Undercover with the SEAL (Norse Security 2)

“Hunter, what’s happening?” Alex asked, staying close to him. Small spaces weren’t her favorite thing, but she could deal. It was the thought they might be locked inside that bothered her most. Once when she’d been little she’d accidentally locked herself inside her dad’s tool shed in the back yard. Her parents had been gone at the time and the babysitter was more interested in her boyfriend than Alex’s whereabouts. By the time anyone found her she was cold and hungry and had wet herself. It had been humiliating. “Please say we can get out of here.”

“Um.” He scowled at his screen. “Cam says there’s some technical glitch on his end and the safe room is on a timer. Apparently, we’re stuck in here until six o’clock tomorrow morning.”

7

“What?” Hunter asked, realizing how ridiculous his answer sounded. “I’m telling you the truth. Cam says there’s nothing he can do about the time. It kicks on at midnight. It’s twelve-oh-five now. See?”

Alex squinted at his phone screen then sighed. “Where are we supposed to sleep in here?”

“You can take the cot against the wall. I’ll bunk down on the floor.” He shut off his phone to conserve the battery then shoved it into his back pocket. Figured they’d get stuck in here. His timing had felt off since before they’d went to that damned club tonight. There was something about Alex that seemed to get all his well-ordered plans into a snit. At least they didn’t have to worry about anyone attacking them in here. Things were locked up tighter than a drum. He checked the door and the keypad to be sure. “Are you hungry?”

“Not really. I do have to…you know.” She glanced awkwardly back at the toilet in the corner. Right. Privacy seemed to be the one thing they didn’t have in here.

He wandered back there and luckily found a pull out screen to at least make things a bit more discreet. “There you go. I’ll, uh, hang out on the other end of the room and maybe pop some popcorn. I could go for a snack about now.”

“Great. Thanks.” Her tone sounded less than enthused as she walked behind the screen. Soon, the sound of her grumbling filled the air. “Uh, I don’t supposed there’s any spare clothes in this room, is there? This cat suit is sexy, but it’s not exactly comfortable long term.”

“Let me take a look.” Hunter started digging through the plastic storage containers, glad for the distraction. Luckily, he found a bin full of plain white T-shirts, basic men’s and women’s undies, socks and gray sweatpants. He grabbed a set of things for each of them, then closed the bin and shoved it back into place. He hung her things over the top of the screen for her. “There you go. Not exactly magazine-cover ready, but they’re clean and comfy.”

While Alex took care of business at one end of the room, Hunter changed clothes at the other. Truthfully, he was exhausted. It had been a long-ass day that had started out wonky and had only gone downhill from there. Hopefully tomorrow they could start fresh and make better choices.

Once he’d pulled on his sweats and T-shirt, he folded his clothes and put them aside then opened a pack of microwave popcorn and set it to popping. Soon, the air filled with the delectable smell of butter and his stomach rumbled. He cracked open a bottled water and drank half in one long swallow before grabbing the remote for the flat screens on the wall and clicking them on. If he was lucky, maybe they could pick up some local channels at least so he could watch the news. Hunter liked to keep informed of current events. In his business, it could mean the difference between success and failure. He zipped through the security feeds then several black screens of nothing before finally finding a local network affiliate.

“Thanks for finding these,” Alex said, coming around the screen at last. She had her leather cat suit tucked under one arm and her T-shirt tied around her hips, he assumed to help keep up the too-big sweatpants she was swimming in. Still, she looked adorable and sweet and he had to tamp down the nearly irresistible urge to hug her and kiss her silly. Alex set her clothes on the end of the cot then washed her hands at the sink, drying them on a dishtowel. “That popcorn smells pretty good actually.”

“Help yourself.” Hunter’s words emerged gruffer than he’d intended, his throat suddenly constricted. He coughed and headed for the toilet himself. “Uh, excuse me a minute.”

“Sure.” Pretty pink colored her cheeks as she turned away. “I’ll, uh, get the popcorn in a bowl.”

“Sounds good.” Hunter disappeared behind the screen and leaned his head against the cool metal wall, hoping his reactions to her weren’t as apparent as they felt. Awareness and want throbbed through him like a tribal beat. He was hardly some blushing virgin, but Jesus. He’d never had such a strong need for a woman before. It felt chemical, elemental, inevitable. That last one scared him more than anything. The last person in the world he should be thinking about getting involved with was Alexandra Valentine. They were too different. Hell, they even lived on different sides of the country. They had separate careers, separate lives, separate goals and hopes and dreams. But as he stood there, listening to the sound of her soft hums as she worked in the tiny kitchenette, Hunter couldn’t help picturing her in his bed, in his life.

Sighing, he flushed the toilet then straightened his clothes before emerging from behind the screen and washing his hands at the sink. “I can make another bag of popcorn if we need it.”

“Way ahead of you, dude.” Alex pointed at the microwave where a fresh bag popped. “Take a seat on the cot and enjoy.”

As they sat there watching late-night talk shows and stuffing their faces, Hunter couldn’t remember a night when he’d had more fun just hanging out with someone than he did with Alex. Eventually, he yawned and moved to se

t the bowl aside without disturbing her. She’d fallen asleep with her head on his shoulder. He’d planned on sleeping on the floor, but it couldn’t hurt anything to snooze up here, at least for a little while. Hunter grabbed the covers and pulled them up over their legs, his back resting against the metal wall and his arm around Alex as he closed his eyes and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

8

The next time Alex opened her eyes, it was to see the metal door to the safe room sliding open and the awareness of something warm beneath her cheek. She shifted slightly to look up into Hunter’s sleeping face, his quiet snores fluttering the hair near her temple. He looked so peaceful, so relaxed, so damned gorgeous her chest ached.

Which was bad. So, so bad.

This guy was here to help find Bea. He was playing the part of doting bodyguard because she was paying him to do it. Last night, at the club, he’d submitted to her demands because she’d left him no choice. Luckily, her idea had paid off and they’d gotten the club boss to agree to send over the new batch of sex slaves—a group Bea would hopefully be a part of. Alex knew that each day her friend was missing put another nail in Bea’s coffin, but she couldn’t give up. She and Bea had been through far too much together, both inside and outside this mess. Bea was one of the first people she’d met after moving to Hollywood. Bea kept her grounded, kept her true to her art form. Bea always said that the only way to give an honest performance was to become the character for a while. That’s what had gotten them into this disaster.

And if the club boss had truly bought her big, bad dominatrix act last night, then that just might be what got them out of it too.

Hunter stirred, yawning hugely before blinking down at her with drowsy, hooded eyes. “Good morning.”

His sleep-roughened voice sent a thrill of need straight through her, but Alex resisted the urge to curl around him and kiss him until they both forgot about leaving this room and this house and just decided to stay in bed and make love all day. That wouldn’t help them find Bea. Nor would it go over very well with the producer of the TV show she was booked to shoot today.

After stretching, Alex pushed away from Hunter reluctantly and stood. “Morning.”

He rubbed a hand over his face then checked his watch. “Five after six. Seems Cam was right for once.”

“Yeah.” She looked away from his rumpled appearance and sexy stubble-covered jaw and slowly backed out of the room. “I’m, uh, going to hit the shower. Busy day ahead.”