Cassius by Stevens, Madison (chromebook ebook reader txt) 📕

for a moment, there was something in his eyes, a fire. Pure lust. She was sure of it.

She swallowed and crossed her legs, not liking the warmth in her center. This was ridiculous. A woman shouldn’t get turned on by watching a man eat.

The way he’d been looking at her was completely different from what she’d seen in the park. Before he’d looked confused and surprised, but now he wanted her. She didn’t doubt that. Something had clicked in his mind, but what was it?

She’d been dressed cutely in the park and in the middle of a run. That meant her body was as much on display as it’d been at the gym. Between training and jogging, she’d not been wearing much makeup. Graham wasn’t with her at the gym, so there wasn’t any filming that required her to look her best.

Kendra continued to stare at CJ, enjoying the piercing look he was giving her, as if he could see her lust and was ready to repay it. She didn’t know how to deal with what she was feeling, but she didn’t want it to stop.

“The assault,” she blurted out. She mentally kicked herself when she saw the fire die in his eyes, replaced by a glacier of confusion.

“The assault?” he echoed.

“The race. The Knickerbocker OCR Assault. You’ll come and cheer me on?”

CJ nodded slowly. “Oh, that. Yeah, I’m sure I can come. It’ll be fun. I think I have a friend who’d be interested.”

“A friend?” Kendra tried not to sound jealous. She’d assumed that being asked out to lunch and being eyefucked meant they had something together, but she wanted to be sure. Different people had different standards, but she wanted monogamy from the beginning.

“He’s okay,” CJ said. “We’ve worked together in the past.”

“Oh, he’s okay.” Kendra smiled. “Sure, bring him along. I wish I had a friend to introduce him to, but I’m only visiting.”

CJ snickered. “Don’t worry. He’s not really in the market right now.”

“Then that makes things even easier.” Kendra glanced nervously down at her phone. “I really, really hate to say this, but I’m going to need to leave soon. I’ve got to do some quick voiceovers for some of the videos. Graham’s a wizard at getting things set up no matter where we go. Our hotel room is like a studio right now.”

“You free tonight?” CJ asked. “At least a couple of hours? We could have dinner.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Just give me your number.”

Kendra’s pounding heart threatened to burst out of her chest. She rattled off her number. “I can’t stay out all night. Graham will kill me with the race coming up, but I’m sure I can find a couple of hours.”

“That’s good.” CJ licked some sauce off his top lip. “I look forward to seeing you again.”

Kendra swallowed and squeezed her legs together. “So do I.”

Chapter Nine

Julius eyed CJ from the driver’s seat of their rental car. They’d barely used it since arriving because of their target and lodging situation, but it didn’t hurt to have mobility. Neither of them knew where the investigation would lead. They’d taken a short drive around and now were parked back in the motel lot.

Suspicion on Julius’s face shifted over several seconds to open amusement. A wide grin preceded a loud laugh.

CJ frowned. He didn’t think his report about his contact with Kendra was that hilarious. He might not be as slick with the infiltration and acting as Julius, but he was doing a decent job.

“A PI?” Julius asked, shaking his head. “That’s your cover story?”

“We didn’t establish anything beforehand.”

“But a PI?” Julius snickered. “Why not just go with our standard security contractor cover? That explains away a lot without seeming that suspicious.”

“So does being a PI,” CJ replied. “And it gives me a lot more flexibility than a security contractor story. The event and venue have their own security, so if I started going on about anything related to that, all it would take is one question for Kendra to see through me.”

Julius shrugged. “Okay, whatever. Then I’m officially your partner on this case, Mr. CJ the private investigator.”

“Do you have anything useful to tell me, or do you just want to keep busting my balls over my cover choice?” CJ asked.

“I’d like to continue messing with you.” Julius grinned. “But, yes, I figured out some things when you were running around with your gym bunny lying about being a private investigator.”

“Get to the damned point.”

“Touchy.” Julius stared at him for a moment, his grin gone, a calculating look in his eyes. “There are a lot of last-minute deliveries being handled by third-party companies.”

CJ nodded. “That’s not unexpected given they’re getting down to the wire for the race.”

“True, but I ran some of these by Maximus,” Julius replied. “Based on some of the intel the government handed over, some of the companies might have received money from Ouroboros.”

“Money laundering, after all?” CJ scratched his cheek.

“It feels overly complicated if that’s all it is.” Julius shook his head. “These companies might not even know what it is they’re shipping. If Ouroboros knows everyone is watching them, they might be trying to use third parties for more cover.”

“But what could they possibly want to deliver to an obstacle course race?”

“Good question.” Julius glanced into the rearview mirror, watching a car with tinted windows pull up behind them in the parking lot.

Both hybrids remained silent, ready to grab guns hidden underneath their seats. The doors to the vehicle opened slowly and two giggling college-age girls emerged. Given how low-cut and short their dresses were, there was no way they were hiding any weapons. CJ relaxed when they headed toward the motel.

“I think we stick to my earlier idea,” CJ said. “Now that I have a contact who knows what to look for, it’ll be easier.”

“You mean taking the gym bunny to the site?” Julius asked.

CJ nodded. “If there’s something that shouldn’t be there, she’ll notice.”

“Do they let people check it out