18
Diggs grippedAudra’s hand and lead her into the war room. The rest of his team stopped unpacking from the earlier mission and straightened, watching them enter. Audra paused but Diggs tugged her on. The last time she’d entered this room she’d basically told them all to go to hell. But now everything hadchanged.
She needed his team’shelp.
“Come on, don’t be scared now.” Hicks made a sound, half-laugh and half-choke. Diggs shot him a glare, silently warning his team to keep quiet. Hicks slid into a chair at the main table. King, Juarez and Reaper did thesame.
“Maybe you should show them, I can wait outside.” Audra tugged on his handagain.
Diggs pulled her into his side, wrapping his arm around her waist in a show of comfort and solidarity. “Don’t be scared. They will have questions for you. You know your brother better than any ofus.”
Audra looked up at him, and saw he was focused on her as if she were the only one in the room. She said, “I’m not sure they want to talk tome.”
Juarez cleared his throat and leaned up to prop his elbows on the table, offering her an easy smile. “We always want to talk to a beautifulwoman.”
“Don’t forget she’smybeautiful woman.” Diggs held her tighter, and Audra glanced at him, half feared she’d see anger on his face, but a small grin played about hislips.
“Jealous already?” Juarez’s smile broadened and he winked atAudra.
“Like I’d have to worry about you?” Diggsasked.
Hicks chuckled and gave Juarez a playful elbow in the side. “Looks like the woman has made herchoice.”
“I’m good at changing minds,” Juarezsaid.
“I think in this instance your flirting has hit a brick wall.” King nodded at Diggs, his impassive expression tinged withamusement.
“And if he doesn’t stop looking at her like that, he’s going to run into my fist,” Diggssaid.
The team roared with laughter and Audra felt herself relaxing around their easycamaraderie.
“Seebonita,you’ve even made this guy smile, and he never smiles.” Juarez hooked a thumb toward King, and for the first time she noticed the hint of a Spanish accent to hiswords.
Diggs maneuvered her to the table and pulled out a chair. “You don’t get to call her beautifuleither.”
“Yep, told ya, he’ll be proposing by the end of the week.” Hicks crossed his massive arms and leanedback.
Audra felt heat rise to her cheeks. She didn’t know what she’d expected but not this. Maybe a few glares or cold looks, but flirting and laughing? Suddenly, the men didn’t look so much like cold-blooded killers, but more like normal, albeit large, men, whose brotherhood was as obvious as the sun. “He’s going to have to work a lot harder before we start talking aboutmarriage.”
Everyone fell silent, as if they couldn’t believe she’d spoken and then burst out laughing. Hicks the loudest. “Oh man, Diggs, I’m so glad you met her. This is going to befun.”
Diggs scowled, slid into the chair and pulled her onto his lap. She immediately tried to shift to sit in the chair beside him, but he locked a steel arm around her waist, anchoring her in place. Instead of making a bigger fuss and embarrassing herself, Audra let him have his way. Besides, he’d slid his hand beneath the edge of her shirt and his thumb was now rubbing back and forth over the bare skin just above her blue jeans, stoking the heat insideher.
She shifted, the restless energy she always felt around him rising. Diggs flexed his arm, settling her more snugly against the growing hardness between hislegs.
"How about we talk about the reason we're here," Diggs saidfirmly.
Audra tried to fight the flush sweeping up her face but the knowing looks the rest of the team shot them both told her she'd failed. Instead, she latched on to the distraction Diggs had offered. “Bothreasons.”
Diggs went completely still beneath her. The rest of the team tensed, sensing the sudden change incurrent.
“Diggs, you need to go first,” Audra saidquietly.
He blew out a breath, fanning it across the back of her neck. “Quantum isawake.”
The laughter and amusement in the roomdied.
Reaper regained his composure first. “When?”
