Page 26 of Baby One Last Time
She’d given up on handling the greasy pizza and had resorted to cutting it with a plastic knife and fork. Like a good temporary partner, I pretended not to notice, although it was horrifying.
“My folks still live there.”
“I remember you saying your dad teaches at the Academy.” I smiled. “Maybe he can convince them to send him to LA on a recruiting trip.”
She laughed. “You’ll be shocked to learn the Navy doesn’t spend a ton of money recruiting in LA.”
She told me a bit about her own time in the military, turning circumspect around certain topics and time periods. I was smart enough to know not to ask any questions.
After lunch, we hailed another Uber and headed back to our temporary home. Mai hopped out a block before the building.
“This is where the UPS store is,” she spoke slowly.
“Got it, smartass. I’ll see you in a bit.” I waved as the car pulled away. The driver let me out at the HEAT building a minute later.
I pulled off my sunglasses as I entered the lower level and stepped into the nearly-empty workout space. “Hey, TJ.”
He was the gym’s only occupant, decked out in boxing gear, kickboxing the shit out of a heavy bag. “Hey, Kessler. Where’s your partner? Tell me you didn’t drive her away already.”
“Not yet.” I grinned. “But tomorrow’s another day. Are we the only ones home?” I hoped to have spotted Derek by now. I couldn’t wait to exchange secret, steamy looks with him while playing it cool in front of the others. That had a way of revving his engine that I thoroughly enjoyed.
“Almost,” TJ said. “The recruits are out on a run at Griffith Park, and most of the team scattered to do whatever there is to do in this city. Bond got back about an hour ago. Said she’d be in her room catching up on medical journals.”
“As one of her charges, I’m glad to hear it.”
“And Wilder’s been holed up in the SCIF all day.”
Bingo.
“I’m off to take a nap,” I announced. That would give me cover for at least a couple of hours. “Lee has a sick sense of the appropriate time to start a day off from work.”
TJ grinned. “Glad to see she’s having a good influence on you.”
He resumed his fight with the heavy bag, and I headed to my room. Just a quick pitstop to change into seduction-appropriate underthings, then I’d join Derek in the secluded SCIF. My lady bits were all a-tingle with the possibilities of what we could do in that private space, as well as the realization that I wouldn’t have to wait until nighttime for another round with my once and future partner.
Guilt tugged in my gut when I thought about the nice day I’d spent with Mai. I reminded myself that we didn’t have to be partners to be friends. I missed making girlfriends, and she was just weird enough to be my type. But there was only one partner for me in HEAT, the same one I wanted in my bed. And I intended to spend the afternoon with him, continuing last night’s mission of getting intimately reacquainted.
Wearinga matching black-lace panty-and-bra set under my jeans and button-down shirt, I approached the SCIF. The “Room in Use” sign hung on the door, indicating to knock before entering in case any information above our security level was being reviewed inside. I pulled my security card out of my pocket, ready to slip into the room and catch Derek off-guard, but I was trying to be a good girl. Not in every way, obviously, since I was about to seduce a colleague in our classified-information room.
I knocked and waited for his response.
“Come in,” he called without knowing who was at the door, meaning security clearance didn’t matter.
Weird that he’d been in here for hours if he wasn’t even working on classified data. I held my key card in front of the electronic reader and the door lock clicked open. Inside the room, Derek sat at one side of the long conference table with a few manila folders spread out in front of him, an empty coffee cup to one side, and a quarter-full water bottle to the other. His jaw was stubbled. He wore one of his fine-fitting black tee shirts. When he glanced up to see who had entered, his eyes widened and instinctively swept over the length of my body. The man was a snack on a stick.
“Hey,” I said. I closed the heavy door and leaned against it, suddenly nervous about suggesting a quickie in the SCIF when it appeared he was immersed in important work.
“Hey yourself.” He gave me a smile that touched his eyes. He was genuinely happy to see me.
I shook off my shyness and the odd feeling that I’d been intruding. This wasDerek. My partner. My lover.
He blinked, and his mask slid into place. I gulped. I clasped my hands in front of me to stop them from shaking. My mouth went dry and I envied him that water bottle.
“What do you need, Cynthia?” His whiskey-smooth voice flowed over my skin and left a heated flush in its wake.
I stepped toward him, letting my lust for him show on my face. His lizard brain read my lizard brain’s signals. His gaze dropped to my mouth and scraped back down over my body. He knew what I wanted, and he wanted it just as much.
But when his eyes met mine, he’d banked his passion. “You shouldn’t be here.”
