Page 20 of My Temptation

“That’s true.”

Reaching into my bag again, I pulled out a small bag of candy, tore it open, and held it out to offer him some. “Want some?”

He snorted. “Can’t you just sit there? Do you have to be doing something?”

I laughed. “I have a really hard time sitting still. If I can’t do anything else, I end up snacking.”

“Brody said you did surveillance when you first started at the FBI.”

“That’s true.” I popped a piece of candy in my mouth. “I didn’t do it very long before a case was opened, and they needed a female.”

“Do you keep in touch with anyone you used to work with?”

“Nah, not really. I mean, Nick and I have some contacts left and can call in favors here and there, but for the most part, we both left that life behind.”

He nodded and looked out the windshield again. “How was your trip? You went back to DC to see your dad, right?”

“Yeah.” I sighed. “It was okay. I think it was good for Beth to get away. Can you believe she’s never traveled outside of North Carolina?”

Ethan huffed. “Actually, after everything I’ve learned about Daniel Sullivan, I can believe that.”

I looked toward Ethan, only to see he was still staring straight ahead. “How was Striker while we were gone?”

He snorted and met my stare. “You took Beth out of town for six days. What do you think?”

I laughed. “Good point.”

“I don’t think she’s been out of his sight for more than a day since we started providing her protection, and then you came along...”

“I came along and shook up his life.”

“You shook up a lot more than that,” he said under his breath.

Grinning, I pretended I hadn’t heard him and glanced out the side window. That comment shouldn’t make me feel good, but it did. The notion that I could shake up the men of Elite, who were all too often described as unflappable, gave the woman in me a surge of confidence I hadn’t felt in a long time.

Facing the windshield, I cleared my expression. “You think he’ll ever admit he has feelings for her?”

He seemed to consider that for a moment before responding. “Depends. He has a lot to lose if it doesn’t go the way he wants it to.”

“I doubt he’d let it fail if he decided he wanted a relationship,”?I pointed out.

“Might not be up to him,” Ethan replied.

“That’s true,” I agreed.

He paused for a moment. “Did you grow up in DC?”

My shoulders tensed when he asked me about my past. He didn’t know he was stirring up a million emotions.

“Yeah,” I answered, memories flashing through my mind of a childhood filled with laughter and experiences I wouldn’t trade for anything. “It was just me and my dad. My mom died when I was young.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said quietly.

“How about you?” I decided to turn the conversation back on him. “Where did you grow up?”

“Miami,”?he replied. “My aunt raised my sister and me after my mom died.”

“Losing your mom isn’t something you hope to have in common with someone,” I muttered sadly.

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