He sprang off the bed and into the assailant. The man was enormous, but Braden took him flat to his back.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Thomas yelled, putting his hands in front of his face. “I’m the good guy, I’m the good guy.”
Braden froze and then rolled off him. “Sorry. Trained reaction.” He stood and offered him a hand up.
“At least I know I’m in good hands. Sheesh.” He took the hand, stood, and rubbed at the back of his head.
“What are you two play fighting for?” Maddie’s sleepy voice asked from the bed. “I thought my crazy cousins were waking me up.”
Thomas flipped on the light and Braden blinked at the brightness. He looked over to the bed. Maddie stretched and yawned and he was suddenly warm all over. It had been torture to stop kissing her last night. He wished he could do it all over again.
“Are we swimming in the dark?” Maddie asked. “How will I see the sharks coming after me?”
Thomas laughed. “It’s pre-dawn.” He extended the zip drive. “All decrypted and ready to take to Admiral Delta.”
Maddie scrambled out of the bed and hurried over to take the drive. “Did you look at it?”
“Oh, for sure. Lots of names, I’d assume King Frederick’s associates, but they could be targets. Davidson will have to do the research. There are some addresses, maybe locations King Frederick frequents, places he’s stored weapons, I don’t know. Then some bank accounts. Those will be nice to seize. Might get the government involved since they can’t resist seizing money, right? All about the money.” He gave an easy laugh. “Get ready. Let’s swim. Do you need suits?”
“I’ve got a fabulous swimsuit,” Maddie said, tucking the zip drive into a pocket in her purse.
Braden could only imagine how fabulous her suit would look on her. He focused on her face so he didn’t ogle her. “I can wear these shorts,” he said.
“All right. See you downstairs in two.” Thomas lumbered out the door.
“Great job, by the way. You are a genius,” Maddie called to him.
“Don’t I know it?” Thomas called happily back.
Braden couldn’t take his eyes from Maddie’s face. “So we swim, eat breakfast, drive back to Chicago and then …”
She bit at her lip. “Not sure. I’d better call Papa and see what the next life-threatening mission is.” She made her voice goofy.
“I hope it meets your requirements for peril and impossibility.” He smiled. She was so cute. Was she going to ditch him soon? He felt it coming and prayed his discernment was wrong this time. Completely wrong. He’d take her punching him in the abdomen every day over leaving him. He had to know, though… “Did you have the nightmare? I slept so soundly with you close I didn’t hear anything.”
Her smile became radiant. “I didn’t. Thank you, Braden. You are Beautiful, Buff, Not-Bad Braden.”
He smiled back and moved in to kiss her.
“Are you two not dressed yet?” Thomas demanded from the doorway. He stood in only his swim trunks, his massive, hairy chest matching the rest of his hair and body.
“How do you swim without the fish getting lost in that chest hair?” Maddie teased him.
“You laugh now, but I will leave you spinning in the wake of my freestyle,” Thomas boomed.
Maddie grabbed a bright floral suit from her bag and dodged to the bathroom. “We’ll see.”
Braden didn’t have to change, so he simply pulled his shirt off.
“Come on, follow me,” Thomas demanded.
He followed Thomas downstairs, though he’d rather wait for Maddie and maybe get a kiss before they swam. They waited for Maddie, him impatiently because he couldn’t wait to be close to her again, Thomas because he wanted to swim before the sun came up and the “foul boats” disturbed the lake’s glossy surface.
He could hear Maddie’s voice talking to somebody on the phone as she opened the bathroom door and came out the bedroom door. She was an absolute vision in the floral swimsuit that set off her smooth, tanned skin and long, blonde hair.
“Close your mouth, son. You’ll draw flies,” Thomas whispered to him, then chortled.
Braden arched his eyebrows and shrugged in response, not looking away from Maddie as she descended the stairs. She said goodbye to Papa and set the phone on the counter, blowing out a breath. “He says to hurry with the swim and breakfast. He wants that zip drive.”