Page 61 of Iron Willed Warrior

My sincere apologies for the incident with my head of security last night. He tends to get overzealous on my behalf, but that’s no excuse. I hope to see you at dinner tonight. And naturally, at the seminar tomorrow morning.

Garon

Even though this was a good sign, it still irked me. If anybody was going to buy this woman flowers, it should be me. And this asshole had beaten me to it.

“See? Everything’s fine,” Brynn said. Not in her real voice,but Brianna’s. “Garon knows it was a misunderstanding. You need to let it go, Cam.”

Her eyes conveyed far more. Ryker, Westwick, and Manning had left the premises, but O’Hanlon could be watching from a nearby room. We hadn’t seen him in person yet, so I hadn’t gotten a read on him.

I put on my most intimidating frown. “We’ll be fine if nobody else touches you.” It didn’t matter if I was being Cameron right now or myself. The sentiment was the same.

I yanked off the “Privacy Please” sign and swiped the keycard. As we entered, Brynn and I did a subtle check to make sure our low-tech security measures were in place. Nothing had been disturbed.

We also brought in the bouquet, setting it roughly on a table by the entrance, then proceeded to pull it apart in search of surveillance devices. But it was clean.

Brynn stretched her arms over her head, and I admired the exposed strip of stomach when her tank top rose up. “So at least Westwick believes our cover story,” she said, “just like you heard from Manning. Garon wants to make nice. Unless he and Ryker are playing some longer game.”

“Either way, I have to think Ryker assigned O’Hanlon to report back on what we do today.” I edged closer, resting my hands on her hips. Didn’t seem to be able to stop touching her. Good thing she didn’t mind. Brynn’s hands ran up and down my arms.

“Then we have to stay in character,” she said. “Convince him we are who we say we are.”

“We could spend the day in the room in as little clothing as possible. Not required, of course, but just throwing out options.”

She smirked up at me. “As enticing as that idea is, I was thinking something more public.”

“They might kick us out of the resort if we dothatin public.”

Brynn laughed out loud. Pleasure lit me up. I liked making her laugh and made a mental note to do it a lot more often.

“Does Cole Bailey have a naughty side? I’m shocked.”

My cock pulsed at the thought of showing her just how naughty I could get. “I’m happy to demonstrate. But I’ll leave the decision up to you.” I pressed a kiss to her hair, lingering to inhale her scent. Shampoo and subtle hints of her perfume from last night, layered with the sweet notes that were just her. “I’m at your disposal.”

I wanted to make sure she felt safe with me. I was up for anything. But when it came to getting physical, Brynn could set the pace.

“Good to know.” Sliding out of my grip, she grabbed her laptop and set it up.

Brynn sent the photo she’d taken of Westwick’s guest to River. Hopefully River and his hacker network could identify the man quickly. I wasn’t too worried about that. River had a way of getting things done. He was a useful person to know.

I rested my bulk against the edge of the dresser. “I have an idea for today. Something that’ll get us outside in public while keeping our cover intact. And it might actually be fun.”

“Yeah? Tell me more.”

“Finish up what you’re doing. We can swing by the front desk to get what we need.” I scanned her outfit. One of her Brianna sundresses. “And put on something you can hike in.”

I wasn’t used to enjoying myself during ops. Except when I was hauling in a fugitive, maybe. That part was always satisfying in a dark, vengeful way. But I rarely mixed business with pleasure. In fact, I would’ve said it was too risky. Distractions led to mistakes.

So was it wrong that excitement simmered beneath my skin as I thought of spending the day with Brynn, being able to touch her and knowing that she felt the same interest that I did?

I had to admit I didn’t give a fuck.Sorry, not sorry.

For the moment, our mission and our desire for each other overlapped. I was going to roll with it.

Brynn switched into an outfit she claimed was hiking appropriate. To me, it looked like a sexy skirt made of stretchy material and a tight tank top, plus a pair of brand new pink hiking boots.

“You look like Hiking Barbie,” I said. “Cute.”

She winked. “Brianna has a signature look. What can I say?” Her honey-blond hair was pulled into a high ponytail, a nod to her own style. That small reminder of the real Brynn stoked my fire like nothing else.

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