She swiped a fallen tear and looked away from him as if suddenly worried that one tear was more painful or revealing than the ones on the porch earlier.
His palm slid up her leg, stopping shy of her shorts. “But, Ana, what if Grigory Volkov knows your parents were the ones who stole the ledger and key in the first place? They’re the reason forged copies exist. What if the revenge he might be looking for includes hurting you?”
“Porter mentioned that risk, too.”
“And you ignored it?” His free hand knotted at his side with his need to protect her from the likes of the Volkovs of the world. And from men in suits at the Bureau who were willing to do whatever it took, including risk Ana’s life, to close a case.
“It’s worth the risk.” She reminded A.J. of Natasha and her conviction to chase down The Knight. But that case had brought Wyatt and Natasha together, and now they were getting married in a month.
“Not in my eyes.” He stood and removed his hat, on edge thinking about the million things that could have gone wrong had A.J. and his team not been assigned to surveil Ana.
Everything happens for a reason.
“A.J., please.” She rose and stepped around the blanket to get closer to him.
“Who else, aside from Porter, knew about your undercover work?” Something was still bothering him about all of this, well, aside from all the other things bothering him.
“I don’t know, but Porter didn’t want a record of my assignment in the system at the Bureau, too worried about sensitive information being hacked, or falling into corrupt hands.”
“And you don’t find that suspicious?” He wasn’t too keen on Porter at the moment.
“He had to get someone to sign off on the assignment. Someone he trusted, but they won’t be able to vouch for me when shit hits the fan, and the blame gets pointed my way. They won’t be able to risk clearing my name, especially since someone else is clearly leaking sources. And I’d rather the world think I’m loyal to the Volkovs for now. This might be my only shot to take them down once and for all.”
He closed the space between them and seized her shoulders, unable to stop himself, worry and frustration tearing him apart. “Ana, you can’t throw your life away for one mission.”
“My reputation can be repaired,” she said, lifting her chin to find his eyes. “You don’t need to worry about me.”
“It’s kind of hard not to worry.” He bent closer, still holding her shoulders. His heart and mind were too heavy. “But everything will be okay,” he promised because he needed to hear it himself. To believe he wouldn’t lose Ana like he’d lost his best friend.
Chapter Nineteen
“You should eat.” A.J. quickly followed Ana onto the porch. “You don’t need to go clean the mess by the pond. I’ll get that.” But like the adorably stubborn woman she was, she kept on moving.
“You know I panic-clean. I can’t relax knowing we left a mess out there.” She tossed him a smile over her shoulder, which was damn near shocking since they’d just spent the last half hour on a video-call with Asher and Jessica retelling the story Ana had shared with A.J. He was fairly certain it’d been much more difficult for her this time around. He’d helped her fill in the blanks whenever she stopped speaking mid-sentence as though lost in her own thoughts.
“I’m surprised you can relax at all after tonight.” He hurried to catch up with her and they nearly collided when she abruptly stopped and whirled around to face him.
“So, help me.”
“I said I’d . . .” He raised a brow. Ah, she was playing with him. A.J. put his hands on his hips, deciding to play along. “Help you do what exactly, darlin’?”
Ana flattened her palm against his chest, and it was a reminder his attraction to her was still very much on the forefront of his mind even after the news she’d dropped on him.
“Help me relax in a way that doesn’t involve cleaning.” Her words were laced with seduction, bringing a cocky grin to his face and dirty thoughts to his mind. “I don’t want to be high-strung and tense.”
He brushed the back of his hand over her cheek before reaching for her braid. “Your beautiful red hair,” he announced, giving it a small tug. “The first step is to let it down.”
“My hair?” Her forehead tightened. The opposite of what he wanted to happen.
“You know that saying about letting your hair down and living a little?” He pulled the black hair tie free and tossed it in the grass. She stared up at him, her green eyes wide, as he loosened the braid with his fingers, his pulse quickening at the feel of the silky strands. The memory of their near kiss in the kitchen coming back to mind. She had wanted to wait until he knew the truth. Well, he knew now, and he sure as hell wasn’t going anywhere.
She shook her head once her hair was hanging free. “Now what?”
He peeked around where she stood and put eyes on the pond. “When I was a boy, and I had a bad day, I used to swim. Go jump in a lake, pond, river—you name it. It helped cool me off. Literally and figuratively.”
She slowly turned to face the pond. “Cool off in there?”
“Mmmhmm.” He marched past her, deciding not to take no for an answer.
“No way. Too many unknown variables.”
“So what?” He removed his hat and placed it on the blanket, away from any melted ice cream, then peeled off his gray shirt. “This is about relaxing.”
“Not sure how relaxed I’ll be if I’m worried something will swim up my shorts.” Her tone softened as she spoke, her eyes roaming over his abs. She drew a finger down the line of her chest to her navel as if picturing her touch was on him instead.
It took all of his strength to stifle the low growl that’d nearly escaped at the image of her hand caressing his bare skin.
Ana fidgeted with the material of her shirt, and he had the feeling she was itching to remove it but was scared. “You sure?”
He stepped in front of her and offered her his palm. “I’ve never been surer about anything in my life.” He banded a hand around her waist and tipped his chin to the sky. “Sunset is at eight, and by my estimates, that was twenty-two minutes ago. You won’t get a better sky to swim beneath than a Southern one like this.” Streaks of gold, pink, and blue lazily rolled overhead.
Ana reached for his left wrist and pulled it closer to eye his waterproof watch. “You peeked at the time first, right? No way are you that accurate.”
“I was probably off by one or two minutes.” He winked, and she playfully swatted his chest before allowing her palm to rest on his pec.
As her gaze glided down to her hand, he brought their bodies so close he was sure she’d be able to feel the hum of electricity, of want, pulsating off him.
“You got a bra and panties on under there?”
“You want me to take my clothes off?” Her focus flew to his face. “Is my relaxed state contingent upon that?” A challenging eyebrow had his smile stretching. It had him forgetting about Russian espionage. American traitors. The danger Ana was in.
“It’ll be a hell of a lot more freeing to swim without your clothes on. And what’s a bra and underwear but a bikini, anyway?”