“It upset me more than I like to admit. I didn’t like being the guy who hit on a taken woman, but beyond that I kind of wanted to know what the hell you were thinking getting engaged to him when it was so obvious you were meant for me. So go and put on that gown and show me how you would have seduced me.”
Mia grabbed the bag he’d set down when they’d entered the room and made for the bathroom. He’d said the one thing guaranteed to get her moving.
You were meant for me.
She’d thought it the moment she’d seen him, had been sure of it the first time he’d kissed her.
For however long they had, she intended to make him understand that he’d been meant for her, too.
Case locked the door. It should have been the first thing he’d done when they’d walked in, but his brain had been on Mia.
It was like just being near the woman tamped down his senses for anything but her. She was all he could see and hear and smell and touch. Everything else was background noise.
His cell trilled in his hand and he winced as he looked down at the phone.
Ian.
If he didn’t answer, the big guy would likely call around until he found someone who knew where he was, and that meant getting Hutch on the phone. Hutch would try to lie, but he would wilt like a hothouse flower the minute Ian barked at him, and then Case would have much bigger issues.
The key to Ian was to act like the dumbass he believed everyone to be. Case took a deep breath and connected the line. “I swear I’m going to use a condom.”
A chuckle came over the line and Case knew it was working. “I’m surprised you haven’t already gone through a box.”
The only reason he hadn’t had been the kidnapping attempt he wasn’t going to tell his brother about. “Yeah, well, she kicked me in the balls at the start of the evening. I think they’re starting to work again now.”
This time Ian’s full-throated laugh came over the line. “I knew there was a reason I liked that girl.” He sighed. “I wanted to make sure you’re okay and give you an update on Erin. She and TJ are doing great. Faith just got in this morning. She’s staying with Erin a few days while Ten’s doing god knows what. He didn’t come in with her so it’s safe to say he’s likely up to his old tricks.”
Meaning Tennessee Smith was working some angle in the intelligence world. “I thought he’d quit the Agency completely.”
“You know as well as I do no one ever completely quits the Agency. Where are you, Case?”
There was the protective older brother. The head of the family. The supreme ruler of all things Taggart. “I’m in Cartagena. Mia’s chasing down some lead. I’m chasing her. I’ve got Michael and Hutch with me. We’re cool.”
He wasn’t about to mention Ezra Fain because of the Guy factor. Ian didn’t like Ezra’s boss and his instincts would go on high alert if he heard Ferland had sent his own man in.
“That’s a lot of backup for a spontaneous op.”
The door opened and there she was. Holy fuck, yeah. His dick worked. It worked just fine and his brain didn’t work at all. His brain should remember that this was the woman who’d nearly broken his man parts, but no. His brain fucking wanted her, too.
“Ian, I’m going to have to call you back.”
“Condom. Don’t forget the condom. She’s naked, isn’t she? I can hear it in your dumbass voice. Use that condom. I can’t handle another kid right now. My life is full of poop and crying Taggart babies. Do you know how…”
Case shut the phone off because he had better things to do than listen to his brother complain about baby poop. He wasn’t going to make a baby. He was, however, going to finally get inside her.
Something had been bugging her earlier, something had made her put up a temporary wall between them, but it seemed insignificant now. She’d said he could tear her apart and there had been something about how very easy it had been for him to walk away from her.
They should talk about that. He should explain to her that it hadn’t been easy. It had been hard. He’d had to force himself not to call and when he’d been at the 4L building with Ian, he’d had to stop himself from hunting her down.
Her eyes went wide. “Oh, Case. You’re here. I…I didn’t think you would still be awake.” A charming laugh came out of her mouth and one hand went up to touch her chest as though she was trying to hide those breasts from him. “I was just coming out to grab the bottle of water I left behind.”
Yes, there was his sneaky, gorgeous, manipulative Mia. If he’d thought he liked the sweet girl who’d comforted him that day so long ago, he didn’t even know what to call what he felt for the aggressive goddess she was now. He craved her. She rocked his world in a way that other girls couldn’t.
In a way no woman ever had.