Page 71 of Hidden With You

ChapterTwenty-Three

“This is going to work, right?” Zelda asked as Jasper poured some wine for her and Ollie. They’d come back to the cottage after the meeting wherein Zelda had pitched the barebones outline of her crazy idea.

Brilliant, yes. But crazy.

And just crazy enough to work.

He bent over and ran his tongue over the curve of her ear before whispering, “It will work, and you’re a genius. And as soon as we can get rid of Ollie, I’m ripping off all your clothes.”

“I heard that,” Ollie said.

“You were supposed to. That was my subtle way of kicking you out.”

Ollie laughed. “Fair enough, and I’ll get out of your hair soon. I wouldn’t dream of getting in the way of good sex. But something came up earlier. It can wait, but I wanted to mention it without the others around.”

“Shoot.”

“Just that it’s good you’re going legit. Your freelance work was getting more notice than you might have been aware.”

Jasper frowned. “How so?”

“Remember when I said you looked familiar? I finally figured out why. I’ve seen photos that have been shared between the FBI and the SOC. Nobody’s looking to arrest you. But they are looking. Good time to retire, if you know what I mean.”

Jasper nodded. He knew, all right.

“The thing is, if this play for Malloy doesn’t work out, I may not be hanging up my towel. If we can’t nail him through legit means, I’ll take him out any way I can.”

“I wouldn’t blame you. And for the record, we’re not having this conversation.”

“Didn’t say a thing,” Jasper said.

“And now I’m out of here. Wait until I’m off the property before you get naked. Would suck if I forgot something and had to come back.”

“Funny man,” Zelda said, then pulled off her shirt, leaving her only in her bra.

“What the hell?” Jasper asked, not sure if he was shocked or amused or horrified.

“I’m trying to hurry him on his way.”

Ollie raised a brow. “For the record, if I didn’t know that Jasper would kick my ass, that might have the opposite effect.”

Amusement lit her face, and Jasper watched as she held back laughter—and held her shirt to her chest.

As soon as Ollie was gone, she spun to face him. “Oh. My. God. I thought he was gay.”

He fought to stifle his own laughter. “As far as I know, he’s not. Jamie mentioned a fiancée a while back, and rumor has it he had a thing for Nikki before she ended up with Damien.”

She groaned. “Well, I’m off my game. But Trevor’s gay, right? I’m not off about that? And so they’re just good friends?”

“That’s what I heard.”

She exhaled loudly. “Remind me to keep my clothes on when other people are around.”

“I hope that’s not something about which you really need a reminder.” He stepped closer, then unhooked her bra. She shimmied out of it, then out of the sweatpants she’d changed into while he and Ollie had talked in the kitchen. Now she was standing before him naked, and as always, he had to wonder what he’d done to deserve her.

He took her hand. “Come here,” he said, leading her to the couch.

She pulled a blanket onto her lap, but he pushed it away. Her brows rose. “If you’re not giving me a blanket, you at least have to get naked with me.”