Page 17 of Explosive Vengeance

He snorted and bit into his sad little sandwich. “Whatever. I bet I’m the first one you’ve met.”

“True. But it explains a lot,” she added. She’d learned about all military SOF branches during her early training. PJs were a rare breed. There weren’t that many of them around.

His scowl deepened as he chewed. “What does?”

She shrugged. “Why you did the favor for Ty. You like saving people.” She could picture it easily. Him in his ACUs, weapon in hand as he jumped out of a helo and raced for the wounded patient he was tasked with saving. The image was enough to make any woman sigh.

And damned if it didn’t make her stony heart flutter a little. That kind of selflessness and bravery was rare in this world.

He didn’t answer, just took another big bite. “You and Megan went to school together?” he asked after he swallowed it.

“You could say that, yeah.”

“Did you work together after?”

“No. I work alone. We all do.”

His eyes narrowed a bit. “We?”

She took another sip of the energy drink, ignoring the question. The man really didn’t know anything about Valkyries. “Favorite superhero?”

He blinked. “What? Why?”

“Why not? It’s not a trick question. You got a favorite, or not?”

“Falcon.”

“Ah, of course. Former PJ.”

He bit into the sandwich, suspicion lurking in his gaze. “You?”

“Black Widow.”

“Why does that not surprise me,” he muttered around the bite.

“She’s a total badass. I like badass women. And men,” she added with a waggle of her eyebrows. PJs were badass in an incredibly selfless, heroic way.

He stared at her, last bite of sandwich poised partway to his mouth. “Are youflirtingwith me right now?”

She laughed at his incredulous tone. Messing with him was fun. But she’d bet getting in his pants would bemorefun. “If I was flirting, you’d know it.” It had been way too long since she’d had any fun, and this guy was one of the good ones. She darted a look at his ass. “You got one of those green feet tats back there?”

If she wasn’t mistaken, his eyes widened a fraction before the scowl came back. “Maybe.” He shoved the last bite into his mouth.

“Can I see it?”

He blinked, might have choked a little. “No.”

She tutted in disappointment and decided to ease up a bit. Having fun was one thing, but he’d had a tough night so she could cut him some slack. “What about hobbies? What do you like to do when you’re not saving people?”

“Sports. Rock climbing mostly.” His tone was equal parts resentful and exasperated.

Rock climbing? So there was a little bit of an adrenaline junkie in him after all. “I like to throw knives. I’m pretty good at it.” She almost laughed at the shock on his face. “But my favorite thing is blowing shit up.” She lived for that.

He stopped chewing, holding her gaze. “I can’t tell if you’re being serious or not.”

She smiled. “Oh, I am.” At first, she’d resented being stuck with him, but now she had to admit she could’ve done way worse. She liked him. Was definitely attracted to him.

That made things interesting. They had another three hours or more alone together before anyone else showed up. Might as well enjoy them.

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