“Plenty of time for stopping when I’m dead,” said Bill.
“That could be sooner than you think,” warned Rurik, ready to end the man just to shut him up.
“Are you threatening him?” demanded the beauty.
“Yeah, are you? I got me an attack Liberty Bell,” said Bill before he stepped to the side. “She’s fierce.”
Rurik’s lips curved up into a slight smile as he focused on her. “Yes. I see that.”
Bill cleared his throat. “Commie, you need to get your shit together. You’re embarrassing me here. Thought you ops dudes were better with the ladies than this. You’re going to sully my reputation with women. You’re killing the vibe.”
“Ops dudes?” asked Isobel.
Rurik grunted in Bill’s direction. So much for their cover. “Really?”
Gus picked then to begin to pace, reminding Rurik he was still there. Gus went to the SUV passenger-side door, opened it, and grabbed something from within. He shut the door, opened it again, then shut it once more, only to repeat the action two more times.
“Hey, buddy,” said Bill. “It’s closed. It’s fine.”
Gus scurried forward, his head down and his focus on the ground. In one hand he clutched the face mask portion of the helmet with Mona’s head in it and in the other hand, he had the stuffed brown bear that Duke had equipped him with earlier.
He came to a stop near Bill but motioned to Rurik. He then held the bear out to Rurik, much like he had in the therapy room earlier that morning, and wiggled it in the air.
Give it to her, said a deep voice in Rurik’s head, startling him.
It took Rurik a few seconds to realize he was hearing Gus in his head. He quirked a brow in the strange man’s direction. He couldn’t possibly want Rurik to give the stuffed bear to Liberty, could he? The woman wasn’t exactly thrilled with how Rurik had gone about trying to clean Bill. A stuffed bear wouldn’t help matters any.
Bill pulled at his cheeks, groaning as he did. “Commie, listen to him. He knows what he’s talking about.”
“Listen to who?” asked Daisy. “Are the voices in your head again, Bill?”
“Yeah. They’re in his head too,” said Bill, thumbing at Rurik before he grinned. “Runs in the family.”
Hoping to shut Bill up, Rurik took a few steps toward Gus and snatched the bear from his hand, harder than he meant to.
“Rude,” said Liberty, suddenly before him, close enough to touch. Her fingers skimmed his as she reached for the bear.
Heat flared through Rurik, shooting directly to his groin.
His breath caught.
Hers did as well, her gaze snapping to his mouth. Her long wet hair partially obscured his view of her face and covered the side of her mouth. He was tempted to move the hair out of the way, just to see her better.
He held back.
Her fingers eased over his as they both held the bear down at his side. The aggression lessened in her chocolate-brown eyes. “Give it back…to him.”
“Don’t sweat it, Liberty Bell,” said Bill. “It’s Rurik’s birthday present from Duke. Not sure why and I didn’t ask. Duke just told us to give it to him. Some things you don’t want to know. Like why two grown-ass men are giving each other stuffed animals under the cover of darkness.”
“Oh,” she whispered, staying close to him, her fingers still skimming his. “It’s your birthday?”
“Yes,” he said. He knew he was staring but couldn’t seem to stop himself. It was all he could do to remain upright.
What was that smell?
Cinnamon? Nutmeg? Vanilla?
All of the above?
Was it coming from her?
His mind was such a jumbled mess, he couldn’t for the life of him place the smell, yet he knew it was familiar to him.
He took in the sight of her, memorizing the curve of her hips, the shape of her breasts, how erect her nipples were in the wet T-shirt, and how she had the slightest of trembles to her lower lip. Was it from anger or was she cold?
His gaze returned to the diamond-like points on her breasts.
Cold, he thought, a second before his internal voice became an external one. “Happy birthday to me.”
At some point, Bill had gotten closer and was staring back and forth between them. “Kiss her for crying out loud, Kremlin.”
“Libs?” asked Daisy. “Are you okay?”
Liberty didn’t budge. She met Rurik’s gaze. “I’m not sure. Am I?”
“You are,” he said, wanting to kiss her like Bill had suggested.
Chapter Twelve
Liberty stared up at Rurik, feeling as if her feet were encased in concrete, keeping her stuck in place. She knew her fingers were caressing his but for the life of her, she couldn’t seem to stop. Touching him felt right.
More than right even.
Weirdly, his fingers began to do the same until he wrapped one around two of hers, pinning her hand to the stuffed animal he still managed to palm during it all.
Just how big were his hands?
A shiver raced down her spine at the thought of what else he might be able to do with those hands.
“Liberty?” asked Isobel. “Is my dream about to become X-rated?”
“Once again,” said Daisy with a long, dramatic sigh, “you’re not dreaming, Isobel.”
“Then Liberty is about to do it with the hot Russian?” questioned Isobel, sounding somewhat impressed.
Liberty shook her head no but a weak “yes” fell free of her lips.
Rurik licked his lower lip and nodded. “What she said.”
“Yep, this is so going the way of X-rated,” said Isobel. “I feel like I should look away, but I can’t.”
Liberty felt the same way, but for a different reason. Like she should avert her gaze from the man’s or risk losing herself in him. She’d been prepared for confrontation when she’d rushed over from her house to stop whatever had been going on with Bill. No amount of prep work could have gotten her ready for this—for wanting to press herself to a virtual stranger.
Rurik dipped his head and took a deep breath in.
It was all Liberty could do to keep from
