“Look, it’s my first day and I’m really in a jam.” I roll back my shoulders, channeling all the confidence that I have left and hoping he’ll remember some time in his life when he needed a helping hand. “I’d really appreciate it if—”
No such luck. He interrupts me again. “Nice try,” he says with a wink. A wink! As if this is some game to him.
He swipes his badge and opens the door slightly, blocking me easily. Crisp cool air wafts out of the building. I want to swoon into it.
I think he is about to pull the door closed behind him when he stops.Oh, maybe he is going to help me after all!?Instead, he asks, “Who is this food delivery for?”
“Oliver Hawkins,” I reply.
The man in front of me laughs. A sharp bark of delight at my answer. I clam up before I can clarify – again – that this isn’t a delivery, and I have a lunch to set up because my job is on the line. My new start. The first day of the rest of my life, in fact.
“I’m running late,” he says with a scoff. “Tell the Order to try harder next time.”
He pulls the door closed behind him, hard, leaving me in the broiling sun.
The order? I triple-checked the order. I just forgot my badge!
My mouth drops open as I see him saunter through the lobby. Panic swells, rising from my toes, my back, and up to my throat. I wouldn’t be this freaked out if I hadn’t thought help had arrived.
Don’t cry, I remind myself again.I am a grown woman, goddammit,I am not going to cry on my first day. But when I’m angry, I cry. And I am fuming. The nerve of that guy!
What do you call a knight-in-shining armor who turns out to be a villain?
My new coworker, apparently.
One tiny tear manages to escape, and I tell myself it’s just sweat.
2
DECLAN
The Order has really outdone themselves this time.
“What. The. Hell?!” I hear the annoyingly attractive – and now more than a little exasperated – young woman shout from the other side of the glass doors. I cast one discreet backward glance. She is glaring at me like I have ten different heads.
It would be just like the Order to send an operative right here to the head office to weasel their way in and get intel. It’s already clear they have one mole within our organization; with a second set of eyes and ears, who knows what they could accomplish.
An attack on Oliver or any of our other operatives. Hack our network. Plant a listening device. More of the sabotage that we’ve been dealing with for the past six months.
Fresh off a red-eye flight from Helsinki, I nearly let exhaustion cloud my judgment at the sight of her damsel-in-distress act, arms full of sandwiches and a large bag hanging off one elbow. With her chocolate brown hair pulled up, some ends sticking out, and frazzled by the humidity, she looked eminently kissable. Not to mention those toned legs . . .
Enough, Declan.
I shouldn’t think the worst of people. But an attractive young woman who looks exactly my type, standing outside the FIRE headquarters?
Six months ago, I would have trusted a pretty face and a plausible story.
Now I know better.
The gym attendant, an amiable guy named Brian, waves at me when I enter. “Hey, man, it’s a little late for you to be in here.” He’s right. I’m usually finishing up a punishing training ride when he arrives for the day. My gaze flits to the stationary bike.
“Red-eye got in late. Just gonna hop in the shower.” If my flight had arrived on time, I would have gone home, knocked out at least thirty to forty miles, showered, eaten a real breakfast, and then come into the office. Instead, I have barely enough time to clean up before the meeting, and I do not have time for chit-chat.
Starting to clean down the equipment, Brian says, “Bummer. Where did you go?”
Great. First a turbulent all-night flight, now this.
“Helsinki.” My reply is terse, hoping he’ll get the message. I’ll take turbulence over small talk any day of the week.
