Page 52 of Altered By Lead (Undercover Sinners 2)
He shrugs. Again. Damn, he's toned. Was he always so toned? Or is that a result of all the extra training he's been doing to make up for his injuries?
"Yeah. Feelings and stuff. Don't make me elaborate."
As tempting as it is, I've already acted like a bitch once this morning and I haven't even sat up yet. "Okay, well, for the record I agree. I also never expected to feel ... stuff. So, starting over?"
Colt nods and sticks out his hand to me. "Hey, I'm Colton Samuel Ryan, but my friends call me Colt. You're crazy beautiful, did you know?"
I laugh. I can't help it. He's standing there in his undies, introducing himself like it’s the first time we're meeting and ... and ... a warm fuzzy feeling envelops my bitter, twisted heart. I push myself up to sitting on the side of the bed and reach out to shake his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Colt. I'm Natalia."
His warm hand holds mine with perfect pressure. Nothing worse than a guy who tries to dominate a handshake with a woman, or one who shakes like a wet fish.
"Just Natalia?" he asks, tilting his head to the side.
I pause a moment, biting my lip, then nod. "Just Natalia. I have no family name."
Or family.
Colt's green eyes hold far too much understanding, too much insight into my pain, and I squirm.
"Well, Natalia No-Last-Name, it's a serious pleasure to meet you. Do you like coffee?" He raises his brows and gives the mug on my nightstand a pointed look.
"I love coffee," I reply with a girly grin. This is such a stupid game we're playing, but it's pressing all my buttons in the best possible way. "Is that for me?"
Colt grins a boyish, charming grin. How this guy isn't already under lock and key by some lucky chick, I'll never know. He's a serious catch—if you can ignore the whole mercenary-for-hire with very low moral code thing.
Before he can reply, though, there’s a loud bang down the hall and someone shouts a curse.
"Oh, ah, before I forget," Colt hurries to say, his gaze darting to the door and back to me, "you have a briefing meeting with headquarters today. Hawke wanted you downstairs about five minutes ago."
"Recruit!" Hawke's voice hollers up to us, and I bolt out of bed. "You have thirty seconds or you'll be walking the whole way. Move it!"
Colt cringes. "Sorry, babe."
"What the fuck, Colt?" I hiss as I throw yesterday's dirty clothes on and snap my new chocolate brown locks into a high ponytail.
"I got caught up," he says apologetically and swipes up my coffee to hand to me. "Here, drink some of this."
Without waiting for my reply, he hunts my combat boots out from under the bed and retrieves a fresh pair of socks while I do as I'm told. Drink my coffee.
"Ten ... nine ... eight ..." Hawke is yelling a countdown up the stairs and fuck do I ever want to punch him in the face.
"Thanks," I tell Colt, exchanging the empty coffee mug for my boots and turning to dash out of the room. At the last second, I double back and plant a heated, coffee-laced kiss against Colt's lips. "Let's continue this later. It's fun." With a wink, I sprint down the creaking staircase and blow past Hawke's scowling form right as he hits one.
Take that, asshole.
Hawke's blacked-out Lincoln Navigator is idling in the driveway so by the time he slides in behind the steering wheel, I'm already seated in the passenger seat and tugging my socks onto my feet.
"I expected you downstairs half an hour ago," Hawke snaps as he guns the engine. Clearly someone still has a serious stick up his ass over our little argument.
I shrug, stuffing my feet into my boots and starting to lace them up. "Then you should have woken me up yourself. Or would that be too much torture on those blue balls of yours?" I shoot him a wicked grin. "I was sleeping naked, you know?"
Such a lie, I'd been sleeping in one of Mace's t-shirts. Still, the way Hawke's knuckles tighten on the steering wheel makes me snicker. He's slowly losing his mind.
"So, debriefing with the important people?" I change the subject because deep down I suspect I'll come off second best if I push Hawke too far. Also, I'm buzzing with anticipation. This is what I've been waiting for, right? Hang on ... "Does that mean you suddenly think I'm worthy of being on your team?"
Hawke lets out a small growl, but doesn't spare me a look. "Not even close, recruit. This briefing was called by headquarters. They're becoming impatient with our lack of progress on your father."
I bite my lip and nod silently, shifting my attention out the window. It's a sobering reminder that our stay at the Rouge Elk isn't just a vacation. It's not some reality TV dating show where the girl gets to pick out her harem and make them jump through ridiculous hoops for the honor of licking her cunt. We're training. I'm training. To kill my father. My last remaining family member since my mom disappeared off the face of the earth six years ago.
