Page 46 of Dangerous Devotion

Simpson may have a vested interest in the explosives.

Henner returned his attention to May. Her body tensed even more as she caught sight of him coming toward her.

Jesus Christ.

No way could Moore be in this training along with Mayandthe major general.

And here was Henner, about to add some flames to the powder that was already primed.

He reached May’s side in a few long strides. She stepped up close to him, peering up to his face and then down at his chest. “This is bad, AJ.”

“I put that together. What the fuck is the kid doing in this training?”

Her dark eyes fixed on Henner’s. “I don’t know, but it looks like our luck is about to get even worse. Simpson’s coming our way.”

Henner rested a hand on her spine. The fine muscles seemed to quiver from the strain she was putting them through. As one, they both swung to greet Simpson.

The man’s sharp gaze rested on him for a long beat.

“Major General. What a huge surprise to see you here.” He extended his hand to shake Simpson’s.

“Pleased to see you again.” He sounded far from pleased.

“You can’t imagine how excited May was to be invited. You know that visiting all the bases in every state is on her bucket list. Following in her grandfather’s footsteps.” He gave her an engaging grin, and she smiled in return. Some relief glimmered deep in her eyes, which Henner was glad to see.

Later, when they were alone, he would pull out all the stops to erase every ounce of tension in her sexy body.

“Her heart is so devoted to work that she couldn’t wait to jump in the car and come to Missouri as soon as possible. I was glad to come along. I’ve been harping on her to take a vacation for months. Getting her out on a business trip was the only way I could pry her away from her work.” He slid his hand up and down her back in a reassuring massage.

“Well. How nice that you’ve made this your destination. You must let me give you a tour of the grounds.”

“But the training—” May started to protest.

“I’ll have Michaels take over and drill them on something besides explosives.” Simpson flicked two fingers in the air, beckoning the next in command to jog forward.

He delivered the orders to the man he was leaving in charge in May’s place, giving May a much-needed moment out of the spotlight.

She seemed to wilt against Henner’s side for no longer than two heartbeats. He didn’t get time to offer her the support he wanted to before Simpson was asking them to follow.

He led them around the barracks, training centers and command offices. He threw in anecdotes about the history of the base, listing the names of famous and important people in history who trained here.

Henner kept a hand on May at all times, either touching her elbow, stroking his fingers over the back of her hand or resting a hand on her spine.

Luckily, things between them had shifted. A couple days ago, if he’d attempted to touch her this way, she would be so brittle that the Missouri wind could snap her in half. But today his touch seemed to comfort her throughout the short tour.

Simpson shared a bit about the training schedules as they neared the airplane hangars. Henner caught her eye and tilted his head slightly toward the structure, indicating that the bomb was located inside.

May pointed at the modern hangar. “I’d love to see that beauty.”

Simpson issued a low chuckle. “Not much to see. Just storage.”

“Ah, too bad. I was hoping to see some top-secret aircraft.” May chuckled along with the major general.

Abruptly, he checked the gold watch gleaming on his wrist. Henner tracked the move and even took in the appearance of the expensive timepiece, storing away all the information to share with May—and Con—later.

“I’m going to have to end the tour here. I’ve got a meeting to attend.” Simpson shook May’s hand and then Henner’s. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to the front of the base where the visitor parking is.”

They set off in his wake. May threw Henner a few looks that told him that she’d picked up on the change in Simpson’s demeanor as soon as they reached the hangar.

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