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“I’m signing off, big brother,” came Jack’s voice. “Keller and I are heading to Baltimore. If Diego’s in the country and he’s after the Senator, chances are good he’s in the DC-Baltimore area. Benson doesn’t think he’ll try to hit the Senator on the campaign trail. Too many bystanders and cameras. So we’re focusing on DC-Maryland-Virginia. Cody and Edge are going to follow some leads in DC and Virginia. We’re covering Baltimore. Stay safe, Ice. Oh, and you owe me a thousand push-ups.”
“I don’t remember taking that bet,” Ice growled through a grin. “Sure as hell don’t remember losing it.”
Jack’s only response was to snort out a laugh and then hang up the phone. Ice chuckled out a breath as Jack’s profile picture faded into black nothingness.
Then Ice heard a noise.
He leapt to his feet.
The bedroom door was open.
Indy stood in the doorway.
13
“Have you been standing all this while?” Indy stepped through the doorway, squinting from the lights blazing all over the suite’s living room. “Did you get any rest at all?”
Ice shrugged noncommittally, didn’t answer her question. “It’s four in the morning. Go back to bed. We’ve got a long day ahead.”
Indy frowned, hugged herself and rubbed her arms. Ice stood like a statue in the middle of the room, almost at attention, his eyes wide and alert. She’d caught him without his shades, and she frowned again when she saw a subtle flinch in those dark green eyes.
She shook her head and smiled, running her fingers through her sleep-tussled hair. “I know it’s four in the morning. I set my alarm to wake up at four. It’s my shift. Go inside and crash out till dawn. I’ll keep watch.”
Ice chuckled, shook his head back at her. “I’m good.” He stretched out his arms, his shoulder-joints cracking in a strangely satisfying way. He took two steps towards her, stopped to reach for the sunglasses sitting on the side-table. He put them on, shrugged again, then turned away from her and strolled to the window, pulling the drapes open a crack and peering out at the dark city like he was Batman watching for the signal. “Go back to bed.”
Indy’s frown cut deeper. She glanced back through the open bedroom door. It was a king-sized bed. Ice was a big man, but they could both easily fit on the bed with about a foot of space between them.
If that’s what Ice was so worried about.
Heaven forbid they slept in the same damn bed.
“OK, you’re being childish,” Indy snapped, her temper flashing as that earlier feeling of humiliation mixed with indignation surged briefly. Ice was clearly overcompensating to make it seem like what happened earlier didn’t matter, perhaps didn’t even happen. “Look, you can forget about what happened earlier, if that’s why you’re so tense. I’m not going to tell tales. It happened in the moment, and the moment has passed. There. Now quit acting childish and just get some rest.”
Ice didn’t turn from the window. Indy glared at his broad back, considered asking him what was so damn interesting in the early morning smog. Somehow she managed to stay quiet long enough for that surge of indignation to subside. A part of her realized she was being childish too.
Childish for feeling slightly hurt at how Ice had clearly made the decision to switch off, to do that annoyingly efficient flip from hot to cold, fire to freezing.
Just like his damn name.
“Fine, suit yourself.” Indy strode over to the couch, plopped herself down at one end, plonked her bare heels on the coffee table, then snatched up the hotel phone and dialed the reception desk. “Hi, do you have 24-hour laundry service? Great. Can you send someone up to collect my clothes? I’ll have them bagged and hanging outside on the door handle in about five minutes. Thank you so much.’
She hung up, sighed, then stood from the sofa and stretched. She glanced over at the silent man-mountain staring through the drapes. He turned to her just as she allowed the smirk to break on her face.
“What the hell was that?” he demanded through a scowl. “We’re leaving at dawn. You planning to go on the run naked?”
“You wish,” she replied coolly, strolling towards the bedroom door, beyond which lay the sprawling bathroom with its oversized shower-stall and three showerheads, one of which was at a very suggestive height. “I need a shower. They’ll have my clothes back in three hours. Hotel service in this country is the best in the world. So relax.”
Ice stepped away from the window, letting the drapes close behind him. “You want a shower, go ahead. But you aren’t sending your clothes away. They won’t be back in time. Rule number one on a mission is to never get caught with your boots off.”
Indy glanced at her bare toes, wiggled those piggies at him, then smiled and shrugged. “A bit late for that. I won’t be long. There’ll be plenty of time for you to clean up when I’m done.”
Ice rumbled out a breath. “I’m good.”
“Really?” Indy shot a glance at the front of Ice’s black combat pants. There were definitely signs of whitish residue that looked suspiciously crusty. She flicked her gaze back to his shaded eyes as a tingle of something raced up the back of her legs, made her think about that protruding showerhead that was just the right height. “Suit yourself. You know where to find me.”
Those last words slipped out past her lips faster than she could stop them. She hadn’t meant to say that at all. It sounded like an invitation, and that was most certainlynotwhat she’d intended.
It wasn’t, was it?
