“And what would?” I asked, stalking toward her.
“You don’t stand a chance. You already have two strikes against you.”
“Two? Wow, I could see maybe one.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, and a cute smirk spread over her lips. “And what would you guess the one would be?”
“Well, a woman kicked my ass. I thought that was pretty obvious.”
“I would never turn down a man just because I could kick his ass.”
“Why’s that?”
Her eyes twinkled as she slowly perused my body. “I’ve never met a man that could hold his own against me. At that rate, I wouldn’t ever get laid.”
My eyebrows shot up in mock surprise. “You mean, you’re not a virgin?”
“Nice try. I’m not giving you my number.”
I nodded, giving her that. I didn’t really need to know, or even care. Whoever they were, none would compare to me. And that wasn’t because I was so good in bed. It was just that when I really wanted something, I didn’t give up until I had it. And I really wanted her. “So, what are the two strikes against me?”
“One, you’re ex-military. I never date a military man. They’re the worst.”
“You’re ex-military.”
“Which is how I know I could never date one of you.”
“And the second?”
“You’re a mechanic.”
That gave me pause. “You don’t like my profession.”
“Please,” she rolled her eyes. “Look at you.”
I glanced down at my coveralls and shook my head. Yeah, I was wearing an ugly ass monkey suit. My hands were stained and I was covered in grime. I thought a woman liked a man that got dirty. “It’s the coveralls. They don’t do it for you.”
She actually blushed at that, ducking her head. “It’s not the coveralls. It’s everything a mechanic represents.”
I stood there, trying to understand what she was saying, but I had a feeling I was missing something. “Okay, I give up. I’m officially lost.”
“Like you don’t realize what you’re doing?”
I glanced back at the car and then at her. “I’m…fixing a car?”
“I can’t help you if you can’t figure it out.”
This woman talked in riddles. My job was a problem for her. Was it the money? Did she think I was poor? Then again, if I accused her of not wanting to give me a shot because I wasn’t rich, I was effectively calling her a gold digger, and I wasn’t touching that one with a ten-foot pole.
“Maybe if you gave me a clue. I’ve never been turned down because of my job before. Aside from when I was in the military. That one, I can actually understand.”
“I have a feeling you’ll figure it out,” she said, turning to walk away.
I ran my tongue over my lower lip, imagining her in my bed. It wasn’t just her beauty or that sexy ass, it was her personality. She was confident and a bit of a smartass. I liked it.
Then again, I already had an ex-wife. I didn’t need to try for a second.
3
RAE
Present Day- Rae just helped Rafe escape and Johnny is at his ranch with Tahlia.
“What the fuck was that?” Cash snapped.
He might have been aware that we were going to do something. He didn’t know IRIS was going to plant a bomb and I would be strapped to it. That may have been a key point I shouldn’t have left out. Either way, it all worked out in the end.
“Why were you fighting me?” Duke shouted.
I rolled my eyes. The last thing I needed was Duke getting in my face about this. He wasn’t even part of the company.
“Someone could have been killed!” Cash continued to rant. “That was not a plan.”
“You had a bomb strapped to you!” Duke yelled.
It was funny because they were both fuming for entirely different reasons. Duke had no idea Cash was aware that his brother was here and we needed to let him go. He just didn’t like the way it played out. I wasn’t sure why Cash let him in here. Or maybe Duke stormed his way in here. Either way, it was really annoying being yelled at by the man.
I turned to look at IRIS, who was sitting calmly beside me as Duke and Cash paced the room, each of them taking turns shouting questions at us.
“And you!” Cash turned on IRIS, finally getting a minute reaction from him. “You just happened to have an explosive vest lying around?”
“Actually—”
Duke rushed over and braced his hands on the arms of my chair, getting in my face. “What was the plan?”
I took only the slightest breath. I had to be careful around Duke. I felt things around him that I would never admit to. He was too masculine, too sexy. I wanted to run my fingers through his hair and fuck him at the same time. Even with his anger at a boiling point, I wanted to lean forward and kiss him. But that wouldn’t solve anything. I had to play it cool.
“Why are you even here?” I asked, cocking my head at him. “I thought you didn’t want anything to do with the company.”
He stared at me a moment, then pushed away. “Stop deflecting, Rae.”
I bit back a snort at his brilliant comeback. Pushing out of the chair, I stood and hoped IRIS would do the same. “Well, this has been fun, but I have better things to do than sit around here while you two fume.”
I turned and walked out. I was never very good at following orders, at least, not until Cash came along. I trusted him with my life and found him to be a very good leader. I would gladly go anywhere, do anything for the man. But he knew what would happen if we helped Rafe escape, just not the extent of it.
IRIS jogged up behind me. “I love getting my ass reamed after completing a rescue mission.”
“Don’t pretend we did something good.”
“We did exactly what we were supposed to. We got the evil guy off to go fight another day.”
“Careful, you sound like Rafe,” I said, shooting him a pointed look.
He winced at that. “That’s not at all what I intended. Shit, don’t ever let that happen again.”
“Okay,” I said mockingly.
He grabbed my arm and pulled me to a stop. “I’m serious, Rae. I have morals. I can’t afford to be swayed by someone like him.”
“You blow shit up for fun,” I pointed out. “You blew up the old OPS building with Rafe’s guys inside. Tell me, where exactly do your morals lie?”
His draw dropped open as he stared at me. “Well…I didn’t say I was a saint.”
“Right,” I said, continuing down the hall.
“Wait, what are you doing now?”
“Getting back to work. Rafe left us a clue, and I’m determined to find out where it leads.”
“Hmm, that sounds boring.”
“It’s a mystery,” I said, glancing over at him. “What part of that isn’t exciting?”
“Well, nothing’s blowing up. No explosions. It doesn’t sound very dangerous, honestly. It’s a key. Where’s the fun in that?”
“Men,” I muttered under my breath. “Listen, I love kicking ass as much as the next guy, but aren’t you at all interested in the secrets swirling around us?”