Sami’s breath quickened. She didn’t like the calculating gleam in Tace’s eyes.
Tace nodded. “At the very least, if we have this aboveboard exchange a few times, I might be able to discover the locations of the other storage depots so we know exactly where to hit them.”
“Man, we’re assholes,” she muttered.
“Survival, baby,” Tace said, turning that intense gaze on her.
Jax stilled.
Raze’s chin dropped. “Did you just call herbaby?Sami?”
Sami’s legs trembled, and pure panic swept through her. She opened her mouth but nothing came out.
Tace blinked. “I have a Texas drawl. We call everybody ‘baby.’”
Sami glared and regained her voice. “Fine. Call Raze and Jax that next time we’re in a skirmish.”
“Gladly.” Tace tipped his head toward Jax. “Though he’s more of a sweetcakes.”
Jax pressed his index fingers into the corners of his eyes. “Where did I lose control here? I mean, we’re planning death and destruction, and all of a sudden, I’m a pastry.”
Raze narrowed his gaze and looked from Tace to Sami and back again. “If you guys are fuckin’, you can’t go on patrol together.”
Sami gasped, and her entire face exploded in heat. “Raze!” Geez. He could’ve kept quiet. Jax had already moved on to another topic. Kind of.
“Sorry,” Raze said, not looking apologetic in the slightest. “But if there’s personal shit going on, I don’t want either one of you covering my back with the other one there. It’s not smart, and it’s not safe.”
Jax dropped his hands to the table. “Are you guys fuckin’?”
“No,” Sami exploded. They’d agreed on two hours, and those two hours were long up. “I can’t believe you guys. Seriously. I have to stuff cotton in my ears on a nightly basis because of you two and your doctors banging beds against walls, but not once have I said a word. Not one word. And for the love of all that is holy, there is agon the end of fucking. Fuckeeeeng. You two need grammar school.”
Jax held up a hand. “Whoa. Let me make this perfectly clear. I’m fine if you two are going horizontal, but I need to know because it will change the rotation of our schedules. That’s all.”
Sami swung her gaze to Tace.
He was looking directly at Jax. “We are not going horizontal. We are not fucking . . . with agor any other letter. We are soldiers, colleagues, and hopefully friends. That’s all.”
Jax turned toward Sami. “If that changes, you have to let me know.”
“It won’t change,” Tace said.
Sami’s chest ached. She hadn’t figured Tace would be so glad to keep them just friends. Had she sucked in bed? Of course she hadn’t. She was there the whole time. But maybe he wanted more kinky stuff like he’d been getting with that inner-territory doctor. No way did Sami want to get whipped deep. Not a chance. Nor did she want a boyfriend. Man.
“Sami?” Jax asked, scowling.
“Okay, Jax.” She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t know you needed confirmation of the obvious.”
“I guess I’m just slow.” Jax cut her a hard look.
Barbara poked her head in while wearing combat gear. “Jax? We have a problem.”
Oh yeah. Sami had forgotten all about Tace’s other lover. Heat flamed into her face.
Jax stood. “Of course we do. What is it, Barb?”
“Scouts found the yellow truck driven by that Merc guy at the western edge of our territory all shot up. There was blood on the front seat, but no body anywhere. They came back in to report,” Barbara said.
Sami pushed away from the table, her heart thundering, her mind clicking into place. “The Mercs will blame us if Damon doesn’t make it back to them.” Then there would be a war whether they wanted one or not.
