“I like the short hair better,” he whispered.
“All the more reason for the wig,” she said, wrenching free and taking off for the shower in the back like the hounds of hell were on her heels. Loki was now officially off limits, not because she didn’t want him, but because he was just too damned distracting.
3
“I didn’t know you had a place in Arlington,” Loki said, walking around the well-appointed loft apartment. They’d landed at the airport about an hour before and he’d stuck like glue to her since. No way was he going to let her get the jump on him during this mission. He had too much riding on it. Plus, there was something about her—something intriguing and compelling and utterly mesmerizing about her—that wouldn’t let him walk away. Not yet. Not until he’d discovered all her secrets.
Then, of course, there was this scorching connection between them, a sizzling bond of lust that went well beyond anything Loki had ever experienced with another woman. She was brash and bold and smart as a whip. Hell, she was basically him. Maybe that was why she seemed to occupy his every thought since he’d first seen her pop up during his research. Loki wasn’t ready to say he was obsessed yet, but it was about as close as a man like him got. Besides, his mission required him to stick close to her. He had a niggling feeling their targets and goals might be the same and he’d be damned if he let her get the advantage over him.
“I keep places all over the country,” M said from where she was scrounging for food in her galley-style kitchen. “Sometimes I sell them after a job, if I need to so I can’t be tracked or if I need the cash. But I like the security of having a safe place to crash, you know?”
Yeah, he knew. When he’d founded Norse Security, he’d snatched up places all over the country like this one too, for exactly the same reasons. Another thing they had in common. He took a seat at the breakfast bar while she pulled out ingredients to make what looked like mac and cheese.
“Must be nice being your own boss,” M said, glancing at him over her shoulder.
“It doesn’t suck,” he said, paraphrasing her brother Marcus from earlier.
This gained him a rare smile from M and the effect was like a hammer to the head. Dazed, he blinked at her from across the kitchen. God, she really was beautiful, with those full lips of hers that just begged to be kissed and her big blue eyes. Hell, even that hideous wig was growing on him. Honestly, he’d take her shaved bald as long as she was in his bed, crying out his name as he drove them both to fulfillment.
Body tight with need, Loki shifted slightly on his stool to accommodate his rapidly hardening cock and changed subjects to safer territory. “Tell me how you got involved in this business.”
“You really want to know?” She filled a pot with water then set it on the stove and lit the burner to make it boil. “I answered an ad on Craigslist.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“What the hell kind of ad was that?” Loki shook his head. “Spy wanted. No experience necessary?”
“Pretty much.” She grinned and leaned her hips back against the counter beside the stove, arms crossed. “They basically had to hire me after I out-spied their operative.”
“Out-spied? Is that a technical term?”
“Smartass.” She tossed a piece of uncooked macaroni at his head which he easily ducked. M popped a piece in her mouth to munch on, and the movement only served to draw his attention straight back to those luscious lips of hers and all the wonderful things he’d like her to do with them. As if sensing the debauched direction of his thoughts, M looked away fast and turned to grab a bag of shredded cheese from the fridge. “No. The company’s agent was undercover trying to investigate the production company for embezzlement and I was working as a makeup artist on the movie set and ended up helping him solve the case. I knew about makeup, but nothing about espionage. The company taught me everything I know.”
“Interesting.” Loki got up and walked over to the fridge himself to see what she had to drink. He pulled out two pale ales and opened them both before passing her one. “This place is well stocked for a hideout.”
“Marcus stays here too, when he’s in town. Lately he’s been flying a lot out of Arlington, so you can thank him for the grub.”
“I’ll be sure to do that the next time I see him,” Loki said, taking a swig of his beer while watching M over the rim.
“What about you?” she asked, while mixing together milk and flour to start the cheese sauce and setting the oven to three fifty. “What drew you away from being a soldier and into the espionage business?”
“The two aren’t so different, really,” Loki said, taking a seat on his stool again. He wasn’t telling her anything she didn’t already know, based on the facts she’d recited earlier, and it was kind of nice just to sit around and talk with a woman without an agenda on the table. “I started Norse Security because once a SEAL, always a SEAL.” He chuckled at her eyeroll. “I mean it. All that adventure and danger and the thrills? Hard to go
back to a life of pushing papers after that. Plus, I wanted to start a charity, a program to help the guys who’d been wounded—mentally and physically—from their time in the service. The security company allows me the means to do that. At least it will, once we’re profitable. So far that hasn’t happened under my watch, but I’d like to make things successful. Not for me so much, but for the guys.”
“And that’s where this mission comes in?” M asked, meeting his gaze again.
“Yep.” Loki took another swig of his beer. “I had six months from inception of the company to make it profitable for our investors. Things have been a bit bumpy since then, but if I can complete this mission successfully, I can pay them back and have enough left over to fund the charity for a good long time.”
With a sigh, M stirred the pasta into the now boiling water then went back to making her sauce. “Guess that puts us at odds then. Because I need this job too. And there’s no way I’m going to lose. I’ve put too much time and effort into my career to lose my promotion now.”
“It doesn’t have to put us at odds at all, actually,” Loki said, considering things. He got up and went to help her with the sauce while she got out a strainer for the pasta then set the timer. “I’ve got a feeling this case is bigger than either of us imagined when we started. If we can find out who’s behind this data leak and break it wide open, there could be enough money and prestige to not only save my business, but help you climb the ladder in your company too.” He stirred in the cheddar cheese to the bubbling milk and flour mixture, sneaking a few bites for himself along the way. “But we’ll have to work together to do it.”
“Together, huh?” She glanced over at him. “I suppose it can’t be any worse than hanging out at that airshow. Besides, it’ll be easier keeping an eye on you that way.”
“Agreed.”