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When the first mission was over and the Horn data had been extracted safely, I’d let out a huge sigh of satisfaction and cracked my aching neck, flush with a kind of cocky confidence. I had this. I was made for this.
Just then, the leader of the second team had announced that his team was in position to approach the next Horn, and did he have go-ahead?
I’d scrambled to get up to speed on that mission, pulling up maps and locations in Alabama, tapping into security feeds and even placing a perfectly timed distraction call to our target to discuss her car’s extended warranty. But literally the moment I hung up, the third Horn retrieval team touched down in a new city, ready to acquire the third Horn, and suddenly I was managing two missions at once.
After that, the first team got into position for their second retrieval of the day, and things spun wildly out of control. I forgot what time zones people were in—heck, I forgot what time zone I was in—and the last time I’d eaten. Rodrigo, the most patient pet in the universe, had gotten tired of my lack of attention and wandered off to curl up in a corner of my lair, and I’d had to pee really badly for… God, who knew? Hours? Possibly days.
I wished Hux were there with me, and not only because I wanted to apologize for ever doubting that he was a fucking tech god and beg him to tell me how he handled all these comms and requests for surveillance information without his brain imploding like a dying star, but because his presence was bracing and comforting, even when he was teasing me. Even when he was giving me shit. Even when he was frustrating me so badly that I could feel my temperature rising like a cartoon thermometer, growing redder and redder until the top popped off.
I also wanted him there so he could explain the seriously mixed signals he’d been giving me right before he left, starting with the laser eyeballs during the meeting that had made every muscle in my body quiver, proceeding through the dinner where he’d practically sat on my lap, and ending with the weirdly formal, weirdly sweet, and just plain weird handshake that he’d given me right before he’d left with one of the teams.
“Line of sight is clear, Team Two. I’m shutting down the power to the fence now,” I said before quickly switching channels so I could listen to Team One as they moved around a townhouse.
In the middle of all of it, a Horn message from Adam flashed up on one of my monitors, and I groaned.
Anomaly451: Kev, we need to talk.
Anomaly451: I want to apologize for some of the things I said the other day. I miss you, angel. I’m tormenting myself thinking about how hurt you must’ve been.
Anomaly451: I want you so much. I think it’s time we take our relationship to the next level. Become exclusive. You’re the only guy I think about, sweetie.
Anomaly451: I know I blew my chances of seeing you this weekend, but what about next week? I can take some vacation days. I can stop there on the way to Vegas, and we can head for HOGCon together.
Anomaly451: #HOGPowerCouple, right?
I groaned again, so loudly that my voice echoed around the room.
I did not want to have that discussion. Not while I was doing this job… and maybe not at all. The things Adam was offering now might have been exactly what I wanted to hear a week ago, but now…
Now a muscled, tattooed, bunny-talking badass was busy retrieving the third Horn and needed my undivided attention.
I turned off my Horn of Glory notifications and focused on the work. A hot bead of sweat inched its way down my spine. This job wasn’t for the weary. If only I had an octopus’s arms or cloning technology.
The rest of the day went by at light speed. Thankfully, the missions Hux’s team had been on were straightforward and close enough that his team landed Champion Security’s plane at a private airfield outside Licking Thicket in the early evening hours and drove home.
I watched them on camera as they exited a giant Suburban, and Hux led them up the front steps to the house, talking and laughing. They all looked grimy, exhausted, and satisfied. One of the Champion Security guys I hadn’t met yet said something to Hux and shoved him lightly. Hux grinned his irreverent, cocky grin and said something back, and a small part of the tension I’d been carrying eased.
They were home. They were safe. One out of three teams, anyway.
I quickly rolled my chair across the workspace and tapped a button to activate the speaker hidden in the hedge by the front door.
