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Fuck, it would be good. She had been so responsive to me when we’d been together. She’d fallen apart at the slightest touch. God, if I ever got the chance to take my time with her, I would take her apart so completely that she’d forget her name.
“Brian?”
I opened my eyes. Henry was looking at me with concern. “What is up with you tonight?” he demanded. “I swear, it’s like you’re not even here.”
“Nothing.”
“Are you worried about the fed’s investigation or something?”
“Of course not. You know as well as I do that they never find anything. I run a tight ship. There isn’t anything for them to find.”
“That’s right,” Brian said. “The SEALs would never do anything immoral.”
“That’s right.”
“And besides, we thrive on adversity,” he added, paraphrasing the motto of the SEALs.
I laughed. “That’s true. With all the shit they’ve put us through over the years, a little investigation is nothing.”
“Will you do me a favor, though?”
“Yeah, sure. What do you need?”
“Take care of Alison.”
My gut clenched. If only he knew the degree to which I had already taken care of Alison.
“What do you mean?” I managed.
“Oh, she’s a big girl, I know that. She can look after herself. But at the same time, this is her first assignment, and I worry. I know how important it is to her to do well. Will you keep an eye on her for me? Help her out if you can. You know how they can be over at the FBI. They’ll be looking for her to fail. And you know the detailed type of reports they expect from their analysts because you’ve been dealing with them for years.”
“It goes against my instincts to help a fed,” I said. “Usually, I’d be trying to prevent them from digging too deep into our shit.”
“Yeah,” Henry laughed. “So would I. It’s an adjustment having my daughter on the other side of the table.”
Not as much of an adjustment as it was having your daughter on top of the table.
Fucking hell, I needed to stop thinking about that. Or at least, if I was going to be thinking about it—and if I was honest with myself, I knew that I definitely would be—I needed to wait until I wasn’t sitting three feet away from Henry Barrett.
Somehow, I got through the rest of the dinner. It was agony, though. The entire time, I battled images of Alison in my head and pondered whether I would ever get the chance to experience the real thing again. I tried to persuade myself that it was a bad idea. Still, I knew that if she ever asked, I wouldn't have the strength to say no.
How ironic. I was strong enough to fight the best military men in the world. I was strong enough to go through SEAL training and come out the other side—something very few men could claim. But when faced with the likes of Alison Barrett, I was afraid my strength would disappear.
No.
I wouldn’t allow that to happen. Alison wouldn’t get the better of me—not in that investigation of hers, and not physically. She was twenty-six years old, after all, no matter how hot she was. I was the one who knew how the world worked.
The check came, and I grabbed it before Harry could get any ideas about renegotiating our agreement and gave the waitress my credit card, and she smiled at me. They knew me at this restaurant and knew that I was a good tipper. I was sure she was looking forward to the number I would write at the bottom of the receipt.
Me, I was looking forward to dinner being over. I’d never been so eager to be finished with my meal with Harry before.
When I got home that night, I poured myself a scotch and went out onto the balcony, something I often did on warm nights.
I couldn’t let myself be with Alison again, but nothing in the world said I couldn’t enjoy a good fantasy.
Chapter six
ALISON
