“I would never do anything with him. It’s not like that.”
“Maybe that’s true, but that’s not the vibe you’re giving off. Florrie, we’ve been down this road before. I need to know that I can trust you, and right now you’re making that really fucking difficult.”
“I can’t believe you. You don’t trust me because I’m looking out for a friend?”
“Alright,” Craig stepped in. “This isn’t helping anyone right now. We have a job to do, and we can’t do that if you two are fighting over your goddamn relationship.”
“Shut the fuck up,” I growled. Craig stepped up and shoved me back, slamming me into the wall.
“You don’t get to shove me around anymore. I’ve put up with this bullshit for way too fucking long. I know I joke about it and pretend that it’s not a big deal, but your relationship is killing this team,” he snapped. “The two of you fucking bicker about everything, and most of the time it has to do with one of you being jealous and possessive. It’s got to fucking stop. We’re here to do a job, and if the two of you can’t put aside your shit, we’re not gonna be able to do the fucking job!”
He shoved me back against the wall and stormed off, slamming the door to the other room. I was stunned. I knew that it put extra pressure on Craig to be out on jobs with us when we started arguing, but I had no idea that it pissed him off so much. I glanced at Florrie and saw the same realization on her face.
“Shit,” I muttered, running my hand over my face. I stared at Florrie and she stared back. “I’m sorry about that.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Look, we have to find a way to work this job without killing each other. Craig’s right, this can’t continue while we’re working jobs. So, I’ll keep my mouth shut about what I think is happening between you and Jamie, but you have to stop looking at him like you have any say in what happens in his life. That’s not fair to me, Florrie.”
“And it’s not fair that you would accuse me of having any kind of relationship with Jamie.”
I sighed and walked over to her. Neither of us was going to win this battle right now. “Let’s both agree to set this shit aside for right now. We can’t afford for us to be fighting with Craig. It’s not working.”
“Alec, this is never going to work with us. We’ve known that for a long time.”
“What are you saying?” I asked, taking a step back.
“Relax. I’m talking about us working on the same team. We’re going to have to talk to Cap about this when we get back. This isn’t fair to Craig.”
“You’re right, it’s not. But where does that leave the team?”
“I don’t know. That’s something we have to discuss with Craig. I don’t want to break up the team, but realistically, this just doesn’t work. We’ve been fooling ourselves into thinking that we could do this because we worked out our personal issues,” she said. “But the truth is, we’re both always going to behave the same way, and Craig is always going to be caught in the middle.”
I didn’t want either of them to feel like they had to choose. I didn’t want to leave the team, but the thought of either of them having to decide to take a step back wasn’t right. Besides, I was the team leader and I had to do what was best for the team, even if that included removing myself.
“I’ll talk to Cap about leaving.”
“Alec-”
“No, this is the right thing to do. It’s my team and my decision. I don’t want you and Craig to have to make the decision. Besides, I’m sure we could talk to Cap about making the change with Coop’s team. They haven’t been together that long, so we could make the transition easily enough, if they’re up to it.”
“And if they don’t want to break up their team?” she asked.
I shook my head, because I didn’t have an answer for her right now. “I don’t know. We’ll figure it out.”
I pulled her into my arms and kissed her. I hated that this was what it was coming to, but the change was coming. It was only a matter of time. The door to Craig’s room flew open and he stepped out, his mouth open like he was ready to start yelling.
“What? Now you’re making up?” he asked after a few seconds.
“Let’s just say we called a stalemate until we get home,” I answered.
“Good,” he nodded. “You know, because I was ready to come out here and kick some ass.”
✯✯✯✯✯
“Damn, you look sexy,” I said, wrapping my arms around Florrie from behind. She had on a killer black dress with a plunging neckline and an open back. I wasn’t sure I could handle her going to this gala dressed like she was. I knew I was going to kill any fucker that stared at her for more than one second.
“You don’t look so bad yourself.”
“I hate this suit,” I grumbled, nibbling at her ear. “Where are you hiding your weapons?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” she smirked.
“I think I need to search you properly. You know, just to be sure that nothing is being exposed.”
I slid my hand down her waist to the slit in her dress over her right thigh. Slipping my hand under her dress, I groaned when I felt the velcro holding her holster in place. God, it was so fucking sexy. I felt the cool metal of the gun and then felt a similar velcro piece on her other leg.
“Knife?”
“Just a small one. You never know when you’ll need one.”
I pressed my growing erection into her back, needing her to know how hard she was making me. It wasn’t
