AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Evan
I hadn’t been lyingto Red when I’d said I was going to find Kerri and check on Bennet. I just hadn’t mentioned that afterwards, I was going to call an Uber and go home. When my ride pulled up outside the hospital, I slid into the backseat and gave my address to the driver. He pulled away from the hospital atrium, drove to a nearby parking spot, and turned off the car.
I realized who it must be before he even turned around. “Really, Jensen, you’re wasting your talents on hacking into car-ride apps?”
He turned around in his seat. “Hell no. This has nothing to do with my talents. It has to do with my friend. Two friends, actually.”
“Did she call you and ask you to keep an eye on me?” I should have known she would pick up on my making-a-run-for-it vibes.
“No. The team arrived in the waiting room just after you left, which you did about one minute before the surgeon came to tell us Kessler was in recovery.”
“That’s good news. Great news.” I wanted to hug Red and congratulate her, but I fought the urge, just like I’d resisted the little voice whispering—or maybe yelling—at me to go back to the waiting room with her.
“On our way in, I saw you headed for the elevators looking terrified,” Jensen continued. “There’s only one thing that makes a brave man look like that. I knew it the minute I heard you say you wanted on her roster.”
I drew in a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “How much of our conversation in the tunnel did you hear?” When he didn’t answer, I arched an eyebrow at him.
He shrugged one shoulder. “Pretty much all of it. Almost made me want to change today’s operation name to The Tunnel of Love Job.”
“You’re getting a little ahead of yourself. I didn’t say anything about love.”
He held up his hands defensively. “Not putting words in your mouth. Just saying I’ve seen the way you look at her, and now you’re willing to give up monogamy for her. This is headed somewhere. But don’t worry, no one else was on the channel, and your secret is safe with me.”
“I guess I should be grateful for that.”
“That was a nice story about your parents,” he said. “And then when I found it was true—”
“You researched my parents?” I liked the guy, but damn, there were moments I wanted to punch him, and this particular one was at the top of the list.
“For Bond, in case she ever wanted to check, to make sure it was true.”
I glared at him. “You think I make a habit of lying to her?”
“Lie, no. Hurt...” He shrugged again and gave me a hard look. “Jury’s still out on that. What I want to know is why you’re running from her. Have you changed your mind since you two emerged from the tunnel?”
I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the back seat. “I haven’t changed my mind about anything. There’s something else.” Something I knew his team hadn’t uncovered because no else had known. The only person who had suspected it had been LeBeque, and she’d destroyed everything but the first page of the police report to protect my sorry ass. But now Red knew the truth, knew what I had nearly become. And I just couldn’t face her. “I know you mean well, Jensen, or at least I think you do, but this is between Red and me.”
“You can tell yourself it’s something else, but you’re wrong. It’s ego. You can’t stand the thought of sharing her. It’s hard wiring of the male brain that gets reinforced by the patriarchy. A flaw in the system that the unscrupulous exploit.”
I shook my head. “That’s not it.”
“It is, just a little bit.” He tilted his head. “Come on, admit it.”
I glared at him again.
“A teensy bit,” he insisted.
I blinked and looked away first. Damnit, there might be a kernel of truth in his hellaciously strained metaphor.
“I knew it!” He slapped the steering wheel. “Oh, here they come now. We’re heading back to HQ for the Alpha Team briefing. You’ll come with us, right?”
I hmphed. “It’s not like I’ll be able to catch an Uber.”
“Or a Lyft or a Yellow Cab,” Jensen confirmed. “The Wilders and Li will stay here at the hospital until Kessler wakes up, and Penn and Sparks came separately, so it’s just Doc, Alder, and TJ joining us. We should all fit in here just fine.” He glanced at me. “But if you want Doc to sit on your lap and play—”
“I agreed to attend the briefing, but don’t push your luck.”
