Sydney stood closer to Beckett to check the iPhone as Beckett zoomed in on the screen.
“I don’t know any of these guys. That means I can head to the hotel tomorrow, right?” Beckett asked as Carter accepted his phone back.
“As long as Hector doesn’t show up, yeah, you’re good to roll out to the hotel tomorrow.” Carter looked back and forth between her and Beckett. “You two can stay together. Pose as a couple. That’ll be your cover story.”
Jack coughed a few times, drawing everyone’s attention. What was that about?
And then Gray up and left the room, starting for the foyer.
Shit.
“I, um.” Sydney shot Beckett an apologetic look, then followed Gray from the house.
Gray was pacing alongside the two SUVs that Camila had waiting for them at the airport when they’d arrived. “Go back inside,” he barked out.
“No, we need to talk,” she said while shutting the door behind her. She rushed down the three porch steps to get to him in the driveway. “I don’t need to stay with Beckett.”
Gray raked his hands through his hair, and his gaze moved to the home’s only neighbor. The Andes Mountains. The safe house sat on a few acres of property with no other homes in view.
“It makes the most sense for you to stay together. Beckett wants to be there because of Cora.”
“Then why are you pacing? Why’d you fly out of the house?” she called his bluff. When he didn’t stop pacing or respond, she proposed, “What about Camila? Why doesn’t she stay with Beckett? If she’s Carter’s friend and had a safe house like this on standby, she must have operational experience. She can do it.”
But why the hell did that thought send chills racing across her skin?
“So, who would you stay with? Me?” A humorless laugh fell from his lips, but he finally stopped crunching his black boots over the gravel. “You think he can handle me staying in the same room with you without breaking down the door?” he asked in a low, deep voice. “Because I see the way he looks at you.”
Sydney bit down on her back teeth as she tried to navigate this conversation without breaking his heart. “And would you break down the door? Because you didn’t this morning when you were outside his bungalow.” She had no idea why she’d said that, but too late now.
“I have self-control.” He pointed at his chest as if wanting to throw down. But his target? Beckett, not her. “Mission comes first.”
“The mission does need to come first, I agree.” Which is probably why I shouldn’t be alone with Beckett.
“Beckett came to Mexico risking a hell of a lot to find his ex.” Gray’s shoulders slumped, the transition from anger to defeat taking her by surprise. “And he found you instead.”
Her heart skipped a few beats as she considered her next words.
“You feel something for him. I can see it in your eyes.” She opened her mouth, prepared to remind him she and Beckett barely knew each other, but he held up a hand. “Time is insignificant, remember? It took me five minutes to fall in love with you the day we met at West Point. And it’s been nearly a lifetime of me trying to stop.”
Sydney’s knees went weak at his confession. He must’ve noticed because he stepped forward, catching her arms.
“I’m not trying to hurt you. I know I need to find a way to move on. To put my feelings for you behind me once and for all.” Still holding her, his eyes fell closed. “It’s possible I spent twenty years loving the idea of us because that’d be easier than opening myself up to anyone new. Maybe it was all in my head. Fiction.”
Like a romance novel. But was whatever she felt for Beckett a thing of fiction too? Unrealistic. Their passion and connection happened so fast, would it die just as quickly if she allowed herself a chance to explore “more” with him? Well, after the mission, at least.
“You deserve someone who would’ve fought for you after you said no to their proposal.”
“You knew if I said no, it was a no. There’d be no changing my mind.” She didn’t need him kicking himself for his decision not to fight for her.
“Well, you should also be with a man who’d say fuck the mission and break down your door. And if you share a hotel room with any man other than him, I reckon he’d do that.” It was rare for Gray’s Texas roots to slip through, and he was wearing his heart on his sleeve tonight, which had to be why. He parted his lids and released a heavy breath from his lungs. “And maybe I’ll never find someone who . . .”
“You will find her,” she whispered, worried her voice would break. “I promise.”
His lips drew into a tight line, but he kept quiet, then angled his head toward the house and let her go.
“But I still don’t need to play the role of Beckett’s girlfriend. We can all check into different rooms at the hotel tomorrow,” she told him in a steady tone. “Let’s talk to the rest of the team. See what we can come up with, okay?”
He looked past her, and at the sound of tires crunching the gravel, she turned to see an SUV on approach. It must have been Camila, and she was relieved for a distraction. Mission-focused was easier than feelings-focused. For her, at least. And knowing Gray, same for him too.
“So, um, what do you know about her?” she softly asked.
“Mid-thirties. Former spy for some agency. Not the CIA. And now she’s more of a freelance do-gooder like Carter,” Gray filled her in as they faced the incoming SUV. “Carter also mentioned her mom is Brazilian and her dad’s American. Her father met her mom while serving in South America while in the Navy.”
Camila’s vehicle stopped a few feet away from them, and she killed the bright headlights.
“If I’m remembering correctly,” Gray continued, “Carter’s dad was born in Brazil, so maybe his father knew Camila’s mom, and that’s the connection between them?”
“Well, you know more about our boss than I do.” She winced. “Sorry, you’re our boss too.”
Gray laughed, which somehow helped ease some of the tension. “We both know who’s really in charge, but don’t tell him I admitted that.”
She smiled, hoping the two of them could go back to being colleagues again after all of this. Well, friends would be better. “And Camila happens to be here working a case, huh?”
Gray shrugged. “Lucky for us, I guess.”
“Carter has a lot of ‘lucky for us’ contacts around the world.”
“Looks like you found my place okay,” Camila said after exiting the SUV. She was gorgeous, that was for sure. And Sydney’s stomach somersaulted at the idea of Camila sharing a room with Beckett.
Maybe Sydney would be the one breaking down a door.
Sydney stole a look at Gray, who sure as hell took notice of the newcomer. She hid her smile at that fact, erasing the bit of space between her and the striking woman in dark jeans and a black V-neck tee on approach.
Camila’s jet-black locks went to her breasts, and even with the sun having set, it was the glossiest hair Sydney had ever seen.
“Camila.” Sydney offered her hand. “I’m Sydney Archer. A pleasure to meet you. Thank you for your help.”