Rising (Anderson Special Ops #2) - Melody Anne Page 0,43

brilliant, sexy as hell, and have so many layers, it makes me want to peel each of them back, one by one.”

“Hmm, I wouldn’t mind some peeling,” she said as she winked at him. Then she moved forward, leaving his eyes on her ass and hips as she swayed them while walking.

“Vixen,” he said with a growl as he caught up to her and gave her a slight swipe on that beautiful ass. “You’re trying to get me arrested.”

“I’d never do that,” she said, wiggling those hips again as they moved toward the exit of the museum.

“I think you’re full of trouble,” he said with a laugh as they walked outside. “It’s a good thing I’m always up for an adventure.”

They laughed as they retraced their steps back to his truck. Their hands remained clasped, and it felt right being with her. The longer he was with this woman, the more he found he wanted to be. He was falling hard.

He opened Erin’s door and gave her one more long, satisfying kiss before helping her inside. He was very proud of the shakiness of her legs as she collapsed against her seat. He wasn’t the only one affected by this connection between the two of them.

Brackish didn’t know what that meant going forward. There were a lot of secrets between the two of them. If this continued moving in the same direction, he wondered if those secrets would eventually destroy them. Should he put it all on the table now?

No. He couldn’t do that. He didn’t want to risk what they’d just started. He’d have to take a leap of faith and see what was going to come next. And he’d have to pray if it got serious she’d forgive him for all he wasn’t telling her. There was no way they could continue a relationship with the kind of secrets between them that were resting there now.

It had been years since Brackish had prayed — but he said a short one before he started his vehicle. He didn’t want to lose this girl. He wanted to see how far they could take the relationship — maybe they could take it all the way.

Chapter Nine

Chad turned onto the disguised driveway to the compound at 0548, smiling when he saw the team finishing their morning exercises. It was already seventy degrees outside, so they were shirtless, sweat dripping off of them. They worked hard at every single thing they did and it showed in their actions, their bodies, and their minds.

Chad wasn’t as young as he’d once been, but he still worked hard, sweated a lot, and kept himself in shape. He might take a few more breaths than the men he was in charge of, but he had no doubt he could keep up, and maybe make them sweat a bit harder than they already were.

He chuckled to himself. Did any man ever admit he couldn’t do that? Not someone like him. Heck, Joseph still punched Chad in the arm every once in a while, challenging him to a push-up competition. Age was just a number, and Chad wasn’t going to slow down until the day he was buried.

Chad beat the men to the building, entered his security password, then walked through the halls that made him smile. He loved the work they were doing.

He dropped off his briefcase in the conference room, then made a beeline for the kitchen, smiling at the aroma of his favorite coffee the men had brewed just for him: Black Ivory Coffee, which he only drank once in a while. It was from Thailand, costing hundreds of dollars a pound, and he hadn’t told the men the process of procuring the beans. If they knew they were drinking coffee that had been harvested from elephant waste, they might revolt on him. But life was an adventure, he thought as he poured a cup of the fragrant brew.

He grabbed a banana and scarfed it down before finishing his first cup of coffee. He normally tried to sip on this delicious brand, but the first cup always was gone in a few chugs. Of course. His enthusiasm for coffee was what had led to his call name of Chugs. He poured his second cup and grabbed a blueberry muffin while leaning against the counter. He wasn’t in a hurry that morning as he’d told the team they’d meet at 0630 instead of their usual 0600.

As he attempted to sip his coffee instead of guzzling it, he