Page 8 of Cooper's Command

Cooper snorted. “Please, even if Bellamy hadn’t told me I would have figured it out. The sexual tension was so thick between them at that hotel in Columbia, it made its own gravitational field. And I was pretty sure none of us had packed condoms, so it wasn’t hard to guess they’d played baby roulette.” He glanced at Bellamy. “But Ethan’s right. You still need to work on your face.”

“Says the man who goes supernova whenever he looks at our resident DEA agent.” Bellamy winked. “See what I did there.”

“Dad jokes already?”

“I might not be the only one if Nova’s been sleeping where I think she has.”

“Unlike you and Octavia, we have restraint.”

“I happen to have plenty of restraint.” Octavia bumped Bellamy’s shoulder. “I can’t help it if the man couldn’t keep his hands off me.”

“Pretty sure it was the other way around, but…” Bellamy chuckled when Octavia swatted his chest. “And it didn’t look like restraint when Nova kissed you a few moments ago as if her career depended on it.”

Cooper grinned. “Trust me, compared to forty minutes ago thatwasus exercising restraint.”

“Whatever you say. Though, that reminds me. You owe me fifty bucks.”

“Shut up. I never took that stupid bet that we’d get together, and neither did Nova. And yeah, she told me you’d waved it in her face while she was staying at your place. Real smooth, by the way.”

“Don’t be a sore loser. It’s not a good look.”

Cooper glared at Bellamy, doing his best not to smile as he retrieved his wallet and slapped a twenty in Bellamy’s hand. “That’s all I’ve got on me.”

“You can owe me the rest.”

“That’s more than you deserve, jackass.”

“Are you done talking about me and Cooper or do you need a few more minutes to get all your kicks in?” Nova hitched out a hip. “Because I’ve probably kept my boss waiting long enough.”

Cooper sighed, joining her at the door. “If you’d prefer some privacy, we can wait out here.”

Rusty cleared his throat. “Ethan and I will keep an eye on the dogs, since Bellamy and Octavia were directly involved with Tate, and that might come up. You can shout if you need us.”

“Thanks. Though, I have a feeling you’ll be able to hear Cartwright all the way out here.” Nova reached for the door, but Cooper opened it for her.

He shrugged at her arched brow. “I figured I should get one more good look at your ass. You know, for that benchmark you mentioned.”

She tiptoed up and gave him another kiss, ignoring Bellamy when he said they needed to get a room, then walked inside. Chin held high. Shoulders back.

Cooper shook his head as Bellamy walked past, smirking at him when he made kissing noises then headed for where Hawk was waiting just around the corner. Discovering Hawk talking to Emery McClane, a serious crimes detective involved with one of the other Brotherhood guys, Flint O’Connell, raised that sense of foreboding to a full-fledged premonition. The kind that often came in the heat of battle that every soldier experienced but rarely talked about.

Nova must have been thinking along the same lines because she missed a step, quickly catching her balance before pulling up short — waiting for Cooper to move in beside her.

He sighed, leaning in close. “It’s starting to feel a bit crowded. Are you sure you want all of us here? I’d understand if you’ve changed your mind.”

And damn, the way she looked at him. As if he’d hit his head and was suffering from a concussion. “Are you high? I need someone to help bust me out of here if this ends in handcuffs.” She inched closer. “And not the fun kind.”

He bit back a growl. “You said that on purpose.”

“From the look of things, I’m going to have a lot of free time, so…”

“Cartwright’s not going to fire you.”

“Something’s brewing.”

She struck off, joining Hawk and Waylen by the computer. Nodding when Waylen motioned to the keyboard. They chatted for a while before she moved back, drawing herself up as the monitor flickered to life, a man with angular features and hard eyes appearing on the other end. Who Cooper assumed was this Cartwright guy. And judging from the way he stared at Nova, Cooper had a bad feeling he’d gotten his assumptions all wrong.

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