Under Fire (Elite Force #3)(18)
Author: Catherine Mann

She’d been smart to stay away from him all this time. There was a chemistry here that blew his mind, dulled his mind. He’d been half in love with her before, all the more reason for them to keep their distance, given his three-time-loser track record. Except distance was the one thing he couldn’t give her now.

Because he was the only person who stood a chance of keeping her safe.

Chapter 5

Rachel wondered if she would ever feel safe again.

Sitting in the passenger side of Liam’s Jeep, she entered Patrick Air Force Base for the second time today. She’d been scared out of her mind earlier and the feeling hadn’t changed much. If anything, she was more rattled now that the enormity of the car chase and how she’d let that fear strip away all reason really hit her.

She gnawed her bottom lip, still tingling from the explosiveness of how they’d made out on the roadside. She’d known the chemistry between them had a life of its own. Over the past months she’d been tormented just thinking of their brief kiss in the Bahamas.

Somehow though, her memory had fuzzed over details. The crispness of his beard against her sensitive cheek. How broad his hands were, palming her back. How he’d skimmed them up and down her spine as he brought her closer, until her br**sts pressed to the solid wall of muscles. Taking in all the sensation until hot desire flooded her, she wanted, needed, the outlet from all the pent-up fears and emotions.

Her heart was already pumping overtime, adrenaline searing her veins, and yet her body revved even more just thinking about how fast they’d lost control. If the sound of the traffic hadn’t brought her back to reality, she would have had sex with Liam right then and there, and to hell with the consequences. She glanced at him behind the wheel, his jaw tight in the glow of the dashboard lights. Pretty much the way he’d looked since he pulled away from her. Restraint was costing him too.

A shiver of want rippled through her.

God, but she needed to rein in her feelings. She had to focus on analytical details so she had her facts together when she talked to Liam’s friend in the OSI.

Rachel looked away from Liam fast, out over the ocean. A low-flying cargo plane swooped over the bay with the back ramp open. The big fat moon illuminated people leaping out toward the open water.

“Training,” Liam said simply, as if it was no big thing to see people hurtling out of the back of airplanes into the ocean.

And actually, not so long ago, that would have been normal for her too.

Wind blowing through the missing windows stirred memories of her experiences of being lowered out of helicopters with her dog. Back in the days when she had nerves of steel and didn’t cower on the floorboards of cars. Back before she’d worked an earthquake-relief mission with a man who made her feel too much. She’d lost her ability to distance herself and she’d crumpled inside.

God, how she wanted to be herself again, fearless and in control as she’d been before her job and some criminal stalker sucked the strength of will from her. She wanted to be the woman Liam had been attracted to six months ago.

What a time to realize he hadn’t even really been kissing her on the roadside. He’d been drawn to the woman she once was.

He spun the steering wheel, guiding the vehicle into a parking lot. “We’re here.”

Relief shuddered through her until she realized. “What about Disco?”

“Bring him.”

She wouldn’t have left him anyway. Rachel hooked Disco’s leash and hopped from the Jeep. Liam was already at her side, his hand on a handgun strapped to his waist. When had he put that on, and why hadn’t she noticed?

A series of entrances, passageways, and security codes later, Liam opened a final door into… not at all what she’d expected. She’d imagined being escorted into some kind of cold, sterile inquisition room. Instead she looked around what appeared to be more of a comfy lounge area. Granted it was all industrial, military-issue furniture. But the space contained a sofa, a couple of chairs, a table in the corner with a laptop computer and LCD projector. A television monitor hung from the ceiling.

Disco plastered himself to her leg. She sat uneasily on the sofa while Liam paced.

She toyed with her dog’s leash, weaving the rough hemp length between her fingers. “What happens next?”

“We wait for my friend.” He pivoted to face her just as the door opened again.

Rachel shot to her feet, her dog’s ears radaring forward.

A man and woman stepped in—one in uniform, the other in civilian clothes. Not surprising, since the OSI was a mix of military and civilian employees. Still, Rachel was caught off guard. She’d expected older grim secret service–looking sorts, given that this building was full of grizzled men in camo and nondescript suits. The man—probably in his early thirties, despite a surplus of gray in his salt-and-pepper hair—wore a blue air force uniform and a huge grin. The woman—Liam’s “friend”—sported sleek designer slacks and sky-high heels and brought with her an air of crisp efficiency and subtle perfume.

“Sylvia.” Liam stepped forward, his hand falling to rest familiarly on the woman’s shoulder. “Thanks for meeting us so quickly.”

Sylvia patted his wrist quickly before he pulled away. “Absolutely. We’ll do our best to sort this out.” She gestured to the man beside her. “This is my associate, Captain Bernard. And I assume this is Ms. Flores? I’m Special Agent Cramer.”

Standing, Rachel thrust out her hand and shook hands with both of them. “Yes, and thank you. I know you’re here because of Liam, but still, I’m grateful.”

Sylvia tucked her iPad under her arm. “That’s what friends are for—and it also happens to be my job.”

Friends, or more? If it had been more, then it was in the past. That much she was sure of. Liam had always been straight with her. While he may have had three wives—God, that freaked her out—he had a code about being faithful. He wouldn’t have kissed one woman in the car while dating another woman.

But if Sylvia Cramer was in his past, was this his type? Sylvia, who wore sleek black designer pants and a white silk shirt, crisp pleats and her lanyard precisely aligned? Her pearl earrings matched her pearly white perfect teeth, which were a little large in a way that made her smile seem… off. But then, all that might be jealousy, since this woman could have leaped out of an airplane without a hair sliding out of place.

Sylvia gestured to the door. “Liam, if you wouldn’t mind stepping out, please? Captain Bernard will accompany you.”