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“I’m sorry I was a bitch earlier,” she said, saving me from more than likely butchering my next comment again. “You have to understand it was weird you showing up here. I’m not the most trusting person, and I don’t get why you’re here,” she rushed out in a low voice.
“I didn’t follow you here. I’m not some psychopath that tracked you down,” I told her, keeping my tone only above a whisper. “I’m not here for you.” Fuck, did I already say too much?
“Who are you here for, then?” Her brows shot up.
Shit, shit, shit . . . way to go, Jack. Of course she wouldn’t skip over that detail. And fuuuck, she was cute when anxious. Was it completely inappropriate of me to want to will away the metal partition between us right now? Leaving nothing but our wet, naked bodies on display . . . Damnit, I needed to focus before this shower really did need to be a cold one. “I know I’m still pretty much a stranger. So, asking you to trust me is—”
“Not going to happen. Not yet, at least. I still have questions. And I get the feeling you don’t have answers.” Back beneath the water spray, she began soaping up her hair. “So, let’s see how this plays out.”
“The game or us?”
“Both, I guess,” she answered hesitantly.
“Okay, but one thing.” I grabbed the bar of soap and began lathering up. “My name really is Jack London. My mom was a library director. Books were her thing. She named me Jack on purpose, and trust me when I say I got shit for it in school when we had to read, The Call of the Wild.” I’d laid the truth out for her, and hoped I could trust her, given I was there with an alias.
At my admission, she quietly tipped her chin toward the spray of the water. Her deep inhalation lifted her chest, bringing her nipples dangerously close to my line of sight.
I forced myself to look away. If the day ever came I got to see this woman naked, it’d be because she wanted me to. I was old school, what could I say? Mom taught me right. But that didn’t mean this moment was easy for me. No, it was hard. Really, really fucking hard in fact. So hard, I set down the soap and turned the water on colder.
I palmed the wall and bowed my head, trying to wrangle in the desire burning through me. Stroking my cock in the shower stall next to the woman of my dreams, an unlocked door away from my teammates, wouldn’t be a good look for me. An anaconda wouldn’t take me out on the trip. No, it’d be blue balls that’d kill me.
“I want to believe you,” she finally said, and I kept my hands to the wall while chancing a look at her.
When our eyes met, my stomach muscles immediately banded tight. We had a connection. Something I couldn’t explain. Or deny. But I’d been burned so many times in my life, I wasn’t so sure I could take it. Especially after she’d already ditched me in Cape Town.
Something brought us together again, though. And I wanted to cling to that “something” and not ask questions.
She tore her focus away from me and turned off the water, breaking the spell. “Will you give me a second to towel off and get dressed before you get out?”
“Of course,” I returned, hating the disappointment in my tone.
When she was gone, I hung my head again. I had to get a grip. I was still there on a mission, and I couldn’t lose sight of that. No matter what.
After another minute, maybe two, I turned off the water, and toweled dry.
Mya and Oliver came in just as I was pulling my shirt over my head. She closed the door, looked around the room, doing a quick camera check, then asked, “You okay? That’s her, right?”
“What do you mean, ‘her’?” Oliver faced Mya, but she kept her focus sharp on me.
“Yeah, that’s her. From Cape Town,” I admitted reluctantly. “This is a weird coincidence.”
“She and her sister were invited to the event. An event you’re undercover for,” Mya whispered. “This can’t be a coincidence, but I don’t understand it.”
“Neither do I. But she’s not ready to open up and trust me. The name I gave her there is different from the one I’m using here,” I quickly shared.
Oliver lifted his hand in the air. “Is someone going to catch me up?”
I nodded at Mya, giving her permission to enlighten him, because I didn’t have it in me to share with him my sob story.
“A chance meeting at a hotel bar in Cape Town on Falcon’s op there last month led to the two of them sharing a night together, only for her to slip out in the morning without a goodbye.” Mya’s summary of events was better than I could’ve done, but it still hurt to hear.
“And now she’s here,” Oliver said. “So, it wasn’t really a chance encounter in South Africa. She was there for a reason. You were her target that night, Jack. Clearly, you’re still her mark.”
I went tense at his suggestion. At him implying Charley was after me. “No,” I spit out my retort, arms locking at my sides.
“I hate to say it, but in this case, guilty until proven innocent.” Mya gave my forearm a squeeze, then encouraged me farther away from the door. “Sydney couldn’t find out anything about her and her sister, remember? Maybe that’s because their names are aliases, and Lucy used filters on TikTok to hide her identity.”
“Charley had no idea I’d be here. They were invited before our aliases made it to the contestant list at the last minute,” I reminded her, placing a big hole in her theory.
