Ellory sat at one of the stations, turned sideways in the chair, glasses stem between her lips as she focused on the screen. When she sensed him, she slowly pivoted.
Let the stem rest between her teeth as she crossed her legs.
Cute. Sexy as hell, actually.
His body jolted like he’d taken a hit. His hands fisted at his sides.
She was acting like that on purpose, trying to distract him from what she was doing in a high-level ghost ops system.
“What are you doing?” His tone was flat.
She didn’t answer right away. She only studied him through her lashes, her lips curved tantalizingly around the stem. Then she turned the monitor toward him.
Ash stepped closer, prepared to alert his commanding officer.
Daniel Sheen’s tax records filled the screen.
He drew a deep breath—and realized his mistake of breathing when Ellory’s light, feminine scent flooded his nose.
He cast around for anything normal. Around here, that was food.
“Come have some pizza.”
She lowered the glasses from her lips.
And then she smiled, and he forgot what normal was.
* * * * *
Ash performed an about-face and stalked out of the room, taking his big manly man energy with him.
Ellory sat there for a moment, stunned that he expected her to follow him. Pushing away from the desk, she closed the tax documents she’d been analyzing and pushed to her feet.
The shoes that Opal lent her were too small, which meant she’d had to slip on her own kitten heels. They clicked lightly on the floor, and Ash’s head turned almost imperceptibly, as if he wanted to glance back at her but refused to let himself.
He continued down the hallway, shoulders stiff and the muscles in his back working under the tight cloth of his military-green T-shirt.
She let her gaze drift from what was probably a magnificent back to a pair of steely buns clad in black cargo pants.
Cute ass. Too bad it’s attached to such a moody jerk.
She’d known plenty of women who preferred the type. But Ellory once had a moody boyfriend and learned that he only sucked the life out of her.
Despite Ash’s same disposition, she was having a hard time peeling her stare off that ass. Grabbable. Annoyingly perfect.
Probably hairy.
Pleased with her conclusion, she tailed him to the kitchen. What sounded like a party greeted them, along with the mouthwatering scent of oven-fired pizzas that Sinner and Ash had been making when Opal gave her a brief tour.
Opal spotted her and pointed to the seat she’d been saving beside her. Ellory nodded and turned to the giant island set up like a pizza smorgasbord. There were so many toppings that her greedy stomach grumbled for a bite of every variety.
“Plates are here.” That voice—deep and rich and not for her—directed her attention from a margarita pizza with fresh ingredients to Ash, standing like a club bouncer with a gigantic stick up his ass.
Probably hairy!
“Thanks.” She grabbed a dish, and he had the manners enough to allow her to fill her plate first.
Once she had two small slices, she settled next to Opal and Sinner. They greeted her and they chatted for a moment. As Ellory lifted a slice of roasted red pepper and sausage pizza to her lips, she let her gaze roam around the table.
