Her Perfect Mate (18 page)

as many airborne jumps as any of us. She’s a trained diver and explosives expert. She can break into a safe

one second and hack a computer the next. I’ve watched her hump a heavy rucksack through deep bush for

twenty-four hours straight without so much as stopping to take a breather. The first time we met, she

dropped me in hand-to-hand combat like a toilet seat. On top of that, she’s killed men while covering my

back. She might look like a Victoria’s Secret model, but she can kick some ass.”

They were silent, their gazes going to Ivy again. She waved when she saw them looking her way.

“Damn,” Angelo breathed. “All that and she can dance, too? Sure this organization of yours isn’t hiring?

I could definitely see myself working there.”

Landon laughed. Leave it to Angelo to pick out the most important skill.

“Speaking of dancing, Diaz has been out there long enough,” Deray complained. “It’s time I pulled

rank.”

Mickens pushed back his chair. “Me, too.”

Marks, Griffen, and Tredeau clearly didn’t want to wait their turn, either. They followed Deray and

Mickens onto the dance floor, leaving Landon alone with Angelo.

“So, you and Ivy are just partners, huh?” his friend asked.

Landon picked up his beer. “Yeah.”

“It looks like more than that to me.”

For a guy who looked like he could get a job as a bouncer in a biker bar, Angelo could be damn

perceptive. “Well, I’m trying to make sure it’s not.”

Angelo flicked him a glance as he absently rubbed his thumb up and down the label on his beer bottle.

“What’s Ivy have to say about that? Because from where I’m sitting, she’s clearly got a thing for you.

“Ivy feels the same way I do.” Which only made not giving in and taking her to bed even harder.

“You’re both playing with fire, Landon. You remember the last time you got involved with a woman

you worked with.”

He didn’t need a reminder. “I know. Which is why Ivy’s off limits.”

“Then you won’t mind if I make a move on her.”

Jealousy immediately shot through Landon. He scowled at his friend, unable to help it.

Angelo grinned as he got to his feet. “Relax, dude. I’m just going to dance with her.”

Landon watched Angelo make his way over to Ivy, trying not to notice the dazzling smile she gave him.

It didn’t help that the rest of the guys picked that moment to decide to come back to the table for another

round of drinks, leaving the two of them alone on the dance floor. If Ivy was going to hook up with anyone

on his former team, it’d be Angelo for sure. Even he had to admit they looked good together. Friend or not,

if Angelo and Ivy ended up leaving together, he was going to kill the guy.

Two songs of them gyrating on the dance floor was about all Landon could handle before he went out

there and cut in on Angelo. The big Texan didn’t seem surprised. Flashing Ivy a grin, he gave Landon a

knowing look, then turned and went back to the table.

Ivy smiled at him as she wiggled her hips to the new beat. “I was worried you were one of those guys

who thinks it’s not cool to dance.”

He followed her moves, picking up the rhythm. “Normally, I wouldn’t, but I’ll make an exception for

my partner.”

Watching Ivy dance from across the room had been one thing. Being out here on the floor dancing with

her was another. If he thought her moves had been sensual before, that didn’t compare to the heat coming

off her now. Not letting it bother him was tough given her body was almost touching his. They might have

promised to keep things professional, but that promise apparently didn’t extend to the dance floor. What

they were doing was about as far from professional as you could get. And as close to sex as you could get

in public without being arrested.

Thank God they were in a club or he might have done something seriously stupid, like kiss her again.

The memory of how sweet her lips had been was nearly enough to make him ignore the people around

them and pull her into his arms to kiss her. Which would be a bad idea because then he’d want to see if her

breasts felt as soft as he remembered. And from there, who knew what would happen? He’d never felt this

out of control around a woman in his life.

He wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed when Diaz showed up to cut in. “You’ve had her long

enough, Captain. Time to share.”

Landon didn’t feel like sharing. And he sure didn’t feel like letting Diaz cut in. But he needed to get

away from her, if only to get control of himself.

Thankfully, no one back at the table noticed what had been going on out there on the dance floor

between him and Ivy. No one except Angelo. Landon avoided looking at him and reached for his beer.

“Oh shit,” Griffen muttered.

Landon looked up to see Tredeau jerking his head toward the dance floor.

“Diaz is being his usual charming self.”

Something about the way Tredeau said the words made Landon stiffen, and he whipped around to see

Diaz facing off against three big, burly guys. Ivy stood beside him, frowning. Landon might not be able to

hear what the men were saying to the slightly less than average-sized Diaz, but he figured it out from their

body language. They wanted to know what a guy like Diaz was doing dancing with a woman like Ivy and

probably assumed they could intimidate him into walking away. Unfortunately for them, Diaz had a chip on

his shoulder bigger than the state of Texas.

Tredeau pushed back his chair, but Landon held up his hand. He wanted to jump up and defend both

his ex-teammate and his new one—Ivy more than Diaz—but she was more than capable of dealing with

this. She wouldn’t appreciate him coming to her rescue in front of his friends.

“There’s only three of them,” he told Tredeau.

“But they’re big,” Mickens pointed out. “Like head-and-shoulders big above Diaz.”

Landon opened his mouth to tell him Diaz would be offended by that statement, but all that came out

was a curse as one of the guys shoved Diaz out of the way while another grabbed Ivy by the arm.

Diaz clocked the one guy across the jaw while Ivy took hold of other guy’s wrist and bent his arm back

until he dropped to his knees. Someone screamed. The DJ cut the music. And the crowd on the dance floor

moved away to give Ivy, Diaz, and the three men space.

The third guy evaluated the situation, his eyes darting from his two buddies on the floor to Ivy and

Diaz. He must have decided he couldn’t fight them by himself because he backed up, hands up in the

universal gesture of surrender.

Movement in the crowd caught Landon’s attention. Eight guys pushed their way through the onlookers

and stomped onto the dance floor, the expressions on their faces leaving no doubt of their intentions.

Landon didn’t care if Ivy got mad at him for coming to her rescue or not. There was no way he was going

to sit there while she fought an entire football team.

He glanced at Tredeau “Okay. Now we help.”

Tredeau and the rest of the guys immediately jumped up and charged onto the dance floor with him.

Anyone who wasn’t interested in a fight quickly got out of their way—which was pretty much everyone.

That’d make it easier to pull Ivy and Diaz away from the fight, then get everyone out of there.

Unfortunately, the assholes who’d started it weren’t down with that plan and closed in on Landon and his

teammates like some kind of unarmed infantry charge.

Landon slugged the first guy rushing him, then did the same to the next, putting both men on the

ground. They were big and brawny, but they didn’t have the hand-to-hand combat skills to compete with

trained Special Forces soldiers. He and his teammates were black belts in one type of martial art or another,

from jujitsu to tae kwon do. Depending on their preferred styles, they either sent their opponents sliding

across the slick floor by using the men’s own aggression against them or laid them out by kicking them in

the face.

Ivy and Diaz were standing back to back, defending themselves until Landon and his teammates could

get to them.

“You okay?” he asked her as he punched a curly-haired guy in the jaw.

She flashed him a grin. “Never better.”

Her eyes were shining like crazy. As if the animal inside was just waiting to get out. He hoped people

assumed it was the strobe lights.

She executed a perfect roundhouse kick, hitting a big, beefy guy in the stomach and sending him flying.

“Cops are on their way. I heard the bartender say he called them.”

Landon loved that bionic hearing of hers. He threw a glance over his shoulder at his teammates. “Cops

will be here soon. Ten blocks west and rally in the first parking lot you come to.”

They immediately dropped the nearest opponent and headed for the door. Landon hung back long

enough to make sure none of his guys were left behind, then grabbed Ivy’s hand and pulled her out of the

club.

She gestured over her shoulder as they ran. “My car is parked in a lot on the other side of the building.”

He didn’t stop. “We’ll come back for it later.”

Mickens and Tredeau piled into the backseat of his truck cab, while Ivy climbed in the front. Diaz threw

himself in the bed, stretching out so no one’d see him. Landon scanned the parking lot for anyone who

hadn’t caught a ride. When he saw it was clear, he pulled out just as cop cars poured in.

He drove west for ten blocks, praying there was a parking lot around. By pure luck, there was a

pharmacy on the corner. Angelo’s SUV was already there, Griffen’s fire-engine red Charger parked beside

him.

Angelo grinned as he and the others sauntered over to Landon’s pickup. “Everyone came out alive, so

I’d call that a successful mission.”

“Just like old times.” Mickens gave Ivy a wink. “But with much better looking company.”

On the street, two police cars sped past, sirens blaring. The pharmacy wasn’t one of those twenty-four

hour ones, so hanging around in the parking lot at 0200 hours was bound to get them noticed.

“We better split before someone at the club describes us to the cops and they come looking for us,”

Landon said.

“I know this other club. Killer DJ.” Diaz grinned. “And it’s still early.”

As much as Landon enjoyed hanging out with his teammates, he didn’t know what would happen if he

gave in to temptation and danced with Ivy again. Kissing her was a definite possibility this time. What was

he going to say? That he’d rather go home and go to bed? They’d think aliens had kidnapped him and

replaced him with a replicant.

“Another time, Diaz,” Angelo said. “We need to get some shut-eye if we expect to head to New York

City early tomorrow.”

Since when did Angelo need sleep? The guy could outlast any of them when it came to pulling guard

duty in the middle of the night. Then Angelo gave him a meaningful look and Landon knew exactly what

was behind his charade. He had to admit, he was grateful.

Mickens laughed. “It’s only four or five hours.”

“Yeah, well I’m doing the driving, and I’m tired,” Angelo grumbled. “So is Griffen. He looks beat.”

Griffen opened his mouth to argue but shut it again at the pointed look Angelo sent his way. Rank had

its privileges.

After giving Landon the requisite man hugs, his teammates crowded around Ivy to hug her, too. They

extended an open invitation to party with them anytime she wanted, anywhere she wanted.

“One night with her and the guys are ready to drag their asses across broken glass just to stand next to

her in a fight.” Angelo slanted him a look. “I can see why you’re attracted to her. If you do something

stupid, no one here would blame you. Just be sure it’s what you really want to do—before you do it—

because it’ll change everything between the two of you once you do.”

“Weren’t you the one who told me an hour ago that I should steer clear of her?”

“That was before I saw you dance with her.”

Landon shook his head. “Forget it. I learned my lesson with Erica.”

Had he? If Ivy gave him the go-ahead, he’d be all over her in a second, DOC rules and ex-girlfriends be

damned.

“If you ever need anything, give me a call,” Angelo said. “And I mean anything.”

Landon grinned. “I will. Give me a call on your way back down to Campbell and we’ll get together

again.”

“Will do.”

Ivy waved as they drove off, a smile on her face. “I haven’t had that much fun in a long time. I’m glad

you invited me.”

“Yeah, me too.”

They locked eyes for a moment before she looked away.

“Do you think it’s safe to go back and get my car yet?”

He glanced at his watch. It’d only been fifteen minutes since they’d left the club. “Maybe we should give

it a little while longer. I saw a coffee shop a couple blocks back that looked like it was still open. Want to

grab a cup?”

That should be a completely safe activity.

She smiled. “Sounds good to me.”

The coffee shop was empty except for the gray-haired barista behind the counter and a twenty-