A Little Harmless Submission(51)
“Hey, yourself,” she said, when she gained her sense. “Mal, this is Rome Carino. Rome this is—“
“We met at Jocelyn’s wedding,” Rome said as he tucked her close to him. She frowned at him and fought the urge to wiggle away. Something about his expression told her that he wouldn’t like it, and he definitely would make a scene.
“Yeah, I remember now. You’re the cop who was in charge of May’s case.”
Rome nodded. Neither of them said anything. Rome kept her locked next to him, and Mal crossed his arms over his massive chest. The testosterone in the room rose to dangerous levels. It was so high there was a good chance she might pass out from it.
“Mal is on leave.”
“And just happened to stop by the club?”
The suspicion in Rome’s voice had her face turning red. She leaned closer and whispered, “Behave.”
He squeezed her.
“Yeah, I did. I wanted to say hi to Micah. Plus I have a membership, via my family connection.”
“Have you been in Atlanta recently?”
Mal’s easygoing smile dissolved, and Maria knew there would be a fight unless she stepped in.
“No, Mal was on a mission overseas. All hush-hush. So he’s not a suspect.”
“Did you check it out?”
The growl that rumbled from Mal’s chest meant that someone was going to end up with a broken nose.
“Romeo Carino, if you don’t behave, I’ll make you regret it.”
For a second there was a stunned silence in the kitchen.
“Romeo?” Mal asked, then he chuckled. It turned into a belly laugh.
“And you’re not much better, Malachai Fredrick Dupree. You behave, or I’ll tell people you get seasick.”
She was satisfied to see his smile dissolve.
He gave her a dark frown. “You promised not to tell anyone.”
“Yeah, well, you’re both being immature. Stop it.”
She crossed her arms and gave them both her meanest stare. Mal chuckled, and Rome ignored her.
“Now that you’re here, I’ll go. And don’t worry, I’ll keep your cover. Don’t have much time here anyway. Just three days before I have to be back.”
“I’ll walk you out.”
She could tell from Rome’s expression that he wanted to tell her not to, but she gave him a look that let him know he would regret it.
“Thanks for seeing Maria home.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, the trained FBI agent needed to be seen home.”
He said nothing else as she walked Mal back out to his rental.
“So you’re not just on the job.”
The statement was said in a way that had her temper rising. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
His mouth kicked up on one corner. “Nothing.”
“You know a lot of people get involved while undercover. We are both free agents in that realm, so I don’t see a problem. Besides, we have to keep up the appearance that we’re involved.”
Malachai said nothing as he studied her. She wasn’t much different. She tended to study people, watch their reactions to what was being said, to get a feel of what people were thinking. Her father had taught her how to do it years ago, and she knew Mal had training in it.
“Stop. You’re not on some fucking mission.”
He snorted. “Yeah? Well, I must have upset you if you’re cussing. The only time you cuss is when you drink and when you’re losing at chess.”
She growled.
“Oh, and now you sound like your boyfriend in there.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
That was a silly term, and one she wasn’t ready for. Truthfully, she’d never really used that term before, so it sounded odd to her.
“Why not? He was sure acting like it in there. And although I can’t see out of the back of my head, I can feel him watching us.”
“He is not.”
Mal nodded. “Probably out that front bay window, although it could be from the bathroom.”
She looked over Mal’s shoulder and saw Rome. Mortification had her face burning red. Mal just laughed in her face. “It’s about time.”
“What?”
“That you let a man take care of you.”
She sighed and rubbed her temples. “I don’t need a man to take care of me.”
“No. But it’s nice to have someone there you can depend on.”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s kind of nice. Annoying, and I am going to read him the riot act when I get in there, but definitely nice.”
“I guess I should have seen it before.”
She studied him for a second. “You didn’t want the role.”
“No, babe, the two of us were meant for other things. We both knew that from the beginning.”