Page 53 of Lethal Game

“Slept, slept. For fuck’s sake, her safety is my responsibility and she fell asleep on my bed when I was having a shower. I decided to let her sleep.” He shrugged. “She’s a good kid.”Liar, liar.“A little weird sometimes, but in an interesting way.”

“You realize that’s how most people talk about us,” River said. “Until they find out we’re Special Forces, then they figure we’re weird ’cause we’re trained to notice shit most people wouldn’t see with a magnifying glass.”

“No,” Smoke intoned. “Because we’re trained to kill.”

“I’ve got to go with Smoke on that one,” Con said as they caught up with Sophia at the first checkpoint. He was going to have to really watch how he acted around her, so Smoke and River didn’t catch on to the fact that he’d already crossed the sexual line with her.

Having the other two guys around to watch out for her was a relief, but it also made him tense, which surprised the fuck out of him.

For months all he could think about was getting back on active duty and into a place where he might be able to kick some ass. Permanently. Today, he’d woken up and all those plans had taken second place inside his head behind protecting Sophia.

Having Smoke and River around would help him with that, but prevent him from following through on his goal to get revenge.

He’d just screwed himself royally.

Con got them checked in with Eugene and introduced River to Max while Sophia went to her office. Then he took the two men there. She was waiting for them.

“I have a job for you guys,” she said far too happily.

Smoke sighed loudly.

“Are we going to like this job?” Con asked.

Sophia thought about that for a second. “Do you like tents?”

Con looked at Smoke, who shrugged.

“Tents are okay,” River said.

“Good, because if I get called out to investigate an outbreak, which Max is certain of happening, we all have to be extra-prepared—”

“You have a tent you want us to construct?” Con interrupted. He didn’t need to know the whys and wherefores, he just needed orders.

No, what he really needed was space and time to get his shit together.

“Yeah, the level three tent.” She pointed at the three large duffel bags along the wall.

“Where can we build this tent?”

She deflated fast. “Oh. I don’t know.”

“Do you want it kept a secret?”

“Sort of.”

“Okay, what are the dimensions of the tent?”

She winced. “Um, it’s not really that simple.”

Con was rapidly running out of patience. The presence of the other two men was making him edgy. He should be happy to have them as a buffer between Sophia and himself. Instead he was irritated and resentful. “Does Eugene have the specs on this tent?”

“Yes.”

“How about we figure out where to construct it and you do your thing here?” There, that ought to get everyone doing something productive, and him away from temptation.

She stood and stared at him for a moment, all her earlier enthusiasm gone. “Sure. See you.”

As she turned her back on them and went back to her microscope, he wanted to take her by the shoulders, turn her around and kiss her until she was demanding another orgasm from him.

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