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But I cut him off. “Goodnight, Ben.”
Before he could stop me, I scurried out of the kitchen and headed upstairs to my room. Shutting my door behind me, I leaned against the door. Only then did I allow the full brunt impact of everything that had transpired to slam into me.
What had I done?
I kissed Evan’s best friend. And what was even worse? I wanted to do it again.
10
Icompleted my watch as the sun rose over the silver-blue water. This was a stunning location. I understood why Moira bought it. It was peaceful. If I was a fanciful man, I would consider this a great place to retire once my twenty years was up. Granted, I didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do with my time once I retired from the Navy. But that was a problem for another day.
In the kitchen, I brewed a pot of coffee. With everything we had to accomplish today, we were going to need all the help we could get, even if that help came in the form of a jolt of dark roast. If I could convince Moira to read the damn letter, I would feel markedly better. Because then I would at least have achieved those mission parameters. It didn’t mean I could leave because I wasn’t going anywhere until this stalker was dealt with and I was sure Moira was safe—for Evan’s sake. It’s what Evan would have wanted.
Thinking of our hostess resurrected everything from our unexpected midnight rendezvous. Everything she told me about her relationship with Evan, that he’d not been faithful in the slightest, altered the entire paradigm. I wished I could call Evan up and yell at him. The sob story he’d told me about Moira turning down his proposal had been a lie. It enraged me. Why the fuck would he lie to me?
My assumptions about Moira had been wrong. I wasn’t saying I agreed with her choice to continue seeing Evan after he was married, but I wasn’t going to condemn her either. Evan knew full well what he was doing, and they had all been consenting adults. But it made me view their relationship in a new light. Because it hadn’t been as solid as Evan made it out to be.
I kissed her. I hadn’t meant to, but when she leaned up and brushed her lips against my cheek after her startling revelations, I found I couldn’t help myself. In the light of day, I planned to chalk it up to losing my head a bit. It’d been a while since I had taken a woman to bed. My deployments and assignments have kept me busy and without a lot of time for trolling the local bars.
I couldn’t allow it to happen again. No matter how much I craved another taste. Hell, I craved so much more than that. She had smelled incredible and tasted even better. The press of her taut body against mine fueled a desire that gripped me by throat.
And that first taste had been like knocking back a shot of Fireball whiskey.
If she hadn’t stopped the kiss, stopped it from going further than that with her hands on my chest that had felt like hot brands against my skin, I doubted I would have been capable of ending it. Not when I’d wanted to back her up against the nearest stationary surface and take her. Not when every part of my being hungered for her.
I still did. Even hours after the hottest kiss of my life, I ached for her. And I didn’t know what to do about it. Not when my entire world had shifted and was still spinning.
“Morning. Any problems?”
Jolted out of my fantasies, I shook my head at Wyatt. “Nope. All quiet.”
I wasn’t going to mention my interaction with Moira. Nothing good would come of it. Wyatt would not approve. And with everything, I just couldn’t deal with his condemnation.
“That’s good. I think the first step in this case is making a call to our spook contact.” Wyatt said, pouring himself a cup of coffee.
“That’s not a half-bad idea.” If we reached out to our spook contact with the CIA, he’d have access to tools and equipment we didn’t have here on the ground.
Wyatt chuckled. “I do have them from time to time. I’ll see if they can tap into her security system and internet. That way we can figure out if there have been any hacks.”
“We need to scan the house for bugs.” And a spook would have the best equipment to locate them all.
“I know. That’ll be the second favor I ask our spook. They’ve got the equipment we need to get the job done.”
They did. It would go a long way toward expediting this case.
“We need to keep this from Moira—for now.” I’d tell her about it afterward. I’d rather beg forgiveness and get the answers we sought than engage in a fight to make it happen. I was playing dirty. I realized that, but we were pressed for time.
“You sure that’s such a good idea?” Wyatt frowned.
Nope. But I also understood Moira. If we asked, she’d get bent out of shape and tell us not to. This saved a day of arguing back and forth until she finally agreed. “Whether it’s good or not is beside the point. We need to figure out who’s stalking her, put them behind bars, and ensure she’s safe. When the time comes, I will let her know.”
Wyatt sighed. “It’s your funeral.”
“If the spook could have the agent stop by tonight to scan for bugs while the rest of us are at the club, that would be great.” A spook worth their salt could be in and out of this place in under an hour.
“Noted. In the meantime, we should check the perimeter of the house and yard for anything suspicious. Those text messages mean they’re watching close enough to know we’re here. That means there are likely, at the bare minimum, cameras present, keeping an eye on everything.”
“Agreed.” I hoped there weren’t any listening devices. Because then that stalker would know we were on to them. “We should be careful what we talk about in the meantime, just in case there are listening devices.”
