Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 145091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
“Thanks.”
“All right,” Brad said. “Stay warm, and I’ll start working on things from this end.”
Brad’s line went quiet, but Lydia’s was still open.
“Be careful around her.” Lydia’s voice went quiet again. “If her dad shows up, be very careful. If he wants to turn, bringing in someone like you would potentially get him anything he could want.”
Because he had the highest level of classification. Because his mother was a United States senator.
“Will do.” He hung up and checked the door again. Still safe and secure.
But he wasn’t anymore.
He couldn’t view Taylor as a sweet memory of his childhood because she might be the enemy.
* * * *
Taylor still couldn’t believe Drake Radcliffe was the skinny kid she’d met that day in the park. She looked across the table, trying to find some connection between the kid who’d argued anime with her and the gorgeous, deeply serious man in front of her. “Is it okay?”
He’d come out of the comms room and gone to clean himself up. He’d showered and found a set of sweats that mostly fit him. When she’d told him lunch was ready, he’d joined her, but there was a grimness about him that made her worry something had gone wrong with the call.
He looked up from the pasta she’d made. “It’s good. I appreciate it very much. I worried I would be on MREs.”
“Oh, I made sure to stock up before I came.” There were plenty of bland, ready-to-eat meals, but she preferred to cook.
“How long have you been here?” Drake asked.
“A couple of days.” She wasn’t going to talk about her father’s mission. If Drake knew, he knew. If he didn’t, then he wasn’t supposed to know. She hadn’t gone through the data he’d wanted uploaded. She’d simply done it for him and destroyed the drive when base had asked her to. She was a soldier, and she knew how to follow orders.
Well, most of the time.
“Are you meeting your father here?” Drake asked.
“No. I’m meeting him in Bucharest.” She could be honest about her travel plans. If he was worried her dad might show up in the middle of the night and mistake him for a punching bag, she could put those fears to rest. “The good news is there’s enough room for us to not bump into each other too much while you’re stuck here. There’s a desk in my bedroom. I can work in there or here in the kitchen and you can take the comms room.”
She worried his grimness was a reaction to getting stuck here with some woman he didn’t know. As a class of male, the Agency operative didn’t tend to rank high on the small-talk scale.
“Why would you do that?” Drake asked.
“So we both have some privacy. I understand that you didn’t expect anyone to be here,” she replied. “I didn’t either. I have some research I need to do and some reports to analyze. I’m going to respect your space, and I hope you can respect mine.”
“I have clearance on anything you’re working on.” There was the arrogance she’d expected from him. “I know I’m young, but I’m a senior operative and I work at the highest levels. You don’t have to hide from me. If there’s research you need to do, I can help. If you’re worried about my access to sensitive materials, we can walk downstairs and get the director on the line.”
“You just plop that big dick right on the table, don’t you?” She wasn’t going to play around with him. If he wanted to be an asshole, she could give it out, too. “I was trying to tell you I would respect your privacy, trying to make you comfortable. If you don’t want to be comfortable, we can make it as awkward as you like.”
He frowned. “I wasn’t trying to… I guess I went there. Huh. I’m sorry. I was being a dick. Your work is your work. I thought you were trying to tell me you didn’t want to have anything to do with me. Which you should be able to do without some man pushing back. I’m the intruder here. Can I hide behind the whole got shot and then nearly died in a horrible accident?”
“Horrible accident?”
“The car wreck. Do we need to do something about the car, by the way?” It was likely sitting in the road. “We’ll have to clear it at some point. No one else will be able to get to the cabin unless there’s another road that comes up the other side of the mountain.”
“No.” He was under some mistaken impressions. “The car is in the garage, along with my Land Rover. When the snow breaks, I think you should still let me drive you down. That sedan is not going to do well on the roads when they’re muddy.”