I had survived the longest, most stressful dinner I’d ever endured. I’d smiled until my face hurt, then did it all over again when the party moved into the formal living, where the night had begun, for dessert, coffee, and Slovenian schnapps.
The only time I’d left TJ’s side was to use the powder room. Now it was just past midnight and TJ and I were finally in our guest room and blissfully alone.
Almost.
“Confirm there’s no audio,” TJ said into his comms unit.
“None, boss,” Jensen said. “Only video, northwest corner of the room. We’re set to go lights out in ten.”
“Turning off the comms until then,” TJ said.
I fiddled with my left earring to remove it, and subtly pulled my comms unit out of my ear at the same time. I put my jewelry into a case and kicked off my heels. TJ kicked off his own shoes, then off hung up his suit coat, tie, and white shirt. He pulled off his undershirt and dropped it into our small shared suitcase.
I stepped close to him and ran my hands up his bare chest. “It’s a shame we’re being watched.”
“Possibly being watched.” He pulled me into his arms. “In which case, we have to play the part of an amorous couple.”
“Is it really playing a part if it’s true?” I asked. “But your team is also watching.”
TJ grinned. “That’s why we’ll dance. Kovac will see it as sexy, suggestive foreplay, and my team will still be able to look us in the eye in the morning.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket, tapped it a few times to turn on some music, and set it on the dresser. He held out his hand to me.
I took it, and he enveloped me in his arms again, this time with one of my hands in his, and his other hand on the small of my back. He nuzzled my ear.
“I really did want to dance with you at the embassy,” he whispered.
“Yes, but that was just to stop me from ransacking Izak’s office.”
“Well, someone had to take one for the team that night..”
“Hey!”
He laughed softly. “You know I don’t mean it. Hmm, this is even better than I imagined it would be.”
We held each other and swayed and kissed. It was pure bliss and I didn’t want it to end. But all too soon, the lights went out for two full seconds, Jensen’s signal that we were counting down from ten for the local power grid to go down for the next hour, forcing the Kovac’s emergency generator to kick in and the security system to roll over to a more quickly and easily hacked platform.
TJ pulled me tighter against him and pressed his mouth to mine. His tongue stroked my lips, which I parted slowly. I licked the tip of his tongue with mine. He moved his hand and slid my zipper down the back of my dress. And then it went dark.
TJ’s team had cut the power. It was time for our mission to begin.
