Ultimate Engagement Read Free

was he to look at her like that?
    “She’s not trained,” Adam said.
    “Trained for what?” Sloan said, her voice increasingly high-pitched, not that either man seemed to pay attention. Surely they didn’t mean…
    “Trained enough, and besides, she doesn’t have to be. You just need a cover. A real plus is everybody loves Sloan. She could keep people distracted while you do your work and check the place out,” Seth said.
    “What work? What place?” Sloan asked, though at this point, the quiver in her stomach and Adam’s increasingly ferocious expression told her she knew exactly where this conversation was headed. And Sloan had no idea what to do with that, half of her beyond excited at the prospect, the other half tempering that excitement, telling herself it wouldn’t happen, and even if it did, she’d have to deal with Adam, the one who was currently glaring at her with a none-too-pleased expression on his face.
    “Any interest in going to Bali?” Seth said.
    Sloan let out a nervous laugh and then shook her head. She’d almost been expecting him to say that, maybe even hoping, but Seth had caught her unprepared.
    “Seth—”
    Seth turned to look at her then, seeming to ignore Adam for the moment.
    “So, we have a little situation,” Seth said.
    “Don’t you always?” Sloan replied.
    Silver Industries, in addition to having only the best soldiers, had a habit of getting into messes and somehow finding a way out of them, something Sloan had witnessed through their recollections and her very occasional assistance over the years.
    “It comes with the territory,” Seth said.
    “Sure. For you guys. What does this have to do with me? Why are you offering to take me to Bali?”
    “I’m not offering to take you,” Seth said, pausing to look at Adam significantly.
    Sloan risked doing the same, knowing what she’d find when she looked at his expression, knowing his deep brown eyes would tell her she didn’t measure up.
    “Seth. This is not happening,” Adam said.
    “Unless you have another option, I think it is,” Seth said, though he didn’t look at Adam.
    Sloan did look to Adam, and for the first time she could remember, she saw something akin to uncertainty on his face. It was an odd expression, one she would never associate with him but one present nonetheless. He was usually so closed off, Sloan had never even begun to try to hazard a guess as to what he had been thinking, and his expression certainly never gave it away. But as she looked at him now, she could see the question and the struggle in his eyes.
    Her lungs froze, and she didn’t even risk exhaling, all of her focused on this situation, which would have been unthinkable. A reasonable, sane person would run screaming at the idea of being a mercenary’s escort on an operation to investigate a corrupt former admiral.
    The same woman would run screaming at the idea of pretending to be the dating a soldier who seemed to hate her, but one she wanted with every fiber of her being.
    Sloan wondered when she’d stopped being reasonable and sane. Because as crazy as it sounded, as much as she knew Adam cared nothing for her, to make no mention of returning her desire, she wanted to go. She was absolutely terrified, but she wanted to go.
    As she watched Adam’s face, she saw the very instant he made his decision.
    “You’re going to do as I say, and you’re not going to get in my way,” Adam said gruffly.
    It was one of the rare times he had addressed her directly, and as she met his eyes, she saw he had again closed himself off and she couldn’t quite make out what he was thinking.
    “I—”
    “You’ll be awesome, Sloan,” Seth said.
    “Seth, I don’t think this is a good idea,” she said.
    She sounded timid, not exactly uncommon for her, but even the slight waver in her voice, the twisting uncertainty, was more than usual. Because she wanted to go, wanted to with every fiber of her being, but she knew her going was not a good