“You’re already based in Virginia.”
“No, Phoebe. If you go back, I’ll quit the Agency. I’ll do it because my main job in life will be to watch over you, to protect you—even from yourself.” She felt him lay a brotherly kiss on her cheek before letting go. “Hell, maybe we can open a brother/sister detective agency. That oughta be good for a laugh. You think about what I said. I’m going to help Tag and Murdoch, and by help I mean I’m going to help myself to their Scotch because it’s already been an excruciatingly long day.”
She heard him step away and the door closed. She looked out into the distance. After a long moment she closed her eyes and tried to bring up that picture of Jamie that was always right there.
All she could see was Jesse. She feared she’d traded one ghost for another because Jesse seemed as far from her as Jamie was.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Jesse stared at the files in front of him. He’d been staring for so damn long the words were starting to blend together. It felt like he’d been looking at them for hours. He glanced up at the clock. Yeah. It had been hours. Hours and he still wasn’t any closer.
Every man on Ten’s team was remarkable in some way. Ace could fly anything with wings. Boomer was a sniper of extraordinary talent. Deke had forgotten more about explosives than most people knew. Hutch was a hacker to rival Adam and Chelsea, while Bear was a mechanical genius. Michael Malone had an IQ off the charts, and the two younger Taggarts were already taking after their older brothers and showing great leadership skills.
Unfortunately, not a single one of the files had a red flag on it that said “also turned into a traitor by crazy freak.” He knew he should discount most of the team and simply look at the ones who had been taken for periods of time, but he had to consider everything.
He sat back, rubbing the space between his eyes.
“Can I get you anything?”
He turned and Phoebe stood in the doorway to the conference room. She’d taken her hair back down and looked more like the Phoebe he knew. Maybe it had been easier when she looked cool and professional. His dick reacted to softer Phoebe. His dick was a perpetual optimist. It was also a moron that didn’t know when to stop. “Nah, I’m fine.”
“I can’t believe he left you with those files.” She was shaking her head as she walked into the room. “My brother is a freak about files, and especially about his team. I would have been surprised if he let Taggart look at them, much less anyone else.”
It was nice to know he could still surprise her. Too bad she was surprised that someone would trust him. “He did let Tag look at them. He also didn’t get far. He and Tag ran out to grab a late lunch. If it helps, he told me he would kill me if I used anything against him.”
“You would never do that.” She gave him a tentative smile. “He trusts you. It’s a good thing. It means you don’t have to worry about him watching you again, though he’s really fast to ask you for a favor. You’ll have to watch out for that. He’ll have you picking up packages for him in the weirdest places, and sometimes the packages end up trying to kill you. I should know.”
He knew what she was trying to do. She was trying to find their easy camaraderie again, but he just couldn’t do it. Even being friends with her would be too hard. He just had to survive until she could go back to Virginia and the house she shared with her perfect husband. He nodded and stared back at his file. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“I’m sorry.” He heard her move toward him. “You know I was married. I haven’t done that with anyone but him. Have sex, I mean. It hit me afterward. It really wasn’t about you.”
He looked up at her, surprised. “No one else?”
“No. I was a virgin when I married Jamie. Well, not when I married him, but I did end up marrying him, so I sort of lost my virginity to my husband. I certainly hadn’t slept with anyone since I lost him.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt you.” It had been the last thing on his mind. Pleasing her, making her want him—those had been the things going through his mind. He’d failed.
“It wasn’t like that. You didn’t do anything wrong. That’s what I’m trying to explain to you. I had an emotional reaction.”
And he’d wanted to hold her. Even as he understood she was longing for another man, he’d wanted to comfort her. “It’s all right. We made a mistake. We won’t do it again.”
She flushed, her face going pink, but she nodded. “Yes. We won’t do it again. I just wanted you to know that I…I’m going to miss you when this is done.”
“Sure.” She would remember the dude she wished she hadn’t slept with and he would remember that he’d failed utterly. It was a great trade-off.
“Do you want to talk?”
“No.”
She frowned at him. “No?”