Page 114 of You Found Me
“Let me rephrase.” Annie looked like she was chewing her words. “What happened? You have that tick along your right temple that you get when you’re wrestling with something. Did Della have another party?”
“You know me too well. We should work on that.” He did his best to smooth his face, but he could tell she wasn’t buying it. “There’s nothing for you to be concerned about.”
He put his hands behind his head and leaned back so he could scowl at the ceiling. Della had gone upstairs to take a shower when he jumped on this call, which meant right now, above him, she was wet and naked.
Christ, he wanted to see that.
“Interesting.”
He glanced down. Annie had one leg crossed over the other like a very expensive therapist.
He dropped his arms. “Do you have a point? Because I have other things to do and you have somewhere to be.”
“You seem…edgy. The longer you’re in that town, the crankier you get. Why? What’d she do?”
He thought about how to answer that, but all he came up with was a non-answer. “Nothing. She’s coping pretty well, all things considered, but we can’t keep her here forever. Sooner or later, her cover will break. We don’t need that kind of shit storm. We need to get this wrapped up. Now.”
Annie considered him. “You know what I did for a living before you found me, Ward. You know my background.”
“Meaning?”
“I know what it’s like to have to play a role a little too long. It gets confusing. Lines get blurred.”
“What are you trying to say?” He kept his gaze steady and his tone neutral.
“You know what I’m saying.”
“Why don’t you spell it out.”
“Have you slept with her?”
“No.” He wanted to. Hell, he wanted to right now.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if you had. It’s a high-stress situation for both of you, and youarespending a lot of time together. You wouldn’t be the first to?—”
“I havenotslept with her.” He gave her a look that used to make his recruits shake in their boots.
It didn’t do a damn thing to Annie. “Uh-huh. If not that, then what? We’re a team. What affects you, affects us, so spill.”
“You know I’m your boss, right?”
She blinked at him. “And?”
“I tell you what to do, and you do it. You don’t interrogate me.”
“Right. So you didn’t sleep with her, you, what, saw her naked? Did you peek at her while she was in the shower?”
“No.” He closed his eyes and spit the words out. “I took her to see the sunflowers. We had a…moment.”
“Uh-huh.” Annie leaned closer. “Did this moment involve less clothing?”
“No.” He glared at her. “Get your mind out of the gutter.”
“If you want my mind somewhere else, it’s going to take details.”
“We almost kissed. That’s it.”
It hurt to say it. Physically hurt. Because it put him right down there with Diggs and all the other people who’d let their personal feelings get in the way of the job. All the scathing commentary he’d had for those people came rushing back to him, magnified through his own you-should-know-better lens.