Locked and Loaded by Mandy Baxter

Author:Mandy Baxter [Baxter, Mandy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2016-08-12T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Charlie wanted off this ride. She’d only been at it a week and the stress was starting to get to her. Her emotions swung on a pendulum. Her head ached. Her brain buzzed. And she was pretty sure she’d developed some nasty acid reflux.

There seriously weren’t enough Tums in the world . . .

Letting Kieran down easily and getting rid of him for the night had been like trying to peel two pieces of duct tape apart. She’d finally managed to use too much wine as an excuse, and he’d reluctantly gone to his own room. Charlie let out a groan as she threw herself on the bed. She’d almost swallowed her tongue when Mason came around the corner and saw her and Kieran together. There was no way to put a positive spin on it. She knew what it had looked like.

But Mason had it so wrong.

Charlie pushed herself up from the bed and paced the confines of her room. Mason would interpret what he’d interrupted as a betrayal. She was sure his reaction to what he’d seen had nothing to do with any feelings he had for Charlie. Though she wouldn’t deny that the notion of Mason being jealous of another man paying attention to her made her feel a little too warm and fuzzy.

This was about Kieran. Plain and simple. And the rivalry between them. Kieran was his Achilles’ heel. The only chink in his armored exterior. Charlie needed Mason confident. Tough. The grim-faced hard-ass who didn’t take shit off anyone.

How in the hell had she gotten caught in the middle of all this?

Screw it. Charlie wasn’t going to spend the rest of the night wearing a path into the carpet worrying about what Mason may or may not have thought. She swiped her key card from the dresser and stalked out of the room. Her temper mounted with each step toward Mason’s room. Who in the hell did he think he was? He’d dragged her into this mess and then had the nerve to be pissed when she was simply playing her part. He’d never shown an ounce of interest in her, and yet she’d spent the past week pining after him like some stupid lovesick girl. Mason Decker: the man, the myth, the legend. Charlie snorted. He and Kieran were exactly alike. Their egos wouldn’t allow them to lose. And their personal battle was going to sink her investigation and her task force.

It was time to take back control.

Every ounce of stress she felt went into her fist as she pounded on Mason’s door. Charlie waited. Waited. Brought her fist up and pounded again. Waited. Waited some more. And threw her foot into the door at the exact moment it swung wide.

The toe of her shoe connected squarely with Mason’s shin. He let out a grunt and Charlie’s hands flew up to her mouth. His brow crinkled with pain and anger and he drew in a sharp breath as he took a stumbling step back.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.