Page 52

“No.”
He studied her for a moment. “You’ve gone undercover in cults before, haven’t you?”
“With my team, yes.”
“All right. How can I help you be successful in this assignment?”
She inched closer to his side until she rested her head against his shoulder, her gaze locked on the ducks and swans. “All I need are my weapons at hand. I can take care of myself, Seth.” Her mouth curved. “Every member of Artemis is lethal and skilled at close-quarters combat. We’re excellent at blending into our environment.”
“I’m not questioning your skills or training, baby. What else do you need from me?” He cupped her cheek and brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. “Be honest with yourself and me. Our safety might depend on it.”
“I don’t like to be cornered, especially with an audience watching,” she murmured.
He stilled. Those words told him volumes about her experiences in the cult compound. “I’ll do my best to ensure that doesn’t happen.”
“If it does, I’ll handle it like I have every time Fortress sends us undercover.” She nuzzled his palm. “Gone on many undercover assignments as a cop, Seth?”
He grimaced. “Enough.”
“Not a fan?”
“Nope.”
“Why?”
“I hate living immersed in a lie.”
She tilted her head. “We’re taught to keep everything as close to the truth as possible so we don’t trip ourselves up on an op.”
“Same. Still hate it.”
“Don’t you lie to perps in the interrogation room?”
“Sure. It’s not the same as becoming a person I hate to fit a long-time role. I don’t like the person I see in the mirror during those undercover missions.”
“We may be undercover for a while. Sometimes those in leadership are slow to trust newcomers. If that happens, we could live a lie for weeks. Can you live with that?”
“To keep this group from costing innocent lives, I’ll deal.” He kissed the top of her head. “You don’t know how much I want to really kiss you right now. I can’t, though.”
“You’ve changed your mind about me,” she said, voice soft.
“No. We have an audience.” Seth looked into Teagan’s beautiful eyes. “I promised to do my best to help you deal with your trauma. Kissing you with people watching is not on the agenda. Besides, your safety would be at risk with my situational awareness compromised.”
“You’ll have to kiss me in the compound to carry off our roles as lovers.”
“That I can do. I’ll know we’re in enemy territory. Really kissing you out here in the open with our relationship so new is a recipe for disaster.”
“How will you work around that?”
He winked. “Easy. I’ll have to kiss you every chance I get until we’re in the compound.”
Teagan laughed. “That’s your plan?”
“You have to get used to my touch, my kisses. I’ll throw myself into the kissing program for the good of the mission.”He pressed a brief, light kiss on her mouth. “After we’re in safer surroundings. I want to focus on you, not on potential threats to your safety.”
His phone vibrated. Seth slid the phone from his pocket and glanced at the screen. “It’s Maddox. He cleared the others for this mission.”
“We need phones for your friends.” Teagan pulled her phone from her pocket and made a call. She put it on speaker. “It’s Teagan. You’re on speaker with Seth. We’re not in secure surroundings.”