Keira leaped out of the bed, her bare feet hitting the cold stone floor. From the sounds coming through the crack in the door, Rogue was up and moving around in the kitchen.
If he needed her, he would call out or knock. She had a few minutes to herself.
The first thing she did was check her messages on her laptop. Jade had yet to respond.
She dropped to the floor and knocked out thirty pushups, flipped onto her back and performed fifty sit-ups and fifty leg lifts. On her feet again, she did thirty burpees, fifty jumping jacks and rounded out with thirty mountain climbers. When she rose to her feet, she squeaked in surprise to find Rogue standing in the doorway, hair combed, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, with a smile curling his lips. Damn, he made her heart flutter. How the hell did he do that by just standing there?
“Sorry. I came to see if you like your eggs scrambled or scrambled?” he said with a wink.
“You found the powdered eggs, I take it?” She shook out her arms and legs, hoping she didn’t reek of sweat. “Scrambled for me, but I want to jump in the shower first.”
“They’ll be ready when you are,” he said. “Are you going to try for a run this morning?”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to risk being spotted by anyone. Anything from your boss?”
“Not yet. I expect the package to arrive any minute.”
“I hope it can’t be tracked.”
“Royce is thorough,” Rogue said. “Between him, Swede and our other tech guru, Kyla, they’ll have it cloaked and invisible with whatever computer magic they can find. They’ll do their best to keep our location a secret.”
Keira grimaced. “Onyx and the people behind it have ways of breaking through firewalls.”
Rogue dipped his head, his jaw tight. “As do we—and we guard against those ways when it comes to our data. Our lives depend on it.” His face softened. “Sleep well?”
“Surprisingly,” she responded. “And you?” Did you dream of kissing me? The thought sprang to her head, but thankfully not to her lips. Heat rose up her neck into her cheeks.
His gaze held hers for a moment and then lowered to her mouth. “I caught a few winks.” He straightened away from the doorframe. “Go. Get that shower. I’ll have breakfast ready when you’re done.” He spun and walked away.
“You don’t have to cook for me,” she called out.
He waved a hand. “I know.”
Keira watched as he walked barefoot away from her. She drew in a deep breath and let it out, hoping it would help to slow her racing pulse. She blamed the elevated heartbeat on exercise. Anything else would be ridiculous. She was Onyx trained. Emotions were useless and dangerous.
Only she wasn’t Onyx anymore. She squared her shoulders, grabbed a clean T-shirt, underwear and jeans and hurried into the bathroom. Minutes later, the cool water had done its job, lowering her core temperature and resetting her focus.
Clean face, sweat washed away, damp hair combed back and secured in a low ponytail, she was ready to face the day and the man who’d been sent to kill her.
When she walked into the kitchen, she found Rogue stirring eggs in a skillet, looking as comfortable with a spatula as with a handgun. He turned and smiled.
Her pulse kicked back into high gear.
What was wrong with her?
“Hungry?” he asked.
She nodded, too flustered to form words. Her gaze slipped to his mouth. The same mouth that had kissed her the night before, stirring something she hadn’t realized existed deep inside.
Rogue scraped the eggs onto a plate. “Since there’s no bread, but I found crackers and a jar of jelly. Close enough.” He handed her the plate and tipped his head toward the table he’d set with cutlery, crackers and the jar of jelly. “Have a seat and eat while it’s hot. It won’t take me too long to make mine.”
She scooted past him, careful not to bump into him. “Do you cook often?” she asked to talk about anything and learn more about this man.
“I grew up in a military family. My mother and father met when they were both on active duty. After she had my sister and me, it got too hard to get joint assignments. She left active duty and went to college to get a degree in teaching. My father insisted we each do our part as members of the family. We learned to cook as soon as we were tall enough to stand in front of the stove. When Dad wasn’t deployed, he took over KP duty to give my mother a break. We did our own laundry, made our own beds and even had crisp corners like my parents learned in basic training.” He smiled. “So, the answer is, I cook when I want to eat.”
Her heart pinched hard in her chest. “And your family? Where are they now?”
Rogue grinned. “Mom and Dad bought a house on the Greek island of Patmos. They live there ten months out of the year and come back to the States to see us, spending most of their time at my sister’s in Florida. I followed in my father’s footsteps and joined the Army. My sister got her doctorate and is a professor at the University of Florida. Her husband is a tenured professor there. They have two beautiful little girls, my parents love to spoil.”
