Another sparkle in her eye. He imagined she was thinking “right now.”Fuck.Little Misty was a femme fatale. And he’d do well to remember it.
* * *
Alone in his studio apartment near the theater district, Gabe called Parker on his computer. They had set up Skype so they could talk in case Misty was in trouble.
“Parker, you’re an ass.”
“What? I’m a million miles away in a dusty shithole, defending your freedom. What could I have possibly done?”
“I thought you were still in some kind of specialty training stateside.”
“Yeah, yeah. So what did I do?”
“It’s what you didn’t do. You didn’t tell me your sister grew up to be a knockout.” Gabe leaned back in his desk chair, not caring if his buddy was being shot at. He’d like to shoot at him too right now.
“She is?”
“Oh, come on, man. Don’t pretend you don’t know it.”
Parker shrugged his camo-uniformed shoulders. “Okay. I guess she’s pretty. But that’s why I wanted someone looking out for her. She doesn’t even realize it, and I see the way guys look at her.”
“So you thought she’d be safe with me?”
“Of course.” He leaned forward, and his brows contracted. “Why wouldn’t she be?”
Gabe closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. “Christ, man, I’m only human.” He wasn’t, but Parker didn’t know that. Sometimes he wished he had paranormal libido control, but that wasn’t one of his powers.
“Wait a minute.” Parker bristled. “Are you telling me you might…come on to my sister?”
Gabe didn’t answer.
Parker’s expression changed from confused to stormy. “Gabe?”
“Look, something happened, but it’s not what you think.”
“What do you mean? What happened?” When Gabe didn’t respond right away, Parker demanded, “What the hell happened, asshole?”
“Nothing! I don’t want to worry you.” Gabe swore under his breath.
“Too late, shithead. What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything.”
Parker leaned back and crossed his arms. “So you’re sayingshedid something.”
Gabe scratched the back of his neck. “Well, um…she did come on to me, but there were extenuating circumstances.”
“Whoa. Be very careful, my friend. That’s my little sister you’re talking about. I know she’s a man magnet, but she’s not a slut.”
“Of course not! That’s not what I was saying.”
“Then what the fuck are you saying?”
Gabe sighed. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Well, you’ve achieved that!” Parker glared at him for several seconds.
Finally, Gabe gave in. “Look, I didn’t want to worry you, but your little sister’s bank was robbed. I happened to be there at the time. You asked me to look out for her, and that’s what I did. She was grateful, and she kissed me.”
