He shook his head, grimacing, and she felt comfortable he was sober enough to give his consent.
“Then let’s get out of here and go somewhere we can actually hear each other when we talk. Catch up. Or just pick up where we left off and skip all that other bullshit, huh?” Kennedy ignored the incredulous stare Knox shot her as she slapped a twenty on the bar and jerked her chin toward Liam, the “bartender,” who nodded, confirming the team had finished their part while she chatted with her mark. Aarav had helped Marcus and Sola wire Knox’s bunk with all sorts of surveillance devices she didn’t want to think about.
Because the truth was, she might play it off like she was taking one for the team by hooking up with Knox—while the rest of the Shields watched and listened in both for her safety and for leverage—but the truth was she would be living out one of her fantasies, to have one more chance to be close to her puppy love and pray that he might make a different decision at this juncture in their lives.
Nowthatwas stupid. This was only going to end one way—with him hating her as much as she had pretended to despise him while nursing her broken heart.
“I’ve got a cabin out back.” Knox tipped his head as he squinted at her, as if trying to evaluate if she was really serious. She didn’t blame him. The old her never would have been this bold. Hell, today her wouldn’t have been without the Shields’ directive either.
Kennedy channeled Sola, wishing she was as brazen as her friend, then curled her finger with the fresh polish the other woman had applied for her, and strutted toward the door, pretending to be a lot more confident than she felt.
Only the vibration of Knox’s heavy booted steps behind her, and James’s intel—whispered into the earpiece he’d assured her was invisible to the naked eye—calmed her doubts and fears. “He’s on your ass like Nolan’s truck was on the bumper of my poor little car.”
“I told you, it’s too small to see.” Nolan had apologized a million times already.
“No one’s ever complained about my size before,” James huffed.
Kennedy knew they were being lighthearted during the op for her benefit. Usually it was radio silence and precision, but they needed her to act natural, relaxed, or Knox would never fall into her trap. She wasn’t a superspy like Marcus or Jordan or Sola. She was a doctor, damn it.
But just this once, the team needed her. And she wasn’t going to let them down.
Hell, maybe even she had to win some closure for herself.
On the way out, she spotted Nolan leaning up against one of the porch posts on the rickety deck. He appeared to be far more interested in the woman he was chatting up than her, but she knew he was reading the situation from Sola’s expression as easily as a reflection of her and Knox when they passed by.
Kennedy wasn’t alone with Knox. That was both a relief and horrific.
Because Marcus was somewhere out there in the woods. And he could hear every damn word they said. Could he also catch the way her breathing had grown shallow and fast just knowing Knox was right there, within arms’ reach, and that what they were about to do next…maybe…hopefully…was going to be a hell of a lot more intimate than rehashing bad memories.
Knox caught up to her pretty damn quick, his longer strides making it easy for him to rest his fingers on her elbow as if he had every right to guide her deeper into the pretty green trees dripping moss. As the music faded, and the sound of rustling branches and birds or other small animals sprinting away from them in the underbrush on either side of the path became more prevalent, the pounding of her heart threatened to drown out her thoughts.
Thankfully, neither of them broke the temporary serenity until he slid a key from the pocket of his ripped jeans, unlocked the door, and ushered her inside.
James alerted the rest of the team to shift to their secondary positions. “Places, Shields. They’re in.”
And now it was entirely up to her. Could she get Knox to come peacefully? Anything else carried a threat, however minor, to the health and safety of her team, to Knox, and to herself.
She wasn’t sure how to broach the subject. Thankfully, he was a man of action.
If his vanishing act ten years ago had made her doubt the attraction she’d thought arced between them, he at least erased any doubt from her mind when he pinned her up against the wall barely inside the door, pushed his knee between hers and leaned in so that she felt every inch of him, from his shoulders to his thigh against her pussy, and his hard cock in between.
Unbidden, a sigh escaped her parted lips. His eyes dilated and he closed any remaining gap between them, laying his lips over hers and kissing the shit out of her.
A barely audible growl echoed across the otherwise silent comms. The fact that she knew it was Marcus’s and that he might be a tiny bit jealous didn’t make what Knox was doing to her feel any worse. She was probably going to go to hell for this, but at least she was sure she was going to enjoy it first.