Command Performance

MAGGIE MIGHT HAVE finished her work for the day but his wasn’t complete. She’d hidden in her office all afternoon, and Hunter had a hunch she’d been working on her blog. He had to know what she’d written before he could wonder about her answer to his other question.

With his hand on the door to her study, he was on the verge of saying, To hell with it all, just get her naked and into bed. Promising her interviews with every Ranger he’d ever worked with. The moon. Anything.

But if he failed this mission, he wouldn’t be the only one to suffer. He could lose the job he loved and the money he needed to support Sierra. One more overdose and he could lose his sister forever. She deserved a fresh start, and he’d make damn sure she got it.

He opened the door to Maggie’s study. He’d heard the Mercedes peel out of the driveway fifteen minutes ago. Now was his chance. But when he sat down in front of her computer, he hesitated.

If he changed her blog, deleting any information about his injury and any reference to his team as a bunch of cowboys, there was no going back. Once she found out, Maggie would hate him. He’d be cast out of her life as quickly as Muffin Boy.

His hands rested on top of her laptop but didn’t move. That first night at the Marriott, she’d handed him her trust when she’d let him call the shots, and now he felt the weight of it. It was like carrying a forty-pound sack rigged with C4 into a mission. And Miss Maggie’s feelings didn’t end there. He was pretty damn sure she desired him almost as much as he did her. He saw the way she looked at him when he entered the house without his shirt. Her eyes exclaimed green light, come and get me, while her body stepped away.

If she lost faith in him, she’d never welcome him into her bed again. He’d had enough dancing around the hot connec

tion between them. He’d rather ride another wild horse through Taliban country than sit through a second full day of questions with a hard-on. But to give her what she wanted, to coax the wild pound-the-bed-as-she-shatters Maggie out of her shell, she had to trust him.

Making a woman’s sexual fantasies come true had never been high on his to-do list. He generally preferred his sex hard and fast. With Maggie, the idea of taking away her control, having her completely dependent on him for her pleasure, really did it for him. And it didn’t stop there. He liked her.

His hands fell away from the closed computer and landed on his lap.

He admired her courage. She went after what she wanted, pushing her nerves aside like a soldier on a mission. It didn’t matter if her goal was an orgasm or her book, she went for it. Her determination to look beyond her own lousy childhood with a drunken ex-Ranger for a father and see the good side of what soldiers did every day damn near floored him.

Hunter pushed back from the desk. He couldn’t do it. Hell, it wasn’t as if the colonel had specifically ordered him to take down her blog. For all he knew, she’d already changed the content based on their interviews. He’d never know if he didn’t ask her first. And maybe, if he talked to her, she’d agree to make some changes. Maggie wasn’t the enemy here. And this wasn’t a run-of-the-mill recon mission. Maybe this time subterfuge wasn’t the only way.

In his pocket, his phone vibrated. Hunter pulled it out, immediately recognizing the Tennessee area code. He pressed a button and answered. “Cross.”

“Chief,” his colonel said. “How are things in New York? Keeping a tight leash on the professor?”

“Yes, sir.” Hunter leaned back in Maggie’s desk chair and looked out the window across the fields. “Though so far I don’t think we have much to worry about. I don’t think Professor Barlow is digging for secrets.”

“Good,” his commanding officer replied. “But we need confirmation that book of hers won’t raise any questions. Get a look at her notes and whatever else she’s written. Read it, and if it’s all clear, we’ll talk about bringing you home to run your team after the interviews.”

His team. Hell, if he didn’t love the sound of that. “Yes, sir,” he said. “Will do.”

Hunter slipped his phone back into his pocket and looked at the computer. The lieutenant hadn’t said a word about her blog. He wasn’t disobeying his orders by leaving it alone. But her manuscript was another story.

He had a USB drive in his pocket and her password. He could download her notes and latest draft, read it tonight and be home running his team early next week after the other interviews were complete.

And hope she never found out he’d gone behind her back.

Hunter pushed back from the desk, leaving her computer untouched. He’d find another way to gain access—one that didn’t violate her trust.

He glanced at the study door. How safe she felt with him didn’t matter much if she didn’t come home before dawn. The image of Maggie dressed up in her Saturday-night clothes, approaching another man and uttering those words...

I want an amazing orgasm. Actually, scratch that. I want more than one.

No, he’d caught a glimpse of her before she’d driven away to meet Olivia. Gray sweatshirt, old jeans and sneakers—she hadn’t looked like a woman hunting for a one-night stand. But a few days under Little Miss Maggie’s spell and Hunter knew she could have men falling at her feet with one look from those blue eyes. A gray sweatshirt couldn’t hide the full curve of her breasts. She could wear a grain sack and a man would still want to reach out and touch.

Click.

He snapped to attention. Someone had just walked into the house. Quickly and silently, he stood and made his way to the study door. He pressed his ear to the wood. In the hall, he heard footsteps followed by the sound of the kitchen door swinging open.

“Hunter?” Maggie called.

He glanced at the digital clock on her desk. Nine o’clock. She’d come home early. He had to get out of here. His training kicked in, and without making a sound, he slipped into the hall just as he would an enemy camp.

When Maggie pushed through the swinging door, barreling into him, Hunter felt a pang of guilt for what he’d done. He hadn’t touched her computer. This time. Still, he shouldn’t have been there in the first place. But the feel of Maggie in his arms went straight to his groin and the guilt faded into the background. Her chest pressed against him. He raised his hands to her arms, half expecting her to jump away from him if he didn’t grab onto her. She didn’t move. She just stood there, looking up at him, her eyes wide. Her tongue darted out of her mouth and slid over her pink lips.

Nope, that definitely wasn’t guilt he was feeling now. It was pure lust.