“I meant, what are you doing with my sister?”
The fuck?Did this guy hit his head when the bomb went off?
“You think something’s going on between Emma and me?” Trace looked back at him as if he’d lost his damn mind. “What, in the two minutes we’ve known each other?”
“Don’t give me that bullshit. I saw the way you were looking at her back at the office.” Coop took a step closer. “And after the bomb went off and we were still in the conference room,youwere the first one to holler out for her. What the hell was that all about?”
“First of all, I wasn’t looking at her in any particular way.”Was I?
He’d thought he was doing a damn good job at hiding how much the hard-headed woman affected him. Apparently, he needed to work harder.
“Second”—he continued defending himself—“I hollered out for Emma because you had your hands full trying to help Mac.”
“So there’s nothing more going on between you two?”
Unfortunately, no.
Wait, no.Notunfortunately. There was enough bullshit going on right now, this conversation included. The last thing he needed was to start something with one of the team guys.
Speaking of which...
Trace studied Coop more closely. There was something strange about the way the other man was staring back at him. He’d missed it before because he was too busy defending himself to notice.
But he saw it, now.
Coop had come barreling out here as the pissed off, overprotective big brother. But upon closer inspection, Trace realized there was no real heat behind the man’s words. No actual anger flaming behind Coop’s eyes.
What the hell is going on?
“What’s this really about, Coop?” he demanded to know. “‘Cause I’m thinking you’d want to put your time and energy into taking care of your team and finding the fucker who sent Jake that bomb instead of this bullshit.”
“I do.” The other man nodded. “But I also need to make sure my sister’s safe.”
This guy was really starting to piss him off.
“He handed her the bomb,” Trace hissed. “Emma saw the guy’s face. Shetalkedto him. Hell, your sister gave that detective a description so detailed,Icould pick the asshole out of a fucking line up. So yeah, I’m worried about her safety. But that’sallit is.”
Are you sure?
“Good.” Coop surprised him with a smile. “That’s what I was hoping to hear. Now the question is, what are you going to do about it?”
Wait. What?
“Me?”
Visibly switching to full operative mode, Coop finally revealed his reason behind the ridiculous confrontation.
“I need you to stay with Emma.” The man said the words without so much as a smirk. “At least for tonight.”
Feeling as though he had a bad case of whiplash, Trace frowned. “You were just drilling my ass about my intentions with your sister, and now you want me to spend the night with her?”
“I drilled your ass because I wanted to see if you’d picked up on the potential danger Emma could be in.”
It was a fucking test?
Resentment flooded his system as Trace closed in on the other man. With fists clenching together at his sides, he left only inches between them.
“Something you should know about me, Coop. I don’t like to be played.”