She parroted his earlier words back to him. “It’s worth the trip.”
After resuming her previous position, she was free to run her hand over his torso. His crinkly chest hair tickled her palm. His left nipple hardened under her fingertips. And when she slid her hand down his belly, she smiled softly at how his stomach muscles tensed.
If all they had was the one night, she wasn’t going to waste it on sleep.
Before she could wrap her hands around him, however, her fingers brushed lightly over the puckered wound on his flank. She was instantly distracted.
She practiced with her service weapon twice a week. She’d seen plenty of death by way of a round traveling at 1300 miles per hour. But she’d never met anyone who’d actually been shot.
Despite what the movies would have everyone believe, most FBI agents didn’t spend their careers dodging bullets. In fact,mostof her colleagues had never fired their service weapon in the line of duty.
“How did this happen?” She pushed back onto her elbow.
He met her gaze full-on, but his expression was shuttered.
“Oh.” She nodded. “Is this one of those super-secret soldier things that’s been buried in a file in the basement of the Pentagon?”
He took a moment, seeming to consider. Then he shrugged one shoulder. “It’s a part of my past that’s been ‘redacted out the wazoo,’ as you so eloquently put it.”
“So, then, yes.”
“Let’s just say it involved a raid on an enemy compound, and I darted left when I should’ve dodged right.”
It wasn’t anything close to a real answer. But she understood what it was to be the keeper of classified information. She didn’t press him further. Instead, she changed gears.
“And this?” She ran a gentle finger over the scar on his forehead. “Is this another injury from the blacked-out part of your file?”
He grimaced and shook his head. “Thatis a souvenir from my misspent youth.” When she lifted an intrigued eyebrow, he continued. “You know I told you Knox got his start by boosting cars?”
She nodded.
“Well, sometimes I tagged along. And this…” He reached up and tapped the damaged skin. “Is from when we crashed a Jaguar into a guardrail while running from the police. Knox walked away with a broken arm. And I came away needing about twenty stitches. We didn’t have medical insurance, though. So Knox made a homemade splint with a set of drumsticks, and I made do with butterfly bandages.”
It explained the uneven, jagged edges of the wound.
“And hence, your love of adrenaline was kindled.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “To quote Lady Gaga, I was born this way. The Rollins men come hardwired for action and intrigue. Knox feeds his hunt for dopamine with shady shit. I feed mine with harrowing missions and mayhem.”
“Youfedit,” she corrected.
Something shifted behind his eyes. “Right.” He nodded. “Past tense.”
Her investigator’s instincts kicked in along with her curiosity. “Something tells me it’snotpast tense?”
“I satisfy myself with fast rides down narrow country lanes, base jumping, hang gliding, and tossing myself out of the occasional airplane.” He shrugged again. “It’s notquiteas thrilling as dodging—and sometimes not dodging—bullets. But it’ll do in a pinch. And then there’s this.” He reached up to kiss her mouth, his lips lingering until her toes curled. “This isquitethe adrenaline rush.”
“Mmm.” She hummed against his mouth. Then she was reminded of the kiss they’d shared in the kitchen, and she pulled back to skewer him with a hard stare. “Isthatwhy you kissed me this morning? Because you were looking for a hit of dopamine?”
He had the grace to grimace. “I’ve wanted to kiss you since the first moment I saw you. But this morning, I used that as an excuse to keep you from going into the pantry looking for Peanut’s cat treats.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Because…” She drew out the word.
“Because that’s where Knox and Sabrina were hiding. Peanut, that damned cat, almost blew the whole thing.”
“Scoundrel!” She slapped his shoulder. “Villain!” she added for emphasis. “They were in the pantry? Just five feet away from me the whole time?”
“I know.” He nodded, looking guilty. “It was a lowdown, dirty trick. But I can’t regret it.” He shook his head. “Don’t ask me to regret it. It’s one of my life’s highlights.”
