His eyes locked onto David. “You need to figure out the linkage issue.”
David frowned. “I will. I can’t believe that arrogant ass saw a weakness I didn’t.”
“Is there anything else we should address immediately?” Nick asked the room at large. Heads shook all around.
“All right, then. David and I will continue with structural inspections. Emma, can you coordinate with department heads on the operational side?”
“Already started,” she confirmed.
Nick turned to Zach. “Walk with me? I want to see your new perimeter sensors.”
Zach nodded and pushed off from the wall with the effortless, controlled grace he always seemed to possess, although he wasn’t one hundred percent yet. He proceeded the other men toward the door, David still scrolling through something on his tablet, Nick discussing schedules. Emma stayed where she was, turning to address something Kate had just asked about staffing rotations.
Zach passed her, close enough she caught his scent—mahogany and teakwood and something darker, richer.
His fingers brushed along the inside of her wrist.
Light. Deliberate. Gone.
The touch lasted less than a second, a whisper of contact, but it sent a shockwave up her arm. Her pulse jumped and heat bloomed where his fingertips had brushed.
Emma didn’t move—didn’t react outwardly—but every nerve ending lit hyper-aware, attuned to the space he’d vacated.
The door closed behind him with a soft click.
Emma blinked and forced her focus to the screen where Kate was still talking about… something. She’d lost the thread. Zach had just publicly—albeit subtly—claimed her.
“Emma?”
She looked up.
Lena was grinning, wide and knowing and absolutely delighted.
“Yeah?” Emma aimed for casual and missed by a mile.
“I saw that.”
Emma’s stomach flipped. “Saw what?”
“The touch.” Lena’s grin widened, catlike and smug. She leaned closer. “The little wrist thing Zach just did. Very smooth. Very subtle.” Her eyes glinted with mischief. “Veryinteresting.”
Kate’s eyes twinkled as she listened.
Heat crept up Emma’s neck. “It was nothing.” Why was she deflecting? These were her friends.
“Uh-huh.” Lena set down her coffee cup. “Ifthat’snothing, I would absolutelyloveto see what you call something.”
“Lena—”
“I’m just saying,” Lena was clearly enjoying herself. “For a guy who has all the emotional range of a glacier, that was downrighttender.”
“It was a touch,” Emma said, knowing she’d already lost this battle even while she wondered why she was fighting it. “People touch. It happens.”
“Not Zach,” Kate said quietly.
Emma’s gaze snapped to the other woman.
Kate’s expression was softer than Lena’s, more thoughtful, understanding in her eyes. “Zach doesn’t do casual contact. Nothing is an accident with him.”
