Page 15 of Spy With Me
He flipped her over and loomed above her. “What?”
She thought everyone knew about her dance with death. “Acouple of weeks back Daisy got into some trouble with a cartel, and they endedup doing the whole gun to my head thing because I wanted some fresh air. I wasbabysitting that night for Sanctum, and I don’t know if you have been informedbut sometimes babies make a lot of poop. I needed the fresh air because Michaeland Vanessa’s baby girl recently started solids. It was a lot. A lot, Zach. Butnot like so much I would be willing to be kidnapped to not have to changeanother diaper.”
He was perfectly still. “What?”
He did not seem to be following her. “It was cool. Daisydistracted the bad guys with her boobs, or maybe it was her hootch since shewas full-on unclothed, if you know what I mean. Then Nate killed a bunch ofpeople and my uncle laughed his ass off and my mom yelled at me about somethingcalled situational awareness and my dad brought me a glass of wine andeverything was okay.”
Zach rolled off her, his arm going over his eyes as thoughhe couldn’t stand to see the world for a moment. “We’re not going to do thatagain. I can’t take it, sweetness. No one’s after Bri, right?”
“I think Bri is safe. She’s like a nun. That’s what theycall us. The nuns of The Hideout.” She hated that nickname.
His arm came down, and the sexiest smirk hit his face. “Youare not a nun. Let me prove it to you and then we’ll go get dressed and I’lltake you out for waffles. I heard it’s what a bunch of theDomsdo.”
And he wanted to be normal. It was clear to her that hewanted a break from the dangers of his life. He wanted her to be a safe placefor him. “I think that sounds lovely. Both ideas.”
He was on top of her again. He moved with the grace andquickness of a predator in his prime. “But first, you’re going to tell me thewhole story. All of it. Except you can skip the poop part. And then when we goout you’re going to tell me why I might be the one good thing. I want to knoweverything about you, Devi. Everything.”
He leaned down and kissed her, and she was pretty sure hewas too good to be true.
Chapter Three
“Do you know what you’re doing?”
Zach stopped shaving and looked over to where his brotherstood. Cooper was already dressed to go into the office. “Getting ready to goto brunch and then trying to figure out how to get my reports done asap so Ican spend the afternoon with her, too. After the conference meeting, of course.Can’t miss that, but then I think Big Tag won’t care if I have everything donethat I need to do.”
He was feeling optimistic, but then a night of ridiculouslyhot sex with a woman he was crazy about put him in a good mood. It hadn’tsimply been the sex. It had been the real intimacy. She’d been open and honestwith him. They’d really talked.
He’d really lied. But not about the important stuff. Justthe stuff that could get her killed.
“I meant with Devi. Hunter told me you played with her lastnight, and Tris mentioned you two left the club together. I happen to know youdidn’t walk into this house until about an hour ago,” Cooper pointed out.
Damn. He washed the shaving cream from his face and driedoff before turning to Cooper. “I stayed at her place. We went out for wafflesand ended up talking all night. I didn’t realize there was a curfew. I’m sorry.I’ll let you know next time. I appreciate you letting me stay here. I hategetting stuck in hotels.”
“And if I ask you to back away from Devi?” Cooper asked.
Wow. He felt himself stand up straighter, felt his fiststhreaten to clench. He kind of thought he would pick his brother over anyone,would do whatever it took to make Cooper feel comfortable around him butthis…no. He liked Devi. He felt good when he was around her, and even if thiswasn’t going to last forever, he wanted the time with her. She was important.
Before he could formulate a response, a slow smile crossedCoop’s face. “You like her.”
He breathed a sigh of relief. His brother was pressing abutton to see how he would respond. He could understand. Cooper had known Devihis whole life. “I like her. I like her a lot. I…I don’t think I’ve likedanyone in a long time the way I like her.”
“I think that’s great,” Cooper said, leaning against thewall. He looked all happy and carefree now. “Devi’s a great girl, and she’sbeen looking for a play partner for a long time.”
It felt too good to have his brother on his side, but heshould make his position clear. “It doesn’t bother you I want to date Devi?”
Cooper sobered. “Date? As in see her outside the club?”
Why did everyone think he only wanted a club relationship?He liked regular things. He liked movies and waffles and hanging out in placeswhere there were no spanking benches. “Well, I definitely saw her outside theclub last night. I’m planning on the same tonight.”
Cooper nodded. “I like it. Devi needs someone with a firmhand when it comes to D/s and an indulgent one in life. But you know she’splanning on moving, right? She wants to get back to Manhattan.”
He thought Coop was wrong. They’d spent several hours in anall-night diner talking about this. She’d told him what was going on in hercareer. “It’s not about the city. It’s about the job. She’s been applying at abunch of design houses. That’s what she called them. The New York ones didn’tpan out. She’s trying to get into sportswear or something. I think she shoulddofetwear. The stuff she does is stunning and easyto use, if you know what I mean.”
Cooper nodded. “She did a couple of Kala’s corsets, and shedesigned Carys’s wedding dress. Not that she got to wear it for long.”
Zach winced. He’d heard about what happened at the failedwedding of Aidan and Carys. He was kind of glad since he knew how much Tristanloved them both. Tris was trying to distance because of the secret op they wereinvolved in. The one none of their team knew about.
But then Tristan didn’t know the whole story either. Tristanhad no idea how Zach manipulated the situation, and he was going to keep itthat way. “She showed me some of her work when we went back to her place. She’sso talented. If she ends up in LA or Paris or wherever, the good news is I cantravel.”
