Page 70 of Perfect Order
“Fuck the world. You just lost your sister,” I growl in response to the damn paparazzi.
She half laughs, half sobs. “God, Kane. Don’t make me fall in love with you. I just lost my sister. I can’t lose anyone else.”
At that, she slowly pulls back and closes the computer for the night.
Kane
Everyone is speculating what Erzulie is going to wear on the red carpet. Will she be as outlandish as she has been at past events or more toned down due to mourning her twin sister, Leanne?
—Eva Henn, Fashion Blogger
Tonight we’re focusing on data she passed to my superior just before the off-shoot assignment in Azerbaijan that rocked my whole world. Strangely, since I exposed my past to Lee, what losing Gene, Brit, and Maddie meant to me, I’m less fearful about what’s coming.
Or maybe that’s because of the woman who won’t let me handle it alone, despite the overwhelming pain she’s still working through herself. Leanne’s making me roar with laughter as she engages me with her own war stories as her fingers fly.
“It’s nice to see you got a new system there to work on,” I remark drolly.
“Listen, my laptop is good in a pinch, but I need more than one screen.”
“What does your setup look like now?”
“I have a quad of monitors, two drives with six terabytes of storage on each, and enough RAM to power… Oh, this is interesting.” The next thing I know, there’s a file on my machine. I begin scanning it. I’m no longer surprised at the markings at the top. I just pray Leanne was right and both of our clearances are still active or that they have conjugal cells at Leavenworth.
Her fair imitation of my base commander drags my eyes away from what I’m reading. “God, I hated dealing with that misogynistic prick. What a complete turd. ‘Triple-check it,Q?za.’What was his problem anyway? Did he somehow figure out I was a female, even though our interaction was limited to online, or was it because a platoon of Marines couldn’t get the stick out of his ass?”
“I seem to remember someone saying he was encouraged to retire early last year.”
“Please tell me a woman took over. That would make my night.” She twists up her long hair with a pair of pens, stabbing them in like the chopsticks she used to eat with the night before. My gut clenches as she inadvertently flashes me a glimpse of her flat abdomen.
“You know it utterly fascinates me how you do that?”
“It’s pathetic, Kane. All I use is a combination of a Python script, plus…” she begins.
“I meant your hair,” I murmur, causing her to pinken. “Do you play with your hair every time you need to concentrate?”
She blows a strand off her face that didn’t quite make it into her haphazard bun. “I need it out of my face.”
“And the pens?”
“I use whatever I have handy.” Her eyes flick downward, a straight line to where my hands rest on my own keyboard.
Immediately, my mind wonders what it would be like to stand behind her before sliding my hands through her thick tresses. I’d lift it off her neck, let my lips linger where the fine hair curls just beneath. It would ensure Leanne was completely distracted from diving deeper into the murky territory she navigates with such ease.
I feel a warmth surge through my body. Standing, I shuck my jacket and tie before undoing my collar and cuffs. At her sharply indrawn breath, my head snaps around. “What is it? Did you find something?”
She stammers, “I…um…no. It’s nothing.”
I lean forward, planting my fists against the desk. “What did I miss?”
“Nothing,” she denies.
“Leanne,” I warn.
“I’m not a damn saint, okay? It’s a little more than I can handle when I’m front row to a live striptease. Next time, cover your camera.” I gape at her. She groans, “Oh, God. I miss Lee. This is the kind of thing we would be saying to each other on a Friday night. I sure as hell shouldn’t be saying them to you.” She draws her knees up to her chest to hide her face.
What she doesn’t realize is by doing so, she’s providing me with a spectacular view of the curve of her ass in the cutoffs she’s sporting. I don’t bother to hide my hard-on. Instead, I growl, “Explain to me—again—why it’s a bad idea for us to do this in person?”
Her deep blue eyes capture mine. “You almost had me agreeing to it until our last call. I’m almost positive we’re close to melting circuit boards. You stay right where you are, Kane McCullough. We need to work.”
