Page 73 of Once a Killer

“I have no problem with that.” He gave her a deep kiss, then let her go, even though he didn’t want to. As soon as she stood up, his hands itched to have her back. To touch her again. “As soon as Theo leaves, I’m carrying you back into the bedroom,” he told her. “We’ll stay there until we have to leave to catch our plane.”

“You won’t get any arguments from me,” she said, bending to smear her mouth against his lips. “But right now, I’m going over there to let your advisor into the damn room.”

When Bree jumped off the couch and hurried toward the door, Jameson followed, laughing. Bree made sure the security latch was engaged, then opened the door the two inches it allowed. Saw Theo, closed the door and disengaged the security lock, then held the door open and invited him in.

Once in the room with the door closed, Theo nodded at Bree. “You don’t assume anything, do you? Even though you knew I was coming at ten, you still checked the door.”

“Of course I don’t assume anything,” she said with a frown. “If I did, I’d be a piss-poor bodyguard.”

“Thank goodness,” Theo said, slapping her on the back. “I don’t want anything to happen to this guy. He’s one of the good ones.”

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “He is.”

“What do you want for breakfast, Theo?” Jameson wiggled a menu at him. “I’ll get it ordered, then we can talk.”

Once the order had been phoned in, they sat down on the two couches again. Bree sat at one end and expected Jameson to sit at the other, just as he had two nights ago. Instead, he sat down beside her and took her hand.

Theo looked at their joined hands and raised one eyebrow. “Looks like you both came to your senses since I saw you last.”

“Yeah.,” Jameson said. “It’s complicated, though.”

“Always seems that way,” Theo said cheerfully. “Usually isn’t.” He smiled at Jameson. “Did you know Louise was one of my students when we met? We had a hell of a time waiting until the end of the semester before we got together.” He smiled. “She was worth the wait.”

“Bree was worth the wait, as well,” he said, taking her hand and squeezing it. When she tugged her hand away from him, he shot her a quick ‘I promise I’ll behave’ smile. Then he leaned forward. “Anything interesting happen at the conference after Friday night?”

“Oh, yeah,” Theo said, his eyes twinkling. “Your buddy General Dailey came over to talk to me.”

“Not my buddy,” Jameson interrupted, pissed off that Dailey had cornered Theo. “I threw him out of my lab last week. Told him I wasn’t talking to him again.”

“Interesting,” Theo said with a tiny smile. “He was all ‘oh, Jameson is a good friend of mine’.” He leaned toward Jameson. “After I brushed him off, I talked to some of the other professors in the room. Apparently, when he saw you with me, he asked around and found out I was your grad school advisor. That we’d stayed in touch since you got your degree.” He shook his head. “The pompous bastard asked me to pressure you to sell your program to the military.”

“Really? I was upfront with Weston that it wasn’t happening.” He scooted to the edge of the couch and leaned forward. “And what did Dailey say?”

“He said that the military really needed your program. They were willing to pay you a hell of a lot of money for it. He asked me to convince you to sell to them. Told me I’d get an ‘agent’s’ percentage,” he said, slashing quotation marks in the air.

Jameson shrugged one shoulder. “If they want it that bad, they can buy a license like anyone else who wants it.”

Theo nodded at Bree. “Dailey also asked why the hot chick journalist was at the conference with you. I said, ‘Why do you think?’

“Then Dailey said, ‘A guy with a big money-maker like Ford’s program can get any woman he wants.’

“And I said, ‘damn right he can’.” Theo leaned toward Bree. “Sorry, Bree. I wasn’t going to tell him anything about you. Figured that’s what Dailey was thinking anyway, so why not use it against him?”

His expression darkened. “Dailey started to say something else about you. That’s when the colonel glued to his side shut him up. Didn’t say a word. Just grabbed his arm. Squeezed hard. Dailey didn’t say another word.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure Weston’s really CIA. Dailey’s minder,” Jameson said.

“Probably. Anyway, just wanted to let you know that they haven’t taken no for an answer. I’d watch my back if I were you. And Bree’s back, too.”

Theo leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “Have you considered that the military might be the ones targeting you?”

Jameson shrugged. “Anything’s possible, but I don’t see them hiring a hit man to take me out. Or even hiring one of the guys in my lab to get the program.”

“Definitely not their style,” Bree said. “They like to work under the radar. The more people who know about a mission or a job, the less secure it is. My experience is that they hold their cards very close to their vests.”

Theo nodded, then turned to Jameson. “Have you considered that Bree is a weapon they can use against you? They grab her and demand the program? What would you do?”

Jameson narrowed his eyes. Stared at Theo.

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