Ricochet (Renegades #3)(30)
Author: Skye Jordan

“Renegades. I can only handle one drop-dead gorgeous woman at a time, and that, obviously, hasn’t gone very well for me today.” He pointed to her bottle. “It’s pomegranate flavored.”

She couldn’t read him, couldn’t decipher between truth, lies, and charm, and bugged the hell out of her. “I was expecting apple—forbidden fruit and all.”

“Some say pomegranate was the real fruit Adam gave Eve in the garden.”

She slid him a dubious look. “Blasphemy.”

He chuckled. “Not my theory. I’m just passing on another perspective.”

She took another long drink of the unique beer, suddenly wanting to down it as her desire for Nathan spiked again. Last night had been the same. Every time she believed they couldn’t possibly have sex again, their small talk eventually turned to laughter. Their laughter coupled with their nakedness and passion created a raw intimacy that turned instantly hot. And before she knew how, they’d fallen into full-on rocket sex again. And again. And again.

Last night had been a night beyond any fantasy, and she hated the tarnish darkening it now.

“As far as Renegades,” she said, forcing her mind back to the issue, “there are a few guys we use regularly for specialty work, but no more members of the core team. If we nail this movie, come in on budget, we’ll get a big influx of cash, and Renegades will expand.”

“And if not?” he asked.

Crap, she really didn’t like to think about this part. She put one hand behind her and leaned back, lifting the beer to her mouth and gazing out over the pool. She felt his eyes on her, and her body responded with a swell of heat. She wasn’t wearing anything risqué or even interesting, just a white tank and cutoff jean shorts, but the way he looked at her made Rachel feel like she was naked again, the way he had before he’d fucked her like he’d been possessed.

She could still feel the drip, drip, drip of sweat from his forehead on her breast. The damp strands of his hair slipping through her fingers. The strength of his steel arm wrapped low around her hips, pulling her into his thrusts.

“Rachel?”

“What?” Her head came up, her mind tearing from the decadent memory. God, she wanted that again. “Sorry. I’m…tired.”

Crap. As soon as she said it, she wanted to take it back. He didn’t grin, but humor crinkled at the corners of his eyes.

She downed all but the last swallow of her beer and continued without looking at him. “And if not, we’ll be struggling job to job again.”

She kept her gaze on the languid aqua squiggles floating through the pool until he blew out a breath. “Now I know what you meant by ‘no pressure.’”

She slid a look toward him. His brow wrinkled as he frowned down at his beer. “I would expect you to be used to pressure.” After his show of anger toward Troy earlier, she hesitated with her next comment but decided she couldn’t tiptoe around him for weeks. “Afghanistan can’t be an easy place to work or live.”

A subtle shift she couldn’t describe increased the tension between them again.

He shook his head without looking at her. “Different kind of pressure.”

Uneasy with the indefinable change, she pushed herself back into a sitting position. “We have a lot to go over if you’ve decided to take the job.”

His gaze lifted to hers, unreadable now. “Like?”

“I’m going to need all your credentials—your licenses, both military and civilian, your training record, your education history—”

“Excuse me?” He stiffened, his tone edged with disbelief.

“Relax. I’m not asking for anything personal, like your medical records.”

“My explosives license I get, but—”

“They’re for the risk-assessment consultant. Evaluating staff is a big part of the process. The more qualified the staff, the lower the insurance premium.”

He closed his mouth mid-argument, and his teeth clicked with the force. She’d seen his sexual intensity. But this…this was different. Something darker than the anger or frustration she dealt with every day from the other Renegades. And it seemed to rise anytime anyone brought up his work. She didn’t want to pull that kind of anger from him now, before he met Josh, so she changed the direction of the conversation.

“Did anyone tell you more about the bridge site?”

“Not yet.”

“Well, you know it’s up north, about fifteen minutes inland from the beach,” she started, hoping talk of the project would relax him. “Beautiful country. Rolling green hills. Oak trees. And Troy told you about the ranch you’ll be using while you’re there. It’s in a valley several miles from the bridge, but you’ll have trucks and ATVs for transport.

“The rancher is also renting us the use of his land, which includes nine flat acres to store equipment. One acre is fenced with razor wire. And the main house is big—eight bedrooms, four bathrooms. There is also a one-bedroom guesthouse and nine bunkhouses. Plenty of room for all the staff. The owner will be staying with his kids and grandkids in Colorado for the duration of the project.

“I’ve got a kitchen service on retainer who will provide all your meals, a housekeeping service for upkeep of the ranch and laundry, and a handyman on call to take care of maintenance and repairs.”

His expression started to ease, his eyes lightening, his tension fading.

“You and I will have to go over the potential crew members’ backgrounds and pull them in for interviews to make sure they have the qualifications you want. I also have a couple of great prospects for site coordinators who I think will work well with you. You can meet them both. If you don’t like them, I’ll find someone else.

“I have a partial equipment-and-supply list—about twenty-eight pages long so far—for you to look at and add to. I’ll need you to do that ASAP so I can get everything to the site. We have a lot of it in storage, but I’ll have to order a lot too. I know very little about explosives, so you can do the ordering yourself or tell me what you want, and I’ll tell them where and when to deliver to you.”

His eyes narrowed. “Why are you making it sound like you won’t be there?”

“What…? Didn’t Troy explain how this works?” She realized the answer was no before she’d even finished the question. “I’ll be managing everything from here. I won’t be on site. That’s what a site coordinator does.”