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He pressed his lips together and shook his head, which of course drew her gaze to his mouth and made her remember how he—

Nope Don’t go there She blew out a deep breath

They continued down the hall, the click of her heels on the tile floor and the intere rectangular lobby decorated with flags and portraits of the president and the base’s co officer

A young soldier stood by the glass front doors talking on his cell phone He turned when he heard the east across—” He paused “Roger that I’ll take them there” He lowered the phone and approached, a troubled expression on his young face “Sirs, ma’am, I’m afraid we have a hiccup in the plans”

“What is it, Soldier?” Colton asked

The guy gestured toward the doors “Looks like monsoon season came a little early this year, sir,” he said “The storm’s washed out the roads, which doesn’t hts for the rest of the day due to the wind and lightning”

Kady frowned and e control on tomorrow’s schedule

“That’s not a hiccup That’s a disaster,” Beckstein said,his brow “I have work to do A company to run What exactly are we supposed to do now?” He turned on her “This is all your fault”

She inhaled to respond when Colton held a hand up to Beckstein “That’s not helping anyone, Al,” he said

Kady bit the inside of her cheek to keep fro at the little man’s scowl She shouldn’t like the way Colton always stood up for her, especially when his sense of duty to her older brother played a role in the behavior, but she supposed it wasSometimes

“So what’s plan B?” Colton asked the soldier

“I’ve been authorized to take you to the motel in tohenever you’re ready” He slipped his phone into his pocket

“Lead the way,” Colton said, tucking his bag under the flap of his suit coat

Kady sighed as she followed the soldier out the door and into wind blowing so hard the rain pelted sideways Hugging her bags to her chest to protect her laptop, she ran for the white govern to be soaked This was one of those tih maintenance

“Think it’ll rain today?” Colton called over the deluge

Kady couldn’t hold back a s desert, Brooks Never rains here” She cla in her heels and her cute white blouse plastered to her skin Which reminded her that she didn’t have any other clothes with her

Maybe there was a store in tohere she could pick up a few basics? If not, she’d be putting the blow-dryer to good use so she at least had soht She couldas she had her laptop and her personal hot spot, she could be happy just about anywhere

When Beckstein took the front passenger seat, Colton tugged the sliding door to the back shut and shifted into the seat in front of her He gazed over his shoulder, his mouth half open with some smart-ass comment no doubt, when he did a double take and turned toward her, a scowl darkening his expression The next thing she kneas shrugging out of his suit jacket and handing it over the seat to her “Put this on,” he said in a low voice “Now”

“Excuse me?” she said His bossiness was totally not one of hisqualities

He arched a brow and gave her a pointed look

&nbs

p; Kady gazed down at herself Oh Oh, shit The rain had turned the crisp cotton of her favorite white button-doith the square neckline and the ruffle collar absolutely sheer So sheer the pattern in the lace of her bra showed through Meeting his gaze again, she rolled her eyes but accepted the jacket “Thanks,” she said,back any embarrassment After all, it wasn’t like this was the first time he’d seen her breasts

Before she had the suit coat halfway on, she already knew agreeing to wear it was a huge mistake Because it smelled frickin’ fantastic Like clean soap and spicy aftershave and so entirely intoxicating Her mouth watered and her heart raced, and that irritated her because damnit she hated that he had this kind of power over her body And it wasn’t even hi her Not that he would Or that she would let him

She was pretty sure he’d met and exceeded her tolerance for humiliation this decade, thank you very ether was ancient history as far as she was concerned And she’d be surprised if he ever thought of it at all

“It’s wet,” she said as the rain-chilled wool settled on her shoulders

“Not as wet as you,” he murmured

She gaped up at hi jaw told her he was fully aware of the double entendre of his words—and that those words had the power to heat her cheeks—and other places Kady bit down on the snarky response that flew to the tip of her tongue: Wouldn’t you like to know? Colton had always given good banter, but why the hell was he pulling out the innuendo when he’d been the one to back off and decide the two of theed the jacket closed It was so big, it easily crossed over her chest in overlapping layers “Happy?”

“Ecstatic,” he deadpanned, lips pressed tight and eyes narrowed As the van got under way, he glanced forward, allowing her to drink in his profile The rain had turned his hair nearly black and she had to fist her hands against the urge to catch the droplets of water running down his jaith her fingers Or her tongue