In retrospect, she was glad Shane had called a halt to things when he had. It would have been a massive mistake to take things further. But she had the feeling it would have been the sort of massive mistake she’d remember gleefully for the rest of her life.

15

Shane wanted to bounce his head off the steering wheel. He’d known that kiss was a mistake before it had started and yet he’d been unable to resist. So much for his mental fortitude. So much for his indomitable spirit and laser focus. He’d wanted to kiss her and she’d looked like she’d wanted to be kissed, so his libido had knocked aside all the other considerations and just gone for it. And then, afterward, he’d apologized.

He blew out a large breath. Totally fucked up.

Yael’s coolness at the end there when she’d very politely shown him the door hadn’t fooled him one bit. Calling her on it would do absolutely nothing except embarrass them both.

Ass. Hole.

He called Novak as he drove toward his apartment. It was a little after ten and he braced himself, knowing his boss would have expected to hear from him much sooner than this.

“You went after this guy Zenko yourself?” Novak wasted no time with pleasantries.

“We discovered a lead that was close enough to check out. As no one gave me the head’s up regarding the little trip to Fort Bragg, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to take a look.”

It was a dig. Shane had not appreciated being left out of that intel until after HRT had already deployed.

“We already had too many people on the ground,” Novak grumbled. “The FBI agents from Charlotte could have managed without our dog and pony show turning up. Anyway, you had all the fun. What happened at the cabin?”

“I wrote it all in my report—”

Novak exhaled heavily, sounding tired. “Shane, I don’t want to read a fucking report. I want you to tell me what happened.”

They were all still suffering the aftershocks of losing Montana and Scotty. Nothing would make things better anytime soon. Maybe that was the real reason Shane had kissed Yael earlier. To forget. And because he’d wanted to. A small pleasure in a sea of pain.

“Fine.” Shane gave an exaggerated sigh to lighten the atmosphere as he pulled into the parking lot outside his building. “We drove—”

“We?” Novak demanded.

Shane realized exactly where this was going before it started. “Myself and another member of the task force drove—”

“The computer hacker?”

“Coder.” Shane winced as he found himself defending her even though he was now convinced she was perfectly legit.