Too Hard to Handle (Black Knights Inc. #8)(25)
“Pfft.” Chelsea waved a hand through the air. “Don’t let his humble act fool you. He’s a real-life MacGyver. Give him a paper clip, a rubber band, and some C4, and he’ll build you a rocket ship to the moon.”
One corner of his mouth twitched. “That mighta been pushing it.”
“Seriously.” Chelsea nodded, looking at Penni while jerking her head in Dan’s direction. “He’s awesome. A good man to have around.”
Okay. And now Chelsea was being beyond obvious, trying to convince Penni that even though he was a lowdown, no-account drunk, he still had some redeeming qualities. He closed his eyes and prayed for the floor to open up beneath him. Luckily, Zoelner came to the rescue.
“Not to interrupt this Dan’s Great and You Should Give Him a Chance Fest”—So much for the rescue. Jesus!—“but if he and Penni are up in the room getting ears on while discussing personal issues, then what the hell are you and I supposed to be doing?” He wagged a finger between himself and Chelsea.
“Well, I’m headed back to the room above the bakery,” Chelsea told him. “Ozzie is supposed to send me everything he can find on Kozlov.”
Zoelner glanced pointedly at her purse and the phone that had disappeared somewhere inside it.
“Silly rabbit.” Chelsea tsked. “He can’t very well transmit the docs to my cell.”
“Why the hell not?” Zoelner asked. “It’s encrypted out the wazoo.”
The look she gave him said she suspected his IQ fell far to the left of the curve. “True enough,” she admitted. “But there’s encrypted and then there’s encrypted. My laptop has air-gap networking. My cell phone does not.”
Zoelner raised a brow.
“One is completely secure,” Chelsea explained. “One is not. Do I have to say it again?”
“What?”
“Silly rabbit.”
Zoelner shook his head. “You and Ozzie.” He snorted. “You two would make quite a pair.”
“I know.” Chelsea grinned. “And so does he. Which is why he keeps asking me to marry him.”
Zoelner made a rude noise. “Like I’ve told you a million times, that guy is nothing but hot air and hormones.” He turned to Penni. “How many times has Ozzie proposed to you, may I ask?”
“Including the even dozen times he managed it while booking my flight here?” A smile as bright as a Roman candle curved Penni’s beautiful, kissable, irresistible mouth.
Of course, thinking about Ozzie flirting with her dulled the impact of the expression a bit. And something inside Dan, whatever that something was that wasn’t jealousy but a close cousin of the emotion, once again reared its ugly head. Ozzie was too handsome for his own good, and too charming for the good or safety of all womankind.
Inexplicably, Dan imagined himself punching the bastard in the peanut pouch. The fact that he found the fantasy so satisfying probably called into question that whole “close cousin” of jealousy thing he was trying so hard to convince himself of.
“See, Chels.” Zoelner jerked his head in Penni’s direction, his tone smug. “Told you.”
Chelsea rolled her eyes. Something she always seemed to do whenever Zoelner was winning one of their unending arguments.
“But back to the point,” Zoelner said, his tone self-satisfied.
“Do you even remember what the point is?” Chelsea asked with false sweetness.
Ignoring her question, Zoelner reiterated, “So they’re going to go upstairs to get ears on Kozlov.” Dan opened his mouth to remind Zoelner that Penni had not agreed to any of this. There was probably still time for her to rebook the room in her original hotel. Come to think of it, he hoped she would. He didn’t like the idea of her staying next door to a Russian packing a Thompson/Center Contender. But before he could say anything, Zoelner continued. “And you’re going to go back to the bakery to geek out with Ozzie over your air-gap network. So what the hell am I supposed to do?”
“Well,” Chelsea said, “first you can go take a flying leap. Second, you can pay the bill.” She ticked the items off on her fingers. “And third, you can hang around here until Dan can wire Kozlov’s room. Just in case Kozlov decides to leave the premises beforehand and you need to follow him. Sound like a plan?”
“Uh…parts of it,” Zoelner said, rubbing a hand under his chin. Dan couldn’t tell if Zoelner wanted to strangle her or strip her naked. It was definitely one or the other.
“Good.” Chelsea batted her lashes. “So should we all put our hands in the middle of the table and yell Break?”
And Dan finally saw his chance. “Wait a goddamn minute here. Penni hasn’t agreed to any of this.”
He didn’t want to look over at her. He didn’t want to see pity or regret or…who knows what in her face. But he’d spent quite a long time hiding from the hard things, the things guaranteed to hurt him. And by God, he was hell and done with being a yellow-bellied coward. He turned to face her, girding himself for whatever awful expression she wore.
And there it was. That look. But inexplicably, and despite the fact he’d always prided himself on being able to read people, he hadn’t the first clue how to decipher it. It certainly wasn’t awful. It was…contemplative, maybe? Sort of…curious? He felt the movement of her eyes across his face like a physical touch, hesitant and warm. Goose bumps erupted up his arms and across his back.