Forbidden Knight

My quads are screaming for mercy when my phone vibrates on the bench next to me. It's late. No one texts me at night except for work and only when it's critical.

The gigantic dumbbell thuds on the gym mat between my feet. Sweat stings my eyes. I wipe my arm across my brow as I walk to the phone, where I find a one-word text on the screen.

Unknown: Hi.

Me: Hello.

Unknown: Thanks for giving me the business card for Agile. I got an interview!

Me: Righto.

A slow smile creeps onto my face as I grab my towel off the bench. Given that I've only worked at Agile a few weeks, I know the number of cards I've given out. Exactly two. And one was to a lovely young bird who wanted a job in security work.

Unknown: This is Kate, BTW...We met at the gas pumps in L.A.

I grin. Well, well. Kate. So, the almost shy blond who asked about the Agile Security logo on my hat really did want to find a job in security. Figured she was just a badge chaser. Something I instantly assumed thanks to all the uniform chasers who hunted down me and my fellow SAS soldiers.

Me: Congrats. Hope it goes well.

Kate: It's tomorrow. Your boss gave me your number. Hope you don't mind. I wanted to say thanks.

Well, I guess it remains to be seen if I mind. Marshall and I might be having words.

Me: Are you coming to Utah to interview?

Kate: Yep. Already here. Anyway, I wanted to see if I could invite you to a lecture tomorrow evening as a thank you.

I read the message twice. A lecture? Okay, this is different. But she could have said 'let's go to a spelling bee' and I'd say yes to get to spend a bit of time with the pretty bodyguard wannabe.

I didn't catch her name or her number when I gave her the business card for Agile, thanks to an incoming call I had to take, but I didn't forget the miles of curves she had. And those green eyes... Yeah. She's a looker.

In the five days since I gave her that card, I've woken up twice rock-hard from dreaming about her.

Me: So, a lecture? What will we be learning?

Kate: It's about deep space travel. Dr. Samson Winston is the speaker. I'm a bit of a space junkie. Soooo excited.

I laugh out loud. What are the odds? I almost bought a ticket to the very same lecture. But I wasn't sure I'd be in town to go, so I passed.

Me: I'm in. When and where?

Kate: Tomorrow night. Seven. Williams Hall theater. Seats G17 ft G18.

Me: Roger that.

Kate sends a smiling emoji. And for a long time, I stare at it, wondering about what that twist of fate encounter at the gas pumps has in store for me.

The droning jet engine usually calms me down, but not today. I've got an uneasy feeling. Maybe it's because I got stood up by Kate for the lecture, and now, I'm flying off to some tiny island nation to help her...

Hell, she hasn't even started work and the team is being called to her rescue? My sixth sense is rattled, warning me that trouble lies ahead.

Cole passes through the main cabin of Agile Security's private jet on his way back to the cockpit. “Cleared to land in a couple of minutes.”

I stretch my tight as hell neck from side to side. “Good. I'm ready to get this done.”

“What's up with you?” He grins. “Besides getting stood up by the mystery woman.”

“Ha. Smartass. Anyway, I don't know why I feel this way, but something's in the air.”

A grimace tightens his jaw. “Hate that fucking feeling. I'm not sensing that at the moment. This should be a pretty straightforward transport job. The new hire said there will be minimal resistance to moving her grandmother off the island.”

I glance out the window again, at the speck of green land and the crystal-clear turquoise water below. “Looks like paradise. Wonder why the grandmother is leaving?”

“Marshall said her father's making political waves that put her and her grandmother in danger.”

Sierra's voice comes over the intercom. “Alright, boys. Time to go to work.”

He thumps my shoulder. “We'll be on our way home soon enough. Then you'll be able to get some downtime. I know that Hollywood gig was a pain in the ass.”

“You have no idea. I've done some hard shit in the SAS. Babysitting an 'influencer' was, literally, exhausting.”

Cole's laughing as he heads off to the front of the plane where his wife is piloting us toward the tiny island runway below.

When I press my face against the window again, I can't help but feel that unease. One more time, I pull up the photo app on my phone and scroll through the Agile File on the young, green-eyed woman again.

Something's coming. And I don't like it one bit.