While Whit coughed something that sounded an awful lot like, “Bullshit,” I stroked my hands up Devon’s chest. “Thank you.”
“Anything you need, sweetheart.” He brushed his lips over mine and whispered, “I’ve got it covered.”
There was a teasing glint in Whit’s eyes as he slid my cappuccino next to Devon’s latte. “I swear, I’m the only badass left in the office. We’re going to have to go on a recruiting spree now that the rest of you have gone soft.”
I bit back a joke about how nothing was soft about Devon’s body, but a tiny giggle slipped out. His breath was hot against my ear as he demanded, “Whatever you’re thinking right now, you’re gonna tell me later when we’re alone.”
“Okay, you two. Enough with the goo-goo eyes and whispering. We have serious shit to discuss,” Whit chided as he crossed his arms over his chest.
I wagged my finger at him. “Careful, or I’ll sick my sister on you.”
“You didn’t warn me that she was such a firecracker,” Whit muttered, lifting his hands in the air in a gesture of surrender.
“Probably because he didn’t realize I could be one. My sister used to be the only person who pulled this side of my personality out of me.” I shrugged and took a sip of my cappuccino, moaning when the rich and creamy beverage hit my taste buds.
Devon groaned and shifted behind me. As he helped me onto one of the stools lining the counter, his hard-on pressed against my back, making my cheeks flame. Luckily, neither man commented on my reaction. Instead, they went into work mode as Whit pulled his cell phone from his pocket and tapped on the screen for a minute before sliding the device toward Devon. When he cursed, I leaned over to see what he was looking at, but he quickly swiped past a few photos before I could tell what they were. “It’s that bad?”
“It isn’t good,” Whit confirmed, earning himself a glare from Devon.
“Your situation isn’t any worse than what we’ve handled a dozen times before,” Devon assured me.
“Yeah, we’ve seen a fuck of a lot worse.” When Devon sent him another dirty look, Whit hurried to add, “But we haven’t been in dangerous situations like that since our days in the military.”
“Do me a favor and stop trying to help,” Devon sighed, shaking his head. “You’re just making things worse.”
“But also better because I’m usually the one who’s putting their proverbial foot in their mouth.” I grinned at Whit over my mug. “It’s kind of nice to sit back and listen to someone else do it instead.”
“See?” Whit crossed his arms with a smirk. “I’m making your woman more comfortable. You should thank me instead of imagining all the ways you could kill me if she weren’t here.”
“For fuck’s sake, Whit.” Devon pinched the bridge of his nose between his index finger and thumb. “Do me a favor and update us on what the team found so you can get out of here.”
All traces of humor left Whit’s face as he jerked his chin toward his cell phone. “The cops didn’t get a match for his fingerprints. They said it’ll take them at least three weeks to get DNA results, so I sent a sample to our lab with a rush on the request. We should have the report back within twenty-four hours. Once we have it, one of my contacts at the FBI agreed to run the results against CODIS. But I don’t expect anything to pop up. He would’ve been a fuck of a lot more careful if he was already in the system.”
I felt as though they were speaking in a foreign language I’d only studied enough to barely get by. But one thing stood out to me. “He left DNA inside my apartment?”
Devon threaded his fingers through mine and squeezed my hand as he nodded. I took a deep breath before I asked, “In my bedroom?”
Devon’s dark eyes scanned my face. “Are you sure you want to know?”
I considered the implications of a guy picking my bedroom as the place to leave DNA behind. The possibilities I came up with were all gross enough that I felt as though I was going to puke. Shaking my head, I whispered, “Nope. I think I’m good without knowing those details.”
I half listened, focusing on my cappuccino while Whit continued his update. They tossed around all sorts of acronyms that I’d only ever heard in movies or television shows. I would have felt as though I was trapped in a bad dream except that Devon might as well have walked right out of my sexiest fantasies. I was scared to death of what the guy who’d broken into my home wanted to do to me, but I didn’t regret the auction that the guys thought had brought me to his attention. Not when it had allowed me to be there for Harry’s birthday...and had brought Devon into my life.
Whit only stayed for about thirty minutes and made me another cappuccino before he headed downstairs to his condo. However, he said Devon could fend for himself if he wanted another latte. “I can’t believe I let him talk me into buying this stupid machine,” he muttered, staring into his mug with a disgusted expression on his face. “I’ve had it for six months, and I barely know how to use it.”
I rubbed my hands together and wagged my brows. “Let me at it.”
He swept his arm, waving me toward the espresso machine. It was way more complicated than my standard single-cup brewing system at home, where I just had to make sure there was water in the reservoir and pop a pre-filled cup into the top. But I was kind of obsessed with coffee, and I’d watched way more barista videos online than I was willing to admit to anyone. Between that and seeing Whit use the machine a few times, I was pretty sure I could figure it out better than Devon had since therehad been a clump of coffee grounds in the bottom of his mug when he dumped out his attempt at a latte.
I checked out each of the buttons and knobs, flipped open the compartment that held the whole coffee beans, and then turned to look over my shoulder at Devon. “Are you sure about this? What if I break the machine?”
He grinned at me. “Then you can apologize to me in bed.”
“Okey dokey.” I licked my lips as I turned back to the machine, thinking of some creative ways I could make amends. By the time I was done making his drink, I was sorely tempted to mess up on purpose but couldn’t bring myself to go that far. Instead, I powered off the machine and handed him the mug.
I waited with bated breath while he took a sip. His expression didn’t give anything away, and I was bouncing up and down on the balls of my feet when I finally asked, “What’s the verdict?”
He set the mug down and pulled me close. “You’re smart, gorgeous, kind, funny, great in bed, and make the best damn coffee I’ve ever tasted. I think I’m damn lucky, and I’m tempted to never let you leave my condo again.”
