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He squeezed her hand. “I am. You’re not around much so you wouldn’t know. Come on, baby. I’m going to call you baby.”

It’s what he’d called her the night before when he’d held on to her so tight she thought he would never let go. Just the wordcoming out of that man’s mouth sent a shiver of desire through her.

“Ms. Blunt, could I have a moment of your time?” Drake asked.

JT took a step back, and she hated that she felt colder without his hand in hers. “I’ll go pull my truck around. I’ll meet you out front.”

Michael followed his brother and she was left alone with the CIA agent.

“I know I’m young, but don’t underestimate me.” There was a hint of steel in Drake’s gaze. “This is my op. I don’t care what Taggart says. If I’d had my way, I wouldn’t have called any of you in, but Malone wouldn’t work with an Agency team.”

“Good for Malone.”

“I have to wonder about that. Given that his son used to be on an Agency team, I would have assumed he understood, but we all make do with what we have, I suppose. I checked into you.”

She stood up a little straighter. “I would expect nothing less.”

“I read about the situation that led to you leaving Interpol. I will assume you’ve learned from your mistakes.”

“I hope so. If you have a real problem with me, I can get on a plane back to England this evening.” It might be for the best. But she also hated the idea of JT going in alone. He was obviously out of his depths, and one person had already been killed over that prototype. JT wanted to believe in his people, and he would need someone to look out for him.

It had nothing to do with the fact that she could feel his hands on her body.

“Not at all.” Drake was roughly six foot four, with a muscular build that hadn’t completely filled out yet. “I prefer to work with experienced agents, and there’s no better experience than failure. At least that’s what everyone tells me. I think a woman who’s been burned before likely will play a relationship coverwith care. She won’t get caught up in a handsome face and miss the clues.”

“Clues?”

“JT Malone was in Houston, too,” Drake pointed out. “JT Malone is the only one I know of with the mechanical expertise to have done the job on the engineer’s car. It was quite a professional job. I doubt the admin would know how to do more than hook up her smart phone.”

“Why would JT do something like this? It’s his company.”

“And he feels trapped. He blames his brother for leaving him behind. I’ve made a study of the man,” Drake stated. “I believe this could be some revenge on his part. This would be the ultimate betrayal of his brother’s beliefs.”

“Do you have any family?” Despite the fact that he was an operative and obviously brilliant, he was still only twenty-three. She had to treat him like the young adult he was, and that meant educating him when he needed it.

“No. I’m an only child.”

“Then you can read all you like about JT Malone, but you can’t understand him in this. I can. I have a younger sister. She’s horrible. I mean she’s the worst human being on the face of the planet. And if someone tried to hurt her, I would stand in their way. Because I am her older sister. Because it’s what we do. She’s awful to me in social situations and yet when everything went down with Interpol, she was there for me. She’s the one who found Damon Knight and pushed me to interview. What you witnessed here today was irritation. Nothing more.”

“I’m going to ask you to keep an open mind and open eyes,” Drake said.

“Always.” But she didn’t believe for a second that JT had anything to do with the theft and espionage. The kid might know how to figure out a mystery, but he couldn’t read people yet.

“And it’s obvious Mr. Malone is trying to charm you. I suggest you keep a cautious distance.” Drake’s eyes came up. “If you find yourself needing company, give me a call.”

She stared at him for a moment. “Are you seriously telling me to call you if I get horny, little boy?”

The right side of his mouth kicked up in a grin that made her think one day the kid might have some game. “Spying is a stressful business, Nina.”

She turned and walked away. It was going to be a long op.

JT ignoredthe buzzing of his cell. He knew exactly who it was, and he did not want to talk to his brother right now.

He was going to have a hard enough time talking to Nina, since he was almost completely certain she was going to try to pull away.

He wasn’t going to let her. He was going to have one good damn thing come out of all of this, and it would be getting a chance with that British honey.

Oh, and she had tasted sweet. He should have had most of the morning to get his mouth on her again, but no. Someone had to be an asshole.