She looked away before he could see what he did to her.
She touched the door handle. The seatbelt. The seat.
Three things she could touch.
None of them him.
FOUR
Ash knew better than to argue with direct orders, but it had taken everything in him to clamp his mouth shut when Con ordered Ellory to go.
He was really starting to question if she could handle it.
As he drove, she was whispering to herself, so low that he couldn’t catch the words. When they reached the highway, she loosened her death grip on her bag and unzipped it. She pulled out a pair of boots and flipped one over to examine the sole.
She issued a low groan that had his stomach clenching in ways he didn’t want to think about. Then with a resigned sigh, she slipped off her high heel and put the boots on.
“You’re not gonna wear socks?” He glanced away from the road.
“I can’t fit my feet in the boots if I do. They’re too small.”
“We’ll tell the ladies when we get back to base. They’ll hook you up with what you need.”
She didn’t respond, only leaned over to tie the boots. When she straightened in the seat, she combed her fingers through her thick hair with enough exasperation that he had to question how many things like this she’d been involved in.
She’d worked with Opal before, though, and that woman hadn’t been involved in anything light.
Still, Ash caught himself glancing at Ellory every mile or two, gauging her state of mind by the calm demeanor she’d slapped over the strain he’d spotted on her features.
“There should be a comms device in the side pocket of your bag. Find it.”
She hesitated only a beat before doing his bidding. She withdrew the small case and slipped the bud into her ear.
Ash nodded. “Good. Let’s go over the plan.”
She gave him a jerky nod.
“After we get into the office—”
“How do you plan on doing that?”
“Leave that to me.”
“So you’re going to break in.”
“Everything is a little gray on our ops.” He picked up again. “Once we’re in, I’ll have my body cam running, and I’ll direct it everywhere you don’t look.”
“Got it.” She tucked that lock of hair behind her ear again. A gesture she’d done in the war room that made his body react in ways he couldn’t think about—now orever. Getting close to any woman, even to ease a massive case of blue balls, wasn’t possible. And he definitely couldn’t touch someone associated with Blackout.
He tried not to notice all the other little things about her. How she went from gripping the edge of the seat to running her fingers down the seatbelt crossing her chest. One time, she even twitched her hand toward him before pulling it back and folding her fingers in her lap.
“How much longer?” Her voice was a feminine rasp.
He took in their surroundings, tracking the landmarks he’d committed to memory along this route. “Five minutes out.”
“Okay.” She drew in a breath as though steeling herself for battle.
He considered ways to put her at ease but couldn’t think of anything, so he remained silent. When they arrived in front of a big building that housed office spaces, he cut the headlights and they drove in blind.
