A group of guys getting out of their car next to us bursts into laughter. I walk away from Colt as their laughter grates against my nerves.

“We didn’t fuck, actually,” Colt’s voice is low. He stands inches from me, looking frustrated.

Anger and jealousy pulses through me and I force air into my lungs, trying to push the irrational feelings away. I take a moment to gather my wits and notice that Colt’s hair seems no more rumpled than before. His shirt is still neatly buttoned.

“I just let her go down on me.” He grins a cocky half smile and glances at me through his eyelashes.

I push past him, walking ahead.

He chuckles and quickens his stride to catch up with me. “God, I’m kidding, Taylor, calm down. She went out for a smoke and I kept her company. We just talked. You’d like her actually, she’s an art student.”

His words should ease my mind, but instead, I feel even more disgusted with myself. I needed to keep my feelings for Colt in check. They are swinging wildly back and forth between hatred and lust.

We climb into the car and ride in silence to the hotel. When we get inside our room, I mumble an apology to Colt.

“What was that?” He puts his hand to his ear, urging me to say it louder.

“I. Said. I'm. Sorry,” I say it slowly, enunciating each word.

He grins. “What were you so mad about anyway?” He unzips his duffle bag and pulls out a worn gray T-shirt. “It was your idea that I needed to get laid. Which reminds me – I didn’t, by the way.”

I watch as he unbuttons his shirt, my eyes traveling south along the path of his fingers. He peels the button down shirt off his shoulders, and stands in front of me in a snug fit white T-shirt and jeans riding low on his hips.

I blush and look away. “I’m going to go change,” I mutter.

I grab my backpack and head into the bathroom. Begging myself to get a grip, I splash cold water on my face and catch my reflection in the mirror. My cheeks are flushed pink, my eyes shining brightly. All my senses are lit up around him. Colt is a manwhore. I repeat in my head, and I am not this girl. I will not be this girl. I need to remember that.

I change into my pajamas, and practice deep breathing. When I come out, Colt’s in his room with the door closed, which is probably for the best.

I drift into a restless sleep wondering how it is one guy can both infuriate me and fascinate me so much. 

Chapter 14

We’re both quiet on the drive into Cleveland. I think about the disapproval written all over Taylor’s face last night when I led Sarah back inside and introduced her.

I could tell it unnerved Taylor how much she and Sarah looked alike. But her reaction was the last thing I expected. She seemed genuinely upset. I didn’t understand why, but I knew I didn’t ever again want to be responsible for making her big blue eyes look up at me like that.

We make it to Cleveland in the late morning and check into the same hotel that Lars Kaiser is staying at. McAllister’s instructions in the envelope I gave Taylor say that she’s supposed to access his computer and copy over his files so we can find out who he’s working with, names and locations of where they may be planning to make their deals. This is a non-contact mission. He won’t even know we’re here. But still, it makes me nervous. Especially since we’re right under his nose. But I know McAllister’s right, he’d have no idea that we even exist.

Inside our hotel room, another two-bedroom suite, I drop my bag on my bed, then join Taylor in the living room. She gets straight down to business setting up her laptop on the desk. I have nothing to do, so I opt for pacing beside her, wearing a path in the thick carpeting, turning each time I reach the wall. I stop and watch over her shoulder as she eagerly clicks through screens I’ve never seen before.

“Anything I can do to help?” I ask.

She digs around inside her laptop bag, pulling out a few crumpled dollar bills. “Go get me a Diet Coke.”

I refuse her money, but head for the door. “On it.”

While in the hallway, I use the time to explore the layout of the hotel. I note where the fire exits are, the distance of each stairwell to our room and the location of the janitor’s closets. Then I go to the vending area and get Taylor her beverage.

Back inside the room, Taylor doesn’t even glance up as I set the drink on the desk beside her. She’s furiously tapping at the keys, an adorable look of concentration on her face. Her hair is pulled tight into a ponytail that hangs down her back. I sit down on the couch, feeling useless.

Taylor’s insistence that I needed sex bothered me. At first it was funny, until I realized what kind of a guy it made me in her eyes. This girl was fucking with my head and I never doubted myself. Ever. And that look on her face when she thought I’d slept with that girl last night? She looked so hurt. Even though she acts sarcastic and tough, there’s something she’s hiding, and I don’t want to hurt her, which is why I need to stay away from her. She’s far too fragile. We’re partners on an assignment. Nothing more. 

Chapter 15

“Got it.” Colt strolls into the room, looking quite pleased with himself and waving a key card at me.

“How?” I thought breaking into Lars’ room would be the hardest part.

“Young girl working at the reception desk. I told her Lars was my uncle and even though it was against policy, I sweet talked her until I got it.”

I shake my head. Of course he got it.

“The cleaning service comes through in a little while, so hopefully he’ll leave during that, and we can slip in.”

I nod my consent, but my stomach curls into a tight knot.

Colt’s tense and on edge, constantly leaving the room to do God knows what, but he bursts in a little while later and motions for me to come with him. “Come on. He went out.”

I scramble to my feet. It’s show time.

We take the stairs two floors up to Lars’ room and Colt delicately slides the card into the card reader. I hold my breath, waiting for someone to bust us. But the light flicks to green and the lock clicks open. My breathing is shallow as I follow Colt inside the room. It’s similar to ours, but with a large king-size bed unmade in the center of the room. My eyes meet the laptop sitting on the desk. I begin working right away, not needing any prompting from Colt. I want to get this done as quickly as possible and get the hell out of here. My hands are shaking as I insert the jump drive into his USB port. I wipe my sweaty palms against my jeans and force a breath into my lungs. I can do this. It will only take a few minutes.

Colt paces the room, throwing glances my way to check my progress. He doesn’t have to tell me to hurry, it’s written all over him.

I punch in a string of commands that will launch the tracking bug I’ve created. Colt leans over my shoulder to watch as I finish up, and pull the jump drive free of his computer. “Almost done,” I assure him.

A noise at the door startles us both. Someone’s trying to come in. Colt grabs my elbow and hauls me to my feet. I drop the jump drive and it clatters to the carpet, landing somewhere under the desk. I jerk towards it, but the door has clicked and is about to open. Colt pulls me toward the bathroom just in time. He ushers us to the bathtub and pulls the curtain to conceal us both. My heart thunders in my chest. I’m praying that it’s just the maid service, but it’s quiet. I hear keys clatter to the dresser, and the TV flips on a second later. Shit.

Colt holds me close to his body, partially shielding me behind him, my back is pressed against the cool tile wall.