FOUR #3
Jolie gave her a private smile but didn’t answer her question. They turned down another hallway. Two men were walking toward them. Both tall, broad and chiseled just like the man who brought her here.
They saw Stina and their expressions seemed to clear of the tension they carried.
Jolie paused. “Rorke. Rivers. This is my best friend Stina.”
The guys stopped in front of them and Stina had to tilt her head to look up at them. “Hi.”
“Stina.” The man returned the greeting before continuing on his way.
Rorke lifted two fingers in acknowledgement but didn’t say a word.
They walked away, leaving Stina and Jolie looking at their broad backs.
Stina gave herself a little shake. “Does everybody here look like they can kill a person?”
“Pretty much.” Amusement echoed in Jolie’s tone.
“What’s the job requirement around here? You have to cut glass with your angular jaw?”
They looked at each other and burst out laughing, the most normal thing she’d experienced all day.
When they continued into a section of the base that looked the same as the rest, they ran into another man Jolie introduced as O. Just O. No other name.
The sound of more male voices drifted from ahead, but Jolie led her around another corner and stopped in front of a door.
“This is where you’ll sleep.”
“Are we sharing a room?”
Jolie’s lips pressed together before smoothing again. “I already have a roommate. My boyfriend is part of the team.”
A pang struck her chest.
Her friend had left on what was supposed to be a short adventure to the mountains. Everyone thought she was missing, lost. Then Stina got word from Jolie’s sister that she was okay but wouldn’t be returning to work.
Stina rolled with the changes, but she hadn’t understood it.
Not at all. One minute she had a friend she could count on, who she saw almost every day at the restaurant where they both worked.
When they weren’t working, they were calling each other, having drinks or going window shopping since neither of them had money to spend.
But in the short time Jolie had been gone…she’d started a new life.
One Stina knew nothing about.
Jolie’s cheeks were flushed and her eyes a little too bright.
“Your boyfriend? Jolie. You’re in love!”
Her smile was immediate and wide enough to give Stina all the answers she needed.
She felt that pang again, a sharp prick of not being included in the secret.
Before she could think of anything to say, another pair of voices trickled down the hall. When she turned to see who was coming, she nearly groaned at the sight of Rome walking their way.
Suddenly, she felt a shift in Jolie. She seemed to vibrate beside her.
Her friend lit up with the kind of expression reserved for Christmas morning, lottery winners and women on their period who find chocolate hidden in the bottom of a drawer.
The hunky man next to Rome wasn’t even attempting to hide his grin as he immediately reached for Jolie.
“Let me guess—the boyfriend.”
Jolie slipped her arm around him at the same time he pulled her against his side. “Stina, this is Archer. Everyone on the team calls him Monk.”
Archer gave her a small nod and smile. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“I wish I could say the same.”
Rome made a noise low in his throat, drawing her attention to him. He wasn’t smiling, which wasn’t a shocker.
Jolie reached out and opened the door of Stina’s room. “I think you have everything you need. I’ll bring you some clothes.”
Rome stepped into the opening before Stina could. He poked his head in and looked around. “What the hell? This is Townie’s room.”
“Was Townie’s room. He moved.”
Rome’s dark brows drew together like a lightning bolt zigzagged across his forehead. “Moved where?”
“He took the room across from me and Jolie,” Archer answered.
Rome’s eyes narrowed. “He just felt like moving rooms?”
“He wanted something closer to the gym. He likes to work out when he can’t sleep.”
Rome gave Archer a look, but the flat line of his mouth drew Stina’s attention.
Archer, however, was looking between her and Rome. “Is that your shirt, Rome?”
He issued a growl that sent goose bumps skittering up Stina’s spine.
She jerked her stare down to the T-shirt she’d left the safehouse in that morning. The slow grin spreading over Archer’s face seemed to transfer to Jolie’s.
Archer looked at Rome. Then at her shirt. Why were they all acting so weird? She wore it because she didn’t want to put on her work shirt that still smelled like oregano.
She cocked her head. “You want it back?”
Rome’s eyes widened. “Not right—”
Stina whipped it over her head and tossed it at him.
The shirt smacked Rome in the chest, and he caught it on reflex. His gaze dropped for half a second, taking in Stina’s black bra and bare stomach before his jaw hardened.
Archer was laughing so hard he had to brace a hand against the wall. Jolie slapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide with amusement.
Stina would rather be chased through city traffic again than spend another second standing in this hallway.
She spun toward her room. Before she slammed the door, she pointed at Rome.
“Everything about this is your fault.”