The full-sleeve ink covering his right arm caught her attention. Due to the way he’d been standing earlier, she hadn’t been able to see that arm. But now, with the intricate artwork on full display, Emma couldn’t help but want to see it up close.
The man removed his sunglasses, revealing the most intense, gray-blue eyes she’d ever seen. His gaze locked onto hers, and she barely controlled the short intake of air as her lungs finally decided to start working again.
Stop staring. He might be a client. You need to say something.
“M-may I help you?” Emma forced a professional smile, hating how she’d stuttered like a lust-struck fool.
Damn it, she wasnotthe stuttering type. Confident and poised, that was more her thing. Always ready to take the world by storm.
But there was something about this particular man that made her feel...off-kilter, somehow. And Emma wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
As he grew closer, his stare became a bit unnerving. Not because it was unpleasant. In fact, she could’ve sworn the blues of his stormy ocean eyes had darkened in the few seconds he’d been here.
Still waiting for his response, Emma couldn’t quite pinpoint exactlywhatshe found behind his complicated gaze. And for some reason, that drove her insane.
“I’m here to see Jake McQueen,” the man finally spoke up. He tilted his head in a slight nod, the rumble of his deep voice rolling through her with every word.
Of course, a guy like him would sound like that.
All rough male, it was exactly how she’d imagined the men in her favorite romance novels sounding. It was the kind of voice that sent a rush of heat streaming through the heroine’s veins just before her panties became damp, and she threw herself at the hero.
But as she stared back at the man on the other side of her desk, Emma couldn’t decide if he was the hero...or the villain.
Clearing her throat, she finally began to act like the woman she was, rather than a hormonal teenager with an uncontrollable crush.
“Do you have an appointment?” she asked, already knowing the answer.
Jake had meetings scheduled throughout the entire day, with no room for anything else.
“No.” The man shook his silver-foxed head.
Glancing down at the appointment calendar in front of her, she began searching for her boss’s next available opening.
“I’m sorry, but Mr. McQueen is completely booked for today. If you’d like, I can set up a time for you to meet with him next wee—”
“You must be Winters.” Sean appeared out of nowhere, chopping her sentence short.
Winters?
“McQueen saw you on the security feed in his office and asked me to bring you on back. I’m Sean Cooper.” Her brother held out his hand. “One of Alpha Team’s snipers. Everyone calls me ‘Coop’.”
Not everyone.
Having spent her life calling him by his given name, Emma wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to calling him anything else.
“Trace.” The other man returned her brother’s gesture. “Good to meet you.”
Trace. Oh, I like that name.
Emma continued watching the exchange with silent interest.
“Glad you could make it on such short notice.”
The man named Trace Winters gave a slight shrug and then, “When the boss beckons, right?”
His full lips twitched,almostcurved upward. Suddenly Emma found herself wondering what he looked like when he actually smiled.
Sean pulled his hand free and chuckled. “Good answer.”