Only Her (A K2 Team Novel)(59)

The man he’d called Saint turned a beatific smile on her, and Cody was right. He was pretty in a very manly kind of way. Jake, she’d met once when he’d come into the clinic with Maria.

“If it isn’t Mouse’s favorite vet.” Jake grinned. “Except when you give him shots. Hear you got a problem, Dr. Austin.”

“Riley, please. Unfortunately, appears I do. Great seeing you again, but wish it were under better circumstances.” She turned to the one called Saint—and wasn’t that a perfect name for him? “And nice to meet you.”

“Likewise, Riley.”

The men took seats around the table, and she sent a questioning glance at Cody. Were they all here because of her? At his nod, she was overwhelmed that a team of men who appeared to be the take-no-prisoners types deemed her worth their attention. For a girl who’d had to fight her whole life to stay safe, who’d had to steal food in one of her foster homes to survive, who’d never had the kind of protection these men were offering, this scenario was beyond her comprehension. Tears stung her eyes and she swallowed hard.

As if he understood, Cody squeezed her hand. While she struggled to compose herself, and the men were razzing each other in a way that told her they were as close as brothers, another man walked into the room, taking the chair at the head of the table.

She would have known he was Logan Kincaid even if he hadn’t taken that particular seat. Although he’d not said a word yet, there was an air of command about him. And jeez, he was as good-looking as the rest of them. She glanced at Cody, and he gave her a reassuring smile.

Even surrounded by some of the hottest men she’d ever laid eyes on, to her, Cody was the only one that called to something inside her. She smiled back before turning her attention to Logan Kincaid, only to find him watching her. Riley had the unsettling feeling that if anyone had eyes that could see into the soul, it was this man. With considerable effort, she didn’t squirm.

“This is Logan Kincaid,” Cody said. “Boss, Dr. Riley Austin.”

“Dr. Austin, I hear you’ve got some trouble.”

That was it. No exchange of pleasant talk for a few minutes, no getting to know each other. That was fine. Since she found the man intimidating, she wouldn’t have a clue how to chat with him. “Riley, please.”

“Riley it is. Because we all go by more than one name, we’ll keep it to first names to prevent any confusion, so I’m Logan.” He chuckled, making him seem more human. “See, you’re already confused. Take my brother-in-law. Sometimes he’s Jake, sometimes Buchanan, other times, Tiger, and always Dumbass.”

Jake snorted. “Hey, be nice to me or I’ll tell Maria.”

“I’m shaking in my boots,” Logan said. He shifted those inquisitive dark eyes back to her. “Cody’s briefed us on the situation, so we don’t need to go over that. Maria’s working on narrowing down the list of possible cars. She’ll be here in a few minutes.”

“I’m here now.” She pressed Riley’s shoulder as she passed, sitting in the empty chair next to her husband.

With so much testosterone in the room, it was nice to have another woman at the table. Riley gave an inward snort. There wasn’t a woman in the world who wouldn’t think she’d died and gone to heaven to be surrounded by so much eye candy, and here she was feeling relieved to have female company. She’d likely be enjoying herself more if not for the reason she was here.

“I don’t want to be an inconvenience.” She had to get that said. If her guess was correct, K2 was some kind of secretive agency doing God knew what, and they probably had more important things to do. Like save the planet.

“There’s one thing you need to understand,” Logan said. “We take care of our own, and by your . . . friendship with Cody, that includes you.”

Riley caught his hesitation at the word friendship, and her cheeks heated. The man was an oracle—or some such thing—and probably knew exactly where on Cody’s body her mouth had been yesterday. Gah, shut that vision down, or he really will know just from the bright red of your cheeks. Cody’s soft chuckle confirmed that at the moment, her face was an open book. She kicked him under the table, which made him grin. Daring to glance around, she saw that all the men and Maria were looking at her with amusement.

“Like being in a room with twelve-year-olds,” Maria said. “Ignore them. I do.”

Jake leaned over and kissed Maria. “Try and ignore that, Chiquita.”

Logan gave a huge sigh. “I hate it when you kiss my sister in front of me, Dumbass.”