Ultimate Engagement Read Free Page B

Adam had felt it. He’d held her hand maybe a touch longer than was appropriate, but after a second he’d let her go, and she’d smiled at him again, still bright, but different than it had been before.
    That had been the first and last time he’d touched her.
    But not the last time he’d wanted to.
    One look and a handshake, and Sloan had burrowed her way into him, and every sideways glance, every glimpse of her beautiful smile and amazing body, only increased her hold over him.
    But he never acted on it, and if her distance from him was a reflection of how she felt, that was a very good thing. She went out of her way, or at least it seemed so to him, to ignore him, seemed to make every effort not to be alone with him.
    That bugged the fuck out of him, but he also appreciated the fact she kept those boundaries, ones he wasn’t sure he would be able to maintain himself. Now they were supposed to spend nearly a week together in close quarters, pretending to be engaged?
    He didn’t know if he would make it.
    And from Sloan’s stricken expression, she must be feeling the same way.
    “You don’t have to do this,” he said, hoping he sounded reassuring but not so sure when she widened her eyes.
    “You need me,” she said a moment later.
    He tried to deny it, and made a concerted effort not to elaborate on that point and instead said, “This isn’t your responsibility. You don’t have to do it.”
    “So that’s why you’re here? To talk me out of going?” Sloan said, her eyebrows drooping, her expression pinched with clear disappointment.
    Adam thrilled at the prospect, but he quickly reminded himself this was probably a trip she was looking forward to, a little bit of excitement that had nothing at all to do with him.
    “No. I came to take you to the airport with me, but you don’t have to do this,” he said.
    She smiled, the expression not as bright as usual but genuine all the same. “Adam, I’m beginning to think you’re of the mind I don’t have to do this,” she said.
    A smile of his own tugged at the corner of his lips, and he allowed himself a rare laugh. “Lucian signed off, and Seth was practically jumping with joy, but neither one of them took the time to give you that option.”
    “Give me that option? They didn’t, and it’s very considerate of you to, but I’m here and I’m taking this trip for the team. It’s the very least I can do, and since you need me, I’m going to be there.”
    “This could get dangerous, Sloan,” he said, sobering.
    She nodded. “It could. But you’ll be there.”
    Her voice was completely firm, didn’t betray the slightest worry, and her conviction, her faith, was humbling. So humbling Adam chose to ignore it and instead focus on something else.
    “I will, so you’ll be fine. Besides the fact I don’t want to see you hurt, I’ve been told that I am to return you intact or face the direst consequences,” he said.
    “Lucian?” she asked, her forehead crinkling.
    Adam snorted. “I can handle Silver. No, this directive came from Cassandra herself,” Adam said.
    “And you don’t want to tangle with her?” Sloan asked, shifting her body so that she was a little bit closer to him, the small smile on her lips making him almost dizzy with desire.
    “A good soldier follows orders, knows his limitations, and knows when to retreat. I wouldn’t stand a chance against her,” he said.
    She laughed, and Adam again found himself doing the same. How was that possible? Sure, he’d been lusting after Sloan for the better part of a decade, but he barely knew the woman, had spent almost no time with her, though the energy between them was easy—well, easy, save for the crackling sexual chemistry—and playful in a way Adam so seldom found.
    Sloan Wakefield was dangerous.
    She didn’t look it, her soft curves and warm smile beckoning him seemingly without effort on her part. And that was the danger, so Adam had to be vigilant, hard, no, impossible, as it