she didn’t show it. She made a slow circle around the room, trailing her hand over the comforter on the bed. “Or more specifically mon ami.”
“Because he’s an asshole.” He didn’t want to go into this. It wasn’t any of her business. He should leave it at that, but he found himself going on. “We were friends when we were kids.”
Why had he said that?
“I knew he was from Canada,” she said, sitting at the end of the bed. “I didn’t realize you knew him.”
Frustration welled inside him as he pored over the system. Any way he went, he got blocked. Huisman had been a brilliant doctor, but he’d known computer systems, too. He might have gone cheap on the mercenaries hired to protect him, but he’d been smart enough to hire the best when it came to setting up his cyber security systems. Of course, it wasn’t like Ben himself was some brilliant hacker. He knew just enough to think he could do things he obviously couldn’t. That was why he had Tim. But he was worried Tim wouldn’t be able to get into a closed system.
It was up to him. The whole fucking fate of this region was up to him.
“Hey, it’s okay.” She was suddenly behind him, her hands on his shoulders. “None of this is your fault. Unless Huisman was your secret lover and you cheated on him and that’s why he hates the world.”
He rounded on her. This was not the time to joke. “He was not my secret lover.”
She shrugged, the motion making her breasts move. Gorgeous fucking breasts. Those breasts made his mouth water. They made his brain soft, because he was looking down the barrel of a massive, uranium-enriched gun, and all he could think about was how he could see a hint of nipple through that white shirt. And it wasn’t cold in here. It might be freezing outside, but Huisman had managed to keep it nice and toasty in his evil lair.
“I always wondered.”
He turned, forgetting about the tablet for a moment. “You wondered if I was gay? I’m not gay. What exactly gave you the impression that I’m gay? If you say it’s because I’m Canadian, I swear I’ll be done with you.”
Her lips curled up in the sexiest smile. “That sounds like something my dad would say. He’s pretty rah-rah USA. Spent some time in the military. But no, your Canadianness doesn’t make me question your sexuality, merely your choice of bacon.”
She was so frustrating, and he suddenly got the idea that he should show her just how not gay he was. “My choice of bacon is fine. It leads to far less heart disease than yours. Let me explain a few things to you, sweetheart. There’s nothing wrong with homosexuality. It’s a perfectly natural state. My natural state is different. I like women. I like breasts and hips and pussies. I really like soft, welcoming pussies, especially when they’re attached to smart, sexy, dangerous women.”
She held her ground and, yes, those nipples were definitely out, and that had not a thing to do with the temperature. “Well, we’ve worked together a couple of times now and you’ve never once hit on me. It makes a girl think.”
So arrogant. “So if a man doesn’t hit on you, he’s obviously gay? Maybe you’re not my type.”
“Oh, I’m you’re type. Don’t get me wrong, Ben. I can be arrogant, but I’m self-aware, too. I know perfectly well that I’m not every man’s type. I’m a brat of the highest order, and I was probably raised to have ridiculously high standards, but we’re alike, you and I. If you prefer women, I’m your natural mate.”
What was she trying to do? They had less than forty minutes before the world blew up and she was hitting on him? She wanted to do this now? “Natural mate? In your world do natural mates take the last parachute and leave the other to die? Do they shoot their mate in the shoulder? How about the throwdown in the alley in Beijing when you kicked me in the balls and stole the only invite to that auction the cartel was having?”
She rolled those gorgeous blue eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic. I took the parachute because I knew damn well you would follow me. If I hadn’t, you would have stood there and talked that asshole to death. Excuse me for getting bored. And I shot you through the shoulder because that was the only way