go to some facility and physically run them? We’ve got to find that car and identify it. God only knows where it is now, but at least we can figure out who the owner is.”
“Lucky for us, Tampa stores all their videos in a cloud for sixty days. I’ll let you know how secure it is when I get finished trying to access them. Once I’m in, I’ll go through them as fast as I can. I’ll head home to do it, because I need a more sophisticated computer, plus my primary one has the appropriate software on it.”
“Good enough, but keep in touch. I’ll be taking Peyton by the hospital to check on her sister and I’ll see if anything’s rattled Wagner’s cage. First, though, we’re going to take another look at the place where the hit-and-run happened. If any of you find anything at all, no matter how insignificant it might be, give me a shout.”
“By the way, the other leads you suggested we check out? Nothing there.”
“Good. Excellent. Thanks. Keep at it.”
“Okay. We’ll call if we hit pay dirt anywhere.”
Blaze disconnected and put the phone in his pocket. When he rose, he held out his hand to Peyton, wrapping it around hers. Instead of heading toward the exit, though, he stood there for a moment, studying her.
“What?” She frowned. “Is something wrong?”
“I hope not.” He blew out a breath. “Listen, Peyton. I just have to get this out there.”
Every muscle in her body tightened. What’s wrong?
“Get what out?”
“If I was out of line before with that kiss, just tell me now. I committed to handling this case for you and that’s the priority. I’m damn sure no one else can or will want to cut through the bullshit out there like Galaxy. Plus somebody’s throwing some muscle into this to keep people from doing just that. We want to do this, and I know we can.”
She studied his face. “I sense a ‘but’ in there.”
�
��But I don’t want there to be a problem between us. I never come on to clients like that. None of us do. It’s an unwritten rule. If you want one of my partners to take over, I’ll just step aside. You won’t even have to deal with me. Just please tell me everything’s okay and that I didn’t overstep.”
She stared at him for a moment, stunned at how nervous he was about it, then burst out laughing. He stared at her until she finally stopped and caught her breath.
“Sorry. I think that was all the tension catching up with me. No, you weren’t out of line. Not even a little. In case you didn’t notice, I was as into it as you were. Is it something I usually do? Absolutely not. Is this a normal situation? Again, no. Would I change one thing I did? No once more.” She stopped and caught her breath. “This whole business is throwing things out of whack, but I am not one bit sorry about that kiss. I wanted it as much as you did, and you have to know it wasn’t one-sided. Not by any means, so don’t apologize. If it makes you think less of me, well, I can’t help it.”
She halted, silently telling herself it was time to shut up.
Blaze let out a long breath then smiled and stroked his fingers down her cheek.
“This is so off the wall for me,” he said. “Maybe I jumped in with both feet, but I’m not walking away from it, and I’m glad you aren’t, either.” He brushed a light kiss on her mouth. “Damn glad.”
She smiled. “Good.”
“Okay, then.” In the next minute, he was all business again. “Listen, Peyton. Before we hit the hospital, I want to drive by the scene where the disaster happened. Rocket checked it out already, but I want to see for myself. You up for a ride, or you want me to take you back to be with your sister now?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I want to go with you. I looked at it as well, but I want to know what you see from your perspective.”
