Page 26 of Dangerous Devotion

Just AJ. A man who could grin through the dangers of a battlefield and crack jokes when tensions ran too high.

Snacking on cookies and potato chips—not to mention the years of battle—he looked like the kind of man who could get away withanything.

With a breathless realization, she bit down on the sandwich cookie.

And I’d let him.

SIX

Henner flexed his fingers on the steering wheel. His fingers had been cramped for over an hour from gripping it too tight. Every time he realized he was on edge, he did what he did with any op—he analyzed what was bothering him.

About fifty more miles down the highway, he realized just what the source was.

May.

Daylight lit her face in a soft glow, outlining the curve of her cheek. She sat straight-backed, making him wonder if she ever relaxed. Did he? Not often, which was why he took any moment he could to lighten the mood.

The way she fixed her stare on the weathered asphalt was sharp, focused. But her mouth…God, her mouth. It was all soft plumpness and temptation.

He couldnotbe thinking of her like that. Just because they got dressed up and attended a gala under the pretense of being a real couple didn’t mean that they were.

Squeezing his fingers around the steering wheel again, he attempted to dispel the sensation of her warm, smooth skin against his fingers.

It was getting harder and harder to push aside these thoughts he was having about her. Every look she shot his way—even the dirty ones—and the notes of her perfume dancing in the warmth of the car, left him aching.

For the tenth time, he reminded himself that she was his partner. But that came with the flip side of the coin, whichwas that she wasMay.Though she was strikingly beautiful, she didn’t flaunt it. Well, except in that pink dress.

She was fierce when she had to be, more intelligent than most people he’d met…

And completelyoff-limits.

Slowly, he peeled his fingers off the wheel and rested his hand on his thigh. The action didn’t wipe out the tension he felt crawling under his skin.

“You’re quiet.”

“Just thinking.”

“Sounds like that could be dangerous.”

His head swung as if it was on a swivel, and he locked his stare on hers. “Only when I’m with you.” The blurted words flew out of his mouth before he could pull them back.

May’s eyes flared wider. She opened her mouth, no doubt to respond with some biting and witty comeback. But the blinking light on the back of the military truck—a constant weight in the back of both of their minds—cut off anything either of them would say.

She sat up straighter. “They’re pulling off at the rest stop.”

“Good. We could use some gas too.”

She threw him a sideways glance. He could almost see the questions ticking in the depths of her onyx-colored eyes. “Why does that sound like you mean something else?”

He flicked his fingers at the gas gauge. “We need gas and food. I’m starving. I don’t consider cookies and chips a meal.”

The truck bounced into the parking lot. May drew in a breath. “I don’t like how careless they are with that cargo.”

“They don’t know they’re carrying an explosive. If they did, they’d be a hell of a lot more concerned with potholes.”

They both held their breath, watching the back axels rock up and down as they rolled up to the fuel pumps.

“We have to make it look natural.”

---