But Savanna was right. Jesse was fidgety. Not his norm.
He pulled at the collar of his gray and black plaid button-down shirt like it was choking him. He uncuffed and rolled the sleeves to his elbows only to push them back down again a minute later. Next, he fussed with his ball cap, apparently unable to decide whether to wear it with the bill facing forward or backward.
“Is he going to punch something? Or maybe someone?” Savanna’s soft Southern accent was smooth and sweet like the honey she added to the homemade iced tea she always prepared for Ella back home.
“Looks like he wants to hit a lot of someones.”
Jesse now had his knuckles firmly planted on the oak table on either side of a laptop ensconced in some sort of heavy-duty, indestructible-looking black box, but he was still fidgety. From what Ella could tell, Jesse was a “perfect storm” of fury gathering momentum with each passing minute.
At least he didn’t hit Henry the way he hit that wall in his workshop. “I feel helpless,” Ella mumbled a few seconds later, hating that they weren’t able to do anything other than sit and watch. “And I’m about to become as fidgety if I don’t do something.”
“Distract yourself. And me too.” Savanna nudged her in the side. “Tell me something. Anything that will take our minds off this craziness.”
Ella thought about it for a second, then leaned over and whispered, “Jesse hasn’t been with another woman since New York.”
Savanna gasped. “Really?”
Yeah, Ella was surprised at that revelation, especially since she’d followed Jesse’s orders and moved on with her life. Well, she’d accepted Brian’s proposal, and had even planned the wedding, but in reality, she’d never moved on.
“Well, that’s, um, kind of a big deal.” Savanna lowered her voice and said, “He waited for you, even when you were engaged. That says a lot.” Her friend’s romantic heart was probably doubling in size about now. At least she was distracted. Goal achieved. “That means he always hoped you’d wind up together,” she added, clasping her hands to her chest.
Anticipating Savanna’s next question, Ella said, “Before you ask, no, I haven’t told him yet. We were interrupted by your man just after we kissed, and I didn’t get a chance.”
“Sorry. I swear, sometimes I think Shakespeare was right.” Ella caught a surprising glimmer of a smile cross Savanna’s lips. “‘All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.’ And the writers of our lives looooove to screw with us. The tension. The buildup.” Savanna mimed an explosion with her hands. “Then boom.” She peeked at Ella. “That interruption will lead to something hotter and heavier later, I bet.”
“Speaking from personal experience, I take it?”
“Gray walked in on Griffin and me one time.” Savanna’s cheeks blushed pink. “I was topless too. So, just be lucky Griffin didn’t burst in on your moment.”
“And you two were . . .?”
“Oh.” Savanna twisted to face Ella. “Griffin went ahead and finished the, um, job, anyway. And I’ll never look at a swimming pool the same.”
Ella’s soft chuckle must’ve caught Jesse’s attention because she felt his eyes on her before she turned to confirm it. He leveled her with a heated gaze, one that told her the sound of her laugh detoured his thoughts as well.
He couldn’t afford to be distracted when he needed to be “mission-focused” but the man also needed to loosen up before he did punch someone or something.
And for Ella, maybe it was better to think about hot sex with Jesse than their current situation. Or to worry about how A.J. was handling the news about The Chechen without being in France to help. That had to make her brother a bit crazy.
Jesse pinned her with an unexpected sultry stare and slowly rolled his sleeve to the elbow again, revealing his corded forearm. Could he work the buttons of his shirt free next? Show her the hard wall of muscle that she wanted to slide her palms up inch by muscular inch?
Is it getting hot in here? What is wrong with me?
“Okay, your boy is eye-fucking you right now.” Ella’s sweet friend’s casual use of words like “eye-fucking” was new. Savanna had recently shared that Griffin had brought out a naughty side in her, and she was loving it.
“Would it be wrong for us to . . .?” Ella whispered, unable to take her eyes off her “husband” as he worked the second sleeve to his elbow now. And when her gaze shifted to his large hand, all she could think about were his fingers pumping inside her just before he captured her pussy with his mouth in the bedroom of the plane.
The Chechen. Zoran. Everyone’s in danger. And we’re making eyes at each other.
“I think it’d be wrong if you two didn’t. It’s been three years,” Savanna said. Like Ella would ever forget that fact. “The fact neither of you slept with anyone else is Guinness World Records material, in my opinion.”
Ella lightly laughed, unable to stop herself. Ella really did love this new side of Savanna.
“Yeah, he no longer looks like he wants to punch something.” Savanna nudged Ella, catching her in the ribs. “Take him out of here. Do it now. The others won’t notice y’all are gone.”
“Sure,” Ella teased in a low voice. “Hey, hubby, can you come screw my brains out upstairs? Distract me from this freaking insanity? Maybe slap a hand to my mouth, so I don’t scream so loud everyone hears? Oh, and can you do that delicious thing with your tongue again.”
Savanna was the one chuckling now, and this drew Griffin’s attention. He strode away from where he’d been standing, blocking Ella’s view of Jesse for a moment with his large frame as he approached. “You two okay?” Griffin stood opposite the coffee table, which had a few magazines for a centerpiece. “You’re not laughing because you’ve lost your minds or something, right?”
Savanna swatted the air, and Ella assumed she’d tossed an eye roll in for good measure, but her focus was on Jesse. “We’re making do with the situation in the only way we know how.”
Ella shrugged and added in agreement, “A.J. always uses humor to cope. Rory’s husband too. I guess we’re attempting that over the loss of our sanity.”
“Riiiight,” Griffin dragged out as if not quite believing either of them.
“Hey, we’ve got incoming,” a voice that sounded like Jack’s popped over one of the radios. “I have eyes on the driver of a BMW.”
“Who is it?” Jesse drew a weapon from the back of his jeans while holding the radio, and the others in the room gathered around him, awaiting more information from Jack.
“Welllll, shit.” A touch of Jack’s Texas roots rolled through his tone. “Looks like that hot MI6 officer is paying us a visit.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Carter strode across the room toward the fully stocked bar set against a long panel of windows that looked out onto a spacious courtyard. His back was to the room, but Ella could see his reflection in the glass as he snatched up a bottle and a crystal tumbler.
The second Jack had reported he was escorting this mystery woman into the house, Carter had made a beeline for the alcohol as if the bartender at the Drunk Gator back in Bama had just announced “last call.”