Hot Ice (A Hostile Operations Team Novel - Book 7) Read online

  Maybe he had amazing sex with every woman he slept with. Maybe she was just that inexperienced and naïve and this was only amazing to her.

  “What are you thinking about so hard, cupcake?”

  Her head snapped up to find Garrett watching her. His face was so heartbreakingly handsome that her chest tightened. Soon she wouldn’t see that face anymore. Wouldn’t hear him calling her that little endearment she’d hated at first but loved now. Wouldn’t have the right to touch his cheek, to lay claim to his jaw with her lips, or to trail kisses from that jaw down over his broad chest before taking him in her mouth and tasting him while he moaned.

  “Just wondering what happens tomorrow.” It was a lie, but she wasn’t about to tell him what she’d really been thinking. For her, the feelings were too confused, too raw.

  “I’ll get you to safety tomorrow.”

  Her heart thumped. “And what then?”

  His look was steady. “I don’t know. I can’t say what the boss will want until he tells me.”

  That wasn’t quite what she meant, but she figured he knew that. He was keeping the conversation on safe ground—or what he considered safe ground. His job.

  And really, what right did she have to push him? He’d told her this was nothing more than sex from the beginning.

  She finished the s’more and wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing her upper arms vigorously. She wasn’t cold so much as irritated—with herself, with him, with his ex-wife.

  And then there was her job. She’d made the agonizing decision, after brooding for miles today, that she had to backtrack from her claims. She couldn’t give a paper on her findings at the WHO conference, no matter how important they were to the health-care community. There were other ways of keeping the world safe, and that was what she had to do.

  Her bosses would be angry, no doubt, since Magnolia Labs would have raked in additional funding based on her research. A vaccine was needed, and the funds would have poured in for development—but it was too dangerous for her. And, by extension, for her family. If whoever was after her couldn’t get to her, would they go after her family? Use them as leverage?

  She didn’t know, but the questions kept circling through her head until she knew she had to find another way. The research was important, but protecting the people she loved was more so.

  “You still planning to disavow your research?” Garrett asked, and she lifted her head to find him watching her.

  “Yes.”

  “No second thoughts?”

  She snorted. “Lots of them. But it has to be done. My mother and father, my sisters and their families—if I don’t do this, they could be in danger too.”

  “For what it’s worth, I think you’re making the right decision.”

  “I think so too. But it also hurts.” Because she’d spent so much time on this project, and because she still believed in the need for being prepared. There was also, she had to admit, a little bit of pride involved. Negating her research felt like negating herself.

  “I know it hurts, Grace. What you’re planning to do could set your career back. I think it’s brave of you to do it anyway.”

  A current of warmth slid through her. “I’m not brave. I’m practical. And scared, I suppose. I don’t want to be afraid anymore. I don’t want people breaking into my house or accosting me in parking lots. I also don’t want to think about my nieces or nephews being harmed because of me.”

  “That’s what bravery is—doing something that you know will hurt you but you do it anyway because it’s the right thing to do. Don’t sell yourself short.”

  She felt tears welling, but she sniffed them back. He was the only person who ever called her brave. Her sisters thought she was bookish and nerdy. Her parents worried she spent too much time in the lab and not enough time socializing and finding a husband. Jeffrey thought she was boring—and clearly not worth spending a lifetime with.

  Absolutely no one thought she was brave—except Garrett. Her chest ached with all the warm, muddled things she felt for him. She’d let him mean something to her in the past few days, and it was going to hurt when he was gone. With him in her corner, she felt like she could do anything.

  But he wasn’t going to be in her corner forever. She had to do this alone. And that thought made her feel unbearably empty.

  She took a deep breath. “I have to get back to the lab. The samples are still there; I need to destroy them.” She could always make the virus again later, but she had to get rid of the evidence now. Because so long as the samples existed, there was always the possibility someone could reverse engineer the process. Or, worse, what if someone obtained the samples and the virus got loose in the world before there was a vaccine?

  She didn’t think anyone in the lab was that stupid—that suicidal—but if the past few days had taught her anything, it was that she had no idea what motivated people sometimes.

  Garrett’s brows drew down. “It’s not safe for you to go there. Tell me what to do, and I’ll make sure it gets done as soon as we get back.”

  She shook her head vigorously. “No. I have to do it. Me, not you. I created this thing, and I’ll finish it.”

  His expression was thunderous. “This is what I do, Grace. What my guys do. We’ll get into the lab and remove all traces of the virus—and we’ll make sure no one else gets it or the information on how to create it.”

  Grace got to her feet and stared down at him. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. “It’s too dangerous. It has to be me. You don’t know how to work with this virus—none of you do. Just get me in there, and I’ll do the rest. There’s no other choice.”

  He got up and towered over her, his body big and menacing as he approached. But she wasn’t afraid of him. If anything, she melted just a little as he drew closer. She wanted to fold herself against him and let him take care of everything for her—but that’s not the way she did things. She was an adult, not a child, and as much as she might like to hide away and read books, there were some things she had to do for herself.

  “It’s dangerous.”

  She swallowed. “I know that. You’re the best at what you do, Garrett. But so am I. If I wanted to be your bodyguard, you’d laugh at me. So trust me when I tell you that destroying the virus is the job of a trained professional, okay?”

  He stared down at her for a long time, his jaw hard where the firelight caressed it. “You’re too logical for your own good.”

  Not logical enough, she thought as he knuckled the back of her cheek and her insides turned to liquid. She shouldn’t want him after what he’d said to her earlier. After he’d insisted that he was screwed up for other women because of his ex, that he didn’t want a relationship with her, but sex was okay for as long as they were together.

  Ceasing to respond to Garrett Spencer was as vital to her well-being as destroying the virus and negating her research. He wasn’t out to kill her—but the danger to her heart was stronger the longer they were together.

  “If I were as logical as I should be, I’d tell you to stop touching me,” she whispered past the tightness in her throat.

  His hand stilled. “Is that what you want?”

  Yes, her mind whispered. No, her heart screamed.

  “It’s what I should want.”

  “But you don’t.”

  She shook her head. “I’d rather feel you inside me.”

  He pulled her into his embrace. “That’s precisely where I want to be, cupcake,” he said before he took her mouth in a hot, hard kiss.

  *

  John Mendez strolled into a bar facing Annapolis Harbor and ordered a beer. Then he took a seat at a table where he could see the door and waited. The waitress brought him a beer and some pretzels. She was a good twenty years younger than he was, but that didn’t stop her from smiling and giving him what he recognized as a come-hither look. It still shocked him that even at forty-eight years of age, younger women flirted with him, but he handled it like he always did—with a wink
and a grin.

  “Just let me know if you need anything else,” she said. “Anything at all.”

  “Thanks,” he said, and she flounced away with another look at him over her shoulder. He shook his head.

  He wasn’t into girls young enough to be his daughter. Couldn’t imagine what the hell he’d have in common with any of them if he did pick one up. Sure, she was pretty, and the sex would probably be spectacular if he could get past the idea she’d been in diapers when he’d been going through Hell Week as a new recruit to Special Forces.

  But it just wasn’t an appealing thought. He hadn’t dated in forever, but when he did, he liked women at least thirty-five and up. That didn’t make him feel like a dirty old man, and at least he felt like the generation gap wasn’t so massive he had nothing in common with them at that age.

  He took a sip of his beer and watched the door. Eventually a man walked in. He made eye contact with Mendez and then strolled over and sat down across from him. The waitress hurried over and took his order.

  “Sam Adams on draft,” the man said.

  “Brewer patriot,” Mendez said when the waitress went to get the beer. “Interesting.”

  Ian Black’s eyes flashed. “That’s right. A patriot. Like you. Like me.”

  Mendez didn’t snort. He just waited. Black finally shrugged.

  “I’d heard you were a hard-ass. Smart… and dangerous too.”

  Mendez leaned back and sipped his beer. “You trying to get into my pants, stud, or just making small talk?”

  Black laughed. “Cuts straight to the chase as well.”

  “I’d be interested in who told you these things about me.”

  Black didn’t say anything as the waitress returned and set the beer down in front of him. After an aborted attempt at flirting with them both, the woman left.

  Black lifted his beer and took a sip. “And I’d be interested in who told you about me. But I don’t suppose either one of us are talking.”

  “Probably not.”

  “You interfered in my operation in Qu’rim. Cost me a lot of business.”

  “I don’t fucking care. If all you wanted was to get together and have a pity party, I got better things to do.”

  Mendez was scraping his chair back when Black reached for his arm and gripped it tight. “You really need to hear what I have to say.”

  Mendez thought about breaking the fucker’s arm but then decided that wouldn’t be a good idea. What had he told Iceman about brawling in bars?

  Instead, he jerked his arm away and glared at the man across from him.

  “Then get to it and stop wasting my time.”

  Black’s dark eyes flashed. “You think there’s a leak in your chain. You’re not wrong. Those who appear to be enemies aren’t always enemies. And those who seem to be friends… well, you get the point.”

  “Riddles? Seriously?”

  “You’ve got a job to do, colonel. So do I. Did you ever think of that?”

  The man was staring hard at him, his eyes deadly serious. Something began to niggle at Mendez’s conscience. There were many ways to serve, many ways to be covert. Was it possible that Black was actually on the right side of things? That he’d been sent to Qu’rim to be a mercenary for reasons Mendez didn’t know?

  His CIA contact had told him Black was disavowed. But the records were sealed. There was no hint as to why, no narrative of what he’d supposedly done to get there.

  On the other hand, Black might very well know that. This could be about manipulating the situation more than helping it.

  “Why are you here, Black? What do you want me to know?”

  Black’s nostrils flared. “I need you not to interfere with my mission.”

  Mendez snorted. “Not happening, asshole. I need a better reason than a pretty plea.”

  Black sat there for a long moment, staring at him. “DeWitt,” he said. “Watch him closely.”

  He took another long drink of the beer, then stood and walked away without another word. Mendez watched him go, his gut churning even as his brain worked overtime.

  Congressman DeWitt. A junior member of the House Armed Services Committee. DeWitt was on the subcommittee for intelligence, emerging threats, and capabilities—which was precisely the subcommittee that HOT fell under.

  Mendez had met with DeWitt. He’d given him the official tour of HOT that members of Congress got. Not too deep into operations, but just enough to satisfy their curiosity. DeWitt had been fascinated, but that was nothing new. He’d also, amazingly enough, once dated Gina Domenico, before Gina had come to HOT for help and ended up marrying Jack Hunter.

  Mendez signaled for the waitress and paid the bill. Black could be misdirecting him—or he could have just shared the missing puzzle piece Mendez needed.

  He walked out into the night, hands shoved into his pockets, and headed for his car.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  THEY WERE UP BEFORE DAWN this time, packing up the camp and getting started on the journey that Garrett hoped would see them at HOT by the end of the day. Grace needed their protection, and their skills—but a part of him didn’t want to take her there. Because once they were back at HOT, she would cease being his.

  As if she were yours in the first place. As if you want her, or any woman, to be yours.

  It was true he didn’t want a woman in his life right now. Didn’t need the distraction and the drama.

  But… this was Grace.

  Fuck.

  Grace, who wrapped her legs around his waist and made him lose his mind. Grace, who gave as good as she got—in bed and out of it. Dr. Grace Campbell, who was a scientist and a senator’s daughter—and so far above his head that he couldn’t even breathe the same air she did, in spite of his fancy manners.

  But a part of him wanted to. The thought of turning her over, of walking away if that was what Mendez ordered him to do, sat in his gut like a stone.

  He glanced at her. She had the ball cap on her head, her hair tucked up inside, and she was chewing her bottom lip. He wanted to chew that lip for her. His dick started to harden and he shifted in his seat. What the hell was wrong with him? Was he fifteen again and unable to control his reactions?

  He knew what happened when he lost control. He did stupid things. Stupid, life-altering things. He’d been ruled by his dick when he was twenty, but he wasn’t making that mistake again.

  This was a phase. As soon as he got back to reality, life would return to normal. He’d be hanging out with the guys, banging random chicks, and going on missions.

  That idea should make him feel better, but oddly enough it didn’t. Because he kept thinking about how if he wasn’t with Grace, she’d be dating other men. Fucking other men. It was enough to make him crazy if he didn’t stop imagining it.

  He gripped the wheel tight. He had to get Grace to HOT, and then he had to get back to his life. It was the only solution.

  They’d been on the road for a couple of hours when Grace said she needed to stop. Garrett pulled into a town with a few anemic-looking shops, a gas station, and a diner. He had three-quarters of a tank of gas, but he decided to top off anyway.

  Grace stood looking at the gas station and then glanced at the diner across the street. “Do you think we could sit down and eat before we go?”

  He flicked a glance over the diner. There were several cars in the parking lot, and the smells coming from the restaurant were heavenly. If they went inside, they could eat whatever they wanted instead of something that traveled well.

  Yet he didn’t like stopping, even for a quick meal. He shook his head. “Sorry, cupcake. It’s safer if we keep going.”

  He took out his wallet and tossed her a twenty. “You can get us something to go if you like.”

  She frowned as she wadded up the money in her hand. He knew she didn’t have any cash because they’d left her house so fast and he hadn’t allowed her to use her ATM card anywhere. But he’d had a stash because that’s how he operated. Always prepared.r />
  “What do you want?”

  “Better make it a sandwich of some sort. Easier to eat while driving.”

  Her eyes were bright. “I could drive, you know. Give you a chance to eat and rest a bit.”

  He shook his head. “I appreciate that, Grace. But it’s best if I’m behind the wheel. If trouble comes, I know what to do.”

  She sighed and tugged her hat down over her forehead. “All right. Sandwich. Chips or fries?”

  “Chips.”

  “I’ll be back in a few,” she said, spinning on her heel and hurrying across the road. He watched her disappear inside the diner and heaved a breath before shoving a hand through his hair.

  Jesus, she got to him.

  He finished topping off and went inside the gas station convenience store to take a leak and grab some bottled water for the day. He didn’t bother resupplying for the night because he intended to reach HOT by then.

  He’d paid for the water and was turning to leave when a Chevy Tahoe rocketed into the parking lot and skidded to a stop. Two men jumped out while a third stayed behind the wheel. One of the men walked over to the Jeep while the other stood and studied the area.

  Garrett’s gut churned with warning. He could get out the back door, come around and take them by surprise. He dropped the bag he was holding and was starting to whirl when the door to the diner opened and a familiar green cap appeared.

  Fuck.

  If he didn’t go outside first, she’d walk into a trap. The men would take her, and he might not have the chance to do anything about it. But if he distracted them, just for a moment, maybe she’d realize what was happening. He just prayed she’d be smart enough to go back inside the diner rather than charge across the street and try to help him.

  Garrett shoved the door open before he could change his mind, and the men spun toward him.

  “Looking for something, boys?” he asked, knowing there was every chance they’d shoot him where he stood.

  He’d never see Cammie again, never see Grace. But it was his job, and he would do whatever it took to protect the woman across the street.