Nolan popped his head through the door again, and she whispered, “I’m almost finished. I wanted to get this as well.” Finally, placing all the files back into the drawer as she found them, Nolan locked it again. They stepped back, careful to perform a visual sweep of the office and, once satisfied it was all in order, they slipped back into the hall where he relocked the door.
Adrenaline pumping, they hurried out of the building, tossing a wave toward Chester as they left. Her heels tapped out a quick staccato as they rushed across the parking lot toward his truck. Opening the door, he lifted her into the passenger seat before jogging around and climbing inside. He started the truck, but before he put it in drive he twisted around.
She mimicked his actions, facing him, a lighthearted grin on her face. “We did it!” she whispered, her hand lifted to offer a high-five.
Before she had a chance to react, he reached over and cupped her jaws, pulling her forward slightly. “We sure as hell did,” he said just before his lips landed on hers.
10
Nolan had not planned on kissing her again. In fact, most of the day had not gone the way he’d planned at all. As a SEAL, he was used to meticulously planning then evaluating ever-changing situations and reacting accordingly. Somehow, with Lynn, he’d been filled with uncertainty and allowed the situation to progress. But, seeing her giddy smile as she lifted her hand in celebration of ‘we did it,’ he was overcome with the desire to celebrate.
Now, with his lips covering hers, he once again wondered what the hell he was doing. A soft moan met his ears, and he felt her body melt toward him. Her response nearly undid him, and he swept his tongue into her mouth, loving the taste and feel of everything about her. He was playing with fire but was filled with the headiness of her reaction to his kiss. He angled his head and took the kiss deeper, his body firing on all engines as it hummed in appreciation. And, by the reaction of his cock, in anticipation.
Slowly, he pulled back, his hands still holding her face. He ended the kiss only because he knew they needed to leave. Breathing heavily, he said, “We need to get out of here. Let’s get to the resort, and we can take a look at all that we have.”
She blinked her deer-in-the-headlights eyes as she stared at him. Her chest heaved as she appeared to catch her breath. Her lips were plump and moist, and he battled the desire to kiss her again. Hesitating to see what she would do, she finally mimicked him as she leaned back against the seat. “Yeah. Good. That sounds good.” Closing her eyes for a few seconds, she shook her head slowly back and forth, blowing out a huge breath. “I’m exhausted.”
“Who knew going through a fake wedding would be so tiring?”
“Yeah…” she barely whispered.
His gaze shot over to see her staring out of the front windshield, no smile on her face. Hating the emotional landmine that the day had presented, he tried to joke past it. “Besides being tired, I’m starved.”
That confession elicited a small laugh, and she agreed. “Me too.”
“Then let’s drive to the resort, get checked into our rooms, and have a nice meal. We’re supposed to have cake and champagne also. Once we’ve rested and eaten, then you can start looking at the financial records.”
He held his breath for a second as she appeared to ponder his words. Finally, she nodded. “Okay… yeah, good.”
As he pulled out onto the road, the air inside his truck seemed electrified with a combination of adrenaline and sexual tension. Kissing was not something he often engaged in. It implied a level of intimacy that a casual fuck lacked. The times that he had spent kissing a woman was usually instigated by them and nothing more than a precursor to sex as he kept it to a minimum. But, with Lynn, he hated to end the kiss and hoped he would have a chance to kiss her again.
He glanced to the side to see her hands clasped together in her lap, the ring still on her finger. He hadn’t even noticed that his wedding ring was also still in place, something he thought would have chafed but instead felt comfortable.
She remained quiet, and while he would normally appreciate her not babbling like Nancy, he now wondered what she was thinking. Hell, I barely know what I’m thinking. The kiss had been unexpected, and it didn’t escape his notice that with the tables turned he was the one who initiated the kiss. But, unlike ten years ago, they were now both adults.
For a strange reason that he did not attempt to discern, he hated the silence. “Um… do you think you got everything you need?”
Her head jerked around, and she looked at him for a moment before nodding. “Yes. I feel certain that I’ve got enough of his records to be able to let Mrs. Hightower know more about her husband’s finances. Now, whether or not it gives her what she’s hoping for, that I can’t say.”
His shoulders relaxed as he realized talking about work would be a safe subject to draw her out with. “What kind of things are you looking for?”
“I’m particularly curious about his cash transactions. Their website says that they accept credit card payments or checks as long as they have five days to pass the banks. But I overheard Junelle on the phone telling someone that paying in cash would be perfectly fine.”
“So you think some of his cash transactions may not be going into the books?”
Nodding, she said, “That’s one of the things he could be doing. If he’s not reporting all the cash transactions, then he’s hiding income from the IRS, not paying taxes on it, and therefore hiding it from Mrs. Hightower.”
“How detailed do you have to be in this kind of investigation if it ends up in court?”
Her nose scrunched and he noticed she absentmindedly fiddled with her ring as she thought. “I confess this is strange for me. Usually, when I’m looking for evidence of fraud, whether dealing with an employer or a couple getting a divorce, I’m meticulous right down to the penny… or as close as I can be. In those cases, I have to be prepared to be an expert witness in court. With Mrs. Hightower, she just wants to know if her husband is hiding money from her. From what Nancy tells me, Mrs. Hightower thinks if she shows her husband that she knows what he’s doing, he’ll agree to a much more generous divorce settlement.”
“It seems kind of callous, doesn’t it? She wants her money but doesn’t care if he’s doing something illegal.”
She was quiet again, and he shot her a risky glance considering they were on a curvy mountain road. Her brow was furrowed in thought, and he waited to see what she would say.
After a moment, she nodded slowly. “If I find evidence that he’s engaged in illegal activities, I’m ethically bound to let the authorities know. I’m not bound to continue to investigate, and I have no control over what the authorities will or won’t do.”
Relief speared through him, an emotion that caught him off guard. As a SEAL, he followed orders even if the end game for his superiors was not always known to him. He trusted in the system, at times doing what some would consider to be wrong, to meet the end goal. His team worked in perfect unison, finishing their missions according to the orders they had been given. In many ways that was what Lynn was doing, and yet, it made him feel better to know that she was not just doing this for a paycheck. If Errol was laundering money, someone in authority would be told.