Page 30 of Iron Willed Warrior

I ran to the kitchen only to find Cole by the stove, leaning casually against the counter. He was dressed down this morning in gray sweats and a hoodie. The rectangular outline of his pack of cigarettes stood out in his front pocket.

“Forgot you were cooking?” he asked.

“Got distracted.” I nudged him aside with my hip to put the well-done bacon on a plate. “What’re you doing here?”

“Dean and I stopped by a bakery for cinnamon rolls.”

“That’s thoughtful.”

“His idea, not mine. I think it was an excuse for him and Keira to check on our progress. Did you just wake up?”

“Actually, I’ve been up for hours. Bright and early. You?”

“I’m always up early. Hopped to Dean’s kitchenette for a cup of coffee.”

“Hopped?”

“I don’t always feel like putting on my leg first thing. Prefer to shower without it. I have excellent balance. You have no idea.” Cole slapped his stomach over his hoodie. “All in the core.”

“I would’ve liked to see you in action.”

“On this mission, we’ll be seeing a lot of each other. So you probably will.”

I glanced at him and found him smirking back.

“Last night did the trick, huh?” Dean asked.

We both turned. Dean was setting down a paper bag on the kitchen table. Keira stood beside him. “And you didn’t even have to lock them in a room,” Dean said to her.

I grabbed the bowl of scrambled eggs, which I’d left warming in the oven, and brought that and the bacon to the table. “Nope, Cole demanded we arm wrestle. And the rest is history.”

Dean and Keira went quiet, trying to figurethatone out, and all I could do was laugh.

“It made more sense in the moment,” Cole said defensively.

“But who won?” Dean asked.

“I did.”

I pointed a finger at Cole. “Because youcheated.”

“You’re just jealous you didn’t think of it first.”

“Have no doubt, I’ll get my revenge.” But we were grinning at each other, which took the bite out of my words.

“Actually, now I’m back to worried,” Keira quipped. “You two are not acting normal. Either you’re suddenly best buddies, or you’re plotting to kill each other.”

Cole pulled up a chair at the table. “Only time will tell.”

After breakfast, Cole and I convinced Keira and Dean we didn’t need a babysitter. We were getting along just fine. We had a huge amount of work to do to get ready for this op, and only a week to do it.

Nope, no pressure. None at all.

Leaving Cole in the living room, I went to my room to change into jeans and a sweatshirt. My short shorts felt a touch too casual for mission planning. When I came out, I had my hair sleeked back into its usual ponytail.

Cole was sitting on the couch. I sat right beside him. We were partners in this, and we had to count on each other. And that meant not being squeamish about being near the man. It had nothing to do with his suggestion from last night about playing my boyfriend. He hadn’t mentioned that again, so I assumed the subject was officially dropped.

“I thought we’d work on our cover stories today.” I put the manila envelope that Stanford had given me on the coffee table. Our fake identity papers spilled out when I tipped the envelope.

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