Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 55171 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55171 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Cal’s determination to get in his pants was unsettling. It made him feel like a piece of meat, or the last task in a high stakes scavenger hunt.
Grimes was everything he’d seemed. A climber. A big talker and a status junkie. He’d been Stephen’s assistant, but in between his not-remotely-subtle advances, Brady learned he’d recently branched out into consulting. Opposition research for select political clients who were desperate for ammunition against their competitors.
It was a sleazy job but, according to Cal, it paid well. He’d made sure Brady knew how well at least twice in the conversation. But despite his attempts to impress, so far all his invitations were having the opposite effect. He should have done more research before the date.
Brady reminded himself why he was doing this. Ken hadn’t told him everything, but it had been enough. Some poor sucker had gotten caught up in a bad relationship with an influential man and fallen off the grid. It was Ken’s job to find him, and he admitted that he’d expected it to be easy. He’d been wrong. He was still looking six months later.
Freelancing for the feds on the Burke case had been his chance to scan the blackmailer’s private files. Ken knew Burke kept dossiers on powerful men and their weaknesses and he was hoping to find more information on a particular investor he considered his prime suspect. He’d found more than he’d bargained for.
It had taken a few months for Ken to sift through the data that connected his suspect to a group of powerful, practically untouchable men. Burke’s notes on them contained their questionable habits, some cryptic words and phrases he couldn’t understand, and a record of the few sloppy hotel room incidents with escorts Burke had managed to sweep under the rug in return for favors and insider information. Most of the men in this group were nicknamed according to their perversion, but one or two real names had been written down. Sadly, the names didn’t lead to anything helpful. Each one was so good at covering their tracks that Ken, with all his talent, hadn’t been able to hack them yet. From their firewalls and snares, he believed there had to be guys like him on the payroll to make sure of it.
But Ken didn’t give up. He’d been using a new program to find another way in when luck led him to one loose link in the chain. It was a fairly recent outside connection that wasn’t in Burke’s notes and no one had taken the time to conceal—Calvin Grimes.
Apparently Cal didn’t just offer his services to senators. Brady wasn’t sure what he did for these men, but Ken said it didn’t matter. Their job consisted of finding and retrieving a single man, not taking down a Cabal. Dating Cal was a fishing expedition. And Brady was the only bait for the job.
“Finn, I can hear you frowning. You’re on a date. It’s a bad date, I admit it, but I never promised you a love match. You have to give him something to work with. Pretend to find him interesting.”
Brady grimaced. Think of the devil and he talks in your ear.
Ken wasn’t helping the situation at all. He’d been listening in on every moment of this travesty, distracting Brady with his sultry voice and provocative comments. It made him wish he could see him, wish that Ken was the one across the table.
“We can switch places,” Brady offered. “You two have more in common anyway. You like nice things, money, fancy food—”
“Giant sexy gingers with repressed but explosive sexual energy just begging to be tapped,” Ken interrupted smoothly.
“No one’s doing any tapping.”
“Not for lack of trying. He’s practically bending over with a Ride Me sign on his ass and he hasn’t even seen you naked. I suppose we have to be thankful for small favors. If he knew what those jeans of yours were working overtime to conceal, he’d be useless.”
Brady was glad Ken couldn’t see his face. He hated blushing. “You know and you seem to be doing fine.”
“I have better self-control. It comes from the years of training you don’t like me to talk about. Believe me, if I didn’t have it, I’d be the one bending over that table and begging.”
Brady huffed out a nervous laugh, sliding forward to hide his erection from the crowded bar. “I can’t see you begging, Master Tanaka.”
Not outside of my fantasies
“The night is young. Wait until we get home.”
Cal appeared beside the table, water and one martini in his hands. “You look flushed, Brady. Is it too crowded in here?”
“No.” Brady took the water and drank it gratefully. Ken’s words had turned up the heat and made it difficult to concentrate. “I needed this. I must still be a little hung over. I don’t think I’ll be drinking again anytime soon.”