Chapter 23

Ian stood in the hallway at Alec’s waiting for her to come out of the bedroom.

“How are we for time?”

Glancing at his watch, he shrugged. “We’ve got an hour yet.”

“I thought it was going to take forever for them to finally shut up. Seriously they really didn’t have to go over every step of each detail, most of which we already knew because we’d done all the grunt work on this. Hopefully, their techie guy can find something to hold Bill. I can’t believe he’s that ballsy to walk right in with the cameras on him.”

When she stepped out and he sucked in a ragged breath, she was in her usual jeans and he did love seeing the material hug her every curve from her small waist all the way down to her boots. His heart wasn’t hammering in his chest over the denim though, it was the sleeveless top she had on that gaped open displaying for his viewing pleasure the perfect mounds of her breasts and if that didn’t make his jeans tighter the fact that he finally got to see her with her hair down was affecting his thought process. Her long blonde hair looked like silk as it hung around her shoulders and all he could think of was touching it.

“Ian?”

With a jolt, he blinked and looked at her again. “Sorry?”

Grinning, she walked over and gave him a look of sympathy. “Are you still worrying about them finding out what you can do?”

His eyes followed the bare skin of her throat down to the cleavage that was rising and falling with each breath. “Uh, no.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

Clearing his throat, he made eye contact again. “Just wondering where you put the wire.”

She laughed. “It’s attached to my bra strap.”

“Is it turned on yet?”

Alec snorted. “No, I’ll turn it on before we go in.”

“Good.” Palming the nape of her neck, he pulled her into his body and crushed his mouth on hers before she could come up with another excuse for why they couldn’t. It felt like it had been months since he’d tasted her, and he was done waiting. Grasping a handful of her soft hair, he gently forced her head back to deepen the kiss.

He expected her to pull away from him, but she molded her slender form against his, her hands gripping his waist tightly. Ian’s body heated with the contact and he wanted nothing more than to get lost in her and forget everything else. Plunging his tongue into her mouth, he pushed her back against the wall, pinning her with his hips and rocking his aching body into hers. She moaned when he broke the kiss and moved his mouth down her throat.

“Ian,” she whispered against his ear. “We have to focus...” She hissed out a breath when he gently bit the tender skin of her neck.

Inhaling an unsteady breath, he lifted his mouth from her tempting flesh and rested his forehead against hers. “I am focused.” Looking into her passion glazed eyes didn’t help him to want to release her. “On you.”

“We can’t.”

Easing his body away from hers, he took a deep breath and tried to settle down. “I’m not walking away when this is finished.”

Shaking her head, he watched as her hair swept across her cheek. “I can’t do this right now.”

Brushing his thumb over her bottom lip, he smiled. “Eventually you’re going to run out of ways to post-pone this.” He let his hands drop to his side and stepped back.

“Probably, but right now we have to get to Lucky’s and grab Collette.”

Gritting his teeth, he motioned to the door. “Lead the way, but know as soon as we’re finished tonight, we’re resuming this discussion.”

Alec stayed close to Ian, playing the role she had every other night, only this time she started to feel like it wasn’t just acting, and she wanted to be held against his side. The kiss before they’d left still had her wanting more, which was making her have to focus even harder to keep watch around them. Every few minutes she would make eye contact with him and she knew he had a lot more to say on the subject, making her thankful for the wires preventing any vocal discussion on it. She honestly didn’t know how she was going to stall him when they no longer had a sensitive agenda to follow. Worse, she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to stall him and that scared her more than anything.

Ian grasping the back of her head startled her back to her present surroundings. He brushed his lips lightly over her and then spoke softly enough against her ear that the mic wouldn’t pick it up.

“Stop overanalyzing it.”

He gave her a knowing glare when she started to pull away and deny she knew what he was talking about. Shrugging, she smirked at him and purposely glanced around the room asking silently if there was anything going on yet.

Shaking his head, he let his hand run down the back of her neck until it rested on her hip again. She was just about to suggest they move when Vance Shaw walked into the bar and headed for a booth in the back corner. Leaning down onto his shoulder, she spoke so both of their devices would pick it up. “Vance Shaw just arrived.”

Standing up, Ian nuzzled his chin into her hair and turned so he could see where she had been looking. Wrapping a strong hand around her waist, he led her to the other end of the bar, so they were closer to where Shaw waited. Before she could ask what, he had planned, Nick Collette strode through the doors and moved in long strides to the same booth. Turning her head, she looked up at Ian.

“Show time,” he said as he glanced around the bar making brief eye contact with the two men from the team that sat at a table holding untouched drinks in their hands. Without releasing his hold on her waist, he pulled his phone from his pocket and looked down at it.

When he lifted it so she could see the words on the screen, she smiled like it was nothing serious and leaned her head on his shoulder. The instructions were to let Shaw walk away, his tail was waiting for him outside. It took every ounce of restraint for her to stand there and play with her drink as Vance slid a small box the size of a textbook across the table to Collette. She knew what was in the box and wished for one moment they could arrest both on the spot. Glancing over her shoulder, she watched the other two men get up and weave their way through the tables in the direction of the booth. She tensed in Ian’s hold, the noise from the music faded from her as she focused completely on the two men in the booth. Without having to tell him, Ian loosened his grip on her and allowed enough space between them that if she needed to step in she could easily. Alec liked that he knew enough about her to know that her job came first.

Nick Collette accepted the drink from the waitress and leaned back, keeping one hand on the box as he took a sip. Vance nodded his head abruptly and quickly got up from the booth and moved toward the door. Alec’s muscled coiled, ready to spring if things didn’t go smoothly. She’d never forget the expression of shock on the man’s face as the two men from the briefing stepped over and blocked his exit and pulled him to his feet. One turned him and had the cuffs on him faster than Alec had ever seen as the other one picked up the box and spoke into his phone. They had Nick Collette, just that easy.

Turning, she watched as they led him through the door, people parting to clear their path. With a smile, she looked up at Ian. He saluted her with her glass and then downed the contents. Exhaling, she released the tension from her shoulders and motioned to the doorway.

Wrapping an arm around her, he grinned and began to guide her through the tables to leave. Glancing down at her, he gave her a heated look and it caused her heartbeat to pick up. As they passed through the doorway, she reached to her side and pressed the switch to turn off the mic. Ian reached under the edge of his t-shirt and she could only assume he was doing the same thing, which meant she had just lost her reason to not discuss what she knew he wanted to talk about.

With hurried steps, he rushed her down the street and then pulled her into the first alleyway they came to. He spun her around and gripped both her hips. “Now, where were we?”