Edge of Reason (EDGE Security Series Book 2) (15 page)

He couldn’t help his smile and didn’t care what it meant that it had come out for her. His got wider when she smiled back at him. It had been one of the only ones he’d seen from her in the last two days.

Tiny nips on his arm pulled his attention. Tania had dug her claws in.
 

Cat’s smile dimmed, and then turned professionally friendly.
 

Rhys sighed. Probably for the best.
We’re just teammates
. That word was driving him crazy. He watched her graceful stride as she came toward their table, her eyes scanning the crowd. He knew the moment she spotted the asshole. She stiffened but kept walking, another layer of shadows darkening her brilliant eyes.
 

“Hey, Cat,” Rhys said. “Can I grab you a drink?”

Nails on his arm. He shook them off.

Cat’s eyes slid to the woman beside him. “No, I’m good. I was just stopping in to say goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Tania murmured beside him.

Cat’s eyes narrowed and Rhys almost smiled. She didn’t take shit from anyone.
 

“Stay,” he said. “One beer.”

Zach moved. “I’ll get the next round. And one for our fearless leader,” he said.

Cat opened her mouth, but Zach put up a hand. “You’re staying, Valkyrie.”

“Valkyrie?” Tania said. “What kind of name is that?”

“Fine. Just one.” Cat said, ignoring Tania. “Then I’m going home.”

“Hot date?” Rhys asked before he could stop himself. She’d better not have.
 

Cat’s lips twisted as she slid a glance at Tania. “Something like that.”
 

Rhys’s eyebrows raised. Cat obviously didn’t want to say what she’d be doing in front of Tania. But from the look on her face, he’d bet it wasn’t a date—or at least it wasn’t one she was looking forward to.

Was she going out with another asshole like Liam? God, he hoped not. She deserved way better. His eyes sought out the guy who now stood alone at his table, his eyes focused balefully on Cat.
 

Just try something, buddy. Please.

Zach arrived with the beers, though Rhys was barely halfway through his first. Still, he pushed it aside for the cold one. He had no desire to drown his sorrows. He had one too many friends go down that path. He twisted the cold bottle in his grip.

“What’s wrong?” Tania asked, her fingers again on his arm. “I’m pretty intuitive, you know. I can tell that something’s bothering you.”

“No shit?” Rhys said, an edge finally creeping into his voice. He moved his arm again. When would this woman get the hint?

“Lucky,” Cat said in a warning voice. “Ease off.”

Tania frowned as she looked at Cat and then back to Rhys. “Lucky? You have a nickname? Did she give it to you?” Her hand dropped from his arm.

Cat gave a small laugh and raised her hands. “It’s a work thing. We work together,” she said. “We’re just friends.”

Rhys pressed his lips together to stop the denial he wanted to shout. He took a swallow of beer. “Right, just friends.”
 

Tania’s hand came back onto his arm. “Well,
Rhys
, why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you?”

He shifted a few inches away and Tania followed. How was he supposed to get rid of this woman? Cat obviously didn’t want him to be mean, but he’d had enough.
 

Cat lifted her beer and took a sip. The drink moistened her lips, and her eyes twinkled with suppressed laughter at his situation. She was gorgeous, and he ached with the need to kiss her.
 

No. Just friends.

So he narrowed his eyes slightly and mouthed. “I’ll get you back.”

Cat snorted and turned away. Now his smile came out.

Marc nudged him. He leaned away from Tania to hear what Marc had to say, his eyes still on Cat as she laughed at something Zach said to her.

“Be careful,” Marc said.

His gaze jerked to Marc. “What’d you say?”

“You heard me,” Marc said. He jerked his chin toward Cat. “I’ve seen how you look at her. We all have.”

Rhys shrugged and focused on his beer. “So what? She’s a beautiful woman.”

“No,” Marc said sharply. “She’s your teammate. Don’t think of her as anything else. She’s not a player, not like you are. Don’t mess with the team, man.”

Rhys faced Marc, his anger snapping. “Back off. I know the score. I’m not messing with anything. Or anyone.”
 

“Make sure it stays that way.”
 

Cat leaned over to them across the table. “You two doing okay?”
 

Marc slung his arm around Rhys’s shoulders and tightened hard, digging his fingers into his arm. “Fucking fantastic. Right, Lucky?”

Rhys saluted Cat with his beer bottle, shaking off Marc’s arm. “Just awesome.”

Cat watched them both for a moment more and then nodded. “Okay. If you need to work something out, then hit the gym tomorrow. I know—”

“Are you their mom or something?” Tania asked. “Cause you’re certainly dressed the part.”

The Asian woman beside Marc tittered. He straightened away from her. Both Rhys and Marc opened their mouths to speak, but Cat held up a hand. She looked at Tania, her eyes glittering like ice chips.

“You’ve been trying to get my attention since I walked in here. You’ve got it. What do you want?”

Tania stepped back, her eyes wide. Rhys had to smother his amusement. At least she’d finally stopped touching his arm.

“Nothing to say?” Cat said. “I find that’s typical of women like you. Petty behind a person’s back, but as soon as you’re confronted you act shocked.”

“No… I… Well, yes,” she finally said. “I am shocked. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Cat tipped her beer back and swallowed the last of it before setting the bottle on the table. She stepped close to Tania and whispered something. Tania’s eyes widened and her face drained of color.
 

Cat stepped back, tilted her head as if inspecting her work, then she nodded. Tania swallowed. Her eyes flicked from Cat to Rhys and then the other men as if searching for help, or maybe her backbone, before her eyes settled back on Cat.
 

“Crazy bitch,” she whispered, and then stalked off.
 

Cat smiled. “Sorry about your date, Rhys.”

“She wasn’t my date, and you don’t look sorry at all.”

Cat laughed. “I’m not. Well, I’m off, guys. Goodnight.”

She strode away from them and Rhys let himself watch her walk away. He didn’t care what Marc said—a woman with a body like that was too much of a temptation for him not to look a little, even if they were teammates.

Then he saw Marc watching her too, and he almost growled.
Mine
.

They both stiffened when they saw the man walking out after her, his eyes focused on her like a target.

It was the asshole.

Rhys put his beer down and started to move to the door.
 

“Trouble?” Marc asked.

Zach perked up at the question.

“Nah,” Rhys said. “It’s her ex. I just want to make sure he’s not hassling her. She’s too nice to him.”

Zach swung around and stared out the door. “That was the Liam guy?”

“She told you?” Rhys said, startled that Cat would mention what had happened.

Zach narrowed his eyes. “She only told me he was boring.”

Both Marc and Zach straightened and put their drinks down. If they followed him out because Rhys had opened his big mouth, Cat would shoot him. She didn’t need help with the asshole, and she’d just be embarrassed if the situation got out. He held up his hands. “Guys, it’s good. If we all go out there, we’ll make a scene and she’ll hate that. She’s probably already gone. I’m just gonna do a quick recce.”

Zach and Marc relaxed only slightly. “Make sure it’s just a quick recce on your
teammate
,” Marc said.

“Of course,” Rhys said with a smile. Then he strode out of there to find Cat before the asshole did.
 

Cat crossed her arms over her chest as she stared at the man who swayed under the streetlight in front of her. They stood on the blessedly empty sidewalk in front of the Chien Noir. “What planet are you from that makes you think I owe you an apology?” she asked.
 

“You embarrassed me.”

“Good,” Cat said. She didn’t walk away because she didn’t want this fool at her back.
 

“I could file an assault charge against you,” he said, lisping slightly from too many drinks. “I have witnesses.”

Cat sighed. This day really couldn’t get any worse. She’d just come back from one of the worst ‘successful’ missions she’d ever been on, then walked in on Rhys flirting with another woman-Cat still wanted to rip Tania’s fingers off, but she couldn’t because teammates didn’t do that to teammates’ lovers-and now her ex whatever-he-was was stopping her from getting home to her couch and TV.

“You won’t be getting an apology from me, Liam. I suggest you head home and sleep off those drinks you had.”

“You know I’ve been waiting at this bar every night for you.”

“Now that’s a bit creepy, even for you. It’s time you left.”

He took a deep breath and drew himself upright, as if bracing himself for something. Or getting ready to attack.

She almost rolled her eyes.
So not my night.

Liam took a step toward her, his hands clenched into fists.
 

Someone came out of the bar. Someone tall, with sandy hair and eyes that widened.
 

Dammit. Why does he have to see all of my humiliating moments?

“Don’t do whatever it is you’re planning, Liam,” she said. “You won’t like the results and they’ll be much worse than last time. There are no witnesses now.”

“You fucking bitch,” he said, raising his fist. “I—”

She slammed her fist into his gut and his alcoholic breath whooshed out of him. The next punch struck his throat and he dropped to his knees gasping like a trout on dry land. “That is the second time tonight someone has called me that, and it’s the last,” Cat said quietly. “Don’t come near me again or I will put you in the hospital.”

Rhys came to stand behind her. “And again you’re being too lenient,” he said with false cheer. He put his face close to Liam’s. “Go near her again, asshole, and I will bury you.” He straightened. “Alive.”

“Now get the fuck out of here,” Cat said. “And don’t come back to this place. My friends and I come here.”

Liam scuttled off, wheezing.

What the hell had she seen in him? Cat shook her head, trying not to laugh. She looked at the anger etched onto Rhys’s face and that opened the dam. Giggles bubbled out.
 

Rhys frowned at her. “Are you okay?”

She clutched her sides and nodded, now unable to stop. How could she explain that she was laughing at her own love life? That bit of embarrassment only made the laughter come louder.
 

Rhys slowly smiled, as if unable to stop himself. “What is so funny?”

She shook her head as her laughter died down. “My life. Between him and Steve, I really couldn’t pick any worse losers to date.”
 

Rhys didn’t smile like she expected. He looked away. She almost sighed. Now she’d embarrassed him with talk of her love life. “Look,” she said, hoping to make him feel more comfortable. “It’s not a big deal. I’m not looking for sympathy or anything. I just thought it was funny.”

His gaze caught hers. “You deserve so much better than those losers. I just don’t know why you can’t see that.”

She didn’t say anything. She couldn’t. Her throat had tightened with his words. What did he want from her? Was he saying this as a friend?

The door to Chien Noir opened. Marc and Zach stood there. “Hey, Cat,” Zach said. “You good? We saw that guy follow you out.”

“I’m all good,” Cat said, moving away from Rhys and breathing a bit easier. “He just had a few complaints about my behavior that I had to take care of.”

“All cleared up?” Zach said. Marc stood silent, but he watched Rhys with narrowed eyes.

“Yes, but if you see him around here again, you can tell him that you’re friends of mine and I said you could have fun with him.”
 

“Excellent,” Zach said. “Well, I’m going back in. There’s a pretty brunette that wants to practice her massage technique on my aching shoulders.”

“Go,” Cat said, laughing. “See you Monday.”

Marc let him pass, his eyes still on Rhys. “You coming, Rhys?”

Rhys’s jaw tightened. “I’m done for the night.”

“Okay,
teammate
.”

Rhys nodded. Marc said goodnight to her and then went inside.

She put her hands on her hips. “Are you going to tell me what that little bit of testosterone mudslinging was for?”

“He thinks I want to be more than friends with you,” Rhys said in a low voice, his eyes on hers, wishing he could just take this woman to bed again and get her out of his system.

She took a step back. “But you don’t.”
 

He snorted. “Of co—“

She held up her hand to stop him. “You can’t. There can be nothing between us.”

That
made him scowl. “But there is something. You feel it just as much as I do.”

“It doesn’t matter. We’re teammates. And maybe friends. But that’s it,” Cat said. “So there’s no problem, is there?”

“Nope,” he said with gritted teeth. “No problem.” Besides the fact that he wanted to strip her naked and have mad monkey sex with her, there was no problem. This woman was going to drive him insane.

She frowned a little, almost as if she’d expected him to protest, but he wouldn’t. Not until she did, anyway.

Hmmm. Could he somehow get her to compromise? Maybe they could be friends with benefits?
 

“What is that sneaky smile for?” she asked him.

“I’m thinking of ways to make you let me walk you home.”

She waved a hand. “I don’t need you to protect me.”

“I know that, chère,” he said laying on the drawl. “But my grand-mère would roll over in her grave if she knew I’d let a lady walk home alone.”

Cat snorted. “Have you used that line on a lot of women?”