Page 75 of Tactically Acquired

“Hey, he made me his wife. That should give me sexual benefits.”

Spencer’s eyes shot to Slider, narrowing dangerously on him. “What does that mean?”

Laughing, I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around him, hugging him tight. “Oh, relax. It was only in the hospital. You know I would never marry anyone but you.”

I could have sworn I heard a low growl from behind me, but when I glanced over my shoulder at Baldy, he was staring intently at the cutting board, chopping the potato into the smallest pieces I’d ever seen. At this point, they’d basically be mashed before they cooked.

“You could have woken me up when you got home. I would have taken care of you and made sure you got some rest. Unlike some people.”

“Alright,” Slider snapped, slamming the knife down. “I did not fuck her, nor did I do anything to make her…not restful,” he spluttered. “If anything, she was egging me on. I—she’s the fucking devil!”

I couldn’t help but smirk at his description of me. It was like he knew me already.

Spencer’s eyes lit with amusement. “Look at that. Maybe he is the right man for you. It seems he understands you more than most men.”

“I’m an innocent bystander in all of this,” I said, batting my eyes at Spencer. “Besides, I was confused. I thought I had amnesia when I woke up. He told the doctor we were married. It must have been the hit to the head because when I woke up this morning, all the details were muddled.”

Spencer tossed back his head and laughed outright. “Yeah, I’ll believe that when we make a movie set in the 1800s.”

“Fine, don’t believe me. But I’ll have you know that he’s to blame. He climbed into bed with me. He was wrapped around me. He kissed me!”

“Alright!” Baldy snapped. “Fine, I kissed her, but she did that crazy voodoo shit with her eyes.”

Spencer nodded at him. “Yep, I know exactly what you’re talking about. I’ve seen it a hundred times. You’re one of the lucky ones that escaped.”

“Escaped?” I said, somewhat affronted by that. Although, he was probably right.

“Audrey, don’t deny it. The poor man is probably all tangled up inside. Let’s face it, you’re not exactly innocent, and when you want something, you go for it.”

“Yeah, what he said.”

But then Spencer swung his gaze on Baldy. “And you, she was injured. You should know better. I’m disappointed in you.”

Spencer wrapped his arm around my shoulder and tugged on me. I glanced over my shoulder and stuck my tongue out at Baldy. Looks like I won that round.

I wasn’t about to admit to anyone that my head was still killing me or that my body ached. I’d been putting on a good front all day, and for the most part, I hadn’t been lying. After the shower, I felt mostly human. But as the day wore on, I could no longer hide the fact that I hadn’t walked away from yesterday unscathed.

Still, I was in action movies and was injured on set more than was acceptable. I could push through. That’s what I told myself as I shoveled the food around my plate, trying to convince myself to eat when all I wanted to do was lay down and go to sleep. Baldy’s meal really did look good, but the smell of food made my stomach churn. I couldn’t imagine putting a single thing down my throat right now.

“Are you sure we can make it to OPS without exposing ourselves?” Baldy asked.

“Since when are you worried about that?” Rae asked.

“I say we take them back to Reed Security,” Craig spoke up. “After all, she’s my friend. She’s supposed to be with me, anyway.”

“Actually, she’s supposed to be with us,” Baldy snapped.

“Whoa, getting a little territorial,” IRIS chuckled, patting him on the shoulder. “Just calm down.”

“Why don’t we just go back to California?” Spencer asked. “Doesn’t that make the most sense at this point?”

“And let whoever is trying to kidnap you have full access?” Thumper said.

I sighed heavily, tired of hearing them argue over us. Go here. Go there. Did it really matter at this point? I only wanted to go to bed. This was not my idea of a vacation. I was promised a beach and a week off, and hiding out in this cabin was definitely not that. But at least I wasn’t shooting another movie.

“If we took them back to OPS, we could hide them in the bunker,” IRIS pointed out. “They’d be safe.”

“Yeah,” Baldy snorted. “And then Zoe would get her hands on Audrey and force her to do another film with her.”

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