Page 11 of The True Garza

Is he bipolar or something? “Then what the hell was your deal last night?”

Dark eyes fixed intently on me, he strides farther into the room and pulls away one of the chairs, moving to sit at the edge of the table instead of on the chair. “Last night? I don’t—what do you mean?”

“Are you kidding me? You remember me from over a year ago, but you don’t remember glaring at me like I’m vermin last night?” I ask in disbelief. “Hello?Liquor store? Robbery?”

Oh, and you’remarried.

Both Sacha and Guy stifle chuckles, but I don’t see what’s so damn funny.

Mateo’s eyes are lit with amusement. “I’ve been in Denver for over a week. Literally just got back. But I like that you miss me so much that you’ve been seeing me in places I’m not. It’s cute.”

“Bullshit. Isawyou last night.”

He shrugs.“Wasn’t me, babe.”He glances around at Guy and Sacha, then back to me. “What’re you doing here, anyway?”

Did I really see someone else last night and think it was him? Maybe, being back in LA and knowing this is where he’s from—maybe, subconsciously, Iwantedto run into him? I’ve thought about him nonstop for a long time, so itispossible that I saw someone as jacked and handsome as he is and imagined it was him. In which case, I would be losing my goddamn mind and am in need of immediate psych evaluation.

Nah, he’s lying his ass off because he’s amarriedman. And if he’s trying to hide our fling because there’s an audience, then that means he was fucking married during our fling.

I cross my arms. “I could ask you the same thing.”

Sacha clears his throat. “True, this is London Bridge. The agent LX-BI assigned the Jamal case.”

“You’re withLX-BI?”

“You’reTrue Garza?”

Both questions are asked simultaneously as we stare at each other.

And there it is.Thesmile. The smile that got me to take a stranger to my cabin and have him give me the hottest sex of my life.

We’d told each other nothing personal about ourselves. The night we met, I’d been in hiding and swimming deep in grief and anger. I’d run out of food and booze and driven to the off-the-beaten-path bar-and-grill a mile from my cabin. He was there, with his blinding good looks, taut muscles, and spellbinding smile.

I told him my name was Stacey.

He told me his was Mateo.

After the hottest sexual encounter I’ve ever experienced, he told me he’d be in Denver for a short while. We agreed, since the sex was so damn good, to turn what was meant to be a one-night stand into a fling until he left. So he would come to my cabin in the evenings and be gone before I was up at dawn.

We hadn’t done much talking in those seven days we shared together. Just pure, undiluted fun. Hot sex and brain-splintering orgasms. Which was every bit what I needed at the time.

His dark eyes roam over my face now, drinking me in, almost as if he’s remembering the same memories I am.

It’s not until one of the other two men in the room clears his throat that I realize we’ve been staring at each other without words for a while.

“London has concerns about being too, um, old for Jamal’s interest.”

“Don’t speak for me,” I snap at Guy. “Hate it when men do that.”

Mateo—er,Truedoesn’t take his intense stare off me. And, oh yes, I remember that stare.He’s still attracted to me. “Do you feel you’re too old?” he asks me.

“For this gig, yeah. I’m thirty-two.”

“You’ll need to feel confident to play this role. I’ve an idea for that.” He brushes his thumb across his chin. “But if you’d rather not be on this assignment at all, that’s fine. We told old boy Bridge we can get this done without you guys. Whether you’re on this or not, LX-BI still gets the credit. We’ve never taken credit before for doing your jobs for you. That’s how this relationship works. We clean shit up for you, and you look the other way when we’ve gotta break the rules.”

Ah, that’s what’s been going on, huh? Fucking Uncle Walter. On the one hand, it’s smart. Let these men take all the risks, and keep the BI agents safe. But on the other hand, it’s lazy and craven.

“Well, it’s the Bureau’s command this time, right?” I say. “So, he’s gotta spare a man for appearance’s sake. I’m the goose you’re stuck with.”