Read Online Protective Ink (Urban Fantasy) by Misty Simon - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Misty Simon
Ads: Link
beautiful. Like the woman who’d taken them.
“I can’t sit. Too much going on in my head.”
“Fine, I’ll sit then.” And she did, folding herself into that brocade chair with one leg tucked up under her, the other keeping time with short kicks as she sipped her tea, her eyes watching him over the rim of her dainty china cup.
The desire to lay his head in her lap, have those long fingers stroke over his short military cut, socked him in the gut. One kiss should not have done this to him. He was a war survivor, for Christ’s sake, not some hormonal teenager.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, he blew out a breath. He was good at giving orders, but he’d never been good at taking them. It had caused some issues during his stint in the Marines, but it had also propelled him to the highest rank he could achieve without a college degree.
“So we need to find out who’s after Garrett.”
“Yes, I believe you do. But we might want to also talk about what just happened ten feet from here.” She blew across the top of the hot liquid, sending curls of steam billowing toward him and making his abdomen tighten. Jesus.
He cleared his throat and massaged the back of his head. “Can’t we just attribute it to the urgency of the moment and move on?”
“Is that what you want?” She looked calm and collected, but she’d always had a good poker face. If he said yes, she might agree with him…or she might be perverse and needle him just because she could.
He decided to go with the truth. Or at least, what his over-stressed brain believed to be the truth. “Yes. It was a moment. I’m sorry it happened, and it won’t be repeated. We have more important things to do.”
“Fine.” Annoyance seemed to simmer beneath the word, but he decided to take her at her word and move on. The alternative was not something he felt capable of exploring.
“So who would want to hurt Garrett?” he asked.
“I honestly have no idea. He has enemies, I’m sure, but who would have the kind of power to really take him out? Then again, maybe they don’t.… Maybe they just want to see what he can take.”
“Well, shit. How do they even know he’s worth taking?”
“Come on, Jackson.” The tempo of her swinging foot escalated, like a metronome about to go off the scale. “It’s not like our boy is completely quiet about what he does. Yeah, we don’t know of anyone getting a recognizable photograph of him in the act, but he doesn’t wear a mask and he doesn’t have a convenient pair of glasses to pull off a daytime disguise. Maybe one of the former drug lord’s goonies got away and is trying to get some revenge.”
It was a logical assumption, but he knew for certain no one had walked away from that scene. Every one of that woman’s henchmen was either dead or in prison. “The catching him but not keeping him thing bothers me. If they wanted to take him out, why didn’t they do it then? And I keep thinking about those track marks on his arms.… It was like someone was bleeding him. Do you think someone wants to tap into his abilities?”
She took another sip of her tea, and his eyes flicked to the coffee table where his cup sat untouched. He didn’t want to get too close to her, and he didn’t want the tea, anyway.
“I have no idea. They’re going about it the wrong way, if that’s what they’re after. Maybe a new player is in the arena. Someone who can do what I do, but not as well. It could even be someone who knows just enough to want more knowledge. I can’t tell you what everyone’s agenda is. It’s not the type of thing you talk about at the monthly Chamber of Commerce meeting. Remember, Garrett got some press with that Morgan chick. There’s no telling if someone knows more than they should.”
“Well, shit.”
“You’ve already said that. It’s not attractive to repeat yourself.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her to go to hell, but the easy camaraderie they’d shared for years was
“I can’t sit. Too much going on in my head.”
“Fine, I’ll sit then.” And she did, folding herself into that brocade chair with one leg tucked up under her, the other keeping time with short kicks as she sipped her tea, her eyes watching him over the rim of her dainty china cup.
The desire to lay his head in her lap, have those long fingers stroke over his short military cut, socked him in the gut. One kiss should not have done this to him. He was a war survivor, for Christ’s sake, not some hormonal teenager.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, he blew out a breath. He was good at giving orders, but he’d never been good at taking them. It had caused some issues during his stint in the Marines, but it had also propelled him to the highest rank he could achieve without a college degree.
“So we need to find out who’s after Garrett.”
“Yes, I believe you do. But we might want to also talk about what just happened ten feet from here.” She blew across the top of the hot liquid, sending curls of steam billowing toward him and making his abdomen tighten. Jesus.
He cleared his throat and massaged the back of his head. “Can’t we just attribute it to the urgency of the moment and move on?”
“Is that what you want?” She looked calm and collected, but she’d always had a good poker face. If he said yes, she might agree with him…or she might be perverse and needle him just because she could.
He decided to go with the truth. Or at least, what his over-stressed brain believed to be the truth. “Yes. It was a moment. I’m sorry it happened, and it won’t be repeated. We have more important things to do.”
“Fine.” Annoyance seemed to simmer beneath the word, but he decided to take her at her word and move on. The alternative was not something he felt capable of exploring.
“So who would want to hurt Garrett?” he asked.
“I honestly have no idea. He has enemies, I’m sure, but who would have the kind of power to really take him out? Then again, maybe they don’t.… Maybe they just want to see what he can take.”
“Well, shit. How do they even know he’s worth taking?”
“Come on, Jackson.” The tempo of her swinging foot escalated, like a metronome about to go off the scale. “It’s not like our boy is completely quiet about what he does. Yeah, we don’t know of anyone getting a recognizable photograph of him in the act, but he doesn’t wear a mask and he doesn’t have a convenient pair of glasses to pull off a daytime disguise. Maybe one of the former drug lord’s goonies got away and is trying to get some revenge.”
It was a logical assumption, but he knew for certain no one had walked away from that scene. Every one of that woman’s henchmen was either dead or in prison. “The catching him but not keeping him thing bothers me. If they wanted to take him out, why didn’t they do it then? And I keep thinking about those track marks on his arms.… It was like someone was bleeding him. Do you think someone wants to tap into his abilities?”
She took another sip of her tea, and his eyes flicked to the coffee table where his cup sat untouched. He didn’t want to get too close to her, and he didn’t want the tea, anyway.
“I have no idea. They’re going about it the wrong way, if that’s what they’re after. Maybe a new player is in the arena. Someone who can do what I do, but not as well. It could even be someone who knows just enough to want more knowledge. I can’t tell you what everyone’s agenda is. It’s not the type of thing you talk about at the monthly Chamber of Commerce meeting. Remember, Garrett got some press with that Morgan chick. There’s no telling if someone knows more than they should.”
“Well, shit.”
“You’ve already said that. It’s not attractive to repeat yourself.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her to go to hell, but the easy camaraderie they’d shared for years was
Similar Books
