I stormed out before replaying what I’d said in my head. What the fuck had I been thinking? It was going to happen again? Was that supposed to be a threat? Had I just threatened Kev with… a kiss?
I smacked my forehead. “Stupid fucking fucker,” I murmured. “You should have agreed with him.” Because Kev was right. Our lives would be noticeably easier if we pretended nothing had happened.
Easier, maybe. But not better.
I groaned and headed upstairs. It was time to focus on work. We had more Horns to target.
I managed to successfully avoid Kev for nearly twenty-four hours while the Champion Security teams traveled to Haiti and New Mexico.
This was great in the sense that I’d managed to take several breaths without searching for his scent, go entire minutes without listening for his voice in my ear over comms, and string multiple thoughts together that didn’t revolve around kissing, holding, or shaking the man.
It was also a serious fucking error because while I was doing my best to ignore him, Kev and Champ had somehow gotten it into their heads that Kev should join us in the field for our next retrieval so he could “gain experience” on an easy op before he took a starring role in Vegas. I wasn’t sure who had decided this was a good idea, but they were dead wrong.
Which was how he’d ended up on the op in Miami with us.
Champ’s voice came through my ear. “Confirm eyes on the target, Team One.”
As the other members of the team checked in one by one, I peered through the hazy smoke at the throng of dancers swaying hypnotically on the floor of Azul, Miami’s hottest nightclub, searching out our target, Freddy Rosendo. Our plan tonight had involved surrounding Freddy on the dance floor, which was how I’d found myself shirtless under a black leather jacket and half-deafened by electronic dance music. But it was very difficult to focus on our target when one of my team members had decided to trade his nerdy graphic tees for a cropped mesh top, his baggy khakis for low-slung jeans, and his geeky black-framed glasses for contact lenses and purple glitter eye makeup.
Kev’s body was fine with a capital F. Apparently he’d been hiding some serious abs and arm definition under his baggy clothes, but now that it was on display, I couldn’t take my eyes off him… and neither could half the people in the club.
My dick had been hard for two hours, and my back teeth hurt from clenching them.
“Huxley,” Champ’s voice broke into my thoughts again. “Confirm.”
Kevin Rogers was a distraction to this mission. As long as he was here, how the hell could our team—namely me—stay focused on the target?
Belatedly, I pushed the button on the side of my watch that engaged my mic. “Yeah,” I managed. “Got it.”
“Good,” Champ said. “Everyone close in a little.”
As a group, we danced closer to each other, subtly tightening the circle around our target. Kev’s hip brushed mine, and I sucked in a breath. Someone knocked into him, pushing him against me again. This time, Kev lost his footing and stumbled. I reached around him with both arms and pulled him in tight to my bare chest to keep him from falling.
“Oh,” he said as his sweat-slick skin touched mine. His hot breath made shivers dance down my neck. The club lights flashed across his face, lighting up the sparkles near his eyes in rainbow colors.
My arms tightened as I stared at him. He was just a tiny bit taller than me—almost unnoticeable in our day to day since I was much more muscular and we rarely stood this close—but I liked it. I liked the way he had to tilt his head just slightly to look at me, leaving no doubt that he was focused on me just like I was on him, and—
From the corner of my eye, I saw Elvo close in from behind Freddy while Yolanda, who had poured herself into a dress comprised mostly of black plastic lacing and safety pins, distracted him. Once Freddy was engrossed in dancing with Yolanda, Elvo would swipe the Horn, hand it off to me to download the data as quickly as possible, and slide it back into the guy’s pocket.
Fuck. We were here to do an important job. I was on the clock.
The surprising press of Kev’s dick against my hip made focusing on the job impossible until Champ’s voice hissed into my ear again. “Okay, now.”
Kev’s eyes met mine, and we let go of each other at the same time. Elvo shoved the Horn into my hand while Jordan swayed over to Kev, putting their hands on Kev’s hips. Kev lifted his hands in the air, shifting in time to the music, blocking me from Freddy’s view completely.