She faced A.J. and whispered, “Please.” Her eyes pleaded with him more than her words.
He nodded, not sure what else to do. He wanted to protect her. Something inside of him wanted to save her from every threat that came her way, even if she was capable of saving herself. She was in his life again, and this time, he didn’t have it in him to walk away. Plus, right now it was his job. Okay, so maybe it was his job to chase down a mythical ledger while determining if there was an FBI leak, but . . .
“Thank you,” she mouthed, then went downstairs.
Once the door was open, Kyle quickly stepped inside. “Are you okay?” he asked before his attention swung A.J.’s way, distrust filling his eyes.
With Kyle there, Chris would be nearby. That is if Chris hadn’t lost him the way he’d lost Ana’s source earlier that evening.
Ana moved backward and stood alongside A.J., her body language saying, He’s with me. “This isn’t the best time right now.”
“Porter is missing, the neighbors overheard a gunshot at his place tonight, and you’re here doing what?” One dark brow arched as he stared at A.J. as if he were looking to do some hand-to-hand combat. The man wasn’t over Ana, and A.J. didn’t blame him. A.J. had only worked one case with her. To marry her and have to walk away? Hell, no.
“A.J.’s my boyfriend. I’m sorry you had to find out this way.”
“You’re not serious. This Navy man?” His eyes were on A.J.’s trident tattoo. Kyle was FBI and as decent at reading people as Ana, so it would seem. Although, given Ana’s psychology background, she could probably profile people down to the kind of breakfast they preferred to eat.
“Navy man?” A.J. tipped his head, acting confused just to screw with the guy, but he had to admit he loved the fact Ana had referred to him as her boyfriend, even though it was a lie to get her ex-husband off her back. Still, he’d planned a hundred different ways to ask her out over the last several months, so “boyfriend” might not have been out of the realm of possibility. But of course this would be how she wound up back in his life. On a list of potential suspects for being a traitor. Of-fucking-course.
“I don’t believe you.” Kyle ignored A.J. and moved closer to Ana. “You didn’t mention him tonight, or the other night when we were together.”
“You and I weren’t together-together,” she added as if worried A.J. might think she’d hooked up with her ex.
Kyle looked back and forth between her and A.J. but chose to drop the matter. “You should be worried that Porter is MIA, not worried about your love life. What’s really going on?”
Love life? A.J. coughed into his fist. He sure as hell wished that was why he was in her townhouse right now and not because someone nearly shot her tonight. Hell, everything happens for a reason. If he hadn’t been watching her, the guy at Porter’s house may have killed her. Fate. Fortune. Whatever mystic shit Chris had been talking about earlier—was he right? And maybe the Daylight Ledger was legit instead of an urban legend. And pigs can fly. Bigfoot is real.
“I was chasing down some leads, and then I planned on heading in,” she said, the snap in her voice a clear indication to A.J. that Kyle knew not to follow up with more questions, or he’d get his head bitten off.
“Unless this guy is a lead I need to know about, you should get to the office. Your being gone doesn’t look good.” Kyle was uptight and all-business.
And if her colleagues knew what went down tonight, they’d probably toss her in some box and question her forever.
“I’ll be there soon.” She sidestepped Kyle and held the door open. “Please leave.”
Surprisingly, Kyle obliged, but he sent one last scolding look A.J.’s way before walking through the door. “Be careful.”
Ana quickly slid the chain lock across the top once the door was closed. “Sorry about him. He probably thinks I haven’t been with anyone since the divorce.” Her cheeks tinted pink. “Not that I have.”
A.J. took a second to process her impromptu confession and the fact the last person she’d slept with was her husband. Married to him for three years, so she hadn’t been with anyone else in quite some time, then.
“I have to get ready.” She turned back toward the stairway.