Page 26 of Instinct & New Identity

“Yeah, it’s great,”Isaid. “Ialways wanted to be able to work withArcher, or at least live close, so this works out really well.”

“Archer is your cousin, right?” she asked, andIrealized it probably was a lot of names to remember in one day.

“Did you guys live close growing up?” she asked. “Mostof our cousins were still back inPuertoRico, so we only saw them for holidays.”

“Yes and no,”Itold her, finding it really easy to talk with her about anything, even thoughIwasn’t a big talker in general. “WhenArcher’smom married his dad, they moved out west because that’s where he thought he stood a better chance of getting elected.”

“He was a politician?” she asked.

“Yeah, started off as mayor of some small town inUtahand then worked his way up for the next twenty years,”Iexplained. “Archerwas born and raised inUtah, but every year they would come to visit multiple times, andIgot to spend time with him.Ilike my sister, butIwas never into playing dolls and stuff with her, so wheneverArchercame to visit, it felt like getting a temporary brother.”

I grinned, thinking of those memories. “Asthe years went on,Archer’sdad started coming less and less, claiming he had to stay and help his constituents or campaign.Iremember my parents talking whenIwas younger about how they were pretty sure he stayed behind to hang out with his mistress, and the guy was a dick, so that does not surprise me.Itwould just beArcherandAuntAileen, which was fine by me.Whenwe got older, they would putArcheron a plane in the summer to visit for three weeks, and we loved it.”

“That sounds fun,” she said, smiling.

“It was.Plus, in our teenage yearsArcherhad that preppy good boy look going for him so he was a chick magnet wherever we’d go,”Itold her, grinning. “Itwas great for me becauseIwas a late bloomer and just tagged along.”

She smirked. “Ifind it hard to believe you were a late bloomer when you look like you do now.”

“Ahh, you’re good for my ego, sweetheart.”Ichuckled back at her and took a swig of my drink.

“Happy to help, but don’t get used to it,” she teased. “Iimagine your ego is exhausting to maintain.”

She grinned and lifted her brow at me.

Yeah, the sass was a definite turn-on.

11

CAT

I woke slowly up and realized my surroundings were unfamiliar to me.Ittook a moment for me to rememberIwas inVince’sapartment.Hisamazingly cool, dreamy loft apartment.

I’d slept in his office on the futon.Itwas not the most comfortable sleep ever, butIwas also so exhausted from yesterday, thatIwas pretty sureIcould have slept anywhere.

Rolling over,IrealizedIneeded to get up and get going ifIwas going to get to theRangerShieldSecurityoffice and get some work done.Imade my way out to the kitchen and sawValalready at the counter drinking coffee and eating what appeared to be toast and a banana.

“Want some coffee?”IheardVince’svoice from behind the open fridge door.

He closed it, andIrealized he was just in some flannel pajama pants and no shirt.God, he looked gorgeous.I’dknown he was fit and obviously worked out.Youcould see that even when hedidwear a shirt.Withouta shirt, though?Icouldn’t see an ounce of fat on this man.Anywhere.

When he first turned to close the fridge door,Icould see the lines of his abs and pecs, and then he turned toward the cabinet to reach inside, showing off the display of his muscular back and shoulders.Theyflexed as he reached up into the cabinet to pull something out, his biceps muscles also flexing.Theveins in his forearms looked like they were ready to pop out of his skin.SkinthatIcurrently wanted to touch.Everywhere.

“Earth toCat,” someone called out, breaking me out of the tranceVince’sbody had put me in.

I looked up to seeVincegrinning at me.Crap.He’dtotally caught me checking out his body.

“I said, would you like some coffee?”Vincerepeated, smiling. “Oryou’re welcome to keep checking out my body if you’d rather do that.”

He winked at me, andIfelt my skin heat up and flush as embarrassment started to sink in.

“No offense,Vince,”Valinterrupted. “Butyou prancing around shirtless doesn’t help.”

“Men don’t prance,”Vincedeadpanned.

“Strut, flaunt, cavort, whatever.Samething.”Valwaved her hand, dismissing him. “I’mjust saying, if you don’t want her to look, then you should put aT-shirt on, thoughIam looking forward to the moment she sees your tattoo.”

Val had a conspiratorial grin on her face.WhenIlooked back over toVince,Iscanned his body for a tattoo.Ihadn’t seen one in the last two days, soIwas guessing it was hidden in an area that a shirt would cover.Isaw some kind of band on his upper arm, and he had small ones on each side of his upper chest.

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