Free Naked Sushi by Jina Bacarr Page B

that I could breathe again.
    “Thanks for not abandoning them,” I told him, hugging the little furry angels close to my heart and cuddling them. Their tiny tongues licked my fingers. I closed my eyes and leaned back against the seat. I couldn’t believe my maternal instinct was so strong. And this from a girl who never knew her own mother. That thought tugged at my heart.
    “All in the line of duty.” Steve squeezed my knee. “Don’t worry, Pepper,” he said, grinning. “They’ll be put into witness protection with plenty of milk and cat food.”
    I put my hand on top of his and squeezed back. Nothing more needed to be said. I knew he’d find them a good home. Though Steve tried to play hardball with me, I saw the look in his eyes when he spied the defenseless cat and her brood. Tender, caring. Here was a man who’d never turn his back on the underdog.
    I never doubted he’d save the mother cat and her kittens.
    Not once.
    What surprised me more was that he’d let it slip that he was worried about me. This coming from a street-tough, straight-talking G-man.
    Oh, my.
    Be still, my heart.
    He didn’t mean it.
    Really.
    Did he?
    * * *
    “You and your damn doughnuts are ruining my figure, Steven.” Jordan grabbed a glazed special out of the box on his desk and bit into it.
    Nice and slow.
    Teasing him. A trait of hers with her male agents when they were on her “naughty boy” list. Steve had worked with her long enough to know she had something on her mind and it wasn’t doughnuts.
    Or sex.
    “What do you want, Jordan?” he asked, putting down his cell. He had a man keeping the eyeball on Pepper. He’d been so tied down with the Briggs case, he couldn’t do the job himself. He was worried about her. The field agent had just called in to tell him she was headed out this morning in a hurry. What she was up to now, he could only guess. She jumped into situations faster than a bunny banging on his drum. Steve ordered him not to lose her.
    “Nothing except a sugar high,” she said between bites.
    “Don’t tell me you’re PMS-ing,” he said, knowing she hated that. She’d been on him for days to file his report on Briggs. He couldn’t. The file was still wide-open, like a pole dancer’s legs doing a split. “This has to do with Pepper, doesn’t it?”
    She paced up and down, her smart, metal-gray stilettos tapping on the warped wooden floor. Gray slacks. Black turtleneck. She maintained a professional image at all times. At least, on the surface. Underneath she simmered with a slow burn and, man, could she kick ass.
    “I see you’re on a first-name basis with the mark,” Jordan said. “How’d you manage that?”
    “Tradecraft.”
    “Don’t lie to me, Steven. I didn’t need to see her polygraph exam to know the girl was lying to us.” She slam-dunked the half-eaten doughnut into the trash can by his desk. “You made quite an impression on her, didn’t you? Enough for her to jeopardize her freedom by hacking into her ex-company’s computer.”
    “I insisted.”
    “ That I don’t doubt.”
    “You have to admit, Jordan, the girl is a whiz kid with computers. She can decode anything and get into the most sophisticated software.” Steve explained how she’d cracked the password on the office manager’s computer. “I’ve never seen anyone with such a knack for bypassing antivirus software and finding the holes in the system.”
    “Isn’t finding holes your job?” Jordan smirked. She poured herself a cup of coffee. Into his cup. Black.
    He ignored her barb. “Pepper knows her way around a hard drive better than the most seasoned spymaster. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
    “You wouldn’t be trying to recruit her, Steven, would you?”
    “Why not?” Steve said. “The Bureau could use her talents. We’re dragging our asses when it comes to corporate security. You know as well as I do, Jordan, the hackers are beating us.”
    “Same old Steven. Always thinking of the Bureau