“Sorry. I just had a hunch.”
His knowing grin came back.
“So,” I said, trying to pivot away from my embarrassment. “Are you Bray’s guy in the chair for the Del Rio case?”
He gave me a little salute. “Yes. Although, he’s had me looking at some classified files these past few days—yourfiles, actually.”
“And?” I said, nearly climbing onto the desk.
He leaned back and his eyes flicked up over my shoulder. “Agent Bray!” he blurted. “We were just talking about you.”
“Oh? All good things, I hope?” Bray said from behind me. He’d returned from wherever he went and was holding a thin folder. “Add this to the Del Rio files, will you?” He handed the folder to Ramesh. “Ms. Daniels, if you’ll follow me, please.” He nodded for me to join him, and pure curiosity got me out of the chair.
“Nice to meet you, Ramesh,” I said, and gave him a wave.
He waved back with a small grin.
“Where are we going?” I asked as I followed Bray down the aisle. His black T-shirt carved out the muscles in his back. I dared not look any lower than that for fear—yep. From behind, his slacks hugged his hips and thighs and everything in between like a glove. I made a mental note to always walk in front of him. “And what’s withMs. Daniels? No one calls me that.”
He glanced over his shoulder. “What’s withRamesh? Did you make a new best friend in the five minutes I was gone?”
“First off, I’m pretty sure Ramesh could make friends with anyone in five minutes, and yes, maybe that’s what happened, but more importantly, you’ve got him working on my case?”
He abruptly stopped walking, and I ran into his back. It was a goddamn brick wall that smelled like fresh mint and soap. I wanted to stay splattered against it like a fly on a windshield. “What did he tell you?”
I took a moment to gather myself. “Nothing. You came backand interrupted before he could say anything.”Other than you’re single, play the cello, are respected at work, and have heroic tendencies.I kept the latter part to myself and felt the revelations burrow into a dangerously warm pocket of my heart.
The cello? Seriously?
“Well, he doesn’t know anything I haven’t told you,” Bray said.
I gazed up into his gray eyes and looked for any sign he was bluffing.
“I’m serious, Erin. Yes, he’s been helping, but I’ve told you all I know at this point. Which brings me to our next task.” He held out his arm, and I only then realized we were standing at an elevator. He reached out to press the call button.
“Are we leaving?” I asked when it arrived with a ding.
“Yes, but we have to make a stop first.”
When we stepped in and he hit the button for the basement, I cocked a curious brow at him but decided not to ask.
Our uninterrupted descent into the bowels of the building landed us in a hallway where the telltale scent of gunpowder, hot metal, and rubber curled into my nose. A shooting range.
“What are we doing down here?” I asked.
“Taking matters into our own hands,” Bray said as he led me over to one of the stalls. The range was empty, but the ground was littered with shells and the air tinged with smoke as if someone had recently finished taking target practice. In fact, a mangled paper target hung holey and limp at the end of the next stall over.
Bray removed his gun from his holster and released the clip. He set the disassembled pieces on the shooting bench in front of us. “I’ll give you a gun if you can show me you know how to use one.”
A thrill zipped through me.Finally, we were getting somewhere. I glanced at the weapon and arched a brow at him. “I know how to use a gun, Bray.”
He stood with one hand on his hip and a stern bend to his brow. He nodded at the gun. “Show me.”
Tension strained between us with the chemical bite, the terrifying thrill of live ammunition being nearby. My fingers tingled in anticipation of picking up the firearm. A heat flashed in Bray’s eyes, and I couldn’t tell if it was fear, doubt, or something darker and more daring.
“Go on,” he said with another nod. That authoritative note laced his voice and sizzled down my spine. “You want one, you have to show me you know what you’re doing first.”
As temptingly as the desire rolled around my mouth, I didn’t sass, I didn’t smirk. I knew this wasn’t something to be taken lightly, but I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of thinking he knew more than I did. He wanted me toshowhim anyway.
