Chapter Twenty-Six
The contents of the boxes weren’t a surprise, and given the way Jared had led the meeting, Amanda hadn’t been focused on the jewelry as much as she’d wanted to make it through the briefing without strangling him or exposing her personal details.
Still, with Hagan at her side and their wedding bands waiting to be slid into place, her stomach jumped.
Hagan looked to her and nodded back to the boxes. She laughed at his expression. It was as though his stomach had not only jumped but also run for cover.
“Guess this is par for the course,” he said.
A knot lodged in her throat. Amanda gripped the strap of her Vera Bradley bag and nodded. “Goes with the gig.”
He picked up the box with the engagement ring and shifted it to catch the light on the diamond. “Do you use the same ring every time?”
“No.”
His eyebrow crooked. “Is it real?”
“Yeah.”
Hagan removed the engagement ring from the velvet. The delicate band seemed so small in his large hands. He laughed nervously. “Not something I see every day.”
The moment felt far more intimate that it should have. “Halle and Angela have good taste.”
His head tilted, though Hagan didn’t pull his eyes off the ring. “Do you like it?”
“Sure.” Keeping her thoughts in a rational place took an enormous amount of mental strength.
Maybe she’d made a huge mistake. After working alongside Hagan all day, with their natural chemistry …
acting like a couple didn’t seem like a big deal.
But now it felt far too real, and she wanted to tell him things that would let him see who she really was.
Amanda bit her lip. It was one thing to kiss and touch him, to tell him that he made her nervous.
But giving him personal information? Wanting to give him those little details that she’d kept hidden away for years? It was too much to explain.
Besides, he didn’t want the real answer.
Her real answer would be way too much to say.
Oh, it’s a beautiful ring, but not for me.
I like rings that tell a story. So, yeah, that’s a pretty solitaire.
But it’s not nearly as complicated as love and life can be, and that’s what I’d want in an engagement ring.
“Maybe we stick to what our covers like.”
He caught her eye, and for a terrifying moment, she wasn’t sure Hagan would let her off without a battle-hardened plea for his mercy. “Then I guess we should skip to the good part.” He took her left hand. “May I?”
He took her hand and slid the ring onto her finger. Amanda couldn’t breathe.
“Amanda?”
She lifted her gaze to his. “Thanks.”
They’d talked about their chemistry. About how they could play a couple because they were exploring what that might mean. But the sparks that she’d planned a mission around singed her nerve endings.
Hagan’s thumb caressed over her knuckles then slipped away. “Looks nice.”
The diamond glittered, and though it was intentionally chosen not to be memorable, she admired the ring as if it weren’t a prop for their cover. After a second, she laughed. “Okay, try yours on.”
Hagan removed the larger band and slipped it on his finger. “Fits.”
She put her band on also. “Though, I think I’m supposed to put the band on first.”
“Why?”
She gestured. “I don’t know. People say that it’s closer to your heart?”
Hagan laughed it off. “People can kiss my ass.” But he lifted her left hand and switched the order of the rings. “Better?”
“People would say so.”
She’d never wanted him to kiss her so much before. “That’s what we’re doing. Convincing people.”
He lifted her from the chair and set her on the edge of the massive war room table. “We don’t need rings to convince people.”
As though they hadn’t sparred with Jared or didn’t have secrets that should keep them apart, Hagan pulled her ass to the edge of the table, wrapping her legs around his.
His mouth took hers. They didn’t have to prove anything to the world.
People could see what she could feel, him hot on her body, hungry for her mouth.
Her locking her arms over his broad shoulders, clinging to his corded neck.
She worried they’d get caught until his tongue parted her lips.
Then Amanda did nothing except pray for more.
Hagan nibbled, kissed, and rubbed against her.
Her hands clawed into his hair, knowing there had to be a hundred cameras in the room and wishing every single one would lose their connection.
She wanted to feel Hagan’s skin. She needed his weight to cage her to the table.
“Hello,” Angela called as she opened the door, then retreated. “When you have a minute…”
Hagan smiled against Amanda’s mouth, and if the urge to hide and die of embarrassment had surfaced, his quiet laughter kept it away.
“Busted,” he whispered, then softly kissed her one more time. Hagan waited until Amanda had thrown herself into the chair, attempting to look like she hadn’t been begging Hagan to jump her on the table. He kissed her one more time, still smiling. “We have a minute.”
Angela swooped into the room, looking everywhere but at them. “Jared had a question for you.”
“Then Jared could’ve come down instead of sending you.” Hagan sat next to Amanda and crossed his arms over his chest. “Or Jared could’ve picked up the phone and called.”
Angela grimaced as though she’d figured out why Jared had done neither. “Your plane tickets.”
Amanda grabbed the folder that Angela slid over. “These are for today?”
“Yes.” Angela nodded. “Halle said that would work with your schedule.”
Hagan eyed the tickets and checked his watch. “Wheels up in less than six hours.”
“Please touch base with Jared before you go.” She reached for the door. “He said something about staying looped in on this job. I think he just wants to know how your day is going.”
Amanda understood that Boss Man still wasn’t comfortable with any of the liberties she’d taken. “We can do that—”
Hagan rocked in the chair. “The day that Jared cares about my day is the day that grenades learn to toss themselves while I drink a cold-ass beer.”
Or not … They weren’t going to get out of the building as easily as she’d thought.
“Hagan.” Angela had the kind of smile that appeared perfect, but underneath screamed for compliance. And for Hagan to shut up. Amanda could tell that this wasn’t the first time she’d used it on him or his teammates. “What do you want me to tell him then?”
Hagan scooped the boxes, briefing, and tickets into one hand and grabbed Amanda with the other. “Tell him my day’s going great, but I had to catch a plane.”
He ignored Angela’s incredulous glare and sauntered across the room, with Amanda promising she’d touch base soon.
“You know that won’t work,” Angela called as they passed her and walked down the hallway.
Amanda squeezed his hand. “We don’t need to irritate Jared more than we already have.”
He winked then looked over his shoulder. “Tell Boss Man I grabbed my new wife and will check in from the honeymoon sometime after I land.”