Page 52 of Operation Heartbeat

“That will be one of my guys.”

She twisted her lips the same way she did while she worked on those cryptograms—as if she was trying to puzzle him out too.

“What’s going on?” She didn’t miss a thing, did she?

“He’s going to stay with you while the team and I pay a visit to the shipping agent.”

Under his fingers, her arm tensed. Then he realized he was still touching her long after he needed to be. Or should be.

He slowly drew his hand away and clenched his fingers to keep from reaching out and caressing her again.

“How long is this going to take?” she asked.

“I can’t say for sure. We’re making initial contact with him.”

“What am I supposed to do while you’re gone?”

He didn’t like the worried wobble in her voice. He walked over to the mini fridge and got her a water. “Stay hydrated while you work. Take breaks. Okay?”

She took the water with a nod. “I’m close on the latest cryptogram sent by the CIA. But I think it cross-references the big one we received.” She bit down on her lip in a way that had his gut clenching.

Another rap on the door jerked him out of his absorption with a woman he had no business fantasizing about. He already had his one shot. He wasn’t going to touch her again.

In a few strides, he reached the door. When he opened it to find Henner standing there, he groaned.

“I don’t know how comfortable I am leaving Sophie in the hands of Mr. Blue Eyes,” he muttered.

“Come again?”

“Nothing. Get in here.” He pulled the door wider to allow his teammate’s bulk into the room.

Henner was dressed in street clothes and looked rested, while he had been up all night.

Didn’t matter. Con was always going to be better.

As soon as he turned to see Sophie on her feet, a pleasant smile on her face, Con liked leaving her in Henner’s hands even less.

He closed the door a little too hard. “Sophie, you remember Henner.”

“Hello.”

“Ms. Edwards.” To Con, he shot a glance over his shoulder. “The guys are waiting for you in the car.”

“Got it.” He didn’t budge.

Sophie’s stare shifted to Con. “I’ll be fine.”

Great—now he felt like he was hovering.

“She’s in great hands, boss man.”

It wasn’t that Con thought Henner would make a move on her. Or that Sophie would end up in his teammate’s bed the way she had his. So what was stopping him?

With no good reason to stand there anymore, he walked out.

Once outside the hotel, he dragged in a gulp of the breeze that carried notes of exotic things on it—spices, flowers and the sea. Sophie needed to get outside more and soak all this in.

God, he was really losing it over this woman, wasn’t he?

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