“Trying on the outfit.” He sounded amused. “Isn’t that what you told me to do?”
“Um… I…” My mouth dry, I couldn’t tear my gaze from the strip of firm stomach he’d exposed above the waistline of his jeans. “I thought you’d take them to the bathroom or something.”
He rolled his eyes. “If you don’t want to see me then turn around.”
He pulled the shirt over his head, revealing a toned torso with defined abs and an arrow of dark hair shooting downward. I swallowed. This man clearly didn’t sit behind a desk all day every day. He maintained this mouthwatering body somehow.
“Fi?”
I spun around, clapping my hands over my eyes. He chuckled, and my cheeks burned. He’d caught me staring. Damn him.
“I’m ready for inspection,” he said a few moments later.
I turned and gasped, the air punched from my lungs as surely as if he’d hit me. Without his signature leather jacket, he looked so much like Bergen it gave me chills. If he shaved and removed his facial piercings, they could be twins.
“It’s uncanny,” I whispered.
He looked uncomfortable, and I felt a flare of guilt.
I moistened my lips. “You know you don’t have to do this, right?”
“Obviously.”
“I mean it.” I didn’t want him brushing off the commentwithout really thinking this through. “I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret for my sake. I don’t know your history, but if you told Ronan and Kade you didn’t want to do field work again, there must be a reason for it, and that matters.” I drew in a deep breath and held his gaze. “What you want matters.”
He took my hands, his fingers surprisingly rough against mine considering he spent most of his time at his computer. “I want to do this, and I’m capable of it. You don’t need to worry.”
ZEKE
I held Fiona’s gaze,hoping that whatever she saw in mine would convince her. It helped that I sounded more certain than I felt. Honestly, I didn’t know what I thought about this at all. Pretending to be someone else used to come as easily to me as breathing, but it had been a long time since I’d had to do it, and there was a good chance my skills were rusty. Not to mention there was a reason I’d sworn to never go undercover again. I’d just have to make sure Kade and I came up with a good strategy to get us the hell out of there if the need arose.
“If you’re sure,” she said, still scanning my face.
“I am.”
I dropped her hands and looked away as memories flashed through my mind. Ernesto’s sly grin as we passed each other in the halls of the building the cyber-terrorist cell we’d been embedded in used as its headquarters. It had been reassuring to know that we were both there and thatwe had each other’s backs. Until he’d thrown me to the wolves.
“So, will this outfit do?” I asked, eager to change the subject.
“Yes.” She smoothed her hands down my chest and heat flared in my gut. “If you shave, and take out the eyebrow piercing and the earring, then you should look as similar as possible.”
“Great.” I didn’t love the idea of removing my piercings. They symbolized the changes I’d made in my life. I’d gotten the eyebrow piercing less than a week after I’d been cut loose from the agency, and the tattoos and other piercings had come soon after. I hid a smirk. At least I wouldn’t have to removeallmy piercings. There was one that Fiona hadn’t discovered yet.
I undressed and rehung the clothes, smiling to myself when Fiona huffed and turned away again. My smile widened when I saw her sneak a peek.
That’s right, beautiful. You can look all you like.
“Your turn,” I said as I put my leather jacket back on. I’d get someone to steam the suit before we left, so it would be in the best possible condition for our night out. “Let’s see what dresses we have for a glamorous yacht party.”
I ran through the options. We had plenty of gala-ready designer dresses because a good-sized chunk of our clientele were rich men who didn’t want to admit they needed protection, so they hired female bodyguards to accompany them to events. Of course, we’d had to make it very, very clear that our employees were security professionals and had our full authority to blacken the eye of any entitled bastards who thought they could get side benefits from the arrangement.
“What about this?” I held up a little green number that was slinky and figure-hugging.
“It’s short,” Fiona said, her nose crinkling. “I’ll try it though.”
Between us, we selected a few more options and an array of shoes.
“Let’s see them,” I said, not bothering to hide my enthusiasm. She was stunning, so of course I wanted her to model each of the outfits.
