Page 101 of False Flag

He chuckled and whispered, lips tickling her ear. “Wait until you find out what else I can do with my thumbs.”

“You’ll need to use something other than your thumbs, because you aren’t allowed to stop massaging my shoulders.”

He wiggled, and she felt his erection against her lower back. “Works for me.”

She laughed.

This had been a day. It began in a Victoria hotel, but now they were back on Letora Island, and after a tense dinner with Gerard and Casper, they were finally going to get a glimpse of what Lloyd had been working on in the days before he died.

That Jake could make her laugh and feel good right now was a gift. She tilted her head back and twisted so she could meet his gaze. His blue eyes shone with warmth. He shifted and lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her deeply. His left hand continued massaging, his right hand cupped her breast, running a thumb over her erect nipple.

Kissing Jake wasn’t just heat and pleasure. It was grounding. Foundational.

This man, who she’d blown off, used, then rejected and discounted even though she wanted him, had been steadfast from the start.

She pulled back from the kiss and smiled. “Ever ready.”

He grinned. “Clan motto, or your dirty interpretation?”

“I mean, both? But I was referring to the motto. How you fulfill it. Prepared. Ready to take action. Steadfast commitment. You really are a Burns. Jake the magnificent.”

Dimples creased his cheeks as he brushed her temple with his fingertips, his trimmed nails scraping lightly, triggering a tingling sensation. “I meant what I said this morning.”

His words whispered in her mind. “I think I’m falling in love with you.”

What a difference a day makes. Their relationship had changed in the hours since he’d said those words. During the meeting with NSWC and again with Xavier, Bastian and Brie as they developed a plan for keeping Jake on the team, she kept revisiting the thoughts she’d had that first night in the hotel: the man she’d been so intensely attracted to at the party was the real Jake. Funny. Kind. Smart. Protective.

That she’d felt such a wild attraction when she’d believed the worst meant she could, in fact, trust her instincts when it came to Jake.

Her heart had been right about him. He was safe.

It remained to be seen if his feelings would still be there when his grief faded, but she had little doubt about her own feelings.

She pulled his head down for another kiss, then faced the computer again. He resumed massaging her shoulders, and she let out a soft moan as he worked along the edge of her scapula.

The mapping files were still loading, but Lloyd’s emails and messages were readable.

She pulled the computer forward so Jake could read over her shoulder.

Staci opened a notepad on the desktop and typed a message.

I never saw this email account. Lloyd kept it hidden when I was in the office. Think it’s a sock puppet?

Jake’s hand slid around her side, and he cupped a breast, then tweaked her nipple. He whispered, “One means yes. Two means no.”

She typed again.

You’re just copping a feel.

He tweaked her nipple again.

She laughed.

There are easier ways to communicate.

His other hand slid around, and he tweaked both nipples at once. No.

She laughed again.