For the Fight (Romantic Suspense) (Beyond Blood, #2) by Nora Flite Page A

just us. I planned to keep it that way. “How did she... you know. Take the message?”
    Grinning, Jacob dropped the cloth in a hamper. “You saw her. She's confused by it.” He slid past me, bare feet quiet as a void.
    “Then what do we do?” Stepping aside, I followed him into his bedroom. “Is she going to accept our deal?” There was tension in my voice. I couldn't have hid it from him, so I didn't bother to try.
    Jacob held up a dress shirt, the rich blue fabric stark against his light skin. Slowly, he ran his fingers down the front. “Relax. She's going to go along with it.”
    “How can you know that?”
    Narrowing his eyes, Jacob pushed his arms through the sleeves. He only looked at me when he had the collar knotted up near his throat. “Tonight, we're going on a hunt. Marina is going to be plied by music, dance, and alcohol.” Jacob tucked the shirt into his belt. “Do you really think that, after everything we've both managed to coax her into, that with both of us pushing every one of her lovely buttons...” He smirked to himself, clicking the clasp on his wrist shut. “That she'll be able to resist one of us, never mind both?”
    A hunt. Jacob was comparing us to predators. That made Marina the prey. Okay. I did like that comparison. “When you put it that way, I guess she's screwed,” I chuckled.
    Jacob shrugged into his ears. “Let's be honest.” Grabbing his tie, he looped it and showed me his back. “She never really had a chance.” In more ways than one, he was right.
    “Should we talk about the plan?” I asked. “How are we supposed to act tonight?”
    “Just pretend you're really looking for Lars,” he said, sitting on his bed. “There's no way he'll be there. But don't let her suspect that we know.”
    Nodding, I stuck my hands in my jeans. “She'll expect me to bring a gun.”
    He looked up from under his arched brows. “Then bring it.”
    “What if there's a metal detector there?”
    “Then go back and stash it in the car. We'll tell her it's too dangerous, confirm it's just reconnaissance tonight. She'll believe us.” Hesitating, he stopped tying his shoes to watch me closely. “If she asks what we're planning, we say we're just there to gather intel on him. That we want his name. Then just distract her from the mission—which you can begin by going and cleaning up. You need to change.”
    Tugging at the front of my shirt, I grinned. “How about you let me borrow something of yours?”
    I thought he was going to argue. Instead, he walked to his closet and threw open the doors. The array of button-downs and suits stared back at me. “If you were after something stylish for once, you came to right place, Kite.”
    ****
    W e were quite the sight, the two of us dressed so fine. I'd picked some grey pants and a black vest, a forest green tie working with my coppery hair. I didn't dress like this often, but I knew how to.
    Our suit jackets nearly matched, rich midnight in tone. He'd stuck a pale grey cloth in my front pocket. Said it completed the package.
    I didn't care. I just knew I looked fantastic.
    Opening my front door, he followed me inside. I was halfway to calling for Marina, when we both saw her standing in the kitchen. Fuck. Every inch of me—all the thickening inches, especially—wanted a piece of that woman.
    Marina wore that crimson dress like she'd been born inside of it. It strangled her thighs, enhanced her perfect ass and left me staring openly at the valley of cleavage. She was gorgeous and alluring, a combination I was sick with.
    The necklace—sparkling green like my tie—enhanced the bare coffee color of her shoulders. She kept touching the jewelery, and I wished her fingers were mine.
    I wanted to speak... I wanted to shout. This woman was fantastic, burning into my memory. If I closed my eyes right then, she would be the last thing I'd see. I was fine with that.
    She fidgeted, shooting her gaze between myself and Jacob rapidly. “You two look