Sean felt his jaw clench. He’d forgotten Liam had bugged the bedroom. He couldn’t stand the thought that they’d been listening to Grace’s breathy moans, her cries of pleasure. Those were for his ears alone. “You’re going to destroy that tape, Adam.”
He held his hands up. “Don’t blame me. And I don’t have the tape. It’s on a computer, and Eve already downloaded it.” Adam’s dark green eyes turned startlingly sympathetic. “You gotta watch it, man. I know she’s an amazing lady, but you can’t tell her you love her. She’s going to be hurt. She’s already crazy about you. She’s not some agent who’s playing a game. She’s a real woman, and she’ll take you seriously.”
“She was already drugged when I said it. She didn’t hear me.” Sean had to take comfort in the fact. The truth was the drug had been working in her system long before that. She probably wouldn’t remember she’d said I love you. That would be best for both of them. He didn’t want to talk about this. “Can we get this over with? Or have the two of you completely forgotten how to hack a system?”
Adam’s eyes narrowed. “I think I can handle it.”
“Yeah, like you handled it this afternoon when you were supposed to do a simple download so I didn’t have to fucking drug her?”
“Hey, asshole, I didn’t get a chance. Kayla walked in and wanted to talk. What was I supposed to do?”
Sean was well aware he was taking his anger out on his friend, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. “Maybe you can take her shopping, asshole. That’s all you seem to be good for lately.”
Jacob’s sigh filled the room. “I told you that you were pushing him, Adam. He isn’t like us. He’s very possessive. You need to keep your hands to yourself this time.”
“I just played with her a little.” Adam sounded a bit like a child who’d had a toy taken from him. He marched past Sean with a petulant look on his face. By the time Sean followed Jake, Adam was setting up his system. Sean went to the foyer and grabbed Grace’s bag. Within a couple of seconds, Adam had the systems set up. He stared at the computer, his hands flying across the keys. “It was just flirting. And maybe a little light make-out session.”
“Excuse me.” The words felt ice cold as they left Sean’s mouth.
“He’s joking.” Jake smacked his partner upside the back of his head. “Stop tugging the tiger’s tail or I’ll let him eat you. Do your job.”
“Fine,” Adam growled. “She has it password protected. What are her sons’ names?”
“David and Kyle.” Sean had spent a portion of his afternoon looking at the pictures on Grace’s mantel. When he wasn’t plotting the way he was going to betray her, he’d stared at the two attractive young men she’d raised. There were pictures from their graduations and some family vacation photos. There was an old picture of a smiling, dark-haired man with glasses. He didn’t look like a man who could land a woman like Grace. She had deeply loved her husband.
Now she loved him.
“Not working. Okay, husband’s name is Pete. That’s a no. She seems to change it every week.” Adam glanced back at Jake with a knowing look in his eyes. “You think?”
Jake shrugged as he stared at the screen. “Worth a try.”
Two seconds later the screen cleared, and they were in.
Sean was curious. “What was the password?”
“My Viking.”
Sean looked between his friends. It was obvious to Sean that they were sharing some joke that he didn’t get. “Viking? Like the football team?”
Adam gave him a smirky grin. “No, Sven, like the long, flowing-haired plunderers of lovely females. You remind her of a Viking.”
And she reminded him of a fertility goddess. Sean felt his stomach turn. Fertile. He’d taken her without a condom and with no thought to pulling out. He’d just taken her and spilled himself in her hot, tight pussy. That wasn’t right. He had thought about it. He’d thought about stopping. He just hadn’t. What if he’d gotten Grace pregnant? The butterflies in his stomach calmed a bit. If he’d gotten her pregnant, then she couldn’t turn him away when she discovered his lies. A baby would be a permanent link between them. God, he was an asshole, but the thought didn’t scare him.
Adam closed the computer and unhooked the laptop. “Done. Now you can go hop back in bed with Grace.”
Sean smiled, but it was an outward sign of his inner beast. Now that Adam had done his job, Sean could feel free to have a discussion with his friend. “Are you sure you’re finished? Got everything you need?”
Adam looked smug as he packed up his equipment. “I have everything on that system down to her latest solitaire game. I’ll go over it at my leisure.”
“Try doing it with one eye, asshole.” Quick as he could, Sean popped him, drawing his fist back and landing it squarely across his friend’s left eye.
“Fuck!” Adam bowled over, his hands covering the offended body part.
“Don’t you ever take advantage of my Grace. She’s mine. I hear you get her in a position like that again and I swear to God, Adam, I’ll take your head off next time.” Sean looked over to see if Jake was about to defend his best friend. Jake Dean was infinitely more dangerous than Adam in a fight. Adam was the brain, while Jake was the deadly brawn. Jacob was merely shaking his head as he watched.
“I told you he was going to kick your ass when you walked into that dressing room with her.”
Adam looked up, his eye puffing up already. “I was doing my goddamn job. I was told to keep an eye on her and let me tell you I got an eyeful.”
Sean took another step toward the asshole and gave serious consideration to killing the fucker.
Jake rolled his eyes and came between the two of them. “Don’t even try to justify your actions, Adam. You knew exactly what you were doing when you talked your way into the dressing room with her.” Jake turned to Sean. “Let’s go get some ice. I’d like to keep the swelling down, otherwise the talk at the office tomorrow might be that I abuse my boyfriend. Or did you forget our cover?”
Sean sighed and surveyed the damage. Jake had a point. “Damn it, Jake, I didn’t think about it.”
Jake shook his head as he studied Adam’s eye. “No, but I can see you’re not doing a lot of thinking at all, Sean. Maybe you should take a step back. It wouldn’t be strange at all for Sean Johansson to get called back to corporate. It might give you both a little breathing room.”