Read Online Dangerously Hot (A Hostile Operations Team Novel)(#4) by Lynn Raye Harris - Free Book Online Page B

tightness in her throat and then immediately wished she could call them back. Why had she told him that? It was private, and yet there was a part of her that felt a sense of relief that she had shared it with someone.  
    She’d never been certain if Marco had told Kev about their problems or not, but she could see by the look in his eyes that he was surprised.
    “He didn’t tell me.” Kev straightened and pulled in a deep breath. She thought he looked troubled for a second, but then he looked the same as always. Stoic and closed in. But he was probably pissed at her all over again. Pissed that she’d fucked with Marco’s head like that, that she’d tried to take away the job he loved.
    “But if he had told me,” he continued, “I’d have told him to go. It’s no life for a married man.”
    Lucky blinked. That certainly hadn’t been what she’d expected him to say. And somehow it released the knot of tension in her stomach just a little bit.  
    “It can be. A lot of the guys and their families handle it just fine. Anyone who marries a soldier knows what they signed on for. And I knew it better than most, since I was also a soldier.”
    He was studying her, his blue eyes giving nothing away. “After what you went through, I think it was a normal reaction to ask him to leave HOT.”
    She picked up the toast again and took a bite. It was cold now, but she needed something to do. She chewed slowly, though it tasted like ashes in her mouth now. She didn’t talk about what she’d been through with anyone. It was too ugly, too shameful, and it made her feel less than human.
    She hated those feelings.
    “So what’s on the agenda today?” she asked brightly, once she choked down the toast.  
    His brows drew down but he didn’t question her. “We head over to HQ and start your training.”
    She kept the bright smile on her face though her insides churned at the thought of all she would face in the coming weeks. “Sounds great.” She threw the remnants of the toast in the trash and turned to face him. “Ready when you are.”
    He picked up his keys from the counter. “Let’s go then.”
    They were putting on their coats when she stopped and looked up at him. “Do you really think this is going to work?”
    “It has to. We can’t let the Freedom Force get that uranium.”
    She nodded. But she didn’t tell him she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to pick out Al Ahmad in real time without giving away the game.
    ***
    It turned out that training for a HOT mission was not like going to the gym and taking a spin class. Nor was it like surfing. Thank God for the surfing, however, because without the level of endurance required for the sport, Lucky would be in a whole lot worse shape than she currently was.
    She stood bent in half after their current training session, panting, sweat rolling down her face as Kev sauntered toward her. He didn’t even look winded after the latest circuit of the obstacle course. But he was sweaty. Damn. Hot and sweaty . His T-shirt clung to hard muscles and his brow glistened. His dark hair stuck to his head and his eyes gleamed hot as lasers.
    “You okay?”
    She straightened, putting a hand in the small of her back and huffing in a breath. “Yeah, fine.”
    He frowned. “Sorry to push you so hard, but it’s gonna be rough in Qu’rim. You have to be ready.”
    “I realize that.” She shivered. They might have been working up a sweat, but as soon as she stopped moving, the cold air got to her. It wasn’t too bad, in the low fifties today, but it might as well have been a hundred below to her.
    “You need to go inside for a while?”
    She firmed her jaw. “No.”
    “It’s okay if you do. You can’t do everything in one day.”
    “I want this over with. I want to go into Qu’rim, get Al Ahmad, and go back to my life. If I have to run this course ten times a day to make that happen, I will.”
    “I know you will.” He shook his head. “Come on, let’s go in.