And then there was the other thing. The part where he secretly envisioned himself kissing the woman senseless every time she was near.
If she’d invited him into her room, Jagger had no doubt that Talia would be in his arms this very minute. He’d be holding her.Tastingher. And then, when she was ready, he’d have made her his.
The erotic scene played before his mind’s eye as his steps carried him farther and farther away. When he was halfway between her room and the floor’s elevators, Jagger heard her calling his name.
“Jagger!”
At first, he thought it was all in his head. A figment of his hormone-driven imagination. But when he heard it again, he realized the sound was growing closer from somewhere behind.
Jagger stopped mid-stride and turned around to see Talia practically jogging down the hallway toward him. A rush of hope filled his heart like a giant, hot-air balloon. But then?—
“Did you happen to see anyone else around when we first came up here?”
The balloon deflated, spilling out every last drop of the hope he’d been feeling.
“Nope,” he answered honestly. “The elevator and hallway were both empty except for the two of us.”
“Oh, okay.” A forced smile appeared on her strained face. “I-I just thought I’d check.”
“Something wrong?”
“No.” Talia’s response came a little too quickly. “Sorry to keep you. I’ll, uh…I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Jagger studied her closely, sure there was something she wasn’t saying. But it was late, and she was beyond exhausted. And frankly, so was he.
“If you’re sure you’re good.”
“I am.” That smile of hers never wavered. “Thanks again for tonight.”
“Anytime, partner.”
He watched and waited in the middle of the hall as she hurriedly walked back to her room. After a quick, almost hidden glimpse over her shoulder in his direction, the mysterious woman vanished again.
She was keeping secrets, that one. Not all that surprising, given her past and current professions.
But the vibes he’d picked up didn’t feel job-related at all. No, whatever—or whoever—Talia had been searching for just now had nothing to do with work. And as Jagger drove himself home in the dead of night, the worry he’d tried so hard to avoid began to settle in.
Talia saton the edge of her queen-sized bed with her freshly washed body wrapped snuggly in a plush, oversized towel. The long, damp strands of her hair clung to her shoulders, neck, and back. A few residual drops of water escaped from their tips, but she was too focused on the picture clutched in her trembling hands.
Someone had been here. Inherroom. The photo was all the proof she needed.
Whoever it was had left no trace of their presence. An immediate phone call to the front desk confirmed no one had come in and left it for her there.
Her jaunt down the hall to ensure Jagger hadn’t seen anyone on her floor when they’d first arrived had been a reflexive, knee-jerk reaction. Regretting it now would be a waste of her time, and Talia would rather focus on the issue at hand.
If the insightful man asked her about it later, she’d deal with it then. Right now, her focus needed to be on figuring out how the picture got into her room.
There was no evidence of forced entry or anything to reveal their identity. A thorough check of her door’s locking mechanism had proven as much.
So far, the only thing Talia had to go on was the picture. She’d discovered it on her nightstand seconds after Jagger had left, tucked inside a small, unmarked manilla envelope.
She couldn’t seem to look away and made no attempt to stifle the trembles. It wouldn’t have done any good, even if she had. She was too shocked by the image’s unwavering pull that had viciously yanked her into the past.
The hot desert air. The smell of dirt, death, and destruction.
But that day had been different. For a brief, fleeting moment in time, they’d been filled with smiles and laughter despite hiding away in the Afghan desert waiting to take down a monster.
It had been her birthday that day. Her best friend and fellow CIA agent had surprised her by decorating the outside of the tent she’d been sleeping in with toilet paper as makeshift streamers.
