Page 10 of Knot Innocent

Bastien lifts a brow in response and crosses his arms. My knees wobble a little at the sight that probably makes his enemies run. “Last night. Who was he?”

Slow, lethal steps bring Bastien to my desk as he speaks. Trying to remain unaffected, I call up my best corporate voice. “Someone I won’t see again. Your intervention was admirable, if unnecessary, and concludes your involvement in the matter.”

The corner of his mouth lifts slightly, but briefly, before Bastien’s strong arms unfold. He leans over my desk, splaying his big hands on the blotter. “No more bullshit. Who was he, Birdie?”

My name coming from his mouth in that low growl vibrates my body, rendering me numb for a moment. His rumbly timbre makes me wish for sinfully hot nights. Those dark eyes bore into mine, heating my skin in the most inconvenient way. Your timing still sucks, by the way.

I can’t help it. The man is two scoops of sex in a muscle cone drizzled with spankings and topped with please daddy sprinkles. And I’m the one melting.

Thankfully Bastien has no idea how he affects me. God help womankind if he ever uses his powers for seduction. He’d achieve world domination in about five minutes.

Bastien’s stare hardens the longer he waits for my response, and the heat I’d felt gives way to jitters. Having been Nerdy Birdie all my life, I’m unused to being the center of such laser focus and automatically revert to my natural protective instinct—snark. “I’ve already stated that I won’t ever see him again, so why is he any of your concern?”

Bastien’s haunting eyes remain locked on mine, and he leans closer still. “Because I think you were doing something stupid. Or dangerous, which makes it stupid. I want to know which it is.”

My stomach leaps up into my throat. Well, crap. Busted. Though Bastien’s technically correct, I’m still pissed off at the insinuation that I could be involved in something shady. Again, he’s right, but damn. “Not that I’m admitting anything, but even if I was doing something you wouldn’t approve of, isn’t that my business alone?”

“It would be if I hadn’t watched that guy put his hands on you.”

Knot’s voice at the door draws my attention, but Bastien’s focus remains squarely on me. He also hasn’t moved to put some distance between us. “Who put his hands on Birdie?” my boss demands.

I nearly groan, knowing I’ll need to put a lid on this, and quick. “Bastien witnessed me having a slight disagreement with someone and is making a big deal out of it. The situation was handled and is over. And since it happened away from here and on my personal time, we’re not discussing it.”

My argument is weak. I know it, and so do they. Before the two can get over the shock of my abrupt, out-of-character response, I shoo the men out of my office and close the door. Though either one of them could, neither stopped me nor forced the door to remain open.

Nevertheless, I’m not stupid. A closed door isn’t going to make this go away. There’s blood in the water now. Even if Bastien lets this go, Knot won’t. All I’ve done is buy myself some time.

After dropping limply into my chair, I spare a glance at my watch. I’ve got thirty minutes to come up with a convincing story that I could sell to my dad since that’s what Dillan Knot acts like sometimes.

Bastien

I don’t know if I’m more surprised to be standing on the outside of a closed door or if Knot is. It’s not a common occurrence for me and is probably a first for the boss. I do know that I don’t have a valid excuse for loitering around Birdie’s office after being kicked out. When I also lack sufficient motivation to walk away, Knot takes notice. “Something on your mind, Laurent?”

For a moment, I consider saying something to the protective CEO. After all, my only concern is for Birdie’s safety. Bullshit. You think she’s guilty as fuck and are covering her ass because you want her.

My internal debate lasts a second or two but is quickly cut off because I refuse to entertain romantic thoughts about Birdie. Ultimately, I decide to keep things to myself. If I talk to anyone about Birdie, it’ll be Sadie. Everyone here knows they’re close. I’ll learn what I need to from the former Marine Raider without jeopardizing Birdie’s career in case I’m wrong.

I answer my boss in the negative and spin away from the executive offices. I shouldn’t have come to begin with. What Birdie does in her spare time is none of my business. She’s not, nor will she ever be, my problem, my responsibility, or my woman, not that my stupid-ass brain can wrap itself around that reality.

I can’t get the woman out of my head. It doesn’t matter where I am or what I’m doing. Birdie’s scent follows me like a phantom. Tortures me. Worse than that, sometimes, when I’m lying in bed, I’d swear I feel her fingertips lightly grazing my skin again.

And that’s how I know I won’t just turn a blind eye to whatever Birdie’s into. I just have to stay disciplined enough to treat the situation like the one with Aaron several months ago. Except that you presumed Aaron to be innocent. You’d rather think Birdie guilty of something nefarious than imagine her being into kinky shit with another man.

Heading downstairs, I pick up the pace, realizing I’m going to be late for training with Spatch. Shit. There are many ways an operative’s day can get fucked up. One of the worst is irritating the hardass trainer.

After a quick stop in the locker room to change, I rush into the training room with barely a minute to spare. Bodies are warming up all over the place when I walk onto the sparring floor. I scan the room looking for Sadie and find her in the middle, getting set to spar with another crew leader. Passing my own teammates already paired up, I approach Knot’s second in command and motion for Cade to get lost.

The man clocks my expression and doesn’t argue. He finds a new partner while Sadie studies me through narrowed eyes. Though curious, she doesn’t ask what I want, instead dropping her weight and bracing her feet in a ready stance. I pop in my mouthguard and get set as well.

Muffled slightly by her own mouthguard, Sadie teases, “You look like someone has ordered you to give a lecture on expressing feelings.”

I keep my voice low and thus the conversation private. “I want to talk to you about Birdie. What’s she into?”

With wide eyes, Sadie tilts her head to study me to gauge if I’m being serious. Before she can speak, Spatch blows his whistle and commands the room to practice a particular takedown and escape. I volunteer to go first, and Sadie steps behind me, putting me in a headlock. In my ear, she presses, “What do you mean into? Like men or women?”

Between the mouthguard and her choke hold, I can’t answer. I duck and spin, loosening Sadie’s grip, and flip her onto her back. “No, that’s not what I mean.”

The two of us reset so that I’m the attacker. “What does she do when she’s not here?”