Page 89 of Tangled Like Us

We drop our hands and lean back to our respective seats. Breathing heavily.

He fixes his earpiece cord that I must’ve accidentally pulled on. His jaw set more strictly, he scans the parking lot.

My fingers linger on my stinging lips. “That was very good? We did well?” I question. “Security saidchasteand that was the virgin strawberry daiquiri of kisses, no? I could’ve easily straddled you—not that I would’ve, becauseboundaries.” I flush but never divert from his tightened eyes.

“It was good,” he confirms. “But it wasn’t a virgin daiquiri.”

I, so eagerly, want inside his head. “It was a dirty martini?”

I swear his lip tics upward in a momentary smile. “More like a Guinness.”

It’s his favorite beer. Which I shouldn’t know, but I’m very aware he mostly orders Guinness when he’s off-duty. A stout, full-bodied beer.

A stout, full-bodied kiss.

I can’t help but smile, and then I lower my sunglasses over my eyes and slip my arms in a light sweater. We have to do a bit of shopping to make the grocery outing seem real.

He reaches into the back seat and grabs my zebra-patterned heels off the floor, and then he hands them to me.

“Merci.” I slip them on my feet. “How upset will security be if the photos show roaming hands…and tongue?”

His firm expression is unreadable. “This should be believable to the public, and that’s what’ll matter most to the team.”

I take note that he never said the teamwouldn’tbe upset. He must not want me to fret about security’s reactions. I trust Thatcher, and if he has that area handled, then I won’t pry. Not until he needs an assist from me.

Delegation at its finest.

Thatcher touches his ear, security in communication, and then he looks to me. “Paparazzi have the photo.”

Here we go.

18

THATCHER MORETTI

“Why ishis hand halfway up her skirt?” Price, the Alpha lead barks at Akara over speakerphone, volume soft.

I narrow my eyes at the phone in Akara’s clutch.

Sir, my hand is not halfway up my client’s fucking skirt.

It was planted on her ass.

The Tri-Force are on a three-way call, and after an hour of being chewed out, Akara is letting Banks and me listen in on the tail-end of their conversation. All while we make a pitcher of caipirinha in security’s small kitchen.

Banks has to sit on the counter for all three of us to fit in here, limes and a bottle of cachaça next to him.

We’ve been friends with Akara since we joined security, clicking almost instantly, but I really grew closer to him when he became the Omega lead. I was the Epsilon lead at the time. We’d spend long hours in the same meetings. Volleying information back and forth, keeping intel safeguarded between us, and shooting the shit on dull days. And nine times out of ten, with major Tri-Force decisions, Akara and I voted the same way.

Excited commotion comes from the living room. Jane and her cousins are hanging out with us. Celebrating. Despite the disapproval from two leads, the photos have already circulated through major media outlets with rabid obsession.

Spreading like an unstoppable wildfire.

It’s been two hours since Jane and I kissed in the Acme parking lot, and these are some of the most popular headlines:

Jane Cobalt Is Having a Secret Love Affair With Her Bodyguard!

Breaking News: Jane Cobalt Caught Kissing Her Bodyguard