“Tell me about it. I still can’t believe I’m caught up in this, but here I am in France after being nearly blown up in Bermuda, shot at in Spain, then almost crashing to my death on a road you wouldn’t believe cutting through the mountains. I couldn’t have made up a wilder story.”
“True. You’re going to be telling this story over and over again to all the guys at work.”
Daniel chuckled at the thought. He’d never really hung out much with the bodyguards. He tended to linger with IT and the rest of the back-office staff who were more focused on forms and invoices.
“So…” Quinn drew out the word. “Edward is a hottie. I guess if you’ve got to be chased across Europe, he’s good company. No! Wait! Is he all fluff and no substance?”
“What?” Daniel asked, choking on a laugh.
“You know, all looks and no brains.”
Daniel laughed again at Quinn’s description. “Edward definitely has a brain. He’s incredibly smart. He’s perceptive with a slightly twisted sense of humor.”
“Hot and smart. And he’s taking you around Europe. Are you having wild and kinky sex in amazing places?”
Daniel paused, not sure he wanted to admit that. But his pause must have told Quinn a lot more than he’d planned, because laughter broke out over the line again.
“You are! You’ve landed yourself a hot secret agent man.” He sang the last part from the old Johnny Rivers song.
“Great.” Daniel rolled his eyes. “Now that’s going to be stuck in my head.”
“Enjoy the guy while you have the chance. It’s about time you got laid.”
“Hey now, you don’t know anything about my sex life.” Quinn didn’t because Daniel wasn’t one to brag. Not that he’d had anything to brag about. He hadn’t been with anyone since his breakup with Derek over a year ago.
“Trust me, I can tell. You should see the way you look at some of the agents here.”
Fire burned in Daniel’s cheeks, and he was glad Quinn couldn’t see him. He hadn’t realized he’d been so obvious in his admiration. He did like big men, and most of the bodyguards at Ward Security were huge. He thought of Edward and his broad shoulders, thought about the way he’d fucked him into the wall, and Daniel’s dick perked up.
“Don’t worry,” Quinn quipped. “I don’t blame you. This is the absolute best place to work.” He chuckled. “So, you’ll call me to keep in touch, right?”
“I promise.”
“And send me more pictures!” Quinn shouted before hanging up the phone.“The new set of buyers were North Korean, but they’re now out of the picture.”
James cursed at the other end of the line. Edward watched as Daniel disappeared into the bathroom. He paced the balcony—well, tried to pace but the balcony was microscopic. There wasn’t much of a view in the darkness. Daniel’s obvious eagerness to reignite their physical relationship had Edward somewhat recklessly choosing a small town less than an hour from where they’d encountered their tail. It would have taken too long to get to Toulouse, and he didn’t want to miss his chance to get his hands on Daniel again.
He glanced inside to see the other man hadn’t come back out yet. “I want Mr. Hendricks sent home tomorrow. Someone tried to kill us today, and he’s just an innocent civilian who has no business being pulled into this.”
“No,” James replied immediately. “He’s the best bait we have to lure out the other buyers, and so far we know there are two factions involved in this mess. They wouldn’t be trying to take you out if they didn’t believe they were dealing with the rogue agent. He’s still our best option.”
“No, he’s not. The guy is an accountant, for fuck’s sake. He likes fucking crossword puzzles. He’s not trained to be—”
“He was in the FBI. He’s perfect.”
“You know as well as I do that not everyone in the business is built to be a field agent, and Daniel is definitely not.”
He thought about him yelling in the car today during the car chase and had to smile. The man was funny. He was also sexy as hell, and Edward was doing the one thing he never did on jobs—getting attached. That was a real problem. He needed Daniel out of his hair and back to his home, safe and sound.
Maybe someday, he could search him out again.…
No, that was a ridiculous thought. There was no “someday” in his world. There was only the next job, the next mission.
He remembered him shoved against the wall and rocking that hot ass of his. The wonderful little sounds of pleasure Daniel made as if he couldn’t get enough. Edward inwardly cursed. He was getting too attached.
“Continue to Toulouse as planned. We’re vetting a new lead now and should have more information shortly.” There was a thread of command in James’s voice he’d heard before. It was his no-argument tone.