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“Kind of strange for a gal in your line of work, isn’t it?”
“I can’t help it. Sorry.”
Spencer watched her for a long moment, her whole demeanor tense, and something inside him unfurled. He took a deep breath and patted his shoulder again. “C’mon. You’re the one who told me my job would include ‘other duties as required.’ Let’s just chalk this up as one of those duties.”
“I’m not sleeping with you.”
“Right. You’ll be sleepingonme. Nothing untoward, I promise. Women tell me I make a very comfortable pillow. I come highly recommended.”
“How nice for you.” The snark in her tone made him grin.
“Well, it’s your loss.” He relaxed back into his corner and closed his eyes, the weight of her stare making him want to pull her closer despite his resolve to steer clear. After several seconds, he peeked one eye open to see her scooting a tiny bit nearer. “I don’t bite,” he said. “Unless you like that sort of thing.”
“Excuse me?”
“Nothing.” The fact that he enjoyed a bit of pain with his pleasure wasn’t something he felt was appropriate to share with her. He didn’t know why he’d even let that slip. Instead of answering, he closed his eyes again. “See you in Jubail.”
She waited to make her move until he was almost asleep, until he’d managed to get his mind quiet, to push away every thought of how close she was and how much he wanted her pressed against him. He just barely registered her saying, “Dammit,” under her breath and then, a millisecond later, her warmth moved in alongside him, her head slowly coming to rest on his chest.
He made himself stay still, forced his breathing to stay slow so she could pretend he was sleeping straight through this, though he was certain she could hear his heart pounding, especially when she clutched the front of his shirt.
It took every ounce of willpower he had not to pull her across him and stroke every inch of her luscious curves. Instead, he let her settle in and kept his hands to himself even as his body tightened involuntarily.
Okay. Perhaps this hadn’t been his most brilliant idea after all.
“I’m only doing this because I need my rest too,” she whispered. “I’ve never slept well alone.”
He stayed silent. The smell of roses from her perfume and the citrusy fragrance of her shampoo blended into an aroma that hit him harder than anything he’d had to drink the previous night. The woman was truly intoxicating. Eyes squeezed shut, he did his best to drift off. It had been too long since he’d had a woman. That had to be it. Totally explained his overreactions to her. Toni Williams was his target, his job, his employer. Kyle would have Spencer’s ass in a sling if he got personally involved with her.
Still, as she snuggled closer and his arms somehow found their way around her, all Spencer could see in his mind was the two of them together, entwined in satin sheets, sleeping only after he’d fully sated them both.
4
“Get your lazy ass up and help me load this gear…”
Nick’s wide grin loomed over Spencer’s face, temporarily blocking the hot desert sun.
Spencer groaned, then yawned and stretched as Nick kicked his booted feet. “Fine. I’m up. I’m up.”
He scrubbed a hand through his buzz-cut hair and swung the nearest bundle of supplies over his shoulder before heading toward the transport truck. “Bet you can’t wait to get home, eh, buddy?”
“Got that right.” Nick glanced over his shoulder at Spencer before facing front again. “Can’t wait to hold my Natalie. Marriage is the best thing ever, bud. You should try it.”
“Yeah, right,” Spencer said. “Right after monkeys fly out of my ass.”
Gage snorted from behind him. “Give me a heads up before that happens, so I can get the hell out of the way.”
“If you jokers are done yapping, let’s get this done so we can hit the road.” Kyle stood in the back of the truck, hands on hips, grinning down at his older brother. “That okay with you, team leader?”
“Sounds like a pl—”
The shot came out of nowhere, whizzing past Spencer before he even knew what was going on. Next thing he was aware of, Nick was lying facedown at his feet. Kyle cursed as Gage tackled Spencer to the ground, and the world tilted on its axis.
There was something warm and sticky on his hands.
Blood. Nick’s blood… and worse. Spencer’s stomach rioted.
Spencer snapped awake and blinked into the early morning sun streaming in through the airplane windows. It took him a moment to realize where he was, who he was, and that the warm weight of Toni that had been resting against him when he’d drifted off was now gone. He squinted around the cabin trying to locate her, the drone of the jet engines loud. She couldn’t have gone far, he knew. Straightening, he rolled his stiff neck and tried to shake off the painful images of his buddy’s death as he worked to refocus on the here and now.
