Page 114 of Forbidden Heroes

I nod.

Warren has been leaning on the counter, sleeves rolled up and his usual scowl in place. He pushes up with a snort. “That said, you think she can help with the code?”

Showing her the black-market virus wasn’t part of the plan, but it seemed like the natural thing to do at the time. Thankfully the guys didn’t hold it against me and played along. They must have seen how freaked out she was getting.

“I saw an opportunity to get her to come along rather than really kidnapping her.”

“Smooth. You sure we should trust the bear in there who grunts rather than speaks to be alone with someone as sweet as Jemma? He might scare her.”

“She’ll be fine. Daemon might be less than polished, but he’s not a brute. Just terribly frank.”

“Which scares the shit out of me.” I don’t need to say what we are both thinking. “We should have drawn straws or something to decide who got to stay with her.”

“Real mature.”

Warren places another mug of coffee in front of me and I hit it back like Johnny Walker on New Year’s Eve. Another wave of caffeine jolts through my system and wards off sleep for the moment.

“Honestly our plan was to seduce her over the holidays. None of us said we would whisk her off to another country. This is new territory for all of us.”

Hearing Warren admit to flying by the seat of his pants has me stopping cold, mug halfway to my lips.

“We all agreed if we saw a chance, we would take it. Don’t let it eat you up that there’s not a script for the next part. That New Year’s party wasn’t planned either and it went rather well, don’t cha think? I had no idea she would be there.”

Warren is quiet, lost in his head. probably mapping out everything we have to do down to the time we eat dinner and dessert. I grin to myself. Maybe Jemma will help loosen him up. Ever since I’ve known the man, he has been wound tight. Controlling, most people say. Most days I agree. But after getting to know him I realize it goes deeper than control. His family depends on him and he takes that shit seriously.

I peer into my empty coffee cup and move it aside. I take the laptop and fire it up. Maybe I could read that counter-proposal in fifteen minutes. But the screen opens up to where we left it on the flight over.

I scroll, my eyes going wide the longer I look.

“Holy shit. She did it.”

“What?” Warren spins the computer around.

“Found the missing section of code. She solved the problem.”

“Let me see again.” I flip the laptop around and point to the section of code. “Here you see that? Fuck, that’s sexy as hell.”

Warren’s eyes are as wide as mine. “When did she have time?”

“I guess while we snored our asses off she got up.”

I lean my elbows on the counter. “Is it wrong to get a hard on for someone's brain?”

Warren whips his head back and forth. “Nope.”

Eight

Jemma

To my right I watch snow drift by. In the shower. Actually, the entire wall is glass and gives a breathtaking view of Paris.

From the open door of the bathroom to my left I spy a set of clothes spread out on the bed for me as I step out of the shower. It’s all so surreal.

The location, the company. This hotel suite.

It’s the middle of winter in freaking Paris. And I’m here. Holy crap! Part of me wants to squeal with glee at ticking something off my wish list. But I keep it cool and take the towel Daemon hands me. Or at least I try.

He puts a hand on my shoulder and turns me around. Warmth engulfs me when he wraps one fluffy towel around my shoulders so large it hangs past my knees while taking another to dry my hair.

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