course, her gaze went straight to the bed. He’d remade it, which surprised her. Nothing fancy, just some of her sheets with a comforter she’d gotten as a gift from a client. Clean pillowcases. No trace of the red, sticky mess. No scent at all. But it wasn’t her bedroom. Not anymore.
She walked past the bed, Boone at her side, and headed straight for the closet. Boone stood by the door, his shoulders looking so broad in his dark shirt. He’d pushed the sleeves up past the elbows, which made him look incredibly sexy.
Since she wanted out of there, she got right down to business. She got her suitcase from the top shelf. In it, she packed underwear and bras, and built out from there. Mostly jeans, T-shirts, and one dress that didn’t need much in the way of an iron. Shoes, a pair of pajamas she doubted she’d wear. It was like packing for a trip of unknown duration. A no-frills vacation to her living room.
She turned to pull a pair of sweats down, and caught sight of Boone. He was staring at her suitcase as if mesmerized. When she looked to see what had caught his attention, it made her giggle. How do you take down an ex-Delta Force? Dazzle him with a pink thong.
She picked it up with her index finger, watching Boone as she lifted the Victoria’s Secret weapon. He was spellbound. He didn’t even blink.
When she dropped it back into the suitcase, his whole head moved down to catch the flutter.
Feeling wicked, she decided to test her theory further. While he was still in the trance, she undid the top button of her jeans. No effect. Then she unzipped, figuring the sound would distract him. Nope.
This would be the real test. Another thong. Would he go back and forth between thongs? Would his head just explode? She lowered her jeans, slipping them down past her hips.
Aha. He’d looked. His eyes widened quite a bit more than expected. But still, no other body movements. Well, she couldn’t swear that was true. She didn’t have a very good view of his fly.
She lowered her pants down past her knees and let them drop. She had to toe off her sneakers before she could take them off completely, but he didn’t seem to mind. Once the jeans were off, she went to phase two. She turned around.
Normally, she wouldn’t want any part of her butt exposed to this kind of light, but for this, she made an exception. When she turned her head to look back at him, bingo. She expected his eyes to boing out like in a cartoon.
No longer able to hold it in, she laughed. Really laughed. Jeez. How was it possible?
That, naturally, got his attention. He looked her in the eyes and blushed a deep, satisfying red.
“Busted.”
He coughed, his gaze on the carpet.
“Certainly an experienced soldier like you has seen one of these babies before.”
“Christie,” he said, in a warning growl.
“Oh, no, big guy. I could have had my gun out and popped you right in the kneecap, and you wouldn’t have noticed.”
“Are you finished?”
She laughed again. “Yeah. I figured I’d eat like this.”
His blush renewed. “Put on some pants.”
“What?”
“Please.”
“My, my. Panties, huh? I’d never have guessed.”
In response to her taunt, he did the mature thing. He turned his back and folded his arms across his chest.
She pulled on another pair of jeans, giggling the whole time. Was he not the cutest person ever? Of course, this wasn’t over. She would have to think about this new piece of data very carefully. Strike when he least expected it.
“All clear, Rambo.”
He didn’t turn. But he did put his right arm out, to show her his special finger.
She closed her suitcase, then took another look around. If she needed anything else, she wouldn’t be far away, but given a choice, she wouldn’t come back here. Maybe after the bastard was caught. Maybe.
“Ready?” Boone had the door open.
“As I’ll ever be.”
MILO SAT RIGHT NEXT TO CHRISTIE as they ate dinner, and Boone noticed she would slip him pieces of chicken as she ate. Even though it wasn’t that good for the dog, Boone understood the motive. She was worried about her old pal. So was he.
Seth had explained that he was going to use a modified electromagnetic pulse to zap the RFID. It wouldn’t hurt the dog, not for the duration that would be necessary. She and Boone would go to a vet first thing in the morning and get the damn thing taken out. Seth wanted it. He was going to see if he could identify the source. Figure out where the geek would have gotten it.
The other matter at hand was to lock up the doggy door, and make sure Milo never went out unattended. He’d have felt better if Seth could have taken Milo, but he didn’t want to do that to Christie. She’d already been scared out of her bedroom, she didn’t need to lose her best friend.
He tried to concentrate on the meal. It was good. Not enough vegetables, but still, it tasted great. He knew that was Kate’s contribution. She was a hell of a cook, didn’t matter what she had to work with. In Kosovo, she’d made them some incredible cevapcici and her sarma couldn’t be beat.
It was great to see her and Seth working together. After the Balkans, they’d all split up. He’d lost touch with some of them. Kate had gone deep underground. It was only a few months ago that Seth had heard from her. That first night, when she’d come back, was when she’d heard about Nate. She hadn’t disappeared again. Not from them, at least.
“You know what?” Christie said. “I think I have some cookie dough in that fridge of mine.”
Kate smiled. “What kind?”
“Who cares? It’s cookies.”
“I stand corrected.”
Christie lifted her hand for a mighty high five by Kate. All Boone could do was let it go. One night of cookies wasn’t going to blow her training. If he could have given her champagne to go with it, he would have. Tomorrow, they’d get back to it. Different track. Different gym, which was going to be a real pain. Different shooting range. They had to get the geek to come here. Not out there. Here, Boone had control. Here, he could take the man down, and there wouldn’t be a hair follicle left for anyone to find. They just had to get him angry enough to attack.
He listened to Christie’s voice as she talked so easily to Seth and Kate. He wasn’t concentrating on the words, just the voice.
He’d been strong last night. He’d thought of her, focused on his responsibility. With every word she said, with every gesture of her long, graceful fingers, he felt himself weaken.
He thought again about what had happened in the closet. She’d made him stupid. It was still hard for him to reconcile that he’d held it together when she was naked and willing in his arms, but that he’d become thirteen again when he’d seen her damn panties.
