“Boyfriend, huh?” He raised an eyebrow, turning me to face him. “I think I like that.”
Tilting my face up to his with one huge palm against my cheek, he laid a tender sort of kiss against my lips, and relief flooded through me with a force that left me shaking. Or maybe it was kissing Cole that left me shaking. Hard to tell these days.
I said nothing but couldn’t help the girly smile pasted across my face as we continued on to the training wing.
What the hell had I been thinking, blurting out labels like that?
So lost in my own thoughts, I didn’t even notice the person who dove at me until it was too late, and my back hit the cold concrete hard. My breath whooshed out of me, and I panicked a tiny bit before realizing who it was on top of me.
“Lucy?” I wheezed out. “What the fuck?”
“Kit, I am so bloody happy to see you, girl! I have been so hella worried for you it’s not even funny! What took you so long to get here?” She was babbling at a million miles per hour, but I was just so pleased to see her I wrapped her in a massive hug and squeezed.
“Me? What the hell? Luce, you’re supposed to be in rehab for your arm!” I scrambled out from under her and grabbed her damaged hand. Gently, of course.
“I got discharged! They were supposed to do one more surgery, but when they X-rayed it the other day, it came back showing the bones had realigned themselves. I still need to do therapy to get it all working right, but I can do that and join you in spy school!” She beamed at me, waving her wrist in my face. The plaster cast was gone, and in its place was one of those Velcro strap-on wrist brace things.
“Luce, that’s awesome! I’m kinda so relieved you’re not around Finn anymore too. Major weight off my mind, girl.” I hugged her properly this time but pulled back when she said nothing in return. “Lucy...”
“What? He said he was looking at taking a job in Seattle anyway!” She ducked out of my scolding glare and threw herself on Cole instead. “Hey, big man! Feels like forever since I’ve seen you. Scary as ever, I see.”
“As always,” Cole rumbled back, but a small smile pulled at his lips. “Good to see you well, Lucy.”
“Miss Davenport, Miss Jones,” a stern man called out to us from the doorway to the training facility. “Do you have any intention of joining us today? You’re only two weeks late.”
“Morning, Roger!” Cole called out and gave a sarcastic wave. “We will be with you in a minute.”
Roger, I dimly recognized, was one of the instructors I’d met the day before with Caleb, but I couldn’t place my finger on what his surname was. Whatever it was, he clearly didn’t appreciate being called by his first name, as his face boiled an angry shade of red.
“Mr. Bennett. I thought I’d never have the pleasure again.” The way he emphasised the word pleasure left no doubt that what he really meant was he’d rather stick needles in his eyes than teach Cole again.
“Always stay alert, Roger. Prepare for anything.” Cole gave a wicked grin, and the red-faced trainer stormed back inside the building.
“Cole,” I groaned. “You’re getting us in trouble before we even start!”
“Nonsense, Vixen.” He smiled down at me. “Just a little friendly banter between colleagues. Roger and the other trainers sometimes forget that they’re not the top of the pyramid around here.”
“Anything to be worried about?” I asked, and he shook his head.
“They know better than to mess with Alpha team. Keep an eye out for the other recruits though. Trainers can be vindictive bastards and are not above deliberately sabotaging trainees. They call it weeding.” He cracked his knuckles, then took my hand in his huge one. “Let’s get inside before Roger tries to pull anything dickish.”
Lucy glanced at me nervously, and I shrugged. Sounded like we were in for an interesting couple of months in Omega training. If we lasted that long before someone tried to kill us again.
10
As it turned out, the day was not terribly exciting at all. Roger the trainer kept his snide remarks to a minimum under Cole’s watchful gaze, and the other recruits mostly treated Lucy and I like, well, like the new kids. Thank God it was only a four-month course.
Most of the day was spent in the classroom debating the politics and rules around being a spy for a private organization rather than a government one. It afforded us both more and less leeway in which lines could be crossed, and it seemed like eighty percent of becoming a successful agent was knowing which rules to break and when.
“This is stupid.” Cole yawned as the day drew late. “You two don’t need this crap. You’re already better than half the qualified agents in Omega.”
“Shh,” Lucy hissed. “I’m interested in this!”
Cole and I exchanged an amused look, but he shut up for a bit. Right up until Roger made some mention of the fine line between interrogation and torture, then flicked a small yet obvious glance at my dianoch.
In fact, most of the recruits glanced at Cole.
“Do continue, Roger. I’d just love to hear your thoughts on this subject.” He sat back in his chair and very deliberately cracked his knuckles. The class was warm, so he’d taken off his sweater, leaving him in a T-shirt that showed off his seriously impressive physique as he moved, his arm muscles flexing under colorful ink.
For a tense moment, Roger the trainer locked gazes with Cole, then backed off with a mumbled statement about “not wanting to start a moral debate.”
“What was that all about?” I whispered to Cole as Roger changed the subject and started clicking through a Powerpoint presentation.
“What was what?” He gave me an innocent look that I in no way believed.
“Fine, keep your secrets. I’ll get it out of River later.” I raised an eyebrow at him but wasn’t totally sure if I was threatening or promising. Both, maybe?
“I look forward to seeing you try,” Cole murmured back, and the look in his eyes was pure sex. My breath caught, and I had to forcefully tear my gaze away from him to concentrate on the lesson.
It would have been a lie to say I listened to or comprehended anything that was said from that point forward, thanks to Cole’s hand, which had somehow ended up on my leg. His fingers traced little patterns along the inner seam of my jeans, and eventually I gave up listening to Roger altogether.
“That was so interesting, don’t you think?” Lucy turned to me with a glowing expression, and I belatedly noticed the class was over already.
“Uh-huh, yup,” I said, blinking up at her. She’d changed her hair again, this time to a pastel rainbow, and it looked really great on her. Like she was part unicorn or something.
“Oh my God, you two.” She snorted, giving Cole’s hand on my thigh a pointed look. “You’re lucky your dad owns this place, or you’d totally be failing.”