Edge of Reason (EDGE Security Series Book 2) (3 page)

“She’s not the only reason,” he said. “Jake doesn’t make emotional decisions.” At least he never had before. Rhys shrugged. “Either way, I think this assignment will be good for him.”

She’d watched him a moment. “But not you?”

“My SEAL team is deploying in two weeks, they’re counting on me.” He didn’t add that he’d already decided it would be his last deployment with them. He wanted to work at E.D.G.E. He loved the idea of what they did, and was ready for something new. He eyed the tall blonde captain in front of him.
 

And the scenery wasn’t too shabby, either.

She’d smiled then and, as his grand-mère would say, he’d seen the devil in her eyes. “Want to grab a drink, sailor?”

That was an invitation he couldn’t refuse.
 

They hadn’t even made it to the bar. He’d snagged her hand once they were outside and the current between them at the simple touch had stopped them both. The vivid blue of her eyes turned darker. He tugged lightly on her hand and she’d come to him willingly. He’d loved her height and how he hadn’t had to lean down to kiss her. But he’d loved the sounds she made even more. Her apartment had only been a few blocks away from E.D.G.E. HQ and they’d run there, laughing, as if they were doing something illicit.

And technically, an officer fraternizing with an enlisted man was a good way to get court-martialed, but she’d obviously thought he was leaving for good. He hadn’t told her he was coming back, because he suspected she’d put an end to the heaven of that night. And hell, he wanted that piece of heaven. He’d dreamed of it throughout his whole deployment. She was strong and soft at the same time, a combination he couldn’t stop thinking about.
 

One he wanted again.
 

It had been pure fluke running into her tonight. He happened to be staying in the hotel next to the bar. It wasn’t his usual type of place, but the concierge had recommended it. When he’d seen her there, his gut had tightened and memories of that night had washed over him. It had taken him a long moment to see the tightness around her eyes and mouth, and the stiffness of her body. That’s when he’d seen the asshole speaking to her, obviously giving her some kind of crap. He’d started toward her, but had stopped as soon as she’d put the guy in a wrist lock. Laughter bubbled up inside him even now as he remembered the look on the guy’s face.
 

Cat’s face, on the other hand, still had that pinched look as she walked away.
 

He shook his head. Maybe she needed a distraction.

He quickly caught up to her. “Where are we going, chère?”

She sighed and stopped. “
We
are not going anywhere.
I’m
going home. You can go anywhere you want.”
 

He grinned when she held up her hand and amended herself. “Anywhere but my place. We had fun one night. But it was only one night. Leave it in the past. We’ll be working together. It’s not appropriate for…” Her hand waved back and forth between them.
 

“For?” His grin got wider when she narrowed her eyes at him.

Then she stepped close. “I will not have you jeopardizing my career. You will keep your mouth shut at E.D.G.E. or I will see your deployment here cut short, Petty Officer.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said without hesitation. But he held her gaze for a moment before replying. “And I’ve already told you, I won’t say anything.”

“Good.” She turned and strode away.

He let her get a bit ahead of him before he followed discreetly. Cat could take care of herself, but he’d been taught by his grand-mère to never let a woman walk home alone in the dark.
   

After a block, she turned and stared straight at him. He gave a little salute and smiled at the glare she gave him.

He’d known this would be an interesting assignment.

Cat scowled at Rhys as he smiled at her, even though the sight of him made her mouth water. Memories of their time together surfaced. Visions of his sculpted muscles and strong hands made her ache.
 

Stop that!

She whirled and stomped away, cursing the man. Did he think she needed protection? She was a highly trained soldier, dammit. She walked faster. Tonight had been a disaster from start to finish, she just wanted it over with.
 

Her phone chimed. A small groan escaped her when she saw the caller. Apparently the disaster was still in progress.

“Who’s calling, chère?” Rhys asked from behind her.
 

She walked faster. A glance back showed he kept pace, his eyes glowing with amusement.
 

She debated not answering for a moment, but knew that she wouldn’t be able to dodge the caller long. And it would only make the conversation worse when it finally happened.

She answered. “Hey, Mom.” Her stomach plummeted when she heard Rhys snort softly behind her.

“Catherine,” her mother chirped. “I’ve been trying to get hold of you for days. Haven’t you gotten my voicemails?”

“Yes, Mom, but—”

“Do they keep you so busy at your company that you can’t call your mother?”

“No, Mom. I mean yes, I’ve been busy. I was away on business.” She hated lying to her mom, but no one, not even her brothers or father in the military, could know what she did.
 

“Away?” her mother sounded disappointed. “I thought you agreed to tell that company you didn’t want to travel so much anymore.”

Her shoulders tensed. She knew where this was going. Rhys was only five feet away as he kept pace with her, listening intently, a devilish gleam in his eye.

“Mom, I never agreed to that. You’re the one who wants me to stop traveling.”

Her mother’s long drawn-out sigh made Cat pull the phone away from her ear and curse softly. Rhys chuckled. She scowled at him before putting the phone back to her ear. Her mother was
still
speaking.

“…ever meet a nice man?”

Someone shoot me.

“I meet plenty of nice men at work,” Cat said.

Now Rhys sounded like he was choking.

“But,” her mother said, “are they eligible men?”

She coughed. “Do we have to talk about this now, Mom?”

“Between you and your brother Dylan, I don’t know who’s worse.”
 

Dylan was only her senior by two years. She’d followed him into CSOR, the Canadian Special Operations Regiment, and he’d been just as proud as her father when she’d earned a spot beside him. Dylan had taken her leaving CSOR hard and it had torn a rift between them.

“How is Dylan? Have you spoken to him?” Between her schedule and Dylan’s, and him being based in Petawawa and her in Montreal, she hadn’t seen him in a year and hadn’t spoken to him in months.

“Not recently. You know how busy the regiment is. But I called to talk about you, Catherine.”

Cat tensed. “About me?”

“Well, I think you’re working too hard. You’re traveling too much. You should be enjoying life, having fun while you’re young-”

“You mean dating,” Cat said in a low voice. She could almost feel Rhys’s interest perk up.

“Sweetie, you know I only have your best interests at heart.”

“Look, Mom, I’m fine. In fact I was just on a date.”
 

Rhys laughed. Cat stopped walking and punched him in the arm. That only made him laugh louder.

“I hear a man laughing,” her mother said, sounding excited. “Are you still on your date?”

“No, Mom—”

Rhys continued to snicker.

“No, dear. I’m going to let you go. You can tell me all about him later.” Her mother hung up.
 

Cat wanted to scream, knowing her mother would call tomorrow and want to hear all about her
date.
She slid her phone away and pointed at Rhys. “You are annoying.” She strode away and yelled over her shoulder. “And stop following me!”

He didn’t, of course. He chuckled and followed her to her apartment building door two blocks later.

“Goodnight, chère,” he said, his voice warm and low. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She hated that his voice made her insides melt, and it took a moment for his words to sink in.
 

Tomorrow.

She ground her teeth together. “You will not speak to anyone about this evening.”

A little spark of anger lit his eyes and he moved closer, until she swore she could feel the heat from his body. “I’ve already told you, I won’t say anything.”

She refused to move back. “Good.” She swallowed, trying to get herself under control. “We probably won’t see much of each other anyway. My team is full.”

He moved away, his eyes unreadable. “That’s a damn shame, chère. I think we’d work well together.” He nodded at her and sauntered off into the night. She cursed her luck and went up to her apartment, wondering what else could go wrong.

The next morning, Cat yawned as she rode the elevator to the seventh floor and wondered whose team Rhys would be assigned to. E.D.G.E. operators usually worked in teams of four. At least she knew Rhys wouldn’t be on hers. She, Lieutenant Colonel Derrick Blackwell, Sergeant Zach Grayson, and former CSIS agent Marc Koven made up Alpha team. They’d all swapped stories of what they’d do with their two weeks off when they made it home.
 

 
Once she filed her report, she was on R and R. Maybe she’d head to her parent’s ranch outside Calgary. But then she’d have to defend herself from her father’s guilt trips about leaving the Army and her mother’s matchmaking attempts. According to her mother, Cat’s biological clock was ticking. How she wished she could tell both of them—well, at least her father—what she was doing. She hated seeing the disappointment on his face.
 

She rolled her neck, trying to loosen the tight muscles. Maybe she’d just hang around Montreal and catch up on training. She must be due to re-qualify on something. And the longer she could put off seeing Rhys again the better—even if he had been sweet last night when he’d followed her home. It hadn’t felt like an overprotective boyfriend, but more of a teammate who had her back. She just needed a bit of space and time to bury the feelings he stirred in her. The night they’d shared together had heated her dreams for months afterwards.
 

Just as it had last night.

The elevator door pinged open and she stepped out. Rhys stood in E.D.G.E.’s main reception area on the seventh floor. His jeans hung just a bit loose on him and a blue long-sleeved t-shirt hugged his chest and powerful arms. Her heart leapt at the sight of him, until she noticed who he was with.

Cat froze for a moment, assessing the scene in front of her. A splash of cold reality doused any lingering warmth she had for him.
 

He smiled down at cute, petite Ashley-who worked in the civilian side of the company, as an actual marketing exec to keep up its cover. Cat was pretty sure Ashley had no idea of what E.D.G.E. actually did. She seemed to be one of those people who was happy not to question the status quo, unlike Cat’s friend Dani, who questioned everything, and consequently worked for the military side of E.D.G.E.

Ashley flung her blonde hair back as she laughed and placed a possessive hand on Rhys’s bicep. Cat recognized the look on his face as he gazed at the girl.
 

‘Lucky’
Lafayette knew he could have her. Obviously, he was a player… Now she knew just where his handle had come from. A guy who liked women, and lots of them.

Ashley looked over at Cat and smiled, but Cat saw the warning in her eyes and the way her hand rubbed Rhys’s arm, staking her territory.

Well, that was fine by her. It had been fun with Rhys, but it never could have continued. They worked together, and sooner or later, Rhys would have become resentful of her.
 

Her experience had taught her that through hard work and going beyond what was called for, she could convince men in the military that she not only belonged, but that she was their equal. Unfortunately, she’d also learned that all that hard work went out the window if you slept with one of them.
 

Time to put the memories of Rhys and that night away for good. She kept her face professional as she strode to Estelle Waters’s desk. She was the steel-haired dragon lady who guarded Commander Knight from intruders. Cat had long ago learned to come bearing gifts. At the moment, Ms. Waters watched Rhys and Ashley as if they were trespassers not fit to be in her territory.

“Hey, Estelle,” she said. “I brought you a book.” She dug out the latest Jeaniene Frost book and handed it over. She and Estelle both loved romance with a kick-butt heroine, though Cat wasn’t quite as open about it as Estelle was. “Is the big guy in?”

Estelle nodded and took the book. “Was it as good as the last one?”

“Better,” Cat said.
 

Rhys turned toward them and smiled at her. He opened his mouth to say something, but she walked away before he could.
 

She rapped once on Commander Adam Knight’s office door. When a deep voice called out, she entered.

Commander Knight looked up from the papers spread out on the conference table on one side of the room. Alpha team leader Derrick Blackwell stood with him, as did Marc Koven.
 

“I’m sorry to interrupt, sir.” She lifted the file folder she carried. “I just wanted to drop off my report on the last mission.”

“No worries, Cat,” Commander Knight said. “I’m glad you’re here. We were going to call you in anyway.”

That didn’t sound good for her downtime, but she shrugged off the disappointment. This is what she’d signed up for when she’d agreed to be an E.D.G.E. operator, always ready for the next mission. She nodded and joined them at the table.

“Have you heard of Boko Haram?”
 

She nodded. “Militant Islamic group based in Nigeria. They’re terrorizing the country and the surrounding area. They kidnapped those schoolgirls last spring.” It had been all over the news for weeks.
 

Commander Knight nodded. “Boko Haram means ‘Western Education is forbidden.’ The U.S. designated the group as a terrorist organization in November, 2013. They’ve abducted over five hundred women and children and killed more than five thousand civilians, including a large number of school-aged boys. They like to use suicide bombers and will kill anyone to achieve their goals—children, the elderly, and even other Muslims at prayer.”