“Yes.” She wasn’t completely sure what was happening, but she was almost certain she’d lost control in a big way. “I mean they know I went home. I’ll be honest. I’ve only been there for a year. I’ve got a couple of people I consider work friends, but I don’t talk to them about my family. We talk work stuff.”
Hutch seemed to relax a bit as though he knew he had her where he wanted her. “Good, then when you came back with a boyfriend, no one will question it. We worked out our relationship and we decided I should come to Dallas with you. Kyle is my slacker brother who needs a place to stay while he’s looking for work.”
Every syllable from his mouth horrified her. “No.”
Kyle snorted. “Because I look like the slacker.”
Taggart stood, helping his wife to her feet. “Excellent. It’s all settled then. Come along, my love. It’s lunchtime. Noelle, thank you for the muffins. They were delicious. I leave you in Hutch’s surprisingly authoritative hands. Unless you’d like me to call your dad.”
She was staring at Hutch like she could move him with pure willpower. “No. That won’t be necessary.”
“Hutch, see me before you go to check out Ms. LaVigne’s apartment,” Taggart ordered.
And then she was left with the man she would have to put up with. Well, and Kyle, but he seemed incidental at this point. Hutch had every bit of her attention.
Check and mate.
But their game was far from over.
Chapter Two
“Do I need to buy you a box of condoms?” Big Tag asked as Hutch closed the door behind him.
Unfortunately, they weren’t alone in Tag’s big corner office or he would have given the boss his happy middle finger. It looked like they were having a lunch party with Charlotte, Alex, and Eve all sitting around with takeout containers on Ian’s sofas.
Like the security team version of the Big Bang Theory. He would bet Noelle liked that show as much as he did.
Their babies would be smart and beautiful.
Nope. They would be nonexistent because Noelle would barely look at him now. He’d felt her pull away and close in on herself, but he rather thought it wasn’t in the obvious way. She wasn’t protecting herself from the Big Bad Wolf. She was trying to figure out a way to take him down. She wasn’t some wilting flower who would cry because a guy challenged her. No. She would retreat and rethink her battle plans.
He could offer her several scenarios that would have him on his back, but he was smart enough to keep quiet about that. “I don’t think that’s happening any time soon. I don’t know if you noticed but the woman doesn’t like me.”
He’d dug a huge hole, and he wasn’t sure he could climb out of it. He’d lost it in that conference room. He’d lost it by taking control in a way he almost never did. Except at Sanctum. He was careful around women because he’d seen how poorly it could go. He’d watched his father abuse woman after woman. He’d taken many a beating because he couldn’t sit by.
But something about Noelle LaVigne brought out the beast in him.
“She might not like you, but she’s aware of you, and sometimes that’s just as telling as instant attraction.” Charlotte put down her lunch. “I thought the two of you would get along. I didn’t think you’d nearly set the conference room on fire.”
“So this was a setup.” He knew it. At least he could still trust his instincts. “And it was definitely me and not Kyle.”
“Oh, she would not be good with Kyle. Kyle needs someone…well, Kyle needs to spend some time with Kai before he thinks about a relationship.” Eve closed her takeout container. “He’s hiding a lot of pain, and it’s going to come out in some not healthy way if he doesn’t deal with it. But that’s not a professional opinion. I haven’t had a session with him. It’s merely observation.”
They were all worried about Kyle, and now Hutch would be spending days, maybe weeks, undercover with the man. Noelle would be with Kyle, too. “Do you think he’s a danger to others?”
“If she thought that, he wouldn’t be working here,” Big Tag said with a frown. “He’s had a couple of sessions with Kai. Everyone has to in order to work here, but he turned down continuing on when it was suggested he should. I’ll be honest. If he wasn’t family I probably would have passed. He’s good at his job, but I’m worried. Something happened to him during his time in the military. I can’t figure it out, and my buddies who are still active tell me there’s nothing in the records that make them think he’s hiding something. That tells me one thing.”
Kyle had been Special Forces. Unless a mission had been classified it should all be out in the open. Or… “How long did he work for the Agency?”