Page 17 of Ace of Spades
CHAPTER SIX
“What did that bag do to make you want to kill it?”
Nate kept punching the heavy bag. Maybe if he ignored his annoying baby brother, Alex would go away.
“What’s got your panties in a twist?”
Apparently not. “Go find someone else to bother.” He punched his way to the opposite side of the bag, out of sight of Alex. He’d been at it for a little over an hour. Doing his best to kill the bag, as Alex put it, usually worked to calm him down, but not so much this time. The thought of Taylor standing on a street corner waiting for a psycho to pick her up made him crazy.
Yes, she was highly trained, and yes, she’d be armed, and yes, a team would be watching over her from various places, but all those yesses could go screw themselves. As soon as he could think rationally again, he’d make a list of all the reasons it was a bad idea. She was a smart woman and would agree.
“It’s Taylor, isn’t it?” Alex said, poking his head around the bag. “You should just admit you’re hot for her and stop fighting it, bro.”
Nate dropped his aching arms to his sides. “Swear to God, Alex, one more word and I’ll use you for a punching bag.”
His idiot brother laughed. “You can try.”
Unfortunately, that was true. Like Taylor, Alex was a black-belt Krav Maga master. Although Nate and Court had brown belts, their baby brother could take them down without breaking a sweat. He was that good.
“Don’t you have someone else you can annoy?”
Alex shook his head. “Nope. Madison’s at work and Court’s on his honeymoon, so that just leaves you. Want to go a few rounds in the ring?”
“Lucky me. I need to head back to the office, so not today.” He had a few things to discuss with his fellow agent. She’d make herself a target over his dead body.
“Anything I can do to help on the case?” Alex tossed him a towel.
“Yeah. You can start doing some searches, see if you can find any murders with a similar M.O.” He scrubbed the sweat from his face. If Court were here, Nate would put him on that project, as Court was their computer geek. Alex could find his way around on a computer well enough, though, and hopefully it would keep his brother busy so he’d shut up and stop speculating about Taylor.
“I’m on it, but just so you know, I’m fully aware this is a diversion tactic. You’ll never convince me you’re not panting over Taylor.”
Amusement danced in his brother’s eyes. Nate barely resisted punching him. “Fuck off, Alex.”
“And even after you saying that, I still love you, big brother.” Alex walked away, trailing laughter behind him. Nate glared at Alex’s back, debating whether to go after him or to take what was left of his frustration out on the bag. The way he was feeling right now, he might put a real hurt on his brother, so he lifted his boxing gloves, eyed the heavy bag, and went in for the kill.
“You’re not going to stand on a street corner and troll for our bad guy,” Nate said, his gaze on Taylor as he slipped onto his chair. Their desks were next to each other’s, although until being assigned as the lead on their case, he hadn’t been here much to use his. Too risky to be seen entering the FBI building. His only rebellion against his new assignment was that he refused to wear a suit like the other male agents.
“You’re so funny,” she said, eyeing him as if he were a comedian telling jokes.
“Not being funny here. You are not going to put yourself in his sights.” He clamped his mouth shut. What had happened to the rational reasons he’d come up with as to why she couldn’t consider doing such a thing? He hadn’t been able to think straight since he’d kissed her. That had been a big mistake. He’d been trying to teach her a lesson that she shouldn’t play with fire. The only one burned, though, had been him.
She leaned forward, her blue eyes turning icy. “You don’t get to tell me what I can and can’t do, Nathan.”
“Oh, but I do. You seem to forget that I’m the lead on this case.” Not good when she called him Nathan. Time to retreat and regroup. Maybe Rothmire would see reason and put a stop to this foolishness.
He stood. “I’ll be around if you want to grab some lunch later.”
“I know what you’re about to do, and you better not.”
He paused. “And what is it you think I’m about to do?”
“You’re headed straight for Rothmire’s office to try to convince him I shouldn’t go undercover. If you do, I’ll ... I swear, you’ll never have a moment’s peace.”
Nate pushed his hands into his front pockets, narrowing his eyes at the woman who was determined to make him crazy. If anyone could make his life miserable, it was Taylor Collins. She already was, though. One kiss and his brains were now about as useful as scrambled eggs.
Since he already didn’t have any peace because of her, what was one more reason to add to his sleepless nights?
“Do your best,” he said, then headed straight for Rothmire’s office. She might never be his, but he’d damn well make sure she stayed alive.
