Natalie wasn’t naïve enough to believe it would be as if those fissures never existed in the first place. They were a part of her now. Signs of her strength, tenacity, and endurance, rather than proof of a perceived weakness.
One that had been so easy to fall victim to while lost in the deepest, most painful depths of her grief.
But that was behind her. It was behind themboth.Not forgotten. Never that. It was simply…the past. And now, it was time she started using the days she’d been blessed with to look ahead to her future.
A future that was pulling his lips from hers after a deliciously thorough kiss that left her lungs without air and her sex throbbing with need.
She licked his taste from her lips. Sweet, salty, and so very male.
My new favorite flavor.
“That’s cheating,” she accused without a single drop of disdain in her tone.
“Gotta use every resource in your arsenal, baby.” Those dark brows of his waggled up and down playfully.
“So that’s how it’s gonna be, huh? I’ll have to remember that.” She leaned forward for a little nibble of her own. “In the meantime, I really need to get back to this. I’m supposed to return to work tomorrow, and I want to make sure there isn’t something here that needs a closer look.”
“What do you have so far?” He rested his sinewy forearms on his taut thighs as he perused the documents she’d found in the mystery folder.
Funny. It had been at the forefront of her mind when she’d left work three days ago. But by the time she’d gotten home and found Logan waiting for her, and then the break-in, and then…
The sex.
Yeah, there had definitely been a lot of that going on since that night. But that had been the best distractionever, so she couldn’t really complain about it.
Even if I wanted to…
Speaking of distractions…
“Honestly, I’m not sure I even know what I’m looking at. Like this.” She picked up the handwritten note that had first caught her attention. “So I’m pretty surewhoever wrote it is telling me to look into the recertification request the Board of Directors approved a few months ago. Which is this.” Natalie kept the hot mug steady with one hand while reaching forward with the other. Picking up an official Frost Avionics recertification request form, she handed it to Logan. “I know these aren’t the same planes, but you and your guys are all certified to fly. Does any of that look familiar to you? Better yet, does any of it stand out or seem out of place?”
Pushing himself back into a standing position with nothing but his powerful legs, Logan paced the room as he flipped through the form.
“Looks like Atkinson went to the Board requesting the recert for some update modifications they made to their FROST WA-800 model jet airliner.” His gaze scanned the documents closely. “But everything’s in order, from what I can tell.”
“That’s what I thought, too, but I’m a numbers girl. Not an airplane aficionado.”
Logan stopped pacing and looked over at her, those striking eyes of his in a razor-sharp focus. “That’s it.”
“What’s it?” Natalie frowned.
“Numbers.”
She kept frowning. “I’m still not following.”
Walking hurriedly toward her, he explained as he moved. “You said it yourself; you’re not an expert in planes. You are, however…” His voice trailed off, his strong hand hovering the reports she’d sorted. Spotting what he’d presumably been searching for, Logan picked it up and held it out for her to take. “A numbers girl,” he finished the incomplete declaration.
Natalie reached up, pulling the report from his hand and read its heading aloud. “Bi-annual Fuel Expense/Usage Reconciliation Report.” She gave it a thorough once-over. “I’m still not seeing anything that screams embezzlement or trafficking. That’s what those abbreviations mean, right?” Natalie said to the former DEVGRU operative for confirmation. “Theembezandtraffthat were jotted down?”
Logan glanced at the scrap of paper still in his hand. With a muttered curse, he gave a grim nod. “Yeah.” That intense stare of his held a warning as they landed back on her. “I’d say that’s exactly what those stand for.”
“What do we do?” Her stomach sank. “Should we call the police?”
Natalie fully expected that to beexactlywhat Logan thought they should do. Instead he surprised her with shake of his head.
“Not yet.” He pulled his phone from his pocket. “We go running to the cops with some half-backed accusation, especially one as big as Frost, they’ll own our asses in court for defamation.” He tapped the cell’s screen before putting it to his ear.
“Who are you calling?”