She could feel his breath hit her face, smell the minty freshness of his toothpaste. His lips were full and inviting, which was why she’d been compelled to set hers against them earlier. He hadn’t shaved since she’d woken up, and she liked the scruffy look on him. It softened him. She imagined he normally looked far more professional when he was in the lab living as a real medical professional.
“Spencer’s nice,” he murmured, his nose against hers now.
“Yes. Not what I expected. He’s actually funny. I expected someone far more serious and awkward.”
Damon grinned. “Let’s not get carried away. The kid is awkward. Genius types usually are, but I think he feels comfortable with you, so he’s not as stiff. He’s loosened up since he arrived this afternoon.”
“Yeah, I noticed that too.” It was hard to keep their voices low enough, and she had to pray Spencer was asleep. Judging by the rough sounds of his breathing across the room, she suspected he was dead to the world. “I think you intimidate him,” she continued.
He smiled wider. “I intimidate a lot of people.”
She rolled her eyes. “I can imagine that, but you don’t intimidate me, so lighten up some. You could smile more.”
His face sobered a bit, creating the exact opposite result of what she was aiming for. “A secret government organization is trying to kill us.”
She sighed. He was right. “I know, but it doesn’t seem they currently are aware of our location.”
“I agree. Though I have been watching cars out in the street closely. There are a few I have my eye on every day.”
“Why? Because they park in the same spots? This is an apartment building. That has to be expected. Plus, people work in the area. The same ones should be coming and going every day.”
“You’re right, but no one should be sitting in their car for any length of time.” He cringed and squeezed her tighter.
She froze, her eyes going wider as she pushed a few inches off his chest and lifted her head to stare down at him.
He set a finger over her lips. “Shhh. Don’t wake Spencer. I’m sorry I said anything. It’s probably nothing. I’m just keeping an eye on the street is all.” He ran his hand up the back of her head and gently tugged her forward, his gaze on her lips.
She knew she should stop this madness, but she didn’t have the will. She wanted him to kiss her, partially to prove her attraction wasn’t one-sided and partially to experience the intimacy and warmth that came with a good kiss. She’d only been awake a week, but it had been a lot longer than that since the last time she’d been held by a man.
It felt good. He was kind and intelligent and sexy, and he gave a fuck about her. Those things were attractive, even if she hadn’t known him long. Any woman in her right mind would want Damon Bardsley to kiss her.
So she willingly lowered her lips to his and closed her eyes.
Damon held her head, angling it to one side with his palm. His other hand slid up her back, his fingers splaying between her shoulder blades. He eased into the kiss, teasing her lips with his before deepening the contact and touching the seam of her lips with his tongue.
Her body came more alive than it had in years. Real years. The ones she could remember. Her heart pounded at the way he melted her, taking charge of this make-out session, even though he was on the bottom. Her breasts felt heavy, and she squeezed her thighs together against the arousal.
She really needed to get a grip on herself. It wasn’t as though she could take this any further. The most they could ever do if they entered into relationship status would be to kiss. No way in hell was she going to have sex or even bare her skin three yards from another person. This wasn’t a dorm room. They weren’t eighteen. And the third wheel couldn’t wait in the hallway.
Nevertheless, she couldn’t bring herself to stop. She let her tongue dance with his, slowly, sweetly. Soothing her in a way that was calming at the same time red flags went up.
When he broke the kiss, she forced herself to ease away from him and land on her back at his side. For several moments, she did nothing but breathe heavily. Finally she turned her head toward him to find him staring at her. “We shouldn’t do this. It’s too complicated.” She turned onto her side, facing away from him, unable to continue to stare into his eyes. They bore into her soul, unnerving her with their intensity.
Damon rolled with her and hauled her back against his front, tucking his arm under her breasts. His lips landed on her ear. “Because you’re attracted to Spencer too,” he whispered, shocking her with his candidness and willingness to put it right out there.
She stiffened.
He chuckled lightly. “It’s okay. It makes sense. I welcome the competition.”
Competition?
“Stop worrying. We’ll figure things out. It was just a kiss. I enjoyed it.”
“Me too.” That’s what worries me.
“There’s been a development, sir.”
Ash leaned back in his chair, gripped his phone tighter, and closed his eyes. “What is it?”
“A third person joined Olivia and Damon Bardsley in the apartment.”
“What do you mean by joined? Someone stopped by?”
“No. I mean, it would appear the man came to stay. He had a large duffle bag and a computer case. He arrived this afternoon, and he didn’t leave.”
“You said it was a tiny studio apartment. How the hell could someone else join them?” Ash had no idea why the idea irritated him so much.
“I don’t know what to tell you, sir. But you’ll be interested in hearing who it is.”
“You know the guy?”
“Yes. Spencer Casey.”
“The computer hacker?”
“The very one.”
“What the hell is he doing in Denver?”
“No idea, sir.”
“Well, I don’t like it. Keep a close eye on them.”
“I’m on it, sir. One of us is patrolling the area and one of us is watching from an apartment across the street at all times.”
“Good. For God’s sake, don’t lose them.”
“We won’t, sir.”
Ash ended the call and let out a string of curse words. Why the fuck would Spencer Casey join Olivia and Damon? How did he know them? Trouble followed that kid. He was too reckless for his own good.
Chapter 7
“So, are you two like together or something?”
Damon jerked his gaze up from the cereal he’d been eating and set his spoon on the table.
Spencer was leaning against the counter two feet away, holding a mug of coffee.
Olivia was in the shower. Of course. It was obvious the three of them would have these quick conversations every time one of them showered. Damon wondered what the hell Spencer and Olivia would discuss while he showered. He vowed to keep them short. “Pardon?” He hadn’t been prepared for the question and needed a moment to put together a response. He wasn’t entirely sure how he wanted to field this line of inquiry.
Spencer nodded toward the bathroom. “You and Livvy. Are you interested in her?”
“I’ve only known her a week.”
Spencer rolled his eyes dramatically. “That’s bullshit. I knew within four seconds that if I met her in a bar, I would have hit on her. As soon as she smiled at me and said hi with that cute little wave yesterday. She’s funny, smart, enjoyable, and sexy as hell. You’ll never be able to convince me you aren’t interested in her. I see the way you watch her. I’m just asking if she returns the sentiment, or if she’s fair play.”
Damon lifted a brow. “Why are you bringing this up? Are you interested?”
Spencer smirked. “Of course I am. I already said I would have hit on her in a bar. Same as you.”
Damon sighed. “Doesn’t matter what I think. It’s a free country. Livvy can make her own choices.” Damon was full of shit, but he’d been unprepared for Spencer’s line of questioning. The kid had been skittish on the phone two days ago, so it shocked Damon that he’
d developed bigger balls than Damon would have expected. Somehow the awkward nervous kid who’d arrived yesterday had found a bit of spunk.
Furthermore, skittish Spencer had made Damon’s own balls tighten just speaking to him over the phone. Live-and-in-person Spencer might have been nervous at first, but his confidence was growing and that Spencer was even sexier.
Damon had half a mind to grab Spencer by the shirt, push him against the wall, and see if that ego of his could stand up under a firm hand.
Damon still had no idea, however, if Spencer swung both ways. More importantly, though, was the fact that the kid was apparently interested in Olivia, so even if he did swing both ways, that didn’t mean he swung both ways at the same time. That was an entirely different ballgame. Just because Damon seemed to imagine the scenario with great frequency now that fate had dumped yet another attractive person in his small living space, that didn’t mean he could ever act on it.
What a mess. And now he was rambling on about Olivia living in a free country. He needed to think before he said anything dumber than that.
Spencer lifted a brow and smirked. “You’re saying you seriously don’t care if I hit on her?” Damn the kid was cute. The dimples on his cheeks made Damon’s pants too tight.
“I’m saying we’re trapped in this small space for God knows how long, and it might get uncomfortable for either of us to get involved with her, but go for it. May the best man win.” What the absolute fuck was he suggesting?
Damon picked up his spoon and returned his attention to the soggy cereal. He worked damn hard to keep from demonstrating any emotion since he knew Spencer was still staring at him.
Dang, this guy pushed all his buttons. He was far too cute for his own good. And the way he put himself out there both surprised and got a rise out of Damon. He’d expected Spencer to be a bit more demure when he first spoke to him on the phone. And that would have been interesting too. But this kid had more confidence than Damon expected, and that made Damon’s dick harder by the second because all Damon wanted to do was unravel that confidence by pushing Spencer to his knees and watching him beg.
Thank God the table was preventing Spencer from seeing the evidence of Damon’s arousal.
Yes, Damon was attracted to Olivia. Incredibly turned on by her. She was the total package.
But now Spencer had arrived on the scene, and damn… The way his hair hung over his forehead. The way the kid constantly ran his hand through it to no avail because it just fell back into his eyes.
To make things worse, Spencer was now shuffling his feet back and forth nervously without walking away. Interesting. The guy waffled between confidence and skittishness. Perhaps his confidence extended only to his hacking talent, and as soon as the topic switched to who was going to bone whom, he lost some of that self-assurance. Too bad both sides of Spencer were equally sexy.
Damon decided to fuck with him a bit, partly to shake things up, and partly to test the waters. He stood, took his bowl to the sink, and then grabbed Spencer’s wrist, leaning in close to speak directly in his ear. He hesitated only a moment, just long enough for Spencer to suck in a sharp breath and lick his lips.
Oh, yeah. That’s what Damon was looking for. And then he spoke, low and deep. “What if it isn’t a competition between the two of us at all? What if there’s a way we can all three be happy?” At that, he dropped Spencer’s arm, turned around, and headed across the room.
As if he hadn’t dropped that bomb at Spencer’s feet, Damon picked up the high-power binoculars Spencer had brought the day before and lifted them to look out at their surroundings. “Do you suppose someone could be watching us from the roof across the street or someplace farther away?”
Spencer didn’t respond, and when Damon lowered the binoculars to turn around, he found the kid staring at him, mouth open, face red, hands rubbing his thighs. He also had an erection he could not hide.
Damon smiled.
Olivia came out of the bathroom to find both men with their heads buried in their computers. Damon was on the couch, nearly in the center. Spencer had taken the armchair. They were eerily silent. Strange, since she expected them to be discussing her while she was in the bathroom.
Or maybe they had been talking about her, and her arrival had caused this instant silence. Interesting.
Her hair was damp, but she didn’t care. Since she had never once left this apartment, she had no reason to primp. After she put her dirty clothes in the basket in the corner of the room, she returned to find both men staring at her.
They both looked ready to devour her. Apparently, primping wasn’t necessary in this crowd.
And it was crowded. The testosterone in the room was going to drive her to distraction. It was odd how she was attracted to both of them, even though they had absolutely nothing in common.
With no other options, she squeezed onto the couch next to Damon, who she had no doubt in the world had positioned himself strategically, forcing her to sit close. Was he taunting Spencer?
Spencer ducked his head back to his screen, but he was smirking.
Whatever the hell these two had discussed, she wanted no part in it. They could both flirt with her all they wanted. Neither of them was going to make it past first base while they were sharing tight quarters.
A shiver raced down her spine, and she turned to stare out the window just to occupy herself without causing suspicion. If they only knew the truth about her…
“I have about a hundred questions,” Spencer stated.
When she turned back to look at him, he was all business. “For me?”
“Yes. It’s why I’m here. Something about you is important.”
She sighed. “I don’t see what it could be. I’m not that interesting. Surely I was a casualty in all this simply because I worked for Dr. Boyden.”
“Are you certain it was a coincidence that you worked for him in the first place?”
She narrowed her gaze. “I assume so.”
Damon set his computer down on the coffee table and turned sideways to face her, leaning his head on his hand while Spencer proceeded with his strange inquisition.
Yes, Olivia had secrets. Lots of them. But they had nothing to do with whatever the hell was going on here. And she wasn’t inclined to tell either of these men why she’d changed her name and moved to Colorado when she was eighteen.
“What were you doing before you took that job at the bunker?”
Olivia groaned. “I’m quite certain you know my history better than I can even remember it, Mr. Computer Hacker. You tell me.” Why she felt the need to be snarky, she had no idea. Probably because she sensed Spencer was about to pressure her about her past.
Damon tipped his head closer to her. “Spencer’s obviously obsessed with proving you’re involved in this mess whether you know it or not, so let’s just air it all out so we can move on and get back to work. Maybe there’s some tiny detail you might remember.”
She stared at him. He was right. It was possible. “Fine.” She turned back to face Spencer. “I was working at the county hospital on a busy floor with dying patients when I saw the ad posted for the job at the bunker. It was simple. I applied, Dr. Boyden interviewed me, and he hired me. I took the job because I knew it would be less stressful.”
“What was Boyden like?”
“He was friendly and kind, and dying. He knew he was dying, but he never acted like it. Not in front of me, at least. The worst part about working for him was realizing I wouldn’t have the job for long because he didn’t stand a chance at surviving more than a few months longer.”
“How long had he been sick?”
“I’m not sure. Probably less than a year. The disease progressed rapidly.”
“And he had that hypnotist, Theodore Monk.”
“Yes.”
“Do you think the guy was visiting Dr. Boyden even before you started working there?” Spencer asked.
Damon still said nothing, but he watched Olivia closely while she ans
wered all these questions.
“Yes. I’m sure he was. They had a rapport. It was obvious they’d been working together for a while.”
“Or maybe they knew each other for some other reason,” Damon pointed out, glancing at Spencer.
“Could be. We need to figure out why Monk had appointments in both New Mexico and Colorado. That’s weird.”
“Not if it was intentional,” Damon stated.
Olivia cringed. “It’s so hard for me to imagine that Dr. Boyden would ever kill a man, nor that he would put me in a cryostat against my will. He never seemed to be so unstable.”
“He was dying. That could do weird things to someone,” Damon suggested.
“Yeah, but it gives me the chills to think I so badly misjudged him. I can picture him in my mind like it was last week, because it was last week, and he never once gave me any reason to believe he was unstable or had plans to end my life and that of another man.” She hated thinking about it. It made her doubt her judgment of humans.
Spencer took a deep breath. “So, you saw an ad for a job that sounded interesting and called the number?”
“Yes. It was in my inbox at work.”
“Physically you mean? A mailbox?”
“Yes. I assume everyone who worked there saw it. I jumped on it and got lucky.”
“How fast were you hired?”
“On the spot.” She winced. “That was weird, I guess. I just didn’t care because I wanted the job so badly. I wanted to get out of that hospital. Even though I’d worked hard to become a nurse, it was stressful. Far more than I’d expected.”
“Makes sense,” Damon agreed.
“Where did you go to nursing school?” Spencer asked.
She shot him what she hoped was an exasperated glance. “You already know the answer to that. Denver College of Nursing.”
Spencer smiled, and then he tipped his head to one side and stared at her. “And you are smart enough to realize that’s the extent of what I know about you.”
“Is that so?” she asked snarkily. It was actually slightly surprising considering how good Spencer was at digging into things he wasn’t supposed to see. Her father had done well if Spencer hadn’t been able to find a trace of her. “You sure?”
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