She pulled open her cabin door and barely caught it before it slammed into the wall and woke the whole car. She had an hour before the daily press briefing, and she needed to get her head back in the game before then. There was a reason she didn’t have much of a love life—who had time with a few dozen competitors breathing down her neck?

Joe Aiello and Larry Murtaugh slouched in a booth in the K9 crew car, nursing coffees and looking half-asleep. They both perked up when they saw her.

“Morning,” she said. “Mind some company?”

Joe jumped up. “Hey. Morning. Get you some coffee?”

She smiled. “I can get it. You fellows mind talking a little bit about the job?”

“Nope. Come on ahead.” Larry waved her to the booth as she approached with her coffee. “Have a seat.”

Fifteen minutes later, the door slid open and Viv glanced up. The question she’d been about to ask died on her lips. Dusty sauntered in, her sandy hair damp and darker than normal, still wet and clinging to her neck in places. The very same lean, tanned neck Viv had tasted just a few short hours before. Instantly, Viv pictured Dusty naked in a tiny shower like the one she’d just been in, only this time the two of them were there together, pressed close, skin slick and flushed and hot. Heat rose to her cheeks, she felt them burning. Dusty strolled toward her, her lazy-lidded gaze taking in Larry and then Joe and then sliding into Viv’s. Her green eyes were hot, dark, and anything but lazy. “Morning.”

“Hi.” Viv tried for casual but the word came out husky and a little choked. Joe narrowed his eyes and frowned. Viv groaned inwardly. Telegraph how you feel to everyone, why don’t you?

The merest hint of a grin flickered across Dusty’s mouth. That mouth. That amazing mouth that created the most incredible kisses. Hot and firm and so surprisingly demanding. How was it possible that no one had claimed those kisses yet? Viv’s nipples tightened and she pressed her lips together. She would not embarrass herself any further. But she couldn’t help looking as Dusty walked by, appreciating the fit of her black cargo pants, the short leash clipped to her belt where Atlas would be in a few minutes, the black lace-up boots, the shirt with the insignia on the shoulder.

God, could she be any hotter? Viv hoped not. She would likely melt in place if she was.

Dusty poured coffee, returned, and leaned against the booth across the aisle. She bit into a jelly doughnut and a few flakes of sugar clung to the corner of her mouth. “Snowing pretty good out there.”

Viv wanted to lick the sugar off. She wanted to taste the raspberry sweetness on her tongue. Oh, she was well and truly gone.

Larry stood. “Command called with an update not long ago. The roads are a mess and traffic is slowing down the escorts. We’ll probably be half an hour late.”

Dusty stared at Joe as Larry squeezed past. He looked as if he planned on sitting there with Viv till it was time to roll. She and Atlas were with Egret’s detail, and Viv was supposed to be with Egret too. Joe was driving one of the SUVs in the president’s motorcade. Joe. She didn’t blame him for wanting Viv’s attention. She wasn’t even jealous of that. Made perfect sense to her. Viv was amazing. And she didn’t think Viv was interested in Joe. Viv had kissed her, after all. A lot. She grinned and polished off her doughnut. Viv was watching her eat. She liked that. Not as much as kissing, but she liked it. She would’ve kept kissing Viv all night if Viv had wanted to stay. She didn’t care if she had to work eighteen hours after no sleep. She’d done it plenty of times.

After Viv had left, she’d been happy to finish her beer lying on her bunk, replaying the moments, savoring the sensations. Viv wanted slow. She did too. Sort of. Except part of her wanted to rush over the edge of the cliff that seemed to loom right in front of her whenever she was near Viv, and feel the rush of air around her body as she fell, exhilarated and free. The thought of what that rush would be like, losing herself in Viv, started a heavy pounding between her thighs, an ache that was new and damn distracting.

Joe said something to Viv and Dusty’s attention snapped back. She wanted to tell Joe to back off, Viv was hers. That was new too. She didn’t even have words for the kind of possessiveness Viv stirred in her. She thought she might be like one of the wolves who fascinated Viv, but not for the reasons Viv liked them. She and Atlas were part of a pack, true enough. But if Viv were hers, she’d be sure no one ever came near her. She felt like growling right now.

“Thanks, Joe. Have a good one.” Viv stood up and grabbed Dusty’s arm. “Let’s get some photos of you gearing Atlas up for work.”

“Sure,” Dusty said with a last look at Joe, who followed them with his eyes. She let Viv lead the way out of the car, still thinking about wolves.

Viv stopped as the door to the crew car slid closed behind them, leaving them alone in the narrow passageway between cars. “You looked like you were about to bite his head off.”

“I was thinking about it,” Dusty said.

“You know there’s nothing going on there, right?”

Dusty glanced over her shoulder to make sure they were alone. She kissed Viv, giving vent to the possessive urge still simmering in her middle. “Doesn’t matter. He doesn’t know that.”

Viv moaned softly. “I probably shouldn’t tell you this,” she said, her mouth against Dusty’s ear, “but the look in your eyes back there turned me on.”

Dusty kissed her again, the pulse in her belly getting harder and brighter. “Good.”

“It’s going to be a very, very long day.”

“You don’t mind?” Dusty caressed her neck, slid her fingers into soft silky hair. “That I want you so crazy bad?”

“I don’t think…no, I know…I’ve never seen that look in another woman’s eyes because of me. I definitely don’t mind.”

“I don’t think I could change it. It’s kind of instinct.”

“I like your instincts. I like them a lot. But…” Viv brushed her hand over Dusty’s chest and pushed her back an inch. Somehow they’d ended up pressed chest to chest with Viv’s back against one of the compartments. “I’ve got to be at the morning press meeting in half an hour. And if you want to get to work on time, you’re going to need to take your instincts and back up a little bit.”

Dusty braced both hands on the wall on either side of Viv’s shoulders and kissed her neck. “Whatever you say.”

Viv closed her eyes. Yes, I say yes. Right here. Right now. “How do you feel about another picnic tonight?”

“I’ll bring the wine.”

Chapter Nineteen

Jane’s internal clock woke her at 0530. She’d slept four solid hours, more than she’d gotten when she’d been twelve on her first training mission with her father. They’d been in the woods then for seventy-two hours, and he’d never let her sleep. Telling her she had to stand guard, and every time she’d start to doze, he’d waken her with a shot in the air. She’d learned to anticipate that sharp blast every time her mind would start to shut down until it became second nature for her to control her sleep along with all her other bodily needs. She could go without food, she could go without water, she could go without sleep and function efficiently up until the moment her body quit, and then it wouldn’t matter anymore. She’d be dead.

Across from her, Hooker breathed lightly, regularly. He was awake too. She wasn’t surprised. For all he looked and acted like an Idaho redneck, he hadn’t survived as a mercenary by being lazy or sloppy. He’d probably opened his eyes at the instant she had.

She’d slept in her clothes, including her boots, so she only had to stand and take three steps to be at the bathroom door. Turning, she caught him watching her, his eyes glittering points in the gloom. “I’m going to take a shower. The door will be locked. If you try to open it, I’ll shoot you.”

“I can wait to take mine,” Hooker said agreeably. “Unless you think you’d like company?”

Jane flicked on the room light, illuminating Hooker, as she quickly stepped into the small, dark bathroom and closed the door. She set her gun on the toilet tank and twisted the shower dial all the way to hot without turning on the lights. Her night vision was good, and she didn’t want to impair it. If Hooker decided to come in, she’d have the dark on her side. The dark, she had learned a long time ago, was her friend. She methodically piled her clothes on the floor in order: boots, pants next to them, shirt next to that, so she could get dressed quickly if she had to. She showered quickly too, the hot water easing some of the aches from long hours in the vehicle and the tension she carried between her shoulders. When she was dressed again, five minutes later, she returned to the outer room and picked up her coat.

“One of those bagel-with-eggs things and ham would be good,” Hooker said. He was sitting on the side of the bed, the light still on, a day’s worth of beard blunting his heavy jaw.

“What makes you think I’m going for food?”

He grinned. “Because you gotta be as hungry as I am, and you’re not going to let me drive the Jeep to go get us something, because you figure I’ll be looking for the money.”

“You know it won’t do you any good.” He was right, of course.

“Still have to try.” He lifted a shoulder. “Force of habit.”

Hooker reminded her of her father in some ways, although he was nowhere near the man her father had been. But he thought like a soldier. He understood tactics and logistics. That at least was comfortable and familiar, and in some weird way, he understood her because they thought the same. The idea of him knowing even a little of what drove her was unsettling, and she couldn’t afford to be unsettled. So she put Hooker out of her mind for now. She had a busy day ahead and needed a clear mind.