“I have a better idea.”
“Really?” He raised a suspicious brow. “What’s that?”
She took off her jacket, tucked her short sleeves up into the body of her T-shirt, displaying her toned arms, and pulled the V-neck front down, showing off her ample cleavage.
He realized how she intended to play this, and it made his gut churn with a shocking possessiveness.
“You keep the car running while I drop a little bait and separate our prey from the herd.” She fluffed her hair. “I’d kill for lipstick and a little mascara.”
Aiden gritted his teeth, hating her impetuous plan from start to finish. “You look better without it,” he said without thinking. “Prettier.”
Charlie’s gaze flew to his as her jaw dropped a little.
He usually kept such comments to himself, not wanting to make her uncomfortable by reminding her that he saw her as an enticing woman.
Since he’d started speaking his mind, why stop there?
“You’re a natural beauty, Charlie.” He dared run his knuckle along the side of her face. “You’ll have every guy in there drooling, wishing he could take you home tonight.”
A slight flush stained her cheeks, and she gulped.
Maybe he’d been playing it too safe, not telling her, not showing her how much he desired her. Waiting for her to be ready. Sometimes a person had to be thrown into a sink-or-swim position.
He lowered his hand, cupping her neck. Her pulse throbbed against his palm. “Do me a favor and stay here. Don’t make me watch you smile and flirt with some guy while he ogles you. Touches you.” If he had to choose between that and a potential fistfight, bring on the brawl.
She wet her lips and clutched his wrist but didn’t pull his hand away, turning him on bright as a bulb. Her eyes were luminous. Radiant with a hunger, a fire that drew him closer even though he knew he’d get burned.
The atmosphere in the car shifted, like the current in the air before a storm.
Her mouth opened, but before she could speak, he followed a foreign, reckless impulse and leaned over, pressing his lips to hers.
There was none of the cautious gentleness of a first kiss. No need to coax. No resistance given. All the desire that’d been kindling for four years ignited in hot bliss.
It was a long-overdue communion that touched him to the very core.
She arched up and let him in. As he sank into her warm mouth, his hand slid up, cupping the back of her head. He devoured her, slowly, deeply, consuming and claiming. Every slick swipe of her tongue against his was liquid heat.
Holding her to him, he deepened the kiss as he found himself pushing her back in the seat.
A headiness enveloped him, seeping to every nerve fiber, but he forced himself to stop.
He pulled back, not wanting to ever let her go.
Her eyes fluttered open and he saw it—the evasiveness of her gaze, the set of her mouth, the stiffening of her posture, the crease in her brow. He’d cataloged every nuance of her body language, memorized every elusive emotion that passed across her face. She was retreating behind her wall.
His heart squeezed.
“If you don’t want to watch, you should stay here and keep the car running.” She hopped out, slammed the door and started crossing the street.
Aiden cut the engine and was hot on her heels. “Charlie!”
“What’s the alternative? You get your face busted up, maybe a few broken ribs. No. Not on my watch.” Stepping onto the sidewalk, she turned and faced him. “We should go in separately. If he’s in there, I’ll get him outside around back.” Then she opened the door and disappeared inside.
Aiden scrubbed a hand over his face, hauling in a deep breath. That kiss. God, that kiss had been all-consuming. Set him ablaze, painting everything with a pall of red.
There was something he’d learned today, a lesson that had to be heeded.
Life could turn on a dime. His reputation and career hung in the balance. Circumstances kept shifting like grains of sand beneath their feet.
His love for Charlie was the one constant. In fact, it had got stronger since his tumble off the roof. Brought everything into high definition and surround sound.
He was done avoiding, making excuses, playing it safe. No more holding himself back.
SOG. Camp Beauregard. He had to tell her.
The secret he was keeping from her about the job offer was eating him up. The deadline to give an answer was next Friday. Eons away in light of what they were currently facing—
Finding Edgar and clearing their names.
Next Friday, he could be sitting in a jail cell, trying to explain how things had gone terribly wrong—or worse. And his biggest regret would be not telling Charlie how he felt about her.
He shoved the darkest thoughts from his mind. They’d get through this the way they did every other mission. As a team.
Aiden adjusted his ball cap and went into the bar.
It was wood-paneled, with taxidermied heads of deer, bobcats and gators protruding from the walls, and had a long line of taps that would’ve been a beer lover’s dream come true. All the tables and booths were taken.
He grabbed the first seat he found near the door. Next to him was a tall guy, thin as a blade but wiry, with a gun and badge on his hip. Taking stock of his surroundings, Aiden counted ten more badges and guns in ten seconds. He spotted Charlie perched on a stool at the opposite end of the bar.
The guy from the picture, the one who’d been in the middle, was behind the bar, pouring her a drink and chatting her up. She sucked back the clear liquid in the shot glass and set it down.
The man poured her and himself another round. They clinked glasses and did the shot.
She worked fast.
Color Aiden unsurprised.
Not much of a beer drinker, he ordered a double bourbon, neat. A female bartender didn’t waste time getting his order and was heavy-handed with the pour.
Aiden dropped a twenty on the bar. “Is that the owner?” He gestured to Mr. McChatty.
“One of the owners. Jeff Landau.”
“How many others?”
She pointed to a picture hanging on the wall. The same as the one at Devlin’s place. “Four. But Jeff is the only one here right now.”
“Where are the rest?”
She shrugged. “Vacation. Hunting trip, I think.”
“They all active over at the Fifth District?”
“Yeah, except Jeff. He retired a couple of years ago.”
The dude sitting beside him gave Aiden the side-eye.