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After catching an Uber, Slade directed the driver to take him to the nearest shopping center. It only took him five minutes to grab some clothes and shoes. He even added Lena’s favorite cologne to his order. She would never voice her appreciation for his effort to impress her, but at least he wouldn’t show up to the cookout looking like a homeless relation.
The driver dropped him at a hotel with plenty of time to spare before the cookout. He’d even have a few extra minutes to speak with Sparrow, the commanding officer of Alpha team. He could debrief with Sparrow until he returned to his unit and talked to Con.
He let out a sigh at the thought of going back to his unit. Leaving was his norm in life. But leaving Lena was something he’d never get used to.
When he took the vow till death did they part, it was as though the words bound his soul too. She might not feel it anymore, but he would never stop being there for her.
If he had to enter some back doors through her team and by way of a cookout, then he would come armed with every weapon in his arsenal.
Starting with a nice hot shower.
He scrubbed the grime of days in captivity away, lathering up twice. He dug his fingers into his scalp with a moan of pleasure. Once he had a towel slung around his hips, he examined the state of his face in the fogged mirror.
The cut at the corner of his eye extended a good inch. He probed the end of the ragged wound with a fingertip just to again feel Lena’s rough touch when she cleaned it out. Then he smoothed his hand over the trim beard he’d always worn.
If he had a razor, he might be tempted to shake her up and shave it off.
He strutted out of the bathroom and grabbed the shopping bag off the bed. Starting with the cologne that drove his ex-wife crazy, he spritzed his naked body in a thin mist.
Then he pulled a pair of black striped boxer briefs over his hips and arranged his cock. Just the thought of having her here in his room—in his bed—left him burning with desire. If all went well at the cookout, his fantasy of spreading her thighs and going down on her would come true tonight.
Lena loved him in worn denim, and if there was a ragged hole somewhere on them, all the better. Since he didn’t have any of his own worn-out jeans at hand, he’d settled for buying a distressed pair in a dark wash. Finally, he pulled out a black dress shirt and slipped it on.
When he turned to the mirror to fasten the line of buttons, he scrutinized his appearance.
He looked like the man Lena couldn’t keep her hands off of. That wasn’t the problem, though. They always had chemistry to spare. Heaps of lust. What was lacking was her opinion of him.
Or her perception of how he treated her.
She didn’t want a man to protect her from the world, and he understood that. But trying to switch off the protector inside him? Impossible,especiallywhen it came to Lena.
He rolled the sleeves over his forearms. A vision of her in that slinky black dress and spike heels rolled through his mind and plucked at his libido. The dark throb for her never faded—he only tamped it down. But knowing he’d see her soon kickstarted his desire.
Two can play that game.
He shot one more look at his reflection. He had on all Lena’s favorite things. With luck, she’d find him just as irresistible as she had back at the gala and a thousand times before they split.
Tonight…he was fighting for love.
SEVEN
The way Blackout decompressed after any op was by throwing a party. Good food and good company were the two things in life to celebrate.
Most of the cookouts were held at Ramsey’s place. The warehouse he’d transformed into a home for himself, his wife and their toddler son was more than large enough to accommodate the team plus their significant others.
Tonight, due to the crossover with Charlie team, the meal was planned to take place at headquarters, and that kitchen didn’t have near the amenities of Ramsey’s.
Lenalovedcooking. Feeding people was her happy place. Seeing them relish the flavors she created in the style her father had taught her kept her going through the dark missions.
But she was under a lot of pressure and cooking wasn’t first on her list of things to do. What that would be, she wasn’t sure. She was tired and cranky. Slade was still getting on her nerves and he wasn’t anywhere around her.
And she was dealing with a surprise pregnancy and facing a lot of decisions in her immediate future.
She didn’t keep an apartment in the city. Headquarters served her just fine. Being the only woman, she had her own room and a decent-sized bathroom too. As soon as she got through the door, she stared at her pillow resisted the desire to face-plant right into it. God, she wassotired.
Why hadn’t she slept on the plane? Her mind was going a hundred directions, and one chunk of it was tuned in to Slade. When he talked to her teammates about their relationship, she held her breath.
Then he hardly said anything at all.
