Page 24 of Mike

Joe knew the reprieve was only temporary. But she’d take it.

The man named Cisco blinked, then blinked again as he got his first real look at her. “Hey. Aren’t you the woman from the gym yesterday?”

Great. Another Sherlock.

Before she could answer, Mike opened his mouth. “Yeah. She is. And she’s the one who’s been tailing me.”

The four amigos all grinned like it was a good thing.

“No shit?” the second of the men intoned drolly.

Mike gave a groan. “Fine. Meet the woman who’s got me under surveillance. Cisco Andera, Doug Lumous, Kyle Sothard, Welker Vestore, this is Elle Picket.”

Yeah. He emphasized her name to let the foursome know he didn’t for a minute believe that was her true identity.

“And why is this pretty lady dogging your ugly ass?” the one introduced as Kyle asked.

“We’ll get into that.” Mike’s dark eyes stabbed into hers as if daring her to rebuke him. “But first, the lady is bleeding.” He keyed up the mic on his shoulder and snarled into it to the team medic. “Deluthe. We need you in the parking lot. Stat. With your kit.”

“On my way,” a male responded immediately.

Mason’s voice crackled to life over the comm. “Everything okay, Carlese?”

“Fine. I’m clear. But we have a minor injury to a…bystander.”

“Roger that. Call if you need any additional help.”

“Will do, Chief,” Mike replied, signing off to stare at Joe again. Which was fine with her. Despite the new eye-candy who’d arrived, she still couldn’t get enough of Mike, and she was happy he seemed to be experiencing the same.

There was a clearing throat when the silence seemed to go on for too long.

“Mike? Are you sure you don’t need the medic, too?” the one named Kyle snickered as he addressed his buddy, getting answering elbow nudges from the other of his companions.

“No,” Mike answered succinctly. “Why?”

“Because, um…” Kyle broke into a laughing fit that had him coughing to recover.

“Just spit it out, asshole,” Mike huffed. It was obvious the bunch loved joshing around. It made Joelle a little jealous. That’s what she’d been missing in her office. Fun. Of any kind.

Joe waited for the reply, knowing when it came, it would be a doozy.

Kyle wheezed, then got back in the game.

“Because LT,” he raised a finger and pointed between Mike and Joe, “you, uh, might have a little blood in your beard.”

CHAPTER NINE

Holy hell. He’d thought maybe hitting his head had made him hallucinate and imagine he’d been thoroughly kissed by his fantasy woman. But she really was here. In the flesh. The guys could see her, and he had blood on his beard.

With the distraction his teammates provided, Mike now looked his fill at the cunning angel while using the wet wipe Alvero had given him to clean himself up. She was even more compelling than he remembered from the glimpse he’d gotten of her at the gym. She was a smoking ten. And her kiss… Well, shit. As well as her kickass demeanor, that combustible buss had added to her allure. But…

Why was there always a but?

She was lying to him.

Not about Mellie and Cameron. Mike could hear the truth in what she’d said about them. But in almost everything else she’d prevaricated, skirted questions, and outright lied.

Elle Picket. Sure. And she didn’t even pretend to be repentant about giving him a clearly fake name. Cool under fire was more how Mike would describe her as he’d asked questions, and she’d easily deflected. So…

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