Ah, hell.“You want me to find out if she’s lying.”
“I want you to protect her. First and foremost, that’s your job. But, yeah. While you’re protecting her, Ryker thought you could feel her out.” When Matt opened his mouth to comment, Jake quickly shut him down. “Not like that. This case is already complicated enough without it turning even more personal.”
“It won’t,” Matt assured him. “That will definitely not be an issue. Trust me.”
“Good.” Understanding filtered through Jake’s tough exterior. “Look, Matt. I can tell I’m asking a lot of you, here. But Ryker was able to confirm this project Kat’s been working on was, in fact, top-secret. Commissioned for and by the United States military, like she said. If someoneistrying to sell it, you can bet they’re doing so to use it against us.”
“To make their forces less vulnerable.”
“That’s right. And we’ve been tasked with preventing that from happening, which is what I need you to stay focused on. Not your past with Kat. Although, it would be nice if the two of you could work your shit out. She’s not going to want to open up about a damn thing if you’re a complete dick to her the entire time.”
Voices from the hall reached his ears, one in particular standing out amongst the rest. Kat had come back, after all.
Matt couldn’t believe this was happening. He wanted to tell his boss no, but Jake was right. This wasn’t about him.
“All right. I’ll do it.” The words had no more left his lips when his teammates walked back into the room, Kat picking up the tail behind them.
“Do what?” Zade asked as he made his way back around to his original seat.
Rather than answer him, Matt looked over at Kat with a fake-as-shit grin and said, “Looks like you and I are going to have that chance to catch up after all.”
An hour later, he was driving them both to her apartment to pack a bag with only one thought rolling through his mind…
I’m so screwed.
Chapter 4
I’m so screwed.
It was the first thought in Kat’s head when she found out Matt was going to be her bodyguard, and it had been playing on loop ever since.
There were three other men who, from everything Kat knew about them, were perfectly qualified for the job. Instead, she was stuck with the one person on the team who hated her guts.
From the moment Jake told her of his plan to keep her safe, she’d begun to question his sanity. Of course, she’d been questioning her own since this whole thing started.
During the silent drive here, wherever here was going to be, a few optimistic moments had seeped through her despair. For the most part, however, Kat wasn’t convinced this was the best option.
Now that she’d actually seen the place where she and Matt—of all people—were going to be laying low, she had no doubt. This was never going to work.
The cabin belonging to Kole and his wife was so far out in the middle of nowhere, Kat couldn’t imagine anyone ever finding them here.
Kind of the whole point, I suppose.
Standing just inside the door, Kat took a few seconds to study the quaint space.
To her left was a small niche big enough for the round table and chairs there. Directly in front of her was a small, narrow kitchen.
Cabinets, a sink, and a dishwasher took up the wall to her left and the refrigerator, stove, and another small section of cabinets covered the right.
To her right was a decent sized living room. A dark area rug covered its wooden floor. The brown leather couch and recliner appeared a bit worn, and the rustic coffee table and end table matched the small TV stand positioned on the same wall as the door.
A narrow pathway ran between the back of the couch and the far wall, and there was an open doorway Kat assumed led to the bedrooms. Overall, it was a cozy, warm space perfect for a quiet couple’s getaway. Which this most definitely was not.
“Bedroom’s yours. I’ll take the couch.” Matt dropped his bag on the floor next to the coffee table.
Crap. There was only one. “I can take the couch,” she offered. “I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”
He looked back at her with a hateful sneer. “Little late for that, isn’t it?”
