“And do you really think it’s in my nature to let an injured woman fight her own battles?”
Eve snorted. “No.”
“Are you going to try and tell me you’re not planning to go after the Matthews?”
“No,” she grumbled, bristling under her skin at his pragmatic approach.
“Then I think that answers your question. Anything else you want to know?”
Everything. Nothing. How big is the gun in your pants?
“Whose clothes are these?” She plucked at the extra-small T-shirt. The blurted question surprising them both. In answer, Adam cocked a brow while she turned the color of a ripe tomato.
Davis had fumbled over his response when she asked him who owned the clothes he brought, and her imagination had gone into double overtime. A lot taller and a hell of a lot skinnier, the mystery woman appeared to be the exact opposite of Eve.
Another female shouldn’t bother her. Shouldn’t matter at all. She planned on leaving in the morning. Adam would be staying. So what if he—
“They belong to my sister.”
“Your sister?” Curiosity chased the relief swamping her insides, and she wiped her sweaty palms on her pants. “She lives with you too?” She knew there were others nearby but had only met Grant and Davis.
“Not exactly.” Adam frowned. “It’s more like a forced proximity she puts up with.” Gaze drawn to her fidgeting fingers, he wrapped his hands around hers to still them, and her pulse jumped at the press of his knuckles against her thighs.
“Well, must be nice to have her close.”
“Nice is not the word I would use to describe my sister.”
“Why?” Eve asked, interested in the woman by virtue of her relation to Adam. “Is she sassy too?”
“Fuck no.” His voice came out gruff, but when he lifted his head, he was smiling again. “Her personality leans toward caustic with a side of crippling sarcasm. Consider yourself lucky you won’t get to meet her.”
In the quietof the cabin, Adam slow blinked. Blinked again. Rubbed both lids. Didn’t help. His eyes weren’t the cause of his problem. His headache was. A band of tension wrapped tight around his skull, the constant pressure turned his brain into mush and messed with his ability to focus.
Computer open on the small table in front of him, the words on the colonel’s screen were a blur. Not really a problem. Adam had gotten as far as he could. A cautious man and a smart one, his father had provided his chosen successor with built-in access to the JTT’s operations by way of biometrics. Adam’s fingerprint and twenty-two-digit alphanumeric code gave him access to dozens of files containing hundreds of documents.
With a few notable exceptions.
The Eidolon file being one.
Had to be a file about him. He’d been the only undercover operative on the JTT until their mission was blown and the colonel murdered. It piqued his curiosity, but nothing he could do about it until Jay hacked the security program and gave him access.
The rest he’d go through when he had more time. For now, Eve remained his top priority. He’d wined and dined her the best he knew how, and still, she intended to leave in the morning. It killed him, but Grant was right, Adam couldn’t stop her. Didn’t mean he wouldn’t see to it she stayed safe.
Hadn’t taken his warrior princess long to figure out his plan to have her followed. She wasn’t happy about it. He didn’t care. Until he had the situation with the Matthews sorted, Grant would be her constant shadow.
Jesus! If anything ever happened to her, he’d lose his fucking mind. From the moment she looked at him with those piercing baby blues, she’d gotten under his skin. Made him want things he had no business wanting. A wife. A home. A future.
Dangerous dreams for a man like him.
Dreams so far out of reach, it was a kick to the solar plexus.
Adam planned to head to LA in the morning, Washington right after. Chances were good he wasn’t coming back. Entertaining thoughts of Eve was an exercise in self-inflicted corporal punishment. Smart and sassy, she was a deadly combination wrapped in a sexy package with more S-curves than should be allowed on one woman.
Yeah, he’d noticed. He’d have to be dead not to.
She was also a victim, and no way would he take advantage of her vulnerability. Physically, she appeared to be on the road to healing, mostly thanks to her stubborn nature and the yoga poses she put herself through daily. Mentally, she seemed fine as well, but Adam had no baseline from which to judge.
In the hearth, the fire crackled, and Eve sighed loud enough the sound carried to where he sat with his back to the open bedroom door. With her departure scheduled for the morning, she should be sleeping, shoring her energy for the road ahead. Instead, he could hear her tossing and turning.
