Page 69 of Brooks

“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’”