Free Hard to Let Go by Laura Kaye

his head and let out a harsh breath. “Thank you. What I wanted to say is thank you. You don’t have to do this, and not a single person would blame you if you changed your mind.”
    “But I’m not gonna—”
    “I know.” He dragged his thumb across her knuckles. Back and forth, back and forth. And the heat of his touch spread through her whole body, making her nerve endings come to life and yearn for more . . . everywhere. “And that’s why I’m thanking you. We need what you have.” Beckett cleared his throat and looked off to the side for a long moment. When he looked back to her, he shrugged. “Yeah, so, that’s what I wanted to say.”
    He released her hand and shoved his into his pockets.
    Well. Okay, then. “I appreciate that,” she said.
    He tilted his head and nailed her with that intense blue stare. “Just be smart about it. All right?”
    Kat rolled her eyes. He couldn’t stop while he was ahead, could he? “Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence. I might not have the same expertise all of you do in covert operations, but I’m not an idiot, Beckett. Like I would be anything but smart knowing people’s safety is on the line.”
    She threw her hands out and shook her head. Ugh. Why bother? Without waiting for him to respond, she made for the door, stabbed her finger against the buttons on the pass-code box, and grabbed the handle. Then something else came to mind. Might as well get all the fun stuff out on the table, right?
    She turned back to him, not surprised to find him scowling at her. “While we’re having this awesome conversation, let me add a request for you to please keep what happened earlier quiet. Not sure why Derek felt the need to be matchmaking a while ago, but I’m really hoping it’s not because you said something. ’Kay? Thanks.”
    Stepping inside, she remembered Eileen.
    “Oh, and bring in the damn dog.”
    F UCK THIS, B ECKETT thought. He followed Kat inside and made a mental note to come back for the dog later. He hadn’t said one goddamn word about what they’d done. To anyone, let alone Marz. For Christ’s sake. As if he wanted anyone else to know.
    No way he was letting that accusation stand unaddressed.
    He stalked inside in time to see the door to the first-floor tattoo shop clicking shut. The stairwell remained otherwise quiet, so his gut said Kat had retreated to the quiet of the now-closed Hard Ink Tattoo. Perfect.
    Beckett crossed the stairwell, his boot steps echoing inside the concrete and metal. The second he rounded the corner into the mostly dark lounge at the back of the shop, his gaze landed on Kat pacing in the middle of the square space.
    Backlit by a security light in the hall behind her, she spun on her heel to face him, her resentment palpable even though he couldn’t make out her expression. She didn’t want him here, didn’t want to be around him, probably wanted nothing to do with him at all. And, boy, if those feelings directed his way weren’t really fucking familiar. Story of his goddamned life. Until the Army, at least.
    Didn’t have that anymore, though, did he?
    “Beckett,” Kat said, her tone part groan and part plea.
    He planted his feet and fought against the ancient gut reaction to flee from where he wasn’t wanted. Because, damn it all to hell, he’d perfected the ability to hear the I don’t fucking want you around message from a mile away. He’d grown up on that shit. But this was Nick Rixey’s sister. And out of respect for the man he’d fought and bled with for many years, he wasn’t leaving Katherine with the impression that he’d violated her trust or her privacy. “Just hear me out, and then I’ll leave you alone. Okay?”
    “What more could you want to say?”
    Part of him wanted to approach her so he could see her expression and look into those brilliant green eyes. But she stayed where she was, so he followed her cue and did the same. “I didn’t say anything. What happened, that was just between me