“Stop gushing about me, Maudie. It’ll go to my head. Now, please clear my calendar for the next hour. I want to bring Halle up to speed on things. No interruptions.”
Maudie crossed her arms. “Fine.” But he saw faint speculation on her face. It wasn’t often he locked himself in the office with someone.
“See you later, Maudie,” Hadley said.
He waved Hadley ahead of him and she sauntered into his office. His gaze dropped down to her legs and those sky-high heels she wore. His damn fantasies stirred.
Then he caught Maudie eyeing him.
Bennett cleared his throat and followed Hadley into the office. He closed the door behind them.
She stood by his desk, studying his office.
He tried to see it through her eyes. It wasn’t sleek or glossy. The walls had old military antiques hanging or resting on shelves. There were old helmets, vests, canteens, and other items. The most modern thing was his big wooden desk.
And his brain delivered him the perfect image of Hadley in that dress, bent over his desk, his hands running up—
Hell.
He circled the polished wood and sat to hide his raging erection.
Hadley perused the shelves, then stopped by a framed photograph. It was a picture of Bennett and Hamed. It had been after a successful mission. They’d rescued a bunch of Afghan kids from a local warlord. They were still in their uniforms, hot and sweaty, arms slung over each other’s shoulders and smiling.
He stayed still and silent. Fuck, he missed the guy.
She looked back at him.
“My Afghan interpreter.” His throat tightened, dark memories stirring. Ones that always left him bleeding.
Hadley strode back his way, but like she sensed he didn’t want to talk about it, she didn’t ask any questions. He was grateful.
A part of him wanted to reach for her. Slide an arm around her and rest his face against her flat stomach. He wanted to touch her, whisper things to her that would make her writhe. He wanted to discover what she wanted, craved, and give it to her.
You shouldn’t even be breathing her air, with stained hands like yours, let alone thinking about touching her.The voice in his head sounded snide.
As he always did, he gritted his teeth and ignored it. Work always helped.
A closed laptop and cell phone rested on the side of his desk.
“These are Archie Martin’s?” she asked.
He nodded.
Hadley dropped into a seat on the other side of his desk and pulled the laptop toward her. “You’ve got the passwords?”
“They’re unlocked. They both belong to the company and my IT team’s been over them. There are no obvious signs of corporate espionage or terrorist leanings.”
She tapped on the keyboard. “Most people are good at lying, Knightley. You should know that.”
He sighed and sat back in his chair. “Are you always this cynical?”
She flicked him a glance. “Yes.”
“Do you trust anyone, Hadley?”
“Trust is for fools.” She tapped some more.
“I’d say Archie’s pretty transparent. Slightly geeky, bit of a klutz, good at his job. If he was playing me, he’s an Oscar-worthy actor.”