Page 48 of Undercover Hacker

When the bomb guy reached for his kit, he noticed Zane was still standing close by.

“Sir, you need to get back.”

“I’m not moving. Just do your job, dude. When Sophie is safe, I will move.” Zane’s jaw was locked tight. There was no room for argument.

When the guy went to protest again, I put a stop to the nonsense. “Bomb dude, that is the most stubborn man around. He’s not going to leave. Can we get this bomb removed so I can get out?”

“Dave.”

“Sorry, what was that.”

This man needed to do his job and stop chit-chatting. I’m glad he wasn’t around while the bomb was ticking down. He sure was taking his sweet time disarming the fucker from the bottom of my seat.

“My name is Dave. Not Bomb Dude or Dude. It's Dave.”

“Okay, Dave, can we get a move on? I want to get out.”

He pulled out a mirror and, for the next five minutes, poked around my seat. When he rose and whispered to Zane, I knew it wasn’t good.

“Bomb’s under my seat, not his. Time to tell me what is going on.”

When Dave turned to face me, his eyes held sympathy. “There is another trigger. To deactivate the trigger, I’m going to have to reactivate the bomb and short the other circuit.”

Zane had walked over and was having a conversation with Antonio and Brock. They both looked upset by the information.

“How about option two? You pull me out of here as fast as you can?”

He shook his head. “Won’t work. I think I can do this.”

No fucking way. What person trying to save your life says, “I think I can do this?” No, you say, “I can do this,” and hope you don’t blow yourself up along the way.

“Really? Youthinkyou can do this? You need to work on your bomb-side manners. Repeat after me. ‘I can disarm this bomb with no issues.’”

“Red, I will be right here the whole time.” Zane had come back while I was giving the bomb tech a pep talk on talking to people trapped with bombs.

If I made it out of this stupid bomb predicament, I would spend the rest of my life making it up to Zane for walking out on him when he was in the hospital.

“No. Please go, seriously. Just go.”

“Not going to happen. This bomb expert will finish disarming the bomb, and then I will pull you into my arms, take you home, and make love to you all night long.”

“I can’t stand thinking that, if this goes off, I will lose you.”

It was too much. A sob escaped me. I looked at Dave, hoping he would agree with me. “Please make him leave. I don’t want him to die.”

Dave disappeared below my seat. For a brief second, the ticking started all over again. Zane was still here. The ticking was counting down the seconds of my life. And then everything stopped. I finally let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

When Dave backed away with a smile on his face, Zane rushed in and pulled me from the car. He leaned in, and I met him halfway. When his lips crushed mine, the world faded away. The only person who mattered was the man who had his arms wrapped around me. When Zane pulled back and released my lips, we were both panting.

“Zane?”

“Yes, Red?”

“I love you.”

“I know.”

I slapped his chest. The man was too arrogant for his own good. “Aren’t you going to say it back?”

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