Page 38 of Colton’s Secret Identity

Dylan saw the comprehension register in Veronica’s hazel eyes, the way she averted her gaze and made a show of examining the map of North Dakota and Saskatchewan. She didn’t want to be stuck with him any longer than he did with her. Too many memories, too much regret. Too strong an attraction remained. The kind of desire that made him start to think that maybe he should consider a change of career after this. Or at least, a change of work location.

No. Stay the course. Except he wasn’t sure what his personal course was anymore. What had been so definite to him when he’d come back to North Dakota had been upended by seeing and working with Veronica again.

“What is it?” Her steady, hazel gaze deserved nothing but honesty.

“Before we discuss our objectives, we need to clear the air.” He looked at her until she broke the shared glance and looked at the water. Veronica’s composure was intimidating to his heart, which he seemed to rip out of his chest each time they were together, no matter that they hadn’t so much as looked at each other with anything more than professionalism since last night.

Liar. Okay, so he’d noticed how the extra clothing he’d brought for her hugged her curves, reminding him of how she’d felt atop him in her apartment bed. And the way the coffee had wet those full lips…

“What is it?” She gazed at him again with an equanimity he envied. But he saw the way the side of her lip twitched, indicating she was chewing the inside of her cheek.

“You already know what I’m going to say, but here goes, anyway. I was a jerk for leaving the way I did, and a total loser for not ever contacting you again. The thing is, I can’t say I’d do anything differently today. There was no way it was going to work out between us, not if we were living several states and thousands of miles apart.” The confession tumbled out more quickly than he’d mentally rehearsed over the years, and to his consternation he didn’t feel relieved of one iota of the guilt he’d carried for the last half of a decade.

“Ha!” Her lips curled in a smile, but there was zero humor in her eyes, no warmth to her laugh.

Whoa.

“I wasn’t trying to tickle your funny bone,” he mumbled, suddenly on very unfamiliar territory. Dylan always knew where he stood with any criminal he was chasing down, with his colleagues. He added “able to pull the emotional rug from under my feet” to the list of talents this woman who watched him—with glee?—had.

“Trust me, there’s nothing humorous about this, but there is irony, don’t you think? Be honest, Dylan. You never thought twice about me, or Red Grove, or North Dakota—” she motioned with both hands, arms stretched wide “—the second the FBI tapped you for that first undercover assignment. Sure, it was supposed to be a temporary gig, but you did so well they recruited you on the spot. That wasn’t by accident, you’d always wanted to work for them. Remember me? I’m the ‘friend’”—she made air quotes—“that you confided in for nearly two years. The buddy you admitted could become more than a colleague. Or was I hallucinating?”

She’d thrown down a gauntlet he deserved.

“You’re right. Of course, you’re absolutely right.” He sounded like a blathering fool. You are a fool.

“Thanks, but I don’t need your validation. I know I’m right. Forget about the past. We’re here now, and we have a job to do. You know what I need, Dylan? I need a colleague I can trust to have my six while we bring down a potentially lethal threat. Someone I don’t have to wonder about being my friend or buddy or a special agent with benefits. Someone I won’t give a crap about ghosting me again.”

Slam. Her words pummeled his guilty conscience.

“I was there for you last night.” He had the scabs on his knees to prove it. The parking lot gravel had torn up his pants and her knees.

She nodded. “You were, and I appreciate it, my new budget wardrobe and all.” She motioned at the nondescript hoodie and leggings she wore that he’d purchased. “I’m here for you, too. But as your work partner, period. We’re going to get our objective and rip this trafficking channel up by its roots. Agreed?”

“Yeah. You got it.” Fine, she didn’t want to hear his apology. Can you blame her? Still, it stung more deeply than he’d have expected.

“So, what’s the plan, Dylan?”

He stared at her until that damned attraction began to arc between them again. Or at least the sparks were coming off him. Veronica appeared unaffected by their recent words, as if they’d never been more than colleagues.

Fine. He could be detached, too.

“All right, then.” He pushed his sleeves up. “Here’s how we’re going to approach this.”

He began to share all of the intelligence he’d gathered from his team, his conversations with Cal. The entire time he was speaking, another awareness tugged at his confidence. He’d been played by Veronica.

How the hell had he gone from being willing to apologize for being such a jerk years ago, to getting so expertly schooled by Veronica? He’d never noticed or observed this side of her before. Of course, he hadn’t even stayed around long enough to experience how she’d taken his sudden departure and immediate break-off of all communications. He’d ghosted her before it was labeled anything more than rude behavior.

This was all for the best, diving into their objective and planning to find first Rex, then Slim. Besides the actual takedown and eventual sentencing of a long-sought criminal, this part of an op was Dylan’s favorite. He enjoyed being on a team, relying on combined skill sets with another trusted special agent, or in this case, LEO.

So why did he have a nagging sense of regret over the fact that he’d been returned to a professional-only status with Veronica?

Chapter 16

By lunchtime, Veronica and Dylan had hashed out a plan, after sharing what they both knew about the case. She’d been able to provide the inside scoop on how Rex operated, how often his shipments arrived at Frisky, and how many dealers he required Frisky to keep on its dole.

Dylan had shared all of the FBI intelligence he was able to regarding the cartel and the elusive Slim, who was believed to be the mastermind behind the entire Upper Midwest trafficking scheme. The big kahuna.

“I never thought you’d be able to tell me what you just did.” She looked up at him, saw the familiar intensity in his eyes that meant his mind was firing on all cylinders. Dylan relished a challenge as much as she did, and they were up against the clock. “Is it because you’re concerned that Slim will disappear at any moment?” Kingpins notoriously changed locations on the regular, and Dylan believed Slim had been in Saskatchewan for at least the last several weeks.