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Well, there went the secret. “Guess not.”

Alex looked back and forth between her and Tag as though he didn’t quite understand. “What? I think Nina’s super smart.”

“Not when it comes to fucking the client,” Tag replied with another sigh. “And apparently making the client so happy while she’s fucking him that he can’t stand the thought of losing her. I will admit, though, that you are good at hiding that shit, Blunt. I picked up on him sniffing around you, but not that he’d already had a taste.”

“Hey,” JT said, suddenly standing tall.

It was obvious her billionaire had far too much stimulation for one day. “JT, he’s not wrong, and sarcasm is his love language.”

“He doesn’t have to talk about you like that.” JT’s voice had gone dangerously low.

“He doesn’t mean anything by it,” she tried to explain.

“Stand down, Malone. I’m not impugning your lady’s honor or anything.” Tag didn’t look worried about the potential for JT’s anger. “I didn’t know she was your lady. Normally I have an excellent radar that warns me when my employees are boffing the clients. Like I said, Nina’s really good at covering.”

Alex had folded his arms over his muscular chest. “Yeah, Ian’s excellent at figuring out who’s doing who. I mean who is having what is obviously a deep and meaningful relationship with another person involved in a mission.”

Alex wasn’t bad at snark himself.

It was time to come clean. “Ian, Mr. Malone and I met in the bar before the job started. We didn’t realize who the other was, and one thing led to another. I assure you our physical relationship won’t affect the mission.”

“It’s affecting the mission now,” Ian replied.

“I think I should have some say in how this goes.” JT wasn’t giving up.

Her heart sank. She knew what he was doing, knew why he was doing it, but this was her job. He’d promised her he understood, and the first time she was in danger, he was playing the white knight and not letting her do what she needed to do. Now that she didn’t have to hide their relationship, she could at least try to save the situation the only way she knew how. “I think JT and I should talk about this privately.”

JT stared at her. “There’s nothing to talk about. I can’t believe you did that. I can’t believe you put yourself in that position.”

It had been a risk but a calculated one. “You were handling the situation well. I thought about it and decided to try to get us an edge. You knew the area. You knew your truck. I trusted that you could keep us on the road.”

JT’s eyes had narrowed. “But what if I hadn’t? You could have gone through the windshield. Hell, the way you were sitting, you could have gone all the way through the back of the truck. You wouldn’t have survived that. I do know that road. I know exactly how dangerous it is. Animals cross there all the time, and they pop out of nowhere. Anything could have happened.”

He was definitely feeling the aftereffects of adrenaline. Perhaps if they’d been more secure in their relationship, he would have yelled at her in the truck and they wouldn’t be doing this in front of her bosses. She truly understood why he was upset. He wasn’t a trained operative. He wasn’t used to being in danger. He definitely wasn’t used to the panic that could come with some of the situations she’d been put in. She’d learned how to stay calm, though the instinct to panic had been there. It had been all about him. “I was worried about you too, but we had to do our best given the situation, and we did.”

“From what I can tell, you two made a great team.” Tag was watching them as though trying to figure out how to handle the client.

“Well, I’m not putting my teammate in more danger,” JT insisted. “The mission is off.”

“You can’t call it off. I know tonight was disturbing, but we don’t get to walk away from this. We’re dealing with the Agency. This mission is about far more than Malone Oil.” She needed to get through to him. She crossed the space between them and took his hand in hers. “I understand exactly what you’re feeling, but you can’t make big decisions right now. You need to sleep on it, and I think you’ll find things are different in the morning. You’ll be able to see the situation with more clarity.”

He stared down into her eyes. “You think I’ll care less about what happens to you in the morning? Because I assure you I won’t. I’ll still want you safe.”

He really was heartbreakingly handsome. She wanted nothing more than to brush back that dark lock that tumbled over his forehead and made him look younger than he really was. She wanted to take him to bed and make him forget they’d been in danger at all. “No, I think time gives us the distance we need to properly assess. Right now you’re too close to the fear to understand how well the encounter went. You did a magnificent job. You did everything I needed you to do. I was perfectly happy going into this job with you as my partner before, and the way you handled that truck and the ride back reinforced that belief.”

His shoulders relaxed, and she almost thought she had him.

“I can’t put you in that position again,” he said grimly.

“And that is why it’s a bad idea to get involved with the client.” Tag’s voice was every bit as somber.

Irritation began to war with sympathy. She had to find a way to get him to understand. “JT, this is my job and I’m good at it.You need to listen to me. Imagine me trying to tell you how to work a rig. Or explain engineering to you.”

He shook his head. “It’s not the same. I get that you have a dangerous job, but I shouldn’t make it more dangerous. That doesn’t mean I have to put you in harm’s way. I think what you should do is take a couple of weeks off and spend them here with me. You don’t have to do this job at all. You don’t need it. I can find something else for you.”

Alex stood up. “Maybe we should leave them alone for a while.”

“And miss the show?” Tag asked.