Page 22 of Play the Game

“All right, now you need to fuck right off so I can get some sleep,” Penn said, and just like that, the negativity between us was resolved. It was one of my favorite Penn traits.

“Nice to see you taking the doctor’s orders seriously.”

He leaned back against his pillows and sharply sucked in his breath while he settled. “It’s not like I have a choice. Bond won’t release me to convalesce at home with my husband until she’s satisfied with my level of recovery. And Ireallywant to be at home with my husband.” He winced and shifted, obviously in pain.

I smiled, but my heart wasn’t in it. It was a few beats behind, still ruminating on my selfish behavior and the fallout I had nearly caused.

“Sorry,” Penn said quietly. “I wasn’t trying to rub salt in the wound.”

That jolted me out of my thoughts. “What?”

“Talking about my happy marriage.” Penn patted my shoulder. “I know this past year was a bitch for you, with the separation and divorce. But there’s someone else out there for you, despite your many, many,manyflaws.”

I relaxed. He hadn’t been reading my thoughts, all of which swirled around the woman he was hell-bent on protecting from me. “Thanks, but you’re mistaken. I do not have flaws. I have charming idiosyncrasies.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Did a lady friend of yours tell you that? If so, she was being kind. Or maybe she was just putting the moves on you.”

I grinned, then remembered that, in fact, Tam had told me that. And given what had happened afterward, I think it was fair to say we’d been putting the moves on each other. God, how I wanted to do that again. And again and again. That was my cock talking. More like begging.Shut up.

“I’m not going to lie to you,” Penn said. “It might not be easy to find love again. But if the right woman comes along, she’ll accept you as you are, flaws and felonious record and all.”

That was the way Tam accepted me. That was my heart talking.You shut the hell up, too.

“Thanks for not lying to me, Penn. I’ll do you the same favor by not lying about the fact that you’re an asshole.

He laughed, then grimaced and clutched his side.

“That’s my cue to leave.” I stacked his empty dishes on the kitchen tray. I walked to the door, then stopped. “Hey, seriously, while we’re being honest, you should know you’re wrong about one thing.” I kept my eyes on the door instead of turning toward him because I was afraid my face would give away my feelings. “Sparks isn’t expendable. Not by a long shot.”

CHAPTER 9

Tamela

TJ had canceledour Wednesday afternoon team meeting since we were all already deep into our assignments for the upcoming job. With so much work to do, I hadn’t seen Jensen for the rest of the day and hadn’t sought him out in the IT room after everyone else had gone to bed like I normally did.

Thursday morning, I crept into the quiet kitchen before the tactical team was even in the gym for their early morning workout. I was making a cup of coffee with our machine that used those pods that were terrible for the environment. I’d been meaning to learn to make a proper cup of coffee for a long time, but most mornings, when we were all together at HQ for an active mission, Jason made it for me. He’d spoiled me.

I was pulling a protein bar out of a cupboard when I heard someone behind me.

“What are you eating? I’ll make you eggs. Or pancakes. We have blueberries.”

I turned to face him. He was wearing a dark red T-shirt, tight, faded jeans, and a pair of Tevas. His shirt color made me think of a Christmas gift, one I desperately wanted to unwrap. “Jason.” I cleared my throat, hoping he hadn’t noticed the raspiness of my voice. “Thanks, but this is fine. I was just headed to the logistics room.”

He held up his hands to stop me. “At least let me make you a proper cup of coffee.” He took my mug out of my hand. “Christ on a bike,” he muttered as he dumped it down the drain. “Please, sit. This will only take five minutes.”

I obviously wasn’t leaving this kitchen with anything less than a stellar, hand-crafted cup of coffee made from freshly ground, sustainably grown beans. I sighed and sat down.

He glanced at me and nodded his approval.

“How did you know I’d be down here this early?” I asked as he worked on my beverage.

“Because the floorboard in front of my door squeaks when you walk past it. Penn is in the medical bay, TJ knows to avoid that board, and everyone else’s rooms are on the floor below us.” He smiled at me. “It’s either you or a rat infestation.”

My stomach flipped. I looked away from him, staring down at my hands instead of watching him make my morning coffee. It was safer that way. What we needed was distance.

He turned away from me and focused on his task at hand. “We need to talk about Tuesday.”

Nope. No, no, nopity-nope. Talking about seeing each other naked was not what we needed. And now, I could only picture us naked together, on my bed in that hotel room.

---