a Touch of TNT (An Everly Gray Adventure) (38 page)

I gave him a watery smile. “It wasn’t my fault,” I said between hiccups.

“It never is, Sunshine. Probably why I love you.”

Wow. He told me he loved me in front of Annie. I laid the back of my hand against his, careful to keep my fingertips from touching him.

Annie cleared her throat. “I’m outta here. Looks like you’re in good hands.” She had one foot over the threshold, turned back and eyed me. “I passed the letter with the numbers to Pierce. He’s working on it, but we don’t know what it means yet.” She gave me a barely perceptible shrug. “It’s old. Can’t be too critical.”

“Thanks, Annie.” I’d forgotten about it what with all the…excitement.

“And—” she leveled her gaze at me— “when you need to talk about this, I’m available.”

“I know,” I whispered, gratefully.

I dug through my handbag, rescued my cell from the mess and plugged it in. There was a text waiting from Katelan.
Universe wins. North lost negotiation. Looking forward to my next assignment from you!

I grinned, and held the phone so Mitch could read the message. “North got his. An excellent reminder to trust the Universe.”

“Jail would’ve been better.”

“Yeah, but since he didn’t break an serious laws…”

Mitch pulled me into his chest. “Forget North. I’m sleeping in your bed tonight.”

I started to wave my hands around, but he grabbed them, tucked them between us.

“It’s okay,” he said. “The situation has changed. Doesn’t matter if you see.”

My fingers curled around his hands and images of what he planned for us later, after I’d rested, spun through my mind and curled my toes.

I pushed back my chair, grabbed the plate of cookies and started down the hall; then turned and crooked my finger for him to follow.

He flashed me a brief, wicked grin.

I desperately needed to wash the dirt off my body and the blood out of my hair. And I needed Mitch. A soapy, wet, sexy Mitch to help me do it.

Sometime later—

“Hey, Belisama. About those numbers.”
Pierce’s rich brogue came over the phone line and sent a shiver up my spine.

He knew something. And it wasn’t good. “What? Just tell me.”

“Chaos ensued. Don’t have the deets yet.”

“Huh? That letter was sitting around for ten years. How could the numbers possibly be of enough concern to you secret agent types to be chaotic?” Dread hollowed in my belly.

“There’s something else.” Pierce’s words came out way too slow. I braced my hand on the kitchen table and sat.

“What?”

“You have a security clearance.”

“Not possible.” Had his twisty mind flipped to all-out crazy?

“Listen up. You don’t need to apply for anything.”

“What? Of course I do. They’ll want background checks. Probably psychological testing…” My voice faded into the fear of exposing my sense of touch to the government.

“It’s high level. Current.” Impatience threaded through his words.

“From the government?”

“Yes.”

“The United States Government?”

“Yes.”

“Not possible.”

“Saw it. You’ve had it for twenty-six years.”

“So all this time it would have been okay for me to know—”

“Just about anything you wanted to know.” He was grinning. I could sense it over the phone line.

“Something isn’t right. Can you send me a copy?” Maybe if I held it in my hands, I’d believe it.

“No can do. And we didn’t have this conversation.”

The line went dead.