Page 30 of Play the Game

“I think, if I were in your position, I’d worry about saving my friendship and trusting my own instincts in the field, and not worry about making every decision about the rest of my life right this minute. For now, focus on your friend.”

“Thanks.”

I wasn’t sure exactly what advice she’d given me about crossing the boundaries of friendship with Jason, but it wasn’t her place to support me in going against agency policy. She was clear and correct about my need to focus on what was important in this moment and face the rest when it became necessary. Right now, the only thing I needed to do was make up with my best friend.

* * *

Jason

When someone knockedon the door of the makeshift IT room in the barn, I wished it would be Tam but knew it was unlikely.

“Come in,” I called without looking up from the script I’d received from one of HEAT’s better programmers. I was halfway through troubleshooting her work and had only found three problems.

“Hi.”

I jerked around in my seat. My wish had come true. “Tam. I didn’t expect it to be you.”

“Sorry, if I’m interrupting.”

“Not at all.” I rolled another office chair closer to me. “Have a seat.”

She shook her head. “First, I have to say this before I lose my nerve.”

My stomach flipped over. That sounded ominous. What could she possibly want to say to me that required nerve? Only something bad, I surmised. I steeled myself, then nodded for her to continue.

“I’m sorry.” She clasped and unclasped her hands in front of her. “I pushed you away, and that wasn’t fair. I think, on some level, I blamed you for everything, even though the decision we made was mutual. And I’ve been telling myself and you that I don’t trust you in the field when, really, I don’t trust me. Not because I kissed you. I’m not sorry about that.”

I leaned forward and grabbed both her hands. “Tam, slow down. You could have stopped after your first two words. And I’m sorry, too. I know I play too fast and loose sometimes, and I’ve probably come to depend on Penn and TJ and Kessler to kick my ass back in line. I don’t want to place that burden on you.”

“Nowyoucan stop.” She grinned. “But thanks for saying that. We know how to be best friends; we even know how to work together. Now we just have to figure out how to do it with me in this new role.”

“Agreed.” A weight lifted off my shoulders. I was lighter and happier than I’d been in days.

“And I have a lot of decisions to make, but I can’t make them all at once.”

I nodded. “Sounds wise.”

“At least part of me needs to be in the moment.” She was staring at my jaw with an odd expression.

“And what are you thinking about in this moment?”

“About your beard.” She met my gaze. The desire in her eyes jolted down my spine. “Have I told you how much I like your beard?”

“A couple of times. But what does that...”

She moved closer to me, close enough for me to smell the rose-scented lotion she used on her hands and feel her warm body calling to mine. God, I wanted to touch her. We’d just been talking about how we needed to learn to work together now that she was the temporary logistics lead, but the things I wanted to do with her right now had nothing to do with our jobs. She laid her hand on my chest. Both my heart and my cock jumped.

“What are you doing, Tam?”

“I’m calling an audible. That means changing the plan on the ground.”

“Like in football,” I said. “I get that. But I don’t understand what it means for us.”

She stepped right up to me and pulled me to my feet. She wrapped both her hands in the front of my T-shirt. “It means this.” She moved toward my mouth.

I placed my hands on her hips but otherwise remained still. If she was saying what I thought she was saying, if she wanted what I thought she wanted, she would have to make the first move. And maybe the second, although—

She slid one hand to the back of my neck and tugged me toward her as she tilted her head. She pressed her mouth to mine in a long, deep kiss. Every thought about second and third and tenth moves flew out of my head. I gripped her ass and pulled her up my body until she wrapped her legs around my hips. I backed her against the wall, and working together be damned, I made the next move.

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