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Sure she could.
“No email,” Dominic said again. He tossed the blanket and pillow on the couch, figuring it wasn’t worth pulling out. He wasn’t sleeping anyway. Not while on duty. He figured someone on the team would check in within the next six hours. If he didn’t hear in twelve, he and his assignment would be heading to San Diego. He’d find out more on base than he could here in Reno.
“You might want to call your boss, tell them you’re outta commission for the next few days,” he said. Since she’d already shared her opinion of missing work, he held up one hand to halt a repeat. “Just the weekend. Your brother will cover any wages you lose. Deal?”
Green eyes narrowed in consideration, Lara pursed her lips in a way that made him want to groan, then nodded her head.
“Missing a weekend will damage my position. I want time and a half.”
“Fine by me.” And please, let him be there when she told Banks. Grinning, Dominic handed her his cell phone. “Make the call from this. It’s secure, won’t show on their caller ID.”
“You watch too many spy movies.” Still, she took the phone. After giving it a quick inspection, she made the call.
From Dominic’s position as an interested listener, the call didn’t go well. Lara’s expression never changed, her tone didn’t alter. But her body tensed. Shoulders shifted as though she was shaking something off. Her fingers flexed, then stilled and she gave the smallest sigh, which did amazing things for her shirt. Her breasts shifted, the fabric at her waist lifting to show a hint of skin. He’d already seen her in little more than a bikini and feathers, so that sneak peek of her flat belly shouldn’t be a turn-on.
Officially or not, he was on duty. So he was going to pretend that he wasn’t affected. He just had to send the at ease memo south to his dick.
It wasn’t listening, but thankfully she ended the call and looked at him before it could get any ideas. Well, any more ideas.
“Trouble?”
She pulled a face, then tossed him the cell phone.
“Nothing to worry about. Rudy’s having a fit, but I talked to Flo and she’ll handle things.”
“And Rudy is?”
Lara shrugged. “Let’s just say Rudy isn’t a fan.”
“Want me to rough him up?” Dominic asked, the same offer he’d put out to his sisters and female cousins numerous times. None of them had ever taken him up on it, but it always made them feel better.
Lara didn’t look as if it worked for her. Instead of looking comforted, she seemed skeptical.
“Do you think you could?”
Oh, ye of little faith.
“Pretty sure I can handle him, no matter how big he is,” Dominic assured her. He mentally flipped through the list of enemies he’d taken out, such as the huge Turk with an M1 Garand he’d disabled with just his feet. So unless her coworker was sporting a Gatling gun, Dominic was good to go.
He managed to keep that to himself, though.
Barely.
“Rudy?” She shrugged, her eyes shifting down his body, then back up with an assessing arch of her brow. “He’s about five-seven, weighing in at a lumpy one-sixty and tends to tilt forward, since twenty of those pounds are hanging over his belt.”
There was a ringing in his ears. The sound of his jaw hitting the floor, maybe?
Was she serious?
He searched her face for signs that she was joking, but there weren’t any. For the first time, he saw the resemblance to Banks. Not in looks, though.
Nope. It was the tiny ball of irritated fury she lit in his gut.
“You do realize I’m a Navy SEAL, right? A highly trained, special forces military machine.”
“So you keep saying.”
“You want proof?” He had his hand halfway to his collar to pull out his dog tags before he stopped himself. What was it about this family that made him feel as though he had to prove himself?
Stupid.
Dominic tried to shake off the irritation—something he wasn’t used to feeling with women. He needed space. The hotel room only supplied about thirty possible feet of distance, but he’d take it.
“It’s late. Get some sleep,” he ordered. So he could get some peace of mind.
5
MORNING? ALREADY?
Mornings sucked.
Lara squinted, not willing to actually commit to opening her eyes yet. Not until she knew how early it was and if it was even necessary to wake yet.
Dim lights made waking debatable. But her body insisted that she really should get up. But that didn’t mean waking, in Lara’s opinion.
Skilled at functioning in a near-sleep state, she shoved the blankets off and swung out of bed. Her brow furrowed when her toes hit a warm, toasty floor, but she didn’t question it. Hey, maybe someone had found a way to heat the worn linoleum in her bedroom.
