Page 57 of Operation Heartbeat

She picked up her water goblet and sipped. “You have a nice smile.”

“I wonder how someone could let you go.”

She stilled, goblet halfway to her lips for another sip. “You mean my ex.”

Seeing her discomfort about the topic, he quickly switched the focus to himself. “In Blackout, we’re not supposed to get married. Not supposed to have families.”

But…the other team had. The guys on Alpha were married or had significant others. Some had even had kids.

His mind drifted to Kit, heavily pregnant with Gunnison’s child.

Sophie met Con’s stare. “That must be hard. Lonely.”

“Are you lonely?”

She shrugged. “Not really.”

“You said you were thinking about joining a dating site.”

“I miss doing things couples do. Like this.” She raised her glass to him, and he picked his up to do the same.

Clinking glasses with her sent a shockwave to his chest. He got turned on by ankles and his heartstrings were tugged by clinking his glass with hers. God, when did he get so old-fashioned in his tastes?

About the same time Sophie walked into his life.

She sighed and set down her glass again. “My marriage did not end well. Benjamin was threatened by me and my success. It made home life difficult. The worst was how he gloated. God, that man could gloat.” She rolled her beautiful eyes. “He always got a better assigned parking spot than me. Every year, I get stuck by this huge, overgrown bush. It’s too tight to back into, which means I have to pull in and shimmy around the branches. They snag on my clothes, so I’m always wet or covered in snow and ice. The last straw for me was when he saw me soaked from the wet shrub, and he called out, ‘You might get the awards but I get the better parking spot!’”

Bastard.

Why did the best women pull in men like that?

If Con ever saw the guy, he’d punch his teeth out of his stupid face. He kept his thoughts on Sophie’s ex to himself because she seemed uncomfortable sharing what happened to her.

“What did you do?”

“I flipped. Told him I had enough of him and his snarky remarks about me winning the awards that I deserved. I called my lawyer that day and filed for divorce. It was high time,considering he’d been cheating on me with several of his blonde grad students.”

She tossed her brown hair over her shoulder as if proving that blondes didn’t have more fun, especially with her ex.

Her cheeks grew pink as she noticed him watching her. “I’m surprised no one has ever snaggedyou, even if you’re not supposed to have a wife or family. You don’t seem like a man who follows all the rules.”

He cracked another smile. “You’re right about that. You don’t get to the top of this career by not taking risks now and then. But honestly, I travel a lot. I’m married to my job.”

He wouldn’t say—couldn’t say—that marriage wasn’t his thing. It was a gray area that he’d keep open for a very,veryspecial case. Team Alpha had changed the rules for themselves.

Con could too.

THIRTEEN

“Take this.” Con held out a small flesh-toned item on his palm.

“Hearing protection for the concert?” Sophie’s stomach flipped like an Olympic gymnast as she plucked the device from his palm.

“I guess it could double as that. It’s a comms device. You’ll be connected to me and to the guys too. In case.”

Her gaze flew to his. The dark depths were unreadable. “In case of what?”

“Just in case. I never take chances. There’s always a plan B.”

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