Free Cheating Justice (The Justice Team) by Misty Evans, Adrienne Giordano Page B

short-sleeved graphic T-shirt that read, I am not a minion of evil. I’m upper management.
    Stupid-self let out a little sigh. Something about this man drew her in. Every time. His looks alone could devastate a woman. Throw in the caustic humor and the balls-to-the-wall attitude and Caroline had been sunk from the first second she’d spotted Mitch Monroe.
    Where. Is. My. Gun?
    Sensing her attention, he lifted his face and met her gaze, smiling at her with that caught-ya smirk. Well, so what? They both knew the chemistry between them. They knew before the night they’d dropped into her bed and caused the angels to sing and they certainly knew it now.
    Leaving Brice to his phone and answering posts on his all-important blog, she wandered over to Mitch. “Hey, sailor.”
    “Hey, Caroline. You were thinking naughty thoughts about me.”
    “In fact, I was. Only they involved my gun.”
    He threw his hand over his heart, but his quirking lips gave away a laugh. “Evil woman.”
    “I can’t help myself.”
    “I know. That’s what I love about you.”
    Love. There was a word she’d never uttered out loud about Mitch. Maybe she’d thought it a time or two—or twelve—because stupid-self liked to daydream about happily ever after. Well, stupid-self better wise-up. Happily ever after didn’t include visiting Mitch in a federal prison.
    “What you love about me,” she said, “is I won’t turn my back on you. I love that about me too. Most of the time. My loyalty has burned me in the past, though.”
    “Not this time. I’ve got your back.” He reached up, ran his finger down the side of her cheek and as much as she knew it was coming, that instant zzzppp , the little buzz that happened whenever Mitch touched her,made her flinch. Like always, she craved getting closer to him so she leaned in and did just that, because—well—why not? Brice was obsessed with his phone and no one here knew them so she could pretend for just a few seconds that happily ever after really did exist.
    She tilted her head, studied the strong angles of his face, the dark eyes and softness around his lips. “You had my back last time, too. It still blew up.”
    Two years ago, when Mitch and Grey had first started hunting a serial killer, they’d zeroed in on a foreign diplomat, but couldn’t get Donaldson to sign-off on pursuing their suspect. Mitch had come up with the genius plan of having another supervisor—namely Caroline who’d just been promoted and was a baby in the relief supervisor arena—enter a report outlining all the evidence into the FBI’s system. Without entering it, the report wouldn’t have been part of the case file and might as well have never been written.
    But Mitch, having that giant conscience when it came to people he cared about, had gotten cold feet when the hell-storm came down on them and told Donaldson he’d stolen Caroline’s password and entered the report himself.
    None of it mattered. Donaldson, being Donaldson, did his magic and the report disappeared.
    “Mitch, I don’t blame you for involving me in The Lion’s case. I’m a big girl and make my own decisions. These things you do are for the right reasons. I know that about you. But this time we could both lose everything.”
    “But if I’m right, you’ll be a hero.”
    “And what about you?”
    He shrugged. “I never cared about glory or power.”
    “You’re a liar. There’s something you want, and I’m not talking about this case. I’m talking about Mitch Monroe the man. Down deep, what do you want from life?”
    Tilting his head back, he blew air through his lips. “I want peace. No more running. That’s all.”
    “So when this is over and we clear your name and Tommy’s, you’ll be happy?”
    “Not entirely.”
    Classic Mitch. Caroline huffed. “Well, big boy, if I’m putting my career on the line, I’d like to know what the hell we’re fighting for here.”
    He turned to her, stared right into her eyes, not wavering