Page 34 of Elliot

He turned to look at her. “Of course, I do. Why?”

She shrugged and played with the hair on his chest as she thought about the reason she asked the question. “I haven’t had successful connections to many people. I’m too much, too driven, too directive, too … well, fill in the adjective. I know what I want, and I go after it. I went after you.”

He cupped her cheek with his hand. “Did you sense any resistance on my part?”

She smiled. “Not much,” she admitted.

Pulling her down to him, he kissed her. “Stop worrying and go to sleep. Morning is just a few minutes away.”

She dropped down, got comfortable on his shoulder, and then chuckled. “Did you know I’m the boss, and I can set my own hours?”

His laughter rumbled under her. “But you’re not going to go in late, are you?”

“No,” she admitted. “But I could.” As their laughter settled in the darkness, she closed her eyes. She was happy. If only for tonight. And right now, it was enough.

CHAPTER 12

“Dude, will you wake the hell up?” Con’s voice in his ear snapped his eyes open. “I overrode your mute, and I can hear you snoring. Wake up. I have shit to tell you.”

Elliot looked at the woman asleep on his arm and smiled. Beautiful, sexy as fuck, brilliant, and snoring like a freight train. He curled his arm, and she rolled toward him, silencing the snoring. He pushed his earpiece in a bit before he grumped, “What?” Maya took a deep breath and settled against him.

“Well, good morning to you, too, grumpy pants,” Con sniped at him. “I got a match on the person who told the emcee there was a bomb. It wasn’t any associate of Kates, well, not really.”

Elliot closed one eye, trying to see what time it was. He’d been asleep for two and a half hours. “Explain that.”

“See, none of his associates matched. So, I was thinking. He wouldn’t call in the bomb threat himself, would he? Well, it turns out he did. I got a copy of the 911 recording, and it’s a perfect vocal match for Kates. He’s a fucking idiot. So, if he called from the bar … maybe, just maybe, he recruited help from the bar, too.”

Elliot was wide awake now. “And?”

“And it seems Kates is a regular at the bar. So is the man who accepted what looks like a wad of cash from Kates outside the bar and then jogged straight to the event center. Where he entered, went to the stage, and told the emcee about the bomb threat.”

He glanced down at Maya, who was looking at him. He smiled, kissed her nose, and then motioned to his ear. She promptly closed her eyes and burrowed in closer to him. Elliot said, “So he called in the bomb threat. Has forensics found anything on the device?”

“Dude, theydo notwork as fast as I do.” Con huffed his ire.

“You’re correct. You did great work.” Elliot gave the man his props.

“See, if more people were like you and recognized my greatness, things would be a lot easier around this place, but let me tell you, Shadows are hard to work with. Ow!Not you, other shadows. Shit, babe.”

Elliot blinked at that revelation and then completely shelved the information. He had no need to know, and it was probably higher than his clearance. Okay, his clearance was as high as it could get, but still. “Do you have anything else?”

“Isn’t that enough?” Con asked, still pouting from whatever happened on the other end of the connection.

“What happened at the office last night?” Elliot asked as he stared at the ceiling.

“Oh, with the assistant? She worked on her computer. I was curious, so I tunneled in after she left. It looks like she worked in the calendar app, updated several memos, and worked on a company bulletin. I didn’t go into the documents, but I can.”

“When you have the time. I need to know what that person was doing there and why.” He didn’t want to upset Maya by saying Jessica’s name.

“Why are you talking in code? Dude, I just woke you … oh, shit. Sorry, my man.” Con laughed.

Elliot rolled his eyes. “Have a good time getting out of trouble, Con.”

Con grumbled something unintelligible, and Elliot double-tapped his earpiece, muting Con and his side of the comms. He turned toward Maya.

“Good morning,” she mumbled from somewhere almost under him.

“Good morning.” He pulled her in closer and held her against him. Last night’s sex had been intense, both physically and emotionally. Not that he was the type of guy who wore his emotions on his sleeve—hell, for that matter, he never let his emotions peek through to the light of day. But … whew … the woman brought out his inner caveman. As he held her, all he could think was how he didn’t want to let her go. Perfection. That was how he’d describe the way they fit together. But she lived in a world he didn’t belong to. He’d take the time she was willing to give him and hold onto the memories. One day, she’d find someone who fit her world, and he hoped she’d be happy.

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