Page 29 of Playing My Rivals

Hopelessness spills from his pores. “He’s on a tough assignment. That’s all I know.”

“Aiden texted me the other week. I know things aren’t going great with his job, so please tell me what he said.”

My blood pounds against my temples. I’m getting dizzy. I blink and lose my balance. Jami reaches out and grabs me.

He guides me to the chairs. “You need to sit down and breathe. The last thing I need is Hunter on my back because you passed out in our office. He’d think I did something to you.”

Jami sits me down and kneels in front of me. I pull in a calming breath and try to bring my heart rate down.

“I don’t care what Hunter thinks right now. I’m worried about my brother. Sit your ass down and tell me what’s going on.” I point to the chair next to me.

Jami rolls his eyes and sits. “You didn’t tell me Aiden texted you. What did he say?”

“No. That’s not how this works. You go first.”

“He asked me to keep an eye on you. He didn’t say much more than that.”

“That’s it? That’s all he said?” I ask.

“Yes. Now, it’s your turn. I told you what Aiden wanted, so you need to tell me what he said when he texted you.” Jami shifts to the edge of his seat.

“Aiden said he thought his cover might have been blown and wanted to make sure nobody was bothering me.”

Jami leaps from his chair and stands over me, his face turning red. “Why are you just now telling me this? Are you trying to get hurt?”

I push back in my chair and gaze up at him. “I kind of forgot about it until now. Besides, he played it off like he was just checking in to see if everything was okay. He didn’t make it sound dire.”

“Did he say if he thought you were in danger?” Jami’s eyes are full of panic.

“No. He just said to keep an eye out for anything strange. I haven’t had anything out of the ordinary come up, so I haven’t thought about it.” I stand and go back to my desk.

Dammit, Aiden!

Jamison bends forward, resting the palms of his hands on his desk as he thinks about something. A minute later, he marches toward me, his face getting whiter by the second.

He stops in front of my desk. “Dori, do you think something could be wrong and Aiden’s playing it down for us?”

“Maybe. It’s not normal for him to reach out when he’s on an assignment. Why?”

“He asked me to keep you safe. That’s nothing he’s ever asked of me before. He wouldn’t want to put us closer together if he didn’t have something weighing on his mind. It’s not like him.”

“It’s not.” Oh, this is bad. “What do you think he’s keeping from us?”

“It could be a number of things, but I think it’s serious.” Jami runs his hand over his stubbly chin.

My heart stampedes in my chest. “What makes you say that?”

“Aiden made it sound like they already have a plan in place if something happens. He said all I need to do is contact his office and they’ll tell me what steps to take next. Then at the end of the conversation, he said, love ya. He doesn’t say that to me.” Jami’s eyes connect with mine, full of worry.

He studies me closely as I take in the seriousness of it all.

“That’s bad.” I turn and catch Jonah standing in the doorway.

“What’s bad?” He steps in.

Jamison and I trade glances. He knows me well enough to know I’m freaking out inside.

He addresses Jonah with the poise of a true leader. “We missed something in the packet. It’s nothing terrible. We just need to reprint them and get them in order.”

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