A Brutal Tenderness Read Online Free PDF Page A

urge to kiss her along that delicate intersection
pops up unbidden in my mind. When her eyes meet mine, I
gaze into the false sea of blueness, knowing the deep emeralds
that are beneath.
I shift as I stand, subtly getting myself in hand and break
the spell as she sticks out her hand, and I almost blow it by
calling her Jewell. At the last moment, I repeat the name she’s
using, the one Maverick introduced her as. “Jess Mackey?”
I wrap her hand in mine, and when our skin meets in that
first press of flesh, heat instantly travels from our contact and
tells the guy downstairs that everything is alive and well.
Fucking great , I think, shifting my weight again.
This can’t be happening. How can I feel anything other than
hatred for the girl who let her selfish fear, her gutless passivity,
overtake her when Faith needed her most?
Even telling myself that, I can hardly let go of her. I look
into her eyes and see them widen at the contact.
Does she feel it too? Before I can get a read on her,
Maverick wrecks the moment by clearing his throat.
Jewell steps back, our fingers sliding out of each other’s hold
like reluctant taffy.
I strain to think of something to normalize the moment and
immediately fall back on being an asshole. I’ve had moderate
success with that in the past.
“Just wanted to meet your girlfriend,” I tell Maverick. My
smile’s full of sarcasm. “She looks a little lost, if you ask me.”
“No one did . . . ask you,” Maverick says as he puts me on
point for half a second.
Then I hear the velvet of Jewell’s voice, and another small
tingle shoots up my spine. Fuck, I’m in so much trouble here . This
is not how this is supposed to go. I can’t lose the grip on how
I’m supposed to feel: cold, distant, calculating.
But this is the kind of event that reams of paperwork and
two years of surveillance can never convey. Chemistry, raw and
pure, is a conduit between us.
“I’m not anyone’s girlfriend,” Jewell notes in a cool tone of
subtle reprimand.
Kinda feisty, I’m surprised to note. That’s not something I’d
known about her.
Then Jewell turns on her heel and practically runs off.
What the fuck? I smile as I watch her move off, Maverick
calling pathetically after her.
Suddenly I sense it’s Jewell MacLeod who’s in control here,
and I start to panic. Maybe I’m not the right guy for the job.
But then an idea takes shape, and it’s one that will work with
O’Rourke’s directive—and make my dick calm down.
The question is, Will she go with it?
2
FBI Temporary Headquarters—Normandy Park
“So how was biology, Brad?” I ask, sucking the water out of
    my bottle down by half, workout gear clinging to my chilling
body. I need to rehydrate. Badly. I left Adams down there
licking his wounds. I give a tight smile, then slug down the rest,
tossing the bottle in the recycling can.
    Dec’s brows dump over his brown eyes, his scowl deepening
as he crams half a sandwich in his mouth, talking around it.
“Y’know, Steel . . .”
    My brows pop.
“You’re an uptight sucker. Why don’t you work it out?”
I flex, laughing. “Thinking I’m doing enough of that
    already.”
Clearwater looks at me, nods, then says, “Yeah, Hercules.
What gives?”
I shrug, no time for self-examination for me, but I give the
best response I can. “I need this case to close, Dec. I won’t be
happy until it’s signed, sealed, and delivered, that little bitch
Jewell delivered up for justice like a cherry on top. That’ll make
a dude wound .”
Dec gives a small frown. “Yeah . . . about Jess Mackey.”
“Jewell,” I clarify in a flat voice.
“Steel, come on, ya hard-ass. She’s hiding. Whether we
know it or not, keep your focus.”
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I open them, my
expression resolute. “Okay, whatever. What is it?”
Dec slams his palm on the table, the salt and pepper shakers
rattling. “Listen, Steel, I know you blame our girl for