Page 35 of Command and Control: GHOST Operative

As evidenced by the next word that comes out of my mouth. "Radar."

Julieanne's brows pinch together. "What?"

"My cat’s name. It's Radar." I try to stop there and fail. "I watched a lot of MASH when I was a kid."

It's a part of the story no one knows because I don’t share it. Do my best to never dwell on myself. I manage to grind my teeth together, stopping myself from offering more.

Her brows lift. "MASH?"

I risk a peek her way and immediately regret it. She's so fucking beautiful. Everything about her looks so sweet and soft and warm, and I fucking crave it like air. Almost as much as I crave the other side of her. The one that isn't afraid of me. The one that challenges me at every turn. "Don't act like you're not old enough to know what MASH is."

"Don't pretend you don't know exactly how old I am." Julieanne relaxes back in her seat, blinking slow enough that I know she could fall asleep in an instant under the right circumstances. "And yes, I know what MASH is. It just seems a little too on point for you."

"I'm about as far from a doctor as it gets, Jules." My fist clenches tighter when I almost reach for her again. "I don't save people. I kill them." She hasn't technically seen me do it, but she knows damn well it happens. Has happened in the past thirty minutes. Three times.

A fact which still seems like it's not fazing her.

"Are you seriously trying to be this literal?" She rolls her eyes, like I'm the most ridiculous person she's ever met. "You know exactly what I meant."

I do know what she meant. I also know that she’s even more right than she knows. And, because my mouth andbrain act independently when they’re in her presence, I start to tell her how much she doesn’t know. "When I joined the military, my plan was to become a surgeon."

I expect her to be shocked. Surprised at how far I've fallen. But she just looks me over, full lips pressed in an appraising line. "I could see that."

She might not have been surprised, but I am. I glance her way, half expecting her to have been teasing me, but she looks serious. "Really?"

She nods. "Sure. You're arrogant enough to be a surgeon." Her eyes dip to the fist clenched between us. "And good enough with your hands."

My face feels strange. Tight in an unfamiliar way. It's not until Julieanne is beaming at me that I realize I smiled at her.

Fucking smiled.

I swear to God, I don’t even know who I am anymore.

I flatten it out and shoot her a glare, but she continues grinning, gracing me with the expression that first drew me in six months ago. "Don't look at me like that. I didn't force you to smile. You did it all on your own."

I turn back to the road, shifting my glare, but I don’t have to see Julieanne to know she’s still staring at me and still fucking smiling. I can feel it. It’s like the sun breaking free of the clouds. Warm. Blinding.

Consuming.

"Better be careful, Vincent. I'll think flattery will get me everywhere with you.

"Don't make me throw you out of the car." There's absolutely no bite to my threat. If anything, it almost sounds like I'm teasing her back. Which I'm not. I don't tease.

I also don't smile. That was a momentary lapse. Probably fucking gas or something.

"Whatever." Julieanne doesn't even pretend to be afraid of me. Not a single flicker of concern flashes across her gaze. Right up until her eyes drop to the floorboard. It’s only then her dark brows pinch together. "I think I need to take the socks off." She shifts around in the seat, scooting forward before bringing both feet up onto the dashboard. The position is a little too close to one I may or may not have imagined her in, and as much as I hate myself for it, I can't stop my eyes from once again going her way.

She peels the layers of cotton off one foot, cringing a little when she finally gets it bare. She wiggles her perfect fucking toes, waving around the red painted tips like a fucking bullfighter. Daring me to come after them.

I'm ashamed to say that if I wasn't driving, I probably would. I'd have them in my mouth, sucking hard as I pushed her knees higher so I could fuck her deeper.

"My feet are all pruny." She continues with the toe wiggling. "And I think I got frostbite."

I reach across and grab the foot, wrapping my hand around those fucking infuriating toes. They’re cold, but nowhere near frostbitten.

Julieanne moans, angling her body my way. "You're so warm." She goes to work peeling away the socks on the other foot and shamelessly props her leg across the console and drops that one into my lap. "How are you so warm?"

I bite back a moan of my own as she burrows her second foot between my thighs, dangerously close to my fully hard cock. "I'm warm because I didn't run outside wearing nothing but a T-shirt and pajama pants." I'm trying to chastise her, but all it does isremind me of the way her nipples looked against the wet fabric of her T-shirt. And now my cock is pushing painfully against the zipper of my pants. I shift in my seat, trying to ease the pressure, but only succeed in shifting Julieanne's foot around until it’s pressing right against my length.

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