Page 16 of Fixed Asset

Yet, proving my theory correct, my personality was still too much for a man like Jack. He could be attracted to me, he could threaten to spank me, participate in some back-and-forth banter that could be construed as flirting, but he’d never want me. Maybe for a night or two, which I was thinking might be my best course of action at this point. Propose a night of sex and get it out of our systems. We could test his stamina, and, with any luck, it’d be hot and wild and I could finally have an orgasm that wasn’t self-induced.

Jack’s smile faded, and that’s when I realized I’d been staring at his mouth, fantasizing about what it would feel like between my legs, on my breasts, my neck. I shivered at the thought and glanced up, only to have my fantasy explode in vivid detail when my gaze connected with Jack’s dark, smoldering eyes. The cool, fresh air of the countryside did nothing to chill the heat blistering between us.

Jack’s hand spasmed, or was it mine? I couldn’t decipher which with the sizzling electricity coursing through me, turning my body into a live wire—my nipples pebbled, my breasts felt heavy, my panties dampened. Jack looked like he wanted to shove me back into the van, close the door, lock his team out, and fuck the hell out of me.

Oh yeah, I’d been doing this sex thing all wrong. Never had I wanted to have sex so badly in my life. It had never been an ache, a need so strong that I felt if I didn’t have it, I would die.

“Clear,” Mason called out.

The cold slap of reality intruded.

Instantaneously, Jack’s expression cleared, the heat between us evaporating, leaving me cold and wanting.

“Come on.” Jack tugged me out of the van.

As soon as my sneakers hit the dirt, he let go of my hand.

A new kind of cold settled over me, the kind that left me feeling desolate and a little lost.

I knew Jack thought I was reckless, but I wasn’t. I was calculating. I weighed the risk against the consequences. If there was a reward to be had, I contemplated the moves I’d need to make to claim my victory. I never put reward over risk. I never took a chance whose consequences I wasn’t willing to live with.

But standing next to Jack, I wondered if he was right. Was I being reckless? Would a night with him leave me with consequences I couldn’t live with? Would I get a night of orgasms but a lifetime of wishing I was a different kind of woman? A longing for a man I could never keep, because I was me and couldn’t change who I was, nor did I want to?

Probably.

Yet, I couldn’t stop myself from wanting him.

I walked into the heavily treed forest, found a bush, did my business while mentally waxing poetic how lucky men were. They’d never understand what a pain in the ass it was for a woman to drop trou on the side of the road.

When I was done, I made my way out of the woods and found Pete and Jack standing next to the van, heads bent, looking at a tablet. Mason was leaning against the back, eyes on the road, keeping watch. Fallon was nowhere to be seen.

“We’re waiting on Fallon, then we’ll roll out,” Pete told me when I got close.

Jack did a top-to-toe scan like I’d just gotten back from war and he was checking for injuries.

With some effort, I ignored Jack and took in my surroundings. It was beautiful out here, far away from the congestion of the city. Peaceful. But that peace was an illusion. From the road we were traveling, to the beauty of the hills, to the thick forest, we were smack in the middle of a drug-trafficking route.

I glanced back to the trees. How many bodies had been dumped in those woods, never to be found? The good, honest people of Honduras had no peace. The gangs and corruption prevented them from enjoying the beauty of the country where they’d been born. I’d been to a lot of places, I’d seen evil, I’d felt the desperation of people who simply wanted to live without the fear of death, but I’d never felt fear like I felt in Honduras. It wasn’t my fear that had leached into my skin; it came from every person I’d passed on the street. It flowed from the women and children I’d come into contact with at the shopping mall. It was everywhere.

I wasn’t dumb enough to think I could put a stop to it or even make an impact. But if I could make a difference in one person’s life, save one woman from the hell she was living, then this trip would be a win. With any luck, when I found my target and gave her my intel, the Angel of Death would help the masses.

But this side trip to San Pedro Sula would delay those efforts. So would Jack. No doubt he’d be a pain in my ass and try to derail my mission.

“Ready?” I heard Jack ask.

I spun to face him. Seeing as he was speaking to me, I nodded.

“You get the front,” he told me.

I wasn’t going to argue. My aching back and ass had had enough for one day.

“Thanks,” I said when he opened the door.

“Should’ve switched with you earlier,” he mumbled, not looking at me.

So that was how he was going to play it—no eye contact. The cool detachment of a warrior. Unfortunately for him, he’d forgotten he wasn’t the only one who knew the game.

And that two could play.