Page 64 of Specter Bred

Neither of them blinked. The air between them felt tight enough to snap.

Then Graves leaned in, his lips nearly brushing her ear as he whispered, “Tell me, Archer.”

His voice dropped lower.

“If the two of you were only settling an argument, why is Hayes standing there pitching a fucking tent?”

My hands flew to my lap, shielding it from view as I immediately became fascinated by a patch of grass several yards away. Maeve’s face went scarlet. And for the first time in her life, Firecracker seemed to have absolutely nothing to say.

“We weren’t doing anything,” she muttered finally.

“Then stop giving people reasons to think otherwise and focus on your training,” he bit out low in her ear.

I felt my temper flare. That rubbed me wrong. Maybe it was the way he’d spent months trying to run her out of ASOG. Maybe it was the fact that he suddenly seemed very concerned with who she spent her free time with. Either way, I opened my mouth, knowing full well it might be the end of me.

“With all due respect, sir, since when do you care how focused Archer is?”

Maeve’s eyes widened while Grizzly’s narrowed.

“Excuse me?” he asked, turning his attention to me suddenly.

I should’ve stopped. A smarter man would have. Instead, I doubled down.

“You’ve spent the last three months trying to make her quit.”

Maeve closed her eyes, probably praying for my soul, but I was already in enough trouble that shutting up now wouldn’t save me.

I carried on.

“And now you’re suddenly worried about what people think of her?”

“She’s my recruit,” Grizzly bit out.

“Sure, but that doesn’t mean you own her. And you’re acting like you do.”

The temperature dropped ten degrees. Maeve actually took a small step backward. Grizzly’s dangerous and cold gaze locked onto mine.

“You don’t even want her in your unit,” I continued, apparently too stupid to quit while I was ahead.

Grizzly didn’t answer.

For once, he didn’t seem to have one ready. His jaw remained tight, but there was the slightest pause before his expression hardened again, a brief hesitation that probably would’ve gone unnoticed by anyone who hadn’t spent the last several months studying the man for survival purposes.

Interesting.

A slow smile tugged at my mouth.

“Oh.”

His eyes narrowed.

And suddenly, I understood exactly what I’d stumbled onto.

“Or do you?”

The silence stretched.

Long.