The Dom Who Loved Me (Masters and Mercenaries #1)(17)

Adam’s fist pumped in victory. “That’s a plan, my brother. We’re better equipped to do it anyway. One of us can keep Grace happily occupied while the other gets the job done.”

Jake laughed. “Yeah, you just remember who takes care of communications. Have fun working, computer geek.”

“Stop it, both of you.” Sean knew he’d f*cked up when every head in the place turned. He forced himself to smile. He lowered his voice. “You’re not sleeping with Grace.”

He wasn’t going to allow that to happen. He could handle this. He could handle Grace. She wasn’t different from the other subs he’d known. She was sweet and lovely, and he would walk away from her. She was just a job.

Jake shook his head. “Watch yourself, Sarge. You better not forget that she’s involved in this.”

“She is not,” Adam replied. “That woman is not in league with a damn terrorist. You’ve lost your mind if you think that.”

“Oh, she’s involved,” Jake said, picking up his jacket. “If Patrick Wright is here, Matthew Wright is working with him. If Matt is working with him, there’s no way Grace isn’t involved.”

“Those are some big ‘ifs,’ Jake.” Adam slid out, too. His face was set in stubborn lines. He’d picked his side.

Sean had picked his side, too. He just wasn’t sure it was the right one. He’d been burned before. “She keeps that case close. How many admins have briefcases with locks on them?”

It was a quandary. Every instinct he had told him that Grace Hawthorne was just what she claimed to be. And Grace wouldn’t be the first woman to figure out that sweet and submissive was an awfully good way to cover up criminal activities.

“I don’t buy it,” Adam said. “But I can see I’m the only one who hasn’t given in to complete cynicism. I’m going home. I have an eight o’clock meeting. I hate sales.”

Jake threw his hands up. “We’re not going home, *. I set up a date with the bartender. I had to convince her that you were drinking the Cosmo as a bet. She was pretty sure you were gay.”

Adam drew his hands over his chest. “Are you talking about double D’s?”

“Yeah, the blonde with the huge rack and an open mind. We’re due at her place in half an hour,” Jake said. “Unless, of course, you have to get your beauty sleep.”

“Fuck you, *. Damn, she’s hot. I want the back door this time,” Adam said eagerly. He was moving way faster than he was before.

And he was forgetting a couple of things. “You two better be careful. I don’t give a damn what you do off the clock, but you be discreet. None of this better get around that office.”

Jake held out a key. “Already thought of it. She wants us waiting for her.”

Trust Jacob Dean to have gotten some random waitress to give him the key to her apartment in exchange for the promise of multiple orgasms. Sean waved them off. “Good night, guys.”

They left, and Sean was alone. He took a long sip of his beer and thought about how Grace had softened against him. She’d tilted her head up, and he’d almost leaned over to brush his lips against hers. He’d wanted to order her to open her mouth and submit to him. She’d responded so well when he’d turned his Dom voice on and told her what he expected. She would respond the same way when he got her into bed. She would flower open for him once he’d trained her, and he would take care of her.

Damn it. He couldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t get close. He had to keep it light. He would get in her bed, but he wasn’t about to open up to her.

No matter what happened, he had to be able to walk away. The trouble was, he was starting to think that he wouldn’t want to.





Chapter Five


Three days later, Grace sank into the pool, sighing as the cool water covered her body. It was peaceful and quiet in her backyard. Her neighbors were elderly and rarely came out after dark, so Grace enjoyed the glorious solitude. Though the September days were ridiculously hot in Texas, the nights had started to take on a cooler, autumnal air. Grace looked up at the nighttime sky. For fourteen years, she’d called this three bedroom ranch-style house home. It had been her and Pete’s dream house. She would have to sell it soon. It didn’t make sense keeping it all on her own. She’d started swimming every single night she could when she’d had that revelation. The water would be too cold to swim in soon. Grace leisurely swam in the moonlight, her mind processing the last few days.

She’d tried to keep Mr. Sean Johansson at arm’s length. He seemed intent on screwing up her perfectly rational plan. The day after they had danced together, he’d asked her to lunch. When she’d politely declined, he shown up in the building’s cafeteria where she and Kayla were meeting. He’d promptly charmed the pants off Kayla, who announced that she’d take him if Grace didn’t want him.

The big Viking seemed intent on wearing her down. He’d asked her out to dinner every single night, those blue eyes of his pulling at her. He’d followed her to happy hour and been really sweet to Kay and their new friends, Adam and Jacob.

That was the real problem with Sean. If he was just a pretty face and a hot body, she wouldn’t be struggling. He was also…sweet. He talked to her. He asked her questions about her sons and what she liked to do in her free time. He seemed truly interested in her as a person.