“Uh, sure.” She stepped back and let him enter, the door swinging closed in his wake. “So—”
“You know her,” he said, his voice flat, accusatory. “The blonde. Is she even a reporter?”
Fuck. How did he know?
The expression on Jason’s face—a combination of hurt, confusion, betrayal—lodged a rock in Emma’s chest. He’d been so close to walking away without ever knowing she’d manipulated him.
“You can come out, Nat,” Emma called.
Natalie exited the bathroom, her face pinched. All of the Night Herons had taken surveillance and counter-surveillance training, but they didn’t have spy-level skills. Normally they didn’t need them.
Jason crossed his arms, his biceps bulging impressively. “What the fuck is going on?”
Nat’s eyes widened as she got a good look at him, and she inhaled as if to speak.
Emma grabbed her arm and squeezed. “She’s an investigative reporter.” Her story would fall apart if he thought about it too hard, or asked too many questions, but “admitting” to this lie was safer than the real one. “And my friend. So I agreed to help her get a scoop.”
His face darkened. “I’ve got to say, your interview technique sucks.”
Heat raced across her skin at the memory of their kiss, followed quickly by shame. Like so many others in his past, she’d gotten close to him under false pretenses, used him for her own ends. Just like he’d accused her of with Trey.
The beautiful mouth she’d so recently kissed twisted into a scowl. He put his hands on his hips and stared down at her, accentuating the difference in their sizes. People who’d never stood next to an athlete of his caliber didn’t realize how much larger-than-average a man like him was. Not just tall, but broad across the shoulders and chest, with thick arms and powerful thighs. Beautifully proportioned, but so, so big. Despite her and Nat’s self-defense training, if she didn’t know Jason, she’d be scared.
“I don’t understand the plan. You were there too,” he said. “And you already know me. What’s with all the spy games? Why did you need to get me alone?”
Damn, he was too smart. She had to give him something. “I thought I saw the old man slip something into your pocket before he died.” She swallowed against the lump building in her throat as Jason learned just how much she’d misled him. Even if it had been to keep Viktor’s death from being in vain, rarely did she have to face her victims’ condemnation. “I told her I’d try to get it.”
He pointed at a pale, frowning Nat. “And used her as the threat we needed to escape so I’d come here with you.”
Emma nodded.
A muscle in his jaw jumped as he pondered the implications of her confession.
Yes, I put my hands all over you to check for a memory card. Was it better or worse that she’d loved every minute of it?
His eyes narrowed as he patted his pockets. “Did you find anything?”
Her skin burned with awareness of the small card she’d hastily tucked into the padding pocket of her bra. “I made a mistake.” She couldn’t bring herself to outright lie.Fool.
He flattened his lips and stared at her for so long that she felt dizzy. “No. I did.”
She expected him to demand she turn out her pockets or submit to a pat-down. Instead, he glanced briefly at Nat, returned his gaze to Emma for several more heartbreaking seconds, and then walked out.
Both women stared at the door until it shut with aclick.
“I’m so sorry,” Nat whispered.
God, what a mess. Their kiss had been beyond incredible. Her body wanted a repeat while her brain wanted her to crawl into a ball and hide from the entire day. She hadn’t been sure the plan would even work. Wasn’t sure he’d believe she was ready to forgive him and fall into his arms again.
She wasn’t actually there yet, but her body hadn’t given a damn about the past. Kissing him had been far too easy.
Then again, she hadn’t kissed a man in years. Not since her asshole ex uploaded naked photos of her on Blaze’s site. She’d found a new family and purpose with the Night Herons, but she hadn’t been interested in the vulnerability required even for casual sex in a very long time.
It figured that Jason Chin would be the man who finally reawakened her libido.
“Running a pretext on someone you know feels worse than usual, doesn’t it?” Natalie asked as she strolled to the kitchen and retrieved her bag from the floor, patting Emma’s shoulder as she passed by. “But he didn’t take the drive. We still have what we need.”
“True.” So many things had gone wrong today, but with luck, the files from Viktor would help set things right. Emma blew out a breath, already hating the tiny storage device for all the pain it had caused. “We still have it.” She tried to conjure a sense of triumph and failed.
