Free The Phoenix by Rhonda Nelson Page B

that I am low man on the totem pole here and that puts me at the bottom of the pecking order, but sending me over here blind when she was armed with everything in my friggin’ file was not cool. I don’t mind having to work around her—that’s part of the nature of this particular assignment. What I do mind is her knowing everything from where I went to high school to my blood pressure reading on my last health exam and no one warning me about her.” He blew out the flame before it could burn his fingers. “It’s bullshit and bad form and I damned sure don’t appreciate it.”
    He should probably quit before they fired him, Jay thought. That would be better than getting sacked, but leaving the military had felt too much like quitting, and the idea of this not panning out as well was damned difficult to stomach.
    “You are absolutely right,” Payne said, to his immense surprise. “I take full responsibility. It was my mistake. Guy actually suggested giving you a warning, but I failed to consider that she’d looked at your file when she hacked into our system and I didn’t think that it was strictly necessary. Mea culpa, Jay. I’m terribly sorry.”
    While he was still exceedingly annoyed, it was hard to cling to his anger when faced with such a sincere apology. Particularly one issued from the Specialist. “I’m assuming the security breach has been rectified?” he asked.
    “It was once she brought it to our attention.”
    He processed that, his mind sharpening into better focus. “You didn’t know she’d been in until she told you?”
    “No,” Payne admitted. “She was careful.”
    Careful, hell. She was damned good. Hacking was one thing—hacking without leaving a discernable trail or evidence was another. That took a very advanced degree of skill. And nerve. “I’m going to want to see that file, Payne. I need to know what she knows.”
    “Understandable. I’ll forward it right away.”
    Jay passed a weary hand over his face. “Thanks. I’d appreciate it.”
    “Listen,” Payne said. “I know that she was disappointed that we hired you instead of her, but ultimately we all agreed that you were the better candidate for the job. She’s impressive, I’ll admit that, but—”
    Jay stilled like a hound going on point. “What do you mean ‘hired me instead of her’? You mean she applied for the position that I’ve got?”
    “Yes,” Payne said, sounding a bit baffled. “I thought that’s what—”
    “Oh,” Jay said, his voice dissolving into a dark laugh. “Oh, oh, ohhh. That’s why it’s personal with her,” he marveled aloud. “ That’s why she’s been smirking at me since the moment I arrived.”
    Payne chuckled. “I take it when she was divulging the information she’d gleaned from your file she failed to mention that she’d actually applied for a job here?”
    “Correct,” he said, smiling, giving his head a shake. “She neglected to share that little tidbit.”
    “Well, I’m glad that I was able to enlighten you of that much, anyway.”
    “You wouldn’t happen to have a copy of her résumé, would you?”
    “I do, along with the background check that we ran on her after she came in.”
    Jay considered that. While his initial impulse was to ask for the additional file as well, ultimately…he did not. He didn’t know why he was willing to offer her the privacy she hadn’t afforded him, because, had she been a man, he had every certainty that he wouldn’t have.
    But she wasn’t a man.
    As he well knew.
    And thank God, given his ridiculously insane preoccupation with her. It was unnerving. Every sensation, feeling, inclination was heightened when it came to Charlie. He wasn’t just intrigued with her—he was fascinated. He wasn’t just attracted to her—he was drawn, compelled even. She didn’t just annoy him—she infuriated him.
    No doubt that was why he’d wigged out over her looking at his file, at her potentially reviewing the events leading up to