Page 26 of Silver Fire

“Where’s your partner in crime?” Bonnie asked as she poured him a cup.

“He’ll be coming in soon, I’m a bit early,” Derek replied. Amazing how much time he had in the morning when he wasn’t screwing his brains out at night. Forty-eight hours without sex, he should get a medal.

Bonnie sashayed back behind the counter. She was all tits and ass and had given Derek and Jack more than their fair share of hints that she was available. Jack only had eyes for Maia nowadays, and Derek had no desire to have casual sex with someone whom he might see every day.

“Surprised to see you here before me,” Jack drawled as he slid into the booth across from him. He grabbed the carafe of coffee and poured himself a cup.

“What can I say? I turned over a new leaf,” Derek replied as he turned over the menu to check the daily specials.

“You’re actually serious,” Jack said in an unusual mocking tone that Derek had always used on him.

“Had myself tested yesterday morning,” Derek informed his friend whose face had broken out into a grin. “I talked to her for almost an hour last night—”

“You’re truly pussy-whipped,” Jack scoffed.

“And I had to see her and kiss her yesterday at the lab,” Derek finished.Christ, he truly was pussy-whipped—he did not want to share the intimate facts of his encounter with Sophie with his best friend.

Jack shook his head, bemused. “Why were you at Silver Fire yesterday?”

“She talked Braden into letting her have dinner with Christopher Blackstone. I called her a spoiled princess. She hung up on me.”

“Christopher Blackstone,” Jack frowned. “Why would she do that?”

“You boys ready to order?” Bonnie asked, interrupting Derek’s reply. They both ordered steak, eggs and hash then gave up their menus to Bonnie.

“She said she wanted to find out what he knows. She had her Rottweiler with her,” Derek said.

Jack snickered. “Beth Turner.”

“You got it.”

“What happened?”

“Basically, Blackstone is sending Turner a list of security companies they employ for the protection of their mines.”

“Which reminds me, Maia headed out to HQ this morning to get her replacement cell phone and meet with Viktor,” Jack said as he checked his watch. “She should be out by now since she met with him real early this morning.” His friend took out his phone and punched a number. No answer. It went straight to voicemail. He hit redial. “So what else is up?” He paused. “Babe?… Thalia?” Jack said, frowning. “Why are you answering Maia’s phone?”

Derek watched his friend’s face slowly darken in displeasure.Not good.

“What do you mean she went into an air-conditioning duct with Braden?”

Yep. Not. Good.

“Have her call me back immediately.” Jack ended the call tersely.

“Maia’s at Silver Fire Research?” Derek asked tentatively.

“Yes. And she’s off somewhere with Connelly checking on some damned ventilation ducts.”

“Maybe they’re assessing the security of the access panels.”

“I know. But you know what that means right?” Jack pointed out.

Yes, he did. Connelly would have to give Maia a shoulder-up in a most intimate fashion and if they were crawling around in air ducts and she was ahead of him? He would be staring right at her ass.

There went his friend’s morning. Jack was a mostly pragmatic person. If they didn’t get a contract, he shrugged it off. If they suffered a setback in production, he handled it with extreme cool. But matters concerning his wife, there was nothing pragmatic about him. He acted and reacted with passion. And right now he was seething.

Their food arrived and Derek noticed how after each bite, his friend would look at his phone, so when it finally buzzed, he answered it immediately.

---