The Trouble With Temptation (Second Service Book 3)(36)

Just like he didn’t really care about the simple remote controlled robot she’d just made. She could see right through his attempts to keep her busy and distracted…and she appreciated the hell out of them.

Especially, since he didn’t have to. He didn’t have to be doing any of this—not entertaining her plan to stop Barinov, not bringing her to Michael’s warehouse, and definitely not trusting these people the way she did.

She couldn’t remember the last time someone had believed in her the way Ty had. Not Gregg. Not even Michael.

They’d depended on her, sure. They’d even trusted her with important stuff. But they hadn’t really believed in her, not to the extent that they gave her opinion as much weight as their own.

And that was just what Ty was doing.

“And what makes you glow?” Morgan asked as she leaned against his chest.

“Stopping the bad guy. Saving the day.” He lifted his hand to her shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. “The usual James Bond stuff.”

Morgan tilted her head back so he could see her roll her eyes.

“You asked,” he said with a grin.

“Fair enough.” Morgan put the wheels down on the hard floor and picked up the remote. She tucked her bottom between Ty’s outstretched legs and flicked the on switch. The robot twitched as power surged through its parts. She pushed the toggle forward and the machine began to roll. “So what made you want to be a secret agent anyway?”

“Same thing that makes you want to build robots, I guess. It’s just in our blood.”

“Yeah, but it gets there somehow.” Morgan maneuvered the wheels into a seamless figure eight. “I got into this after Gregg teased me for believing that C-3PO was a real robot and not an actor in a metal suit.”

“That sounds like a good reason.”

“What about you?”

Morgan felt Ty stiffen behind her. She didn’t press him. She just played with the switches on her remote, turning the robot this way and that, hoping that he’d trust her with the answer.

“I didn’t grow up in the best neighborhood,” Ty said a full minute later. “I lost some friends. It didn’t seem like anyone in a position to stop the violence cared enough to try.”

“I’m sorry,” Morgan said, putting down the remote. She turned around to look at Ty. His gaze was focused somewhere far away, and the devil-may-care look was gone.

“It was a long time ago.”

“I’m still sorry.”

He nodded. “The Navy gave me a way out and I was grateful for it. When I got out, I decided I would be the person that cared enough to stop it.”

Silence hung in the air for another couple of seconds before Ty looked back down at her.

“Wow,” Morgan said, giving him a tight smile. “Your story wins.”

Ty chuckled, the humor coming back into his eyes. He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “Just so long as we have that straight.”

He tilted his head down toward her lips. Morgan closed her eyes. She leaned forward.

And heard a not-so subtle cough behind her.

Morgan opened her eyes and found Ty glaring daggers at someone behind her. She swiveled around. Michael stood about ten feet away.

“I’m not interrupting something, am I?” he asked.

“Of course not,” Ty said with a heavy sigh. “Why would you even ask?”

“Because it looked like you two were about to kiss.”

“About to. But not anymore,” Ty said. He rose to his feet and adjusted the front of his pants. “Did you need something?”

“Yeah,” he said. “We’ve got a mock up that should work for what you need. I thought you’d want to see it.”

“That was fast.” Morgan took Ty’s outstretched hand and he lifted her up. “We’d love to see what you’ve got.”

Morgan followed Michael down the hall. She could hear Ty’s heavy footsteps right behind her. Just like she could hear him muttering under his breath, “Yeah, Michael. I’d love to see what you’ve got.”

***

As much as Ty hated to admit it, Michael’s device was perfect. Small, portable, easy to use—it was everything they could have hoped for. All Morgan had to do was attach the gadget to the electric panel of her brother’s safe and manually run through the numbers. The device’s light would turn from red to green when she hit the next correct key in the sequence. Then she’d just have to put them together at the end.

She could be in and out in under five minutes.

It was an impressive solution to a difficult problem. So why was he struggling against the urge to clock Michael square in the jaw instead of pat him on the back?

Maybe it was the way Morgan had decided to thank Michael when he’d handed her the gadget—throwing her arms around the guy’s neck and laying a big ol’ kiss on his cheek.

Of course, that didn’t make sense. Even if Ty was the jealous kind—which he wasn’t—he was still smart enough to know the difference between a friendly show of appreciation and a true moment of intimacy.

What was with the sudden surge of possessiveness?

All Ty knew was how close—and long—Michael was holding her wasn’t helping any.

He gave a loud cough.