The Flyboy's Temptation (16 page)

21

T
HE
COLD
-
STORAGE
door closed firmly behind her, sealing the room. While the room was used to store the live viruses, it was also equipped with the machinery to destroy them.

As she approached the machine, vials in hand, Hope's resolve wobbled again.

Am I doing the right thing?

She wasn't usually this indecisive, but then she'd never been faced with such a potentially big consequence in her hands.

It wasn't only her life's work on the line; Tanya had died for this breakthrough and even though there were potential ramifications if it were to fall in the wrong hands, the potential good it could do was astounding.

Was she being selfish? She didn't like to think so, but she hated to think that Tanya had died for nothing.

J.T. didn't agree with her decision to go back to Tessara and talk to Deirdre, but she had to get a feel for what was going on in their lab. What if Deirdre wasn't the mole and she was as clueless as the rest of them about who was secretly monitoring their projects? Didn't she owe it to Tessara to give them the chance to prove themselves before she destroyed company property?

Of course, the small print was that she would probably lose her job and likely face prison if it was found out that she'd destroyed the samples without permission, but that was a small price to pay for doing the right thing.

Hope worried her bottom lip. Wasn't it?

Okay, so the truth was she didn't want to go to jail. Starchy foods didn't agree with her digestion and orange was not her color.

But she wasn't a spy or trained to know if someone was lying, so how would she know if Deirdre was some kind of criminal mastermind or simply a power-hungry supervisor with zero sense of humor?

She could picture the watercooler chatter.

“Oh, how was South America? What did you do?”

“Great! I stole company property, crash-landed in Mexico, slept in the jungle, rode in the back of an old pickup truck to a small airport, only to fly to South America and be kidnapped by a crazy sociopathic billionaire who planned to beat me with a whip when I didn't agree to weaponize the virus I created. Oh, and I had some great local cuisine while I was there!” Pause. “What did I miss while I was gone?”

But as Hope knew, if anyone actually asked about her vacation, she would make up some grand lie about a boring staycation that involved binge-watching
Downton Abbey
and eating ice cream straight from the carton.

She pulled the vials carefully from the container, resigned to destroying them. J.T. was right—they were simply too dangerous to leave to chance.

She slid the vials into the autoclave machine, snapped the door shut and locked it, then pushed the button to eradicate the only viable samples of the virus on the planet.

A mixture of sadness and relief flooded her as she watched the timer. There was no turning back now. She and Tanya had already doctored their notes to show that their attempts had ended in failure. The only proof that they'd been successful was being cooked at 121 degrees Fahrenheit and the formula was locked inside Hope's head, where it would remain for the rest of her life.

“I hope I made the right decision,” she murmured with a quick prayer, and then exited the lab. Once clear, she removed her biohazard suit and tossed it down the chute for the incinerator and returned to the room where she'd left the guys.

“It's done,” she said, drawing a deep breath. “It'll take an hour for the process, but the vials are unmarked. No one will know what was in them. They'll just assume that someone was following protocol for live toxins when all hell broke loose here.”

“Works for me,” Teagan said, still on edge. “I say we blow this place now before whoever did this decides to come back.”

“I need to do one last thing,” she said, going to a panel and opening it.

“What are you doing?” J.T. asked, wary.

“I used my key card to get in here, which is an electronic record. I have to call it in or else I won't be able to answer questions without raising suspicion. Tanya had already prearranged for my trip here, so if I don't make it look as if I was just following instructions, they will look deeper.”

“Good point,” J.T. agreed, motioning. “Go ahead.”

Hope swallowed and made the call straight to Deirdre with the appropriate amount of terror in her voice.

“Something terrible happened here,” she told Deirdre, waking her with the news. It was the middle of the night in California. “I don't know what to do!”

Deirdre, a no-nonsense type A personality, snapped into efficiency mode. “Are you safe?”

“I think so. Whoever did this was gone by the time I arrived.”

“Good. I will alert the authorities. I want you to leave. We will take care of the details.”

Hope was happy to be off the hook and gratefully agreed. Deirdre clicked off and Hope turned to the guys and said, “Let's get the hell out of here before she changes her mind,” and they bailed.

* * *

T
HE
FOLLOWING
MORNING
J.T. awoke to a spicy aroma that was welcome to his growling belly.

Hope smiled, already dressed. “There was a street vendor outside the hotel. It smells pretty good. The guys already ate theirs, so I'm guessing it's safe. No threat of food poisoning.”

Swinging his legs over the bed, he tugged on his jeans. Hope looked like a vision out of his most erotic dreams, her hair pulled into a messy bun at the top of her head, her glasses perched on her cute nose, dressed in a soft short white linen dress that clung to her curves and made him want to rip it off.

“What's on the menu, aside from you?” he asked with a playful growl, tugging her close to nuzzle her neck. “Smells incredible.”

“Me or the breakfast?”

“Both.”

She laughed and pulled away. “It's nothing fancy, chorizo and eggs in a tortilla.”

“Sounds like my kind of breakfast.”

Hope laughed and handed him his burrito, but even as she smiled, there was something else behind her eyes that made him pause.

“Are you okay?”

“Great!” she returned brightly, but she was nervous. “Is it good?”

“Delicious,” he answered around a hot bite, still trying to decipher her strange behavior. “Are you sure nothing is bothering you? You seem on edge.”

“Actually, yes, there is something we should talk about,” she started, and he had a feeling he knew where this was going because he'd been grappling with it, too.

There was something happening between them that felt a lot deeper than simply lust.

The other night had felt different.

It hadn't been just sex.

It hadn't been two people fulfilling a need, scratching an itch.

The sex had felt more like...making love.

He didn't believe in love at first sight—lust, sure. But falling head over heels in love with a virtual stranger was a fairy tale and he was much too old to believe in nonsense made for kids.

But if that were true, how was it that he wasn't nailing down the details of his promised payment?

The fact that he couldn't give a shit about the money was telling.

Fall in love with a brainiac like Hope? Sure. That made sense.

They had zero in common.

Aside from the insane chemistry between the sheets, but what about real-life stuff?

How did she feel about gun control? He owned an arsenal.

How did she feel about global warming? He couldn't give a shit.

How did she feel about mustard or mayo on her sandwich? Mustard was appropriate for all sandwiches, at all times. Mayo was disgusting.

And more important, how the hell had she not considered the potential danger of her research if it fell into the wrong hands? Why hadn't she cared?

But even as the questions lingered, he wasn't ready to tackle them yet, so he deliberately switched tracks.

“So, what's the plan now?”

Hope seemed relieved to talk about something other than what was sitting between them.

“Deirdre called me early this morning while you were still sleeping. Tessara hates bad press. They handled the situation quickly and quietly. Deirdre said the violence was due to local militia trying to get their hands on chemicals they could manufacture drugs with, which is why nothing was missing that truly could've been disastrous.”

“Dumb criminals, zero. Tessara, one.”

“Yeah, except for the scientists who were killed. I'd say they lost that round.”

“True enough.”

“But the good news is that no one suspects anything about why I was really there. I still have my job and I'm not going to face jail time. I call that a win-win,” she said with a heavy sigh that belied the sentiment. He understood her feelings on that score. It was hard to fully appreciate a victory when it came at such a heavy cost.

J.T. finished his burrito. “I'm glad,” he said, and he meant it. He didn't want Hope getting in trouble when she'd worked so hard to make it right, but he was anxious to know what happened next, even if the answer scared him. “Where does that leave us?”

She paused, her gaze darting. “Us? You mean...?”

Here was his opportunity to jump in with both feet, but because she didn't take point, he chickened out. “No, I mean about our business relationship. I'm still out one plane,” he reminded her, cursing himself for being a pussy.

“Oh! Of course,” Hope said, flustered. “Yes, Tessara will pay my expenses. I will explain to Deirdre what happened and she'll have Accounting cut a check. That shouldn't be a problem, especially when they want to keep this incident quiet.”

“Are you actually going to keep working for that company?” he asked, incredulous, channeling his frustration into something else. “I mean, c'mon, don't you think you might want to start shopping your résumé around?”

“Tessara does good work,” she protested stiffly. “The innovations that come out of our labs are second to none. What if Tessara discovers a cure for cancer? Why wouldn't I want to be a part of that?”

“And what if they discover a way to turn people into half monkeys in some weird, unsanctioned, highly illegal experiment gone wrong? Tessara is dangerous.”

“One, that's ridiculous, and two, I think that's not your concern. I will pay for your plane and the agreed-upon fee. Tessara will pay for my return flight. You and your brother can return on your own, if you choose.”

“So that's it? ‘Sayonara, babe—it's been real'?”

“Not exactly, but you're pushing it that way by maligning the company I work for.”

“I call 'em as I see 'em.”

“As do I. Your opinion was not asked for or appreciated.”

Well, that was just great. “This is the thanks I get for risking my neck. Have you forgotten that it was Tessara that put you in this mess?”

“It wasn't Tessara,” she returned hotly. “It was Anso DeLeon.”

“Yeah? And who told DeLeon about your project? There's still a missing link and you're naive if you think it wasn't an inside job, which also means that you're still not safe with Tessara.”

That was pretty solid logic, but in his experience women rarely listened to logic when they were heated, and Hope was no exception, in spite of her brainpower.

“I appreciate everything you've done. I will make sure you are compensated generously for your services. I've called a cab. I just wanted to—” she hesitated, swallowing “—say goodbye properly.”

Properly? “Thanks,” he said. “Real considerate of you. Is the burrito my tip for saving your ass repeatedly?”

She blinked back sudden tears. “Why are you making this so difficult? I was trying to be nice. I thought you might be hungry.”

“And I was hungry, but I didn't expect you to feed me bullshit alongside my chorizo.”

“It's not bullshit.”

“It is.” He rose and stalked to her, crowding her space. He cupped her face, angry, but hurt, too. “It's all bullshit to cover up what you don't really want to talk about.”

“You're wrong,” she tried saying, but J.T. was done with listening and sealed his mouth to hers, drinking in the taste of her, savoring the feel of her soft lips against his.

She groaned into his mouth as their tongues tangled. The heat between them intensified. Even pissed as hell, he wanted her. He pulled her close, his hands roaming her backside.

Within seconds he was erect and ready. As he pressed himself against her, she moaned in response, melting against him.

“I was hoping breakfast might soften the blow,” she gasped, as he lifted her dress and found her damp and hot core.

“The burrito wasn't
that
good,” he growled, pinning her against the wall. His questing fingers pushed aside her panties to find her dewy folds. “Is this where you say, ‘It's not you—it's me'? Honey, I invented that speech.”

“J.T., I appreciate everything you've done for me and I know I owe you a plane—”

“Screw the plane,” he cut in, pushing his finger inside her willing heat as she shuddered at the sensual invasion. Was she breaking up with him? Well, technically they weren't dating, so they couldn't break up, but it felt the same when she was giving him the heave-ho.

And he wasn't ready to let her go.

“You and I both know that this was a short-term thing.” She caught her breath on a groan, then continued in a breathy tone. “I think it's best if we both admit that we know it's not going to last and we ought to cut our losses now before things get messy.”

“I'd say things are already messy.” He removed his finger and sucked her juices off with a hungry grin.

She blushed a pretty shade of pink. “That's not what I mean.”

“I know what you meant. Yeah, sure. I get where you're coming from. I mean, you and me just doesn't make sense in the big picture. There's only so much sex a person can have, right?”