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“Better, now that you’re here.”
They shared a private smile as the others rushed over to join them.
“Reinforcements are almost here,” Spence said. “Are we bailing or what?”
“Yeah,” Gage said. “Probably not the best idea to be hanging out when they arrive, Kyle.”
“Let’s go. We’ll regroup at the condo.” Kyle glanced at Hayley and nodded. “Thanks for the backup.”
Before she could respond, he’d stalked away. She knew he was just being kind—she hadn’t really done anything. They’d saved themselves from a situation that would have had any normal human being gibbering with terror. Warmth filled her chest anyway. Maybe Scotty was right: Kyle liked her, at least a little bit. And she’d hold on to that.
They headed for the nearby forest just as a fleet of squad cars pulled up and law enforcement swarmed the area. As they ran through the underbrush and foliage, Hayley couldn’t help but laugh. From the way Spence and Gage were cursing a blue streak up ahead, they were less than happy about this route of escape. Kyle, of course, ignored them and kept trudging ahead in true military fashion.
Scotty glanced at her over his shoulder. “What’s so funny, Red?”
She shook her head and grinned. “If you would’ve asked me a week ago if I ever thought I’d be doing something like this with a guy like you, I would’ve asked what you were smoking.”
He chuckled and tucked her to his side, careful of her injury. “Stick with me, Red. I’ll take you all sorts of fascinating places.”
17
“Ouch!” Scotty flinched away from the hydrogen peroxide Hayley was dabbing on his cuts. “Do you have to do that?”
“Do you want this to get infected?” Hayley raised a brow at him and scrunched her nose. “Stop being such a baby.”
“I am not a baby.” Scotty scowled.
“Wait!” Spence snorted, then made a show of searching the area around him. “I think I’ve got his pacifier here somewhere.”
Scotty picked up the nearest thing he could find, a box of bandages, and hurled them at his teammate’s head. “I’ve got your pacifier right here, asshole.”
“Are you guys always like this?” Hayley said, her tone disapproving as she flicked a glance toward the bathroom door, which was doing little to muffle Kyle’s commander voice as he made a call in comparative privacy.
“No.” This from Gage, who’d taken up residence in one of the armchairs in the condo living room across from Hayley and Scotty on the couch. His girlfriend, Anna Middleton, had rushed over after seeing the incident on the news. She was now curled up on Gage’s lap, hugging him tight, her face buried in his neck. He spoke to Hayley over the top of Anna’s head. “Usually we’re worse.”
“Great,” Hayley muttered.
“Hey, I can’t help it if that stings like battery acid!” Scotty said.
Gage was lucky. Anna had tended to his wounds with gentle touches like freaking Florence Nightingale. Whereas he had to endure the brutal treatment of Nurse Ratched here. As if reading his thoughts, Hayley poured more antiseptic onto a gauze pad and slapped it on another abrasion on his bicep. He’d been wrong. Not battery acid, more like flaming gasoline.Jesus, Mary and Joseph.“Easy, Red. I might need that arm later.”
“You’ve got another one.” She shook her head and finished cleaning and dressing his arm before moving on to a scrape on his cheek. “We were lucky to get out of there alive.”
He reached up and plucked a dry leaf out of her hair. She might be putting on a brave front, but it was obvious that she was worried about him, and her concern made fresh warmth sizzle in his chest. He’d been worried about her, too, more than he’d ever say out loud. Instead, he tried to play off his intense and disturbing emotions with humor. “Afraid you’d miss out on more shagging sessions?”
She glanced up at him, irritation sparking bright in her green eyes. “You are such an ass.”
“I second that.” Spencer again.
“Third.” Gage raised his hand, then lowered it and placed his arm protectively around Anna’s shoulders. They were so sweet and affectionate it damned near made Scotty’s teeth ache.
“What are we voting on?” Kyle asked, coming back into the room. His shoulders were tense, and the faint lines around his eyes and mouth were deeper than usual. He slumped down on the other end of the sofa and rubbed a hand over his face.
“Whether Scotty’s an ass,” Spence supplied helpfully.
“We need to vote on that?” Kyle snorted. “I just got off the phone with Commander Brighton. Filled him in.”
Scotty cringed on Kyle’s behalf. No wonder the guy looked exhausted. They were on thin enough ice with the higher-ups as it was. A very public run-in with the FBI, dirty agents or not, wouldn’t bode well for Brighton’s continued support. Kyle’s stellar negotiating skills notwithstanding, it would take a damned miracle to talk their way out of what happened earlier. “What did he say?”
